Cold Fusion The Return of the Master Trilogy |
BBC Castrovalva The Return of the Master Trilogy Part Three |
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| Episodes | 4 |  |
| Story No# | 117 | |
| Production Code | 5Z | |
| Season | 19 | |
| Dates | Jan. 4, 1982 - Jan. 12, 1982 |
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With Tom Baker, Peter Davison,
Matthew Waterhouse, Janet Fielding, Sarah Sutton. Written by Christopher H. Bidmead. Script-edited by Eric Saward. Directed by Fiona Cumming. Produced by John Nathan-Turner. |
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Synopsis: The regeneration of the fifth Doctor will fail unless he reaches
the city of Castrovalva. But the Master has devised a plan that will ensure
the Doctor's final destruction with aid of Adric's mathematical genius.
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It's a Fiction by David Rosenthal 15/11/20
I quite enjoy Castrovalva. The Doctor has amnesia throughout this story. Another interesting tidbit at the end of Logopolis: the fifth Doctor had brown hair; now in this story it's suddenly blonde. I do quite like Peter Davison impersonating his previous selves to the Projection of Adric.
The Master captures Adric and is hung in a web in his TARDIS. Nyssa and Tegan are quite an important focus to this story, and the action is focused quite a lot on them. They are basically assisting the fifth Doctor in his recovery and take him to the zero room. They put him in his zero cabinet after him telling them he is removing rooms. I quite like the little mention and we see the recorder the second Doctor's favorite instrument. Tegan sets the coordinates for Castrovalva courtesy of the TARDIS information systems. More on that at the end of the review.
Anthony Ainley chews a lot of scenery in this story as the Master and in his disguise as the leader of knowledge in Castrovalva, the Portreeve. I quite like the scenes of The Doctor and Mergrave, played by Michael Sheard who guest starred in quite a few classic Doctor Who stories. It is not really a big surprise when the Portreeve is revealed to be the Master. The Master created the planet Castrovalva; it is all a projection. Shardovan, another fellow Castrovalvan, sacrifices himself, and Adric is released from the web. Castrovalva foldes in itself and the Master appears to meet his demise or so we think.
Good performances by the regulars Peter Davison, Sarah Sutton, Janet Fielding, Matthew Waterhouse and Anthony Ainley as the Master. Michael Sheard and Derek Waring do a solid job as Mergrave and Shardovan. By the way, Tegan was not piloting the TARDIS; that was all courtesy of the Master, and the TARDIS information system was all falsified. Lovely tranquil music by Paddy Kingsland in this story.
Overall, I give this one a solid 8.9/10.