Castrovalva (1982)
Review
DVD review
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Review
This is a four-part serial, first broadcast between 4th - 12th January 1982. A brief and somewhat spoiler-ish summary of the plot: the fifth Doctor's regeneration doesn't seem to be entirely successful, and he decides to travel to the town of Castrovalva in search of healing. But after his arrival, he finds his troubles have only just begun...
Though this was the first full story with Peter Davison as the Doctor to be aired, it was the fourth to be filmed as the makers wanted the fifth Doctor's tenure to start on a strong note. The script was written by Christopher H. Bidmead, but by the time this serial was made Eric Saward had taken over as script editor.
There's nothing really bad about this serial. A couple of things that aren't entirely great:
- the scripts written by Christopher H. Bidmead tend to be plagued by empty techno-babble and the sense that he made the whole thing up as he went along without ever bothering to reread the first draft, let alone rewrite it. This serial does have some of these problems but the story starts to come together when we reach Castrovalva in part three, and there's still a great deal to enjoy in the Tardis-bound scenes in parts one and two
- the Zero Room scene where the Doctor holds forth about the companions and their roles within the group, while floating in mid-air and appearing to be asleep, is a bit daft. It's not helped by the dated visual effects or by the Doctor's advice to make Adric the navigator since "he knows the way", as this statement doesn't seem to be grounded in reality. And what's the deal with those inverted question marks?
- the scenes with Tegan and Nyssa carrying the Doctor around in a box look silly - especially since Nyssa is wearing a variation on her costume from Traken and Tegan is still in her air hostess's uniform
- the Castrovalvans' town costumes look great except for the headgear, which is clearly made out of plastic. Their hunting costumes are decidedly over the top
- a couple of visual effects haven't aged well but - spoiler ahead - the destruction of Castrovalva is quite, um, effective
And still I find myself being very fond of this serial. Some reasons why:
- there's a great deal to enjoy in the first two episodes (I particularly like the cricket theme music, the resurfacing of the previous Doctors, and the unravelling of the scarf), but the part of the story that is set in Castrovalva gets it right in about every way. The script works, the sets and costumes look great (never mind the headgear), the studio lighting comes surprisingly close to natural light (and it's amazing how much difference that makes) and the performances from the guest cast are excellent
- Peter Davison as the Doctor and - beware, spoiler ahead - Anthony Ainley as the Master-in-disguise are outstanding
- after the later Tom Baker years, it's nice to see a Doctor who actually cares about what's happening around him. For instance, the Doctor's fear and distress when he's brought into Castrovalva and his relief when he finds that the Castrovalvans are civilised people are obvious and help the audience to get involved in the story
- this is a good story for the companions. The script has them working together to solve a sequence of problems and we get good performances from Tegan and Nyssa, demonstrating that the former could actually be a rather likeable character when she wasn't emoting all the time. In the first two episodes even Adric has his moments
My verdict:
Not flawless, but quite enchanting.
DVD review
This serial is included on the 'New beginnings' boxset. Review:
Doctor Who: New beginnings
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An introduction:
Doctor Who reviews: introduction
More "nice!" Doctor Who:
Doctor Who reviews: nice!
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Doctor Who reviews: 1982 - 1984
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Doctor Who reviews: space opera
Original version of this review:
07/03/29
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