(548) The Keeper of Traken - Episode 3

This episode is an episode of two halves because the first half is pretty much like Traken itself. It’s very peaceful and very tranquil with nothing that would shake the skin off a custard. The first noticeable thing that appears at the beginning of this episode is that Melkur is after the power that the Keeper possesses. I don’t know if it was just because I wasn’t paying attention in the previous episodes but this is the first time that I have actually heard the purpose of Melkur in the story. The thing about Traken which is quite baffling is the speed at which things happen there. Kassia has gone from being a new bride to the new Keeper in an extraordinarily quick amount of time. I also cant believe that no one has noticed the change in character that Kassia has undergone in the same short amount of time. I guess that when things are as laid back as they seem on Traken that such changes in personality aren’t taken too seriously.

The second half of the episode is where the action really shows whats good about the story because this is where we learn a bit more about Melkur. It was great how there were more and more shots what the master Melkur sees. It’s not until the very end that the figure turns around and even though he’s not named as the Master in the credit there cant be many people who watched this in 1981 that this was the master. It’s quite fun that just under a week since the Master changed gender that we are getting a new Master in this story. The Melkur design has been on of the highlights of this serial and it gets better in at the end of this episode where it becomes the Keeper after consuming Kassia and the sight of the Melkur sitting in the Keeper’s chair is a great one and it makes for a great cliffhanger. The cliffhangers have been the main weakness of this story and its good that they have managed to rectify the situation a bit here.

The performances have all been quite good with Nyssa being one of the strongest ones. She has been a bit in the background so far so it was good how she seemed to develop quite a lot here. I think that with a bit more work she will show everyone why I think that she’s one of the best companions in Doctor Who. Tom Baker’s performance has been good but I think that it’s a bit tame compared to how it’s been in other stories in the season. The fact that the Doctor and Tremas are friends is still something that tickles me and I like how despite being a little bit of a spare part in the episode, Adric continues to impress me.  

This sets up the final episode brilliantly and I think that this story is even better than I have previously thought of. It’s weird to think that this time next week I will be in the Davison era and a tiny bit of sadness is starting to creep into my enjoyment. If only the show had been like this in the previous season then I could see myself saying that I wish Tom Baker had gone on for a bit longer but I think that he is getting the set of stories that he deserves.