117: Castrovalva

I've been watching some classic Doctor Who episodes lately and I thought I'd share it here in case anyone else is interested. There may be some mild to moderate spoilers from time to time, but I don't plan on talking too deeply on plot resolutions.
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8/5/08

Story 117: Castrovalva

This 5th Doctor story is the first one featuring Peter Davison after his regeneration from Tom Baker’s 4th Doctor. You can tell that Davison doesn’t quite know how to play his character, but by the end, he seems to have it more or less decided. The trademarks are there: the cricket uniform, the hat, and the celery on his lapel.

The companions for this story are Nyssa, Tegan, and Adric. The only one of these companions that doesn’t irritate me is Tegan. Adric is precocious, and Nyssa is hard to watch for me because she’s not a very good actress (in my humble estimation).

The story was quite good, though. After watching so much of the Russel T. Davies stories in a row without going back to the classic show, I’d forgotten how concept and plot heavy these shows can be. You really need to pay attention lest you lose some of the details. That’s a good thing, in my book.

We start in the TARDIS as we see Davison trying to come to terms with the regeneration. He’s going mad and making very little sense. He’s unraveled Tom Baker’s signature scarf, which seemed to me to be symbolic of the new direction we were going to go in. Seeing that scarf in tatters made me sad, I must admit. One thing I loved about this episode is that we have almost two complete episodes that take place entirely in the TARDIS, and we get to see LOTS of it. I’m sure it was just the same sets broken down and shot from different angles, but the illusion of the many corridors and rooms we saw was sufficient, and something that I’d love to see on the new series. We also get the Zero Room, which is a place the Doctor can go and not be bothered by the energies of the TARDIS. Also, it was very cool that they jettisoned 25 percent of the TARDIS to get away from the threat early on.

Then they make it to the city of Castrovalva, where the Doctor believes he can finish out his regeneration in peace. You get the usual silly costumes and dodgy sets, but underneath it all you also get some remarkable acting and some true imagination. There’s some gorgeous outdoor filming done here and it doesn’t look like it’s aged a day, much less 27 years, as of the DVD release. There was a big reveal of the Master in this episode that I truly did not see coming. What a testament to the acting talents of Anthony Ainley that he completely fooled me. What a testament to the writer and the director as well. This plot has a few holes that I can’t seem to figure out, but it’s really well done and actually has all the elements of a good sci fi tale without sacrificing it for character.

*Sonic Shenanigans: The Doctor uses his sonic screwdriver on screws to unhinge a door. He also mentions using it to reverse the polarity of the neutron flow.


On a scale of 1 to 10, I’m giving Castrovalva a 7 1/2.