Doctor Who: Castrovalva

 

 

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Apparently Christopher H Bidmead and John Nathan Turner publicly declared their aims to make Dr.Who into serious, mature, intelligent SF viewing for the 1980s and from all accounts had trouble getting any scripts at first, settling for a revamped story by David Fisher (intended for Graham Williams) and an updated Vampire tale which was meant to have opened season 15!
But with Warrior's Gate, I feel Bidmead's ambition was fulfilled, as SF writer Steve Gallagher wrote a surreal, intellectual masterpiece that was arty, cool, sophisticated and challenging.
Bidmead himself followed up with Logopolis and then this story, Castrovalva, which have the same bizarre, concept-driven, reality bending SF qualities. Here, the new Doctor, Peter Davsion is almost plunged back into the big bang before arriving in the phantom city of Castrovalva whose inhabitants have no inkling that they are only a few hours old and have been created soley as part of a nightmarish trap. The whole place is a giant pocket in time and space which begins to close in on itself!
Stunning! Soon, Chris Bailey, whom Bidmead had impressed with his vision of multi-layered SF writing, would deliver the equally bizarre and challenging Kinda, before season 20 would fully realize the Bidmead vision with four in a row, Baily's Snakedance, Mawdryn Undead (by Peter Grimwade)Terminus (by Gallagher again) and finally Barbara Clegg's awe-inspiring Enlightenment! But nowhere is Christopher H. Bidmead's unique and startling vision for Dr.Who seen than in his own scripts for the series, and this, Davison's debut is probably the most polished and accomplished. The city looks superb and Davison's Doctor is magnificent. Despite the initial impression that he is too vulnerable to be the Doctor, it becomes clear on repeated viewings that with his body so physically weak and afflicted, it takes enormous inner strength, guts and determination from the new Doctor to rise to the occasion and defeat the Master, who has created this trap. The Master is only a minor consideration here, serving as the progenitor of the situation, but this story, like all those in the Bidmead vien, are far more about the stunningly imaginative and intriguing situation than any typical Who villains. The Master, like the Black Guardian, are really only there to generate the trouble and to remind viewers after seven seasons of Tom Baker that this is still Dr.Who, despite the new face in the Tardis. All in all, this story rocks like a cradle in a strong wind, and kicks off my favorite era of Dr.Who, the era of the brilliant Peter Davison!

This story revolves around our good Doctor recovering from his latest regeneration. Of course, the evil Master wishes to take advantage of the weakened Doctor during this phase. The Doctor attempts to heal within the "Zero" room, which is a recovery room within the Tartus. Unfortunately, the meddling of the Master makes this a daunting task at best. I really enjoyed this story because of the city Castrovalva and the culture that is derived from this make believe race of people. The sets used in this episode were really nicely done and the people and places were believable and fascinating, I found myself almost wanting to visit the city myself. hehe. The Doctor is taken to Castrovalva by the Master who creates this entire city and its people in order to get at the Doctor, which is very very hard to believe, but none the less happens. Tegan and Nyssa do their best to help the Doctor to get into the city where the hope is that he can recover from his regeneration there. All in all I believe you will enjoy this episode as much as I did. There is something very relaxing and enjoyable about the theme of the story and I often find myself playing this tape after a hard and busy day so as to relax and unwind. Its a great night time story for any age. Definately invest in this episode and you will not be sorry. Bye for now friends!

The term 'memory cheats' represents a concept I'd never been able to apply to myself before, or at least when it came to remembering 'DW' (now, names and faces... my memory doesn't know how to play fair!). Never before did that nasty shock of disappointment arise until CBS/Fox got around to releasing 'Castrovalva'. That's right, fellow saddos, I said 'Castrovalva'.

I used to think of 'Castrovalva' as the definitive regeneration story. It was the tail end of the Master trilogy, the three stories that ended the over-extended reign of Tom Baker and made this young viewer a fan. This video release, now in its proper episodic format, still retains a bit of the magic I recall from multiple viewings in the early Eighties. The pre-credit sequence is as fabulous as ever, but that's only because it's a 'Logopolis' leftover. The first episode has held up very well over the years; Peter Davison does a great job playing the here-and-away Doctor. The cornucopia of continuity was then a new thing and fit perfectly well into the plot, unlike the shuffle and deal method applied later in the novels. The last few seconds of episode one exemplifies what goes wrong in the other three parts. Lame special effects, a that-can't-really-happen-can-it plot line, Adric being crucified with cheese wire, and, of course, Anthony Ainley's first try at the Brian Blessed approach to acting. Sadly, Anthony's hideous job at playing the Master is loudly underscored by his convincing performance as the Portreeve. Alas, Ainley is more easily remembered for his panto performance in episode four, when he tries opening the indestructible zero cabinet with a crowbar, only to have it fall apart with a firecracker flash and an accompanying 'P'yoo!' when he drops it on the floor. And then... 'My WEB!!!' Ugh.

But still, the recursion theme is rather catchy (catchy could be used to describe the music on the tape as well) and is stressed with the cute artwork that adorns the video jacket. Too bad the video inside the box wasn't as rewarding; perhaps I wouldn't have been able to admit, finally, that memory can cheat.

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5.0 out of 5 stars peter davison- simply the BEST!
Yes, it was very difficult for Peter to replace Tom Baker's place and some of of Baker`s fans will not give Davison credit at all, and that is so sad. Read more

Published on Mar 28 2002 by Gwyn Jeffers

4.0 out of 5 stars iffy if, what's thu dif?
This beginning season of Peter Davison was a good watch, but what's with all the "ifs"? It's over done. Read more

Published on Mar 13 2002 by Black Cat de La Bear

5.0 out of 5 stars It's the end, but the moment has been prepared for.
Picture the scene: the Fourth Doctor's dying body lying beneath the radio telescope tower of the Pharos Project, his concerned companions Adric, Nyssa, and Tegan gathered around... Read more

Published on Jan 1 2002 by Daniel J. Hamlow

4.0 out of 5 stars Well done and done cleverly
This is properly considered the 2nd part of a two part story ending with the death of the 4th doctor. (or if you really want to push it the end of the whole E-space series. Read more

Published on Dec 20 2001 by Peter Ingemi

5.0 out of 5 stars A Great Start For Peter Davison's Doctor
Most Whovians regard this as one of the finest episodes in the entire canon of Doctor Who; it is certainly among the best of the
Peter Davison era. Read more

Published on Nov 17 2001 by John Kwok

2.0 out of 5 stars "Dont you see this regeneration is failing!!"
This one line can pretty much sum up the Davison era as Doctor Who.It wasnt until the end of his run that his performance was worthy of being called the Doctor. Read more

Published on Aug 28 2001 by S.D.S

3.0 out of 5 stars Not Bad
The thing about Peter Davison was that his first few stories were good then some of them were only mediocre. Read more

Published on April 27 2001 by Black Cat de La Bear

5.0 out of 5 stars It's not a coffin, it's a stasis chamber
I've been a Doctor Who fan since I was 2 years old. I must admit that when I was a child this episode confused me. Read more

Published on Feb 28 2001 by eeyorehugger

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