These two episodes don't feel quite as magical as the first two: there's more of a focus on the science-y side of things, and because there's not enough of the fantasy elements to compensate, it does feel a bit lopsided. Oh, and apparently we get a different motivation for Kassia's actions: it's not simply because of the Melkur's influence, but because she doesn't want to lose Tremas to the Keepership. (That said, I'm willing to acknowledge that maybe this reason was in the first two parts and I just missed it, and so maybe it's not as casually mentioned as it seemed to me.) Nevertheless, this makes Kassia one of those more frustrating adversaries that the Doctor faces from time to time, the person who is 100% committed to carrying out this evil plan and cannot be persuaded otherwise, and who seems to constantly be thwarting any plans the Doctor may be making.
Fortunately for our heroes, Tremas's daughter Nyssa is still free and able to overpower some of the Fosters (aka guards) and free the Doctor, Adric, and Tremas, which leaves them able to make plans to stop Kassia, and therefore the Melkur, from acquiring the full power of the Source. They fail, of course, and after a quick reveal of who's actually inside the Melkur statue (a person who kind of looks like the Master from
The Deadly Assassin; it's genuinely unclear if this was supposed to be an "aha" moment or not, as the reveal doesn't really matter, plot-wise -- is this for the benefit of long-time viewers, or just to give Geoffrey Beevers some screen time? But while we're here, let's take a moment to appreciate the view through the Melkur's eyes, which aren't exactly the same as each other and thus actually look like stereoscopic vision), we see Kassia assume the Keepership, only to be replaced (in the cliffhanger to part three) by the Melkur.
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The still-decaying Master brings the Doctor inside his TARDIS.
(The Keeper of Traken Part Four) ©BBC |
This leads to an odd scripting choice in part four, and that's how all the Trakenites (except for Tremas and Nyssa) seem to be completely okay with the Melkur being the new Keeper; no protests, no cries of "How can this be?!", just acceptance. "Ok, guess a thing that came to Traken and was calcified
because it was evil is totally fine as the supreme ruler of the entire Traken Union." They can't all believe the Melkur's "No, it's cool, the last Keeper told me (and not you) that it would be me" speech, can they? But in any case, the Melkur has all the power, but he can't quite use it yet, which gives Tremas and the Doctor time to stop him. Only they don't quite succeed, and the Melkur takes the Doctor inside himself, to be revealed as the Master. He doesn't look as horrifyingly disfigured as last time, does he? And someone's decided to paint teeth on his lips, with the result almost never looking like what was presumably intended. But the basic conceit is nice, even if he and the Doctor hardly get a chance to exchange more than a few words before Adric and Nyssa's independent bit of Source sabotage spells the end of the Master's plan. Traken is safe, and even the Source is okay now, with a new Keeper in the form of the young Consul with the low opinion of himself (the last time he was offered the Keepership, he said, "Oh, I do not have such greatness about me"). All, it seems, has been set to rights.
Except then we get a bizarre tag scene where Tremas is paralyzed by the Master's grandfather clock, while the Master comes up behind him and gives him such a great big bear hug from behind that he fuses with Tremas's body (and I defy you to come up with a better explanation for what we see). "A new body at last," says the rejuvenated Master (as played by the same actor as Tremas, Anthony Ainley), and off he goes as well. It doesn't pay to name your children anagrams of the word "master", it seems.
But other than that tag,
The Keeper of Traken has been a delightful stroll of a story. It's pitched at just the right balance between fantasy and SF, and while the reveal of an old enemy threatens to overbalance things (and make this story seem More Important (in fandom terms) than it sets out to be), said reveal doesn't really happen until the last seven minutes, which leaves plenty of time to enjoy everything that's come before. It looks gorgeous, it's well-acted (again, this is Matthew Waterhouse's best performance yet), and there's enough lyricism in the writing to leave you with a smile.
The Keeper of Traken is best remembered as a suitably charming tale.