"Better a fallen rocket than never a burst of light."
~ Tom Stoppard, The Invention of Love

Sunday, June 9, 2019

Doctor Who: Series 19, Episodes 1-4 – “Castrovalva” (1982)


Five’s first story, but one of my favorites of his.  Lots of drama and mystery to deal with amid a pretty severe regeneration crisis, it’s a good introduction to Five but really serves all the characters well.  Plus, it’s just a neat concept to boot.

Adric, Nyssa, and Tegan are all at a bit of a loss when the Fourth Doctor regenerates into a new man, taking on his fifth incarnation.  As the new Doctor struggles to cope with a difficult regeneration, it’s up the companions to figure out how to help him.  The best place for him to rest and recover seems to be Castrovalva, but once they arrive, it quickly becomes clear that everything on the peaceful planet is not as it seems.

The serial makes for a great “trial by fire” for this particular TARDIS crew.  They’re a pretty big group, none of whom know each other before meeting the Doctor, and they still don’t know each other very well yet – in fact, Tegan only came onto the scene one serial before and still thinks she’s just passing through.  To take this very tenuous trio, all from different planets and backgrounds, and then have the one man who connects them (the Doctor) suddenly change into a new person, one under immense physical and mental distress who needs their help to survive the regeneration process?  It’s a dramatic way to bond them very quickly.  With their “expert” out of commission, they have to work together to help the Doctor, along with themselves.  They all start the story as four people, but they finish it as the makings of a little TARDIS family.

It’s a particularly good story for Tegan and Nyssa, who demonstrate great teamwork in a high-pressure situation.  A lot is asked of them, and they’re kind of left in the lurch, but they both step up to the plate, relying on each other’s respective knowledge and insights to find solutions together.  What’s more, they really support each other, each in turn talking the other down as they get overwhelmed by their circumstances and start to lose confidence.  Adric doesn’t have as much to do, but he’s dealing with some heavy challenges of his own and fights hard to overcome them.  (And I still love the way he distracts the Pharos Institute folks by cheerfully introducing himself as an alien who got all the messages they’d been beaming into space and thought he’d pop down and say hello.)

Regeneration crisis stories can be tough, because you need to introduce the new Doctor effectively while they’re physically incapacitated and/or struggling to even remember who they used to be, let alone know who they are now, for much of the story.  And Five has kind of a doozy of a regeneration crisis.  At one point, he even has to put himself in a psychically-induced coma while his companions cart him around in a big white box, and once he’s back on his feet, his head is still pretty scrambled.  Despite that, the story does offer a good introduction to Five.  I always enjoy seeing newly-regenerated Doctors continue to fight the good fight even when they’re currently not sure who they are, and Five brings that in spades here.  He’s weakened and confused, and he knows there’s something important he’s forgotten, but he’s still investigating and puzzling out the perplexing nature of Castrovalva.

Speaking of which, we get a really fun, inventive mystery in Castrovalva.  It has some neat twists and wild ideas, and it draws on cool Who mythos from the previous season.  I just love the idea of the M.C. Escher-style city that you can’t escape because every route paradoxically takes you back to the same place!

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