Doctor Who - Keeper of Traken (Episode 115)
Starring: Tom BakerStudio: BBC Warner
MPAA Rating: NR (Not Rated)
Format: Closed-captioned, Color, Full Screen, NTSC
Running Time: 98 minutes
DVD Release: June 5th 2007
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DVD Review
Traken is a planet ruled by the all-powerful Keeper, who reigns for a thousand years and ensures that his subjects live a life of tranquillity and harmony. Now the Keeper is dying. Summoned by the ailing Keeper, the Doctor and Adric discover that all uis not well on Traken. An evil presence threatens the future of the planet - an evil that knows all about the Doctor. (Episodes 1-4, 98 mins)
DVD Features:
Audio Commentary:Audio Commentary by actors Anthony Ainley, Sarah Sutton and Matthew Waterhouse and writer Johnny Byrne
DVD ROM Features:1982 Doctor Who Annual, Radio Times and BBC Enterprises literature PDFs
Documentary:Being Nice to Each Other: A new 30-minute "making of" documentary that includes contributions from Sarah Sutton, Sheila Ruskin, Geoffrey Beevers, John Black, Johnny Byrne, Christopher H. Bidmead
Interviews:The Return of the Master: Geoffrey Beevers, Christopher H. Bidmead and John Black talk about the return of the Doctors arch-enemy (8 mins) Swap Shop: Noel Edmond interviews Sarah Sutton (11 mins)
Music Only Track
Photo gallery
Production Notes
TV Spot:Trailers and Continuity Announcements (6 mins)
User Reviews
this is NOT going to be released in wide screen that is misinformation - Rating: 5/5
The show was recorded in TV format wide screen is impossible and the info is wrong. Traken was one of the better Doctor Whos and the best of Nathan Turner(who later cheapend and went to pot in a laurle in the Davison-McCoy eras). Very atmpsheric like most of Tom Baker's Late 70's/early 80's from Ribos to Creature from the Pit(and I'll not be second guessed for thinking it was superb despite others 'opinions' of it!) as well as the bulk of season 18 with serious stories for more mature audiences and well placed actors and sets. I am surprised they are releasing Traken and Logopolis(even thouhg they are the best of them) as most people don't like the gothic brainy non-flashy Doctor Whos in theatrical format. And how dare Carolin John say you have to be an old foogie to like this I am 36 and I got hooked in highschool becasue of this "boring" stuff. And to not sound like a Nyssa of Traken young foggie in old folks towne, my H.S buds talked about these "last Baker Season" in class all the time. these Turner shows(before his laurel resting place in the inner sanctum) were the talk of the school and the subject of art class drawings(to my shock). right next to my taco bell clay mod sht and the 'dog faced boy'
great episode - Rating: 5/5
Excellent Tom Baker episode. Full of mystery and suspense from beginning to end. It begins with an old man materialising in the TARDIS asking for the doctors help. It is especially effective in that you don't discover the identity of Melkur until the very end.
Unique and Original Concept for Doctor Who - Rating: 4/5
I won't repeat the plot here since it's all over these reviews, but I will say that the notion of a peaceful world, held together by an elected "Keeper" who serves for thousands of years and keeps the planet good by tapping into a techologically created "source" is quite a good one. This series is particularly well-acted, featuring, in particular, a notable appearance by Anthony Ainsley (who would go on to play the Master in future episodes) as all-around good guy, Tremas, who breaks from the council of elders to help the Doctor and his companions do the right thing. In this series we also get to meet Nyssa, who will become a regular after this episode.
The costumes and sets in this series were particularly good, and the baddie in these episodes, the Melkor, is especially creepy, both due to his powers and to the fact that he is not what he seems to be. As usual, there are a few lapses in logic and the Doctor, as is frequent in the Tom Baker years, manages to solve a few too many predicaments with overly convenient technology, but the suspense holds throughout and the ending sets up the pathos for the next series, "Logopolis," which is the final Tom Baker series. Much has been made about how Tom Baker seemed to walk through episodes and get overly jokey near the end of his tenure, but in this series and "Logopolis," Tom Baker shows some of his best work. Guess he wanted to go out on a high note.
Absolute must viewing before seeing "Logopolis."
Long live the Melkor! - Rating: 5/5
This story is set on the happy and peaceful planet of Traken. Nothing bad happens here but evil does occasionally appear, where it is eventually transferred into good or just disappears. The great keeper appears inside the Tartus at the beginning of the story, which tells anyone who knows the Doctors Tartus that something big is about to happen. The Keeper warns the Doctor about a growing evil on Traken and how this evil will destroy their world without his help. Of course, the good Doctor cannot resist interferring and heads for Traken. Once there, the Doctor is once again set up for a crime he did not commit and lands into custody while his comrade, Adric attempts to help. This story is the first episode for a new travelling companion, Nyssa. She is the daughter of the to be elected Keeper of Traken. She is as brilliant as Adric when it comes to contraptions and does her best to aid Adric in helping the Doctor to get out of yet another pickle. This story again involves the master who disguised as the Melkor (Melkor is what everyone on Traken calls anything that is evil), which in this story is a statue with red glowing eyes. The master wants to regenerate into the Keepership and repower himself. He almost succeeds at it too. This story is one of my favorites and includes the Master in his most hideous form, which I really love. hehehehe. I like him all grossed out! Buy and add this to your collection and you will have made a really great choice.
Beginning of the end of the Tom Baker era. - Rating: 4/5
Another trilogy comes hot on the heels of the E-Space trilogy, which saw the debut of Adric and the departure of Romana and K9. The next transition paves the way for new companions and in Castrovalva, a new Doctor.
The Keeper Of Traken, the Fourth Doctor's penultimate story, is the first story of this second transition and involves the Doctor and Adric, now back in normal space, invited to Traken at the behest of the Keeper, the powerful inwho serves as the organizing principle of the Traken Union. What is the Traken Union? It's "a whole empire held together by people being terribly nice to each other," where "evil just shrivels up and dies." Pity something like that doesn't exist on Earth. The Keeper, now nearing the end of his reign, feels some kind of evil coming to Traken, and it somehow involves three good people--Consul Tremas, his new wife Kassia, also a Consul, and his daughter from his previous marriage, Nyssa.
There's also the Melkur, what Trakenites call evil beings who are trapped upon landing on Traken, calcify, and pass harmlessly through the soil. This Melkur, a white statue with an angular face, seems to be taking its time dying.
On Traken, the Doctor and Adric, with aid from Tremas and Nyssa, get caught up investigating a mysterious force whose profile pattern is somehow familiar. By episode 2, it's clear that there's more to the Melkur. In fact, it may be more than just a statue. To quote the text on the video sleeve, "the Doctor smells a rat of the oldest kind."
One thing that gives me pause is the character of Proctor Neman. Clearly, Traken's powers to refute evil do not extend to people who take bribes, as Neman does. Another point of interest is the chaos and omens that Trakenites attribute with the Keeper's imminent demise. Things waver between "benevolent wisdom versus irrational fears and intuition."
Sarah Sutton shines in her debut as Nyssa, who's established as scientifically adept, a good partner to Adric. Anthony Ainley (Tremas) also debuts in the first in a series of recurring roles in the series. Denis Carey (the Keeper) played Professor Chronotis in the Who story Shada and later the old man in the Who story Timelash. John Woodnutt, who plays Consul Seron, complete in a hairdo that makes him look like an elderly William Shakespeare, also had previous Who appearances: Spearhead From Space (Hibbert) and Frontier In Space (the Draconian Emperor).
Tom Baker's his light-hearted self. In the beginning, when Adric points out that "a lot of time, you don't really make a lot of sense." the Doctor says, "Ahh! Oh, you've noticed that, have you?"
The concept of a planet of harmony is interesting, but unfortunately, we see it in a time of transition. Strong characterizations by the supporting players give life to this story. Oh, and there's a twist ending in the final minute of this story carried through to the next story.
