Castrovalva - The First Review

Starring Peter Davison, Matthew Waterhouse, Sarah Sutton & Janet Fielding, with Anthony Ainley, Michael Sheard and Derek Waring.

Written by Christopher H Bidmead.

Directed by Fiona Cumming.

The Doctor defeats the Master's plans to hold the Universe to ransom, but at a high personal cost. After plummeting from the Pharos Project telescope, the Doctor regenerates. The time travellers escape the Master's clutches, but the Doctor's regeneration is failing, and Adric goes missing in the depths of the TARDIS. Only Nyssa and Tegan can save the day by steering the TARDIS to the city of Castrovalva, renowned for its healing powers. But evil lurks in the heart of this simple paradise.

The Doctor (Peter Davison) has, at last, found the Zero Room. But, for Nyssa (Sarah Sutton) and Tegan (Janet Fielding), this is just the beginning of their troubles...

"Castrovalva" had its work cut out for it. Not only being the opening story of Season 19, this was the story to introduce the world to Peter Davison's Fifth Doctor. And, especially coming off the back of Tom Baker's mammoth seven-season run as the Time Lord, the onus was really on "Castrovalva" to deliver the goods. And, in this reviewer's opinion, "Castovalva" is a good story that promises plenty of exciting things for the future, even if the Fifth Doctor era didn't quite end up delivering on that promise. It's certainly bubbly and fun enough to make for an enjoyable watch, and Peter Davison gets the chance to prove that he was absolutely the right choice to take over as the Doctor.

Typical. Only 1 episode in, and already the new
Doctor needs a snooze. Lightweight...

Picking up where the dying moments of "Logopolis" left off, "Castrovalva" really hits the ground running, and doesn't really let up until the Doctor and crew reach Castrovalva in part 3. Unlike a lot of Classic Series stories, there's not a lot of standing around discussing the plot this time. Instead, writer Christopher H Bidmead flings us headfirst into the story, as the Doctor battles to keep his sanity in the face of a traumatic change. Despite this, the first two episodes are rather plot-less (and even the later two episodes don't really pick up on that), but, for once, that isn't to the story's detriment. Instead, its focus is on our new Doctor, and bringing together the new TARDIS team. Despite the three companions being introduced in previous stories (Adric in "Full Circle", Nyssa in "The Keeper of Traken" and Tegan in "Logopolis"), there hadn't been many moments previously for them to bond together as a unit, and, of course, now they have a new Doctor to play off. As such, this story is full of moments that allow for interplay between them, as they figure out the dynamics of the team, and each members place in it. For the first time in the show's history, we get to see how traumatic the process of regeneration is, and the effect that such a strong change of body and personality can have on someone. Up till this point, the process of regeneration had pretty much been skirted over: by the end of the second episode of a new Doctors first story, they were basically acting how they would for the rest of their tenure, and most thoughts about the old Doctor and the regeneration were quickly forgotten about. In "Castrovalva", that change is front and centre the whole time, and it ends up fundamentally altering the way we view the post-regeneration in every story since. This makes the process much more dangerous than that we had seen previously, and informed all future post-regeneration stories, up to the present day. And, while in certain stories it can be pretty over-played, here it works perfectly for the story they want to tell. It creates a certain sense of danger: that the Doctor may never stabilise and the Master may win. Speaking of the Master, his plan in this does seem a little silly, and it feels like he's making it up on the spot, but hey, who cares when it's this much fun! The Master is clearly relishing his role in this story, and we get to see his pure loathing and hatred for the Doctor come through in a way that is rarely seen in the show. Another aspect which really works here is how dangerous this story feels, and how much of a struggle everything is, especially for the companions. It reinforces that the Doctor's world isn't all roses and sunshine, and, coming off the back of the invulnerable team of the Fourth Doctor, Romana and K9, this makes for a strong and exciting contrast. It makes for a very different type of Doctor Who story, and it adds to the feeling of a brand new era for the show.

The Portreeve (Anthony Ainley Neil Toynay)
watches life go on in Castrovalva...

As with the regulars, the lack of plot does allow the guest characters to feel developed and interesting, even if we only really spend half the run-time with them. The inhabitants of Castrovalva feel like real people, even if they are just constructs of the Master. Shardovan, in particular, is a wonderful construction, as the narrative keeps the audience guessing as to whether or not he is the Master in disguise. His actions can be seen as having two motives, and, as such, it keeps the audience guessing as to his true motives, as well as drawing attention away from Anthony Ainley as the Portreeve (which is a fantastic double turn from Ainley, and completely fooled me on first viewing, aged 9). This is backed up by a fantastic guest performance from Derek Waring, who brings so many more layers to the character than those on the page, and makes for one of the most interesting guest turns in the show's history. The rest of the cast are just as great: there may only be a few of them, but they fill the roles they have admirably, especially Michael Sherad as the kindly Mergrave and Frank Wylie as the skeptical Ruther. The regulars, as well, are superb: Peter Davison is instantly wonderful to watch, despite his Doctor not really knowing who his is until the dying moments of the final episode. Davison, however, imbues all the Doctor's confusion and trauma with plenty of heart, and it is clear right from the very beginning that he was a perfect choice to replace Tom Baker. Sarah Sutton, Janet Fielding and Matthew Waterhouse are great as well, with the best traits of all three characters emphasised over the negative (something that wouldn't be repeated in the next story, "Four to Doomsday"). While Waterhouse isn't in an awful lot of the story, his confrontation scenes with the Master aren't as excruciating as they could have been, and Waterhouse does bring a lot of subtlety to the table for someone so young. Sutton and Fielding, however, prove how, with great writing, Nyssa and Tegan are a dream team. They have such a fun dynamic here, and the contrast between the two characters brings a lot to the story. And then there's Anthony Ainley as the Master, who is chewing the scenery in wonderful fashion. It is clear he has truly settled into the part of the Master now, and his on-screen chemistry with Peter Davison is wonderful. The whole thing is topped off with some fantastic production work, especially from director Fiona Cumming, designer Janet Budden and incidental music composer Paddy Kingsland. All three of them, especially first-time Who director Cumming, bring a fresh, youthful energy to the story. While not really focused on flashy tricks and quick camera editing, like 80's directors such as Lovett Bickford, Peter Grimwade or Graeme Harper, Cumming brings a focus upon her actors that is unrivalled by directors of the period. She gets the best performance out of them, and allows the storytelling to follow naturally, and it is an approach that is to be commended.

A new Doctor, ready to explore a whole new universe. And it is going to be... fantas-Wait, hold on, that's someone else...

Overall, then, "Castrovalva" is a good start to the Peter Davison era. While not as attention-grabbing or immediately standout as post-regeneration stories like "The Power of the Daleks", "Spearhead From Space", "Robot", or even "The Eleventh Hour" and "The Woman Who Fell to Earth", it is still a story that is full of heart, with some good character work for the regulars, a lovely tone and pace and some great production work. Nothing special, but, as a scene setter for the Peter Davison era, there would have been little finer. 

All pictures copyright to the BBC. Thank you very much for reading. If you wish to keep up to date with the blog, you can subscribe by clicking the link at the top of the page. Keep an eye out for special social medias for Who Time (& Space) coming very soon!