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{{Infobox Story SMW
story name= Logopolis|
|image= log3.jpg
image= [[File:log3.jpg|260px]]|
|series=[[Doctor Who television stories|''Doctor Who'' television stories]]
series=[[Doctor Who television stories|''Doctor Who'' television stories]]|
|season number= Season 18 (Doctor Who 1963)|
number= [[Season 18]]|
|season serial number = 7
story number=115|
|story number = 115
doctor={{bp|[[Fourth Doctor]] (regenerates)|[[The Watcher]]|[[Fifth Doctor]] (introduction; cameo)}} |
|doctor=Fourth Doctor
companions= {{bp|[[Adric]]|[[Nyssa]] (joins)|[[Tegan Jovanka]] (introduction, joins)}} |
|companions= [[Adric]], [[Tegan Jovanka|Tegan]], [[Nyssa]]
enemy= [[The Master (Tremas)|The Master]] |
|featuring= The Watcher (Logopolis)
year= {{bp|[[Barnet]], [[London]], [[England]], [[28 February]] [[1981]]|[[Logopolis]], [[28 February]] [[1981]]?|Outside [[time]] and [[universe|space]]|[[Pharos Project]], [[England]], [[28 February]] [[1981]]}} |
|featuring2= Fifth Doctor
writer= [[Christopher H. Bidmead]]|
|enemy= The [[Tremas Master]]  
director= [[Peter Grimwade]]|
|setting= {{il|[[The Doctor's TARDIS|The TARDIS]]|[[Logopolis]]|[[London]], [[1981]]|[[Pharos Project]], [[Sussex]], [[1981]]}}
producer= [[John Nathan-Turner]] and [[Barry Letts]]|
|writer= Christopher H. Bidmead
broadcast date= [[28 February]] - [[21 March]] [[1981]]|
|director= [[Peter Grimwade]]
format= 4 25-minute episodes|
|producer= [[John Nathan-Turner]]
production code= [[List of production codes|5V]]|
|epcount = 4
previous story=[[The Keeper of Traken]]|
|broadcast date= 28 February - 21 March 1981
next story=[[Castrovalva (TV story)|Castrovalva]]
|network = BBC1
|}}'''''Logopolis''''' was the seventh and final story of [[Season 18]] of ''[[Doctor Who]]''. It was [[Tom Baker]]'s last story as the [[Fourth Doctor]] and marked the first appearance of [[Peter Davison]] in the role, at the very end of the story.
|format= 4x25-minute episodes
|serial production code= [[List of production codes|5V]]
|prev = The Keeper of Traken (TV story)
|next=Castrovalva (TV story)
|made prev = The Keeper of Traken (TV story)
|made next=Four to Doomsday (TV story)
|novelisation = Logopolis (novelisation)
|clip = The Doctor Meets Tegan - Doctor Who - Logopolis - BBC
|clip2 = Fourth Doctor regenerates - Tom Baker to Peter Davison - BBC
|thwr = 224
}}
'''''Logopolis''''' was the seventh and final serial of [[Season 18 (Doctor Who 1963)|season 18]] of ''[[Doctor Who]]''. It was the final regular appearance of [[Tom Baker]] as the [[Fourth Doctor]], and introduced [[Peter Davison]] in the role as the [[Fifth Doctor]] in the closing moments in part four. It also introduced [[Janet Fielding]] as new [[companion]] [[Tegan Jovanka]].


''Logopolis'' also marked the first appearance of [[Janet Fielding]] as new [[companion]] [[Tegan Jovanka]]. After being introduced in the previous serial, [[Nyssa]], played by [[Sarah Sutton]], also became an official companion. This was also [[Anthony Ainley]]'s first full story as [[The Master (Tremas)|the Master]].
With this story ending Baker's seven-year tenure as the Doctor, this currently makes Baker, {{as of|2024}}, the longest-serving actor in the role.
 
It also introduced an interim version of the Doctor known as [[the Watcher (Logopolis)|the Watcher]], whose sudden presence foreshadowed [[Fourth Doctor's regeneration|the regeneration of the Doctor]]. What triggered the Watcher's creation, however, was not fully explained, but writer [[Christopher H. Bidmead]] suggested that as multiple incarnations of the Doctor existed, it would be possible that a future, transitional version of himself could travel back in time to watch events unfold. ([[DOC]]: ''[[A New Body at Last (documentary)|A New Body at Last]]'')
 
After being introduced in the previous serial, [[Nyssa]], played by [[Sarah Sutton]], began her travels with the Doctor here. It additionally introduced a recurring element in [[the TARDIS]]'s [[Cloister Bell]]. This was also [[Anthony Ainley]]'s first full story as {{Ainley}}.


== Synopsis ==
== Synopsis ==
The Doctor goes to Logopolis to repair the TARDIS's [[chameleon circuit]], not knowing that a shadowy watcher is spying on him.
The Doctor goes to Logopolis to repair the TARDIS's [[chameleon circuit]], not knowing that a shadowy watcher is spying on him.


His old enemy [[the Master]] has plans of his own for the planet of mathematicians, Logopolis, and a plan that could spell doom for the entire universe.
Meanwhile, his old enemy [[the Master]] has [[The Keeper of Traken (TV story)|only recently]] gained secure longevity by possessing the body of [[Tremas]], and revels in his safety. He has plans of his own for the planet of mathematicians, Logopolis, and a plan that could spell doom for the entire universe.


The Master's plan could rock Logopolis, the keystone of all life. Could this mean the unravelling of the causal nexus and the end of the universe itself?
The Master's plan could rock Logopolis, the keystone of all life. Could this mean the unravelling of the [[causal nexus]] and the [[end of the universe]] itself?


The Doctor must pit his wits against the Master in a desperate battle to thwart his plans. But he is aware that this might be a fight which could easily spell the end of his life.
The Doctor must pit his wits against the Master in a desperate battle to thwart his plans. But he is aware that this might be a fight which could easily spell the end of his life.


== Plot ==
== Plot ==
=== Part one ===
=== Part one ===
[[File:He's watching you.jpg|thumb|right|[[The Watcher]] - but what does he represent?]]
On the [[Barnet Bypass]], [[Policeman 1 (Logopolis)|a policeman]] is talking on the telephone of a [[police box]] in a lay-by. Suddenly, a TARDIS materialises around it in disguise and the phone goes dead. The TARDIS/police box door opens, the policeman is dragged struggling inside and there is an evil chuckle.
A policeman is talking from the telephone of a police box. (which is the Master's TARDIS in disguise.) Suddenly, the phone goes dead, a hand drags him inside, and there is an evil chuckle. The [[Fourth Doctor]] is pacing around in the [[the Doctor's TARDIS|TARDIS]] [[Cloister Room]], pondering decay and entropy. As he and [[Adric]] prepare to leave, the large bell in the centre of the room begins to ring. This worries the Doctor. The sound of the [[Cloister Bell]] is a sign of impending universal catastrophe.


Meanwhile, the [[Fourth Doctor]] is pacing around [[the Doctor's TARDIS|the TARDIS]] [[Cloister Room]], pondering decay and entropy. As he and [[Adric]] prepare to leave, the large bell in the centre of the room begins to ring. This worries the Doctor. The sound of the [[Cloister Bell]] is a sign of impending universal catastrophe.
[[File:Adricontaerdis.jpg|thumb|left|The Doctor and Adric with the police box]]
[[File:Adricontaerdis.jpg|thumb|left|The Doctor and Adric with the police box]]
To keep his mind off this, the Doctor decides to repair the TARDIS's [[chameleon circuit]], which has frozen it into the shape of a [[police box]]. To do this, he intends to materialise the TARDIS around a real police box (thus disguising it), and then obtain its precise measurements in twenty-seven dimensions. With these measurements, he will have the inhabitants of the planet [[Logopolis]] produce a mathematical calculation — a [[Block Transfer Computation]] — to reset the circuit. However, the "police box" he materialises around is actually the TARDIS of [[the Master]], who has survived their [[The Keeper of Traken|encounter on the planet Traken]]. When the Doctor materialises around the Master's TARDIS, a recursive loop of TARDISes within TARDISes is formed.
To divert himself, the Doctor decides to repair the TARDIS's [[chameleon circuit]], which has frozen it into the shape of a police box. To do this, he intends to materialise the TARDIS around a real police box, and then obtain its precise measurements in thirty-seven dimensions. With these measurements, he will have the inhabitants of the planet [[Logopolis]] produce a mathematical calculation — a [[Block Transfer Computation]] — to reset the circuit. However, the "police box" he materialises around is actually [[The Master's TARDIS|the TARDIS of the Master]], who has survived their [[The Keeper of Traken (TV story)|encounter on the planet Traken]]. When the Doctor materialises around the Master's TARDIS, a [[Space loop|recursive loop]] of TARDISes within TARDISes is formed.
 
[[File:He's watching you.jpg|thumb|right|[[The Watcher (Logopolis)|The Watcher]] - but what does he represent?]]
Meanwhile, an airline stewardess, [[Tegan Jovanka]], is being driven to the airport by her [[Auntie Vanessa|Aunt Vanessa]]. The car breaks down and Tegan decides to go to the "police box" for help, but finds herself lost in the TARDIS instead. The Doctor and Adric enter another police box in a duplicate TARDIS, but the Doctor, telling Adric to wait behind, finds himself this time outside the box. He meets a number of [[policemen]], who find the shrunken, dead bodies of Tegan's aunt and the policeman. The Doctor realises that the Master has escaped from the planet Traken and must be somewhere nearby.
Meanwhile, an airline stewardess, [[Tegan Jovanka]], is being driven to the airport by her [[Vanessa (Logopolis)|Aunt Vanessa]]. The car gets a puncture and pulls onto the lay-by. Tegan decides to go to the "police box" to call for help, but finds herself lost in the TARDIS instead. The Doctor and Adric enter another police box in a duplicate TARDIS. The Doctor, telling Adric to wait behind, finds himself emerging from behind the police box. He meets uniformed [[policemen|police officers]], led by a plain-clothes Detective Inspector, who have found the shrunken, dead bodies of Tegan's aunt and the other policeman in the car. The Doctor realises that the Master has escaped from [[Traken]] and must be somewhere nearby.


=== Part two ===
=== Part two ===
[[File:Logopolis_part2.JPG|thumb|left|[[Tegan Jovanka|Tegan]] lost in the [[the Doctor's TARDIS|TARDIS]]]]
The police think the Doctor has caused the incident, but Adric creates a distraction with the policeman's bicycle he has found. This allows the Doctor to escape to the TARDIS, followed by Adric. In the distance, a mysterious, white-clad stranger watches the proceedings. The Doctor dematerialises the TARDIS, leaving behind the real police box. When the Detective Inspector uses the police box's key to open the door, he and his colleagues find only orange road warning lights inside. Realising that the shrunken bodies are the trademark of the Master, the Doctor decides to materialise the TARDIS underwater, to literally flush him out. The Doctor misses the [[River Thames]], however, and lands on a small jetty instead. The mysterious stranger appears here too. He beckons to the Doctor, telling him to go to Logopolis.
The police think the Doctor has caused the incident, but Adric creates a distraction, and allows the Doctor to escape. In the distance, a mysterious white-clad stranger watches the proceedings. Realising that the shrunken bodies are the trademark of the Master, the Doctor decides to materialise the TARDIS underwater, to literally flush him out. The Doctor misses the [[River Thames]], however, and lands on a boat instead. The mysterious stranger appears here too, and beckons to the Doctor, telling him to go to Logopolis.


As the TARDIS arrives at Logopolis, Tegan finds her way to the control room, annoyed. She asks where her aunt is, and the Doctor, realising that Tegan's aunt was the dead woman in the car, skirts the question. Once they exit the TARDIS, the Doctor asks the Logopolitan leader, [[the Monitor]], for his help. The [[Logopolitan]]s are able to model reality by [[pure mathematics]] and whatever they calculate can take physical form. Since block transfer computations cannot be calculated by machines or computers, the Logopolitans speak aloud a line of calculations and pass the results on.
As the TARDIS arrives on Logopolis, Tegan finds her way to the control room, annoyed. She asks where her aunt is. The Doctor, realising that Tegan's aunt was the dead woman in the car, evades the question. Once they exit the TARDIS, the Doctor asks the Logopolitan leader, [[the Monitor]], for his help. The [[Logopolitan]]s are able to model reality by [[pure mathematics]] and whatever they calculate can take physical form. Since block transfer computations cannot be calculated by machines or computers, the Logopolitans speak aloud a line of calculations and pass the results on.


[[File:Log3.jpg|thumb|The TARDIS shrinks]]
Unknown to the group, the Master has arrived on Logopolis and killed several Logopolitans. Adric and Tegan meet with [[Nyssa]], who says she was brought to Logopolis by "a friend of the Doctor". The Logopolitans' deaths have disrupted the calculations for the TARDIS. When the Logopolitans produce the requested computation, the Doctor tries it on the TARDIS. Before the eyes of Adric, Nyssa, Tegan and the Logopolitans, the TARDIS starts to shrink...
Unknown to the group, the Master has arrived on Logopolis, and killed several Logopolitans. This disrupts the calculations for the TARDIS. When the Logopolitans produce the requested computation, the Doctor tries it on the TARDIS. It shrinks it to half its normal size and causes strange effects inside the ship.


=== Part three ===
=== Part three ===
[[File:logopolis3.jpg|thumb|"Nothing like this has ever happened to me before...!"]]
[[File:logopolis3.jpg|thumb|"Nothing like this has ever happened to me before...!"]]
The Logopolitans try to stabilise the TARDIS, using sonic projectors to project a stasis field while the Monitor and Adric attempt to uncover the fault. Meanwhile, [[Nyssa]] has been brought from Traken by [[the Watcher]], the mysterious white figure the Doctor spoke with. She is searching for her father. The Monitor and Adric work through the city and discover the shrunken bodies of three Logopolitans. Fixing the error this has caused, they bring the new computation to the TARDIS. Tegan holds the notes up to the TARDIS so the Doctor is able to read them through the scanner and correct the fault. The Doctor emerges from the now restored TARDIS, and admits to Tegan that her aunt is dead. Meanwhile, Nyssa finds the Master, whom she believes to be her [[File:Logopolis_title.jpg|thumb|left|Nyssa discovers the Master killed her father, Tremas]]father as he is inhabiting [[Tremas]]'s body. The Master gives her a bracelet, which is actually a device which will allow him to control her actions.
The TARDIS is now half its normal size, but still shrinking. The Monitor has the Logopolitans carry the half-size TARDIS to the Central Registry where they can try to stabilise it. They use sonic projectors to produce a stasis field while the Monitor and Adric attempt to uncover the fault. (The Logopolitans use Earth numbers for their calculations, which the Doctor has taught Adric how to read.) Meanwhile, Nyssa identifies [[the Watcher (Logopolis)|the Watcher]], the mysterious white figure the Doctor spoke with, as the man who brought her from [[Traken]]. She is searching for her father. The Monitor and Adric work through the city and discover the shrunken bodies of three Logopolitans. Fixing the error this has caused, they bring the new computation to the TARDIS. Tegan holds the notes up to the TARDIS so the Doctor can read them via the scanner and correct the fault. The Doctor emerges from the restored TARDIS and tells Tegan that her aunt was murdered by the Master. Meanwhile, Nyssa finds the Master, whom she believes is her father as he is inhabiting [[Tremas]]'s body. "Tremas" gives her a bracelet; it is actually a device which will allow him to control her actions.
[[File:Logopolis_title.jpg|thumb|left|Nyssa discovers the Master killed her father, Tremas]]
The Master attaches a device to the sonic projectors and sets up a counter-wave that brings silence to the Central Registry preventing the Registers from making their calculations. He goes to the Registry's control room (a replica of the [[Pharos Project]] on [[Earth]], a [[radio telescope]] tasked to seek out signs of [[alien|extraterrestrial life]]). He demands the Monitor tell him the true purpose of Logopolis. The Doctor arrives with Adric and Nyssa. Adric deactivates the Master's device, but Nyssa, who is controlled by the Master, attempts to throttle him. Tegan restores the device and the Master repeats his demand. The Monitor warns the Master that bringing Logopolis to a halt will cause universal disaster, but the Master replies that it is only a temporary effect. He attempts to demonstrate this assertion by deactivating the suppression device.
 
The silence persists and the calculations do not resume. They go outside, and find all the Logopolitans dead, crumbling to dust, and the city collapsing. The Master thinks this is a trick and tries to have Nyssa strangle the Monitor, but the control device ceases to function. He tries to increase the device's power, but it falls apart as local decay increases. The Monitor explains the situation: the universe has long ago passed the point of [[heat death]]. To stave off final collapse, the Logopolitans have been modelling temporary [[Charged Vacuum Emboitement]]s, like the one through which the TARDIS was [[Full Circle (TV story)|previously transported into E-Space]]. The excess [[entropy]] generated by the universe had been passing through the CVEs to other universes. The Master's interference has closed the CVEs and the universe is now dying at last. The Doctor realises he has no choice. To save the universe, he has to work with the Master. He orders his companions into the TARDIS. When they argue about him working with the Master, the Doctor points out that he never chose to travel with any of them; Adric came aboard as a stowaway, Tegan's curiosity brought her into the Doctor's life, and Nyssa came to him asking for help to find her father. With that, the three return to the TARDIS. The Master holds out his hand to the Doctor on their agreement to work together. "One last hope," says the Doctor and they shake hands.


The Master attaches a device to the sonic projectors and sets up a counterwave that brings silence to the Central Registry, preventing the Registers from making their calculations. He goes to the Registry's control room (a replica of the [[Pharos Project]] on [[Earth]], a [[radio telescope]] tasked to seek out signs of [[alien|extraterrestrial life]]), and demands that the Monitor tell him the true purpose of Logopolis. The Doctor arrives with Adric and Nyssa. Adric deactivates the Master's device, only for the Master to have Nyssa attempt to throttle him. Tegan restores the device, and the Master repeats his demand. The Monitor warns the Master that bringing Logopolis to a halt will cause universal disaster, but the Master replies that it is only a temporary effect, which he attempts to demonstrate by deactivating the suppression device.
=== Part four ===
Adric, Nyssa and Tegan enter the TARDIS. The Doctor has the Watcher take it out of [[space]]/[[time]]. However, Tegan refuses to co-operate and follows the Doctor, the Master and the Monitor back to the Logopolis control room. The Monitor reveals that they had been completing a program to make the CVEs permanent. He prepares to use it on one of the surviving CVEs, but entropy takes hold of him. He disintegrates before their eyes. The Doctor dismantles the computer and realises the program is stored in [[bubble memory]] that they can use with the real Pharos Project. The Doctor, the Master and Tegan escape from Logopolis in the Master's TARDIS.


The silence persists and the calculations do not resume. They go outside, and find all the Logopolitans dead, crumbling to dust and the city collapsing. The Master thinks this is a trick and tries to have Nyssa strangle the Monitor, but the control device ceases to function. He tries to increase the device's power, but it falls apart as local decay increases. The Monitor explains the situation: the universe had long ago passed the point of [[Wikipedia:heat death of the universe|heat death]]. To stave off final collapse, the Logopolitans had been modelling a number of temporary [[Charged Vacuum Emboitment]]s, like the one through which the TARDIS had been [[Full Circle|previously transported into E-Space]]. The excess [[entropy]] generated by the universe had been passing through the CVEs to other universes. The Master's interference has closed the CVEs and the universe is now dying at last. The Doctor realises he has no choice. To save the universe, he has to work with the Master and orders his companions into the TARDIS. When they argue him working with the Master, the Doctor points out that he never chose to travel with any of them; Adric came aboard as a stowaway, Tegan's curiosity brought her into the Doctor's life while Nyssa came to him asking for help finding her father. With that, the three are forced to return to the TARDIS, and the Master holds out his hand to the Doctor on their agreement to work together. "One last hope." says the Doctor and they shake hands.
Adric and Nyssa watch helplessly in the Doctor's TARDIS as a portion of the universe is wiped out by encroaching entropy — including [[Traken]]. On Earth, the two [[Time Lord]]s reconfigure the Logopolitan program and feed it into the Project's computers, but the Master points out that the transmitter is pointed away from the last surviving CVE. After speaking with the Watcher, Adric brings the Doctor's TARDIS to Earth as the Doctor and the Master run to realign the dish. The Doctor's [[companion]]s distract the guards and the two Time Lords go to the dish's control room, hooking up a [[light speed overdrive]] from the Master's TARDIS to ensure the signal gets to the CVE in time. On transmission of the program, the CVE begins stabilising.


=== Part four ===
The Master's co-operation with the Doctor has been a ploy, however. Holding the Doctor at gunpoint with his [[Tissue Compression Eliminator]], he transmits a message to the peoples of the universe, saying that if they do not acknowledge his rule, he will send a signal to close the CVE and restart the collapse. Realising that the Master has control of the CVE "only while that cable holds" the Doctor climbs onto the radio telescope's gantry to disconnect the power cable and the Master tries to prevent him by tilting the dish. The Doctor disconnects the cable, but falls off the tilted gantry. As he hangs onto the disconnected cable, visions of old enemies mock him: [[the Master#A body in decay|the decaying Master]], a [[Dalek]], the [[the Captain|Captain]], the [[Cyber-Leader (Revenge of the Cybermen)|Cyber-Leader]], [[Davros]], a [[Sontaran]], a [[Zygon]] and the [[Black Guardian]]. Losing his grip, the Doctor plummets to the ground. The Master enters his own TARDIS, dematerialising before the Pharos Project guards reach the control room.
[[File:Logopolis_part4.JPG|thumb|left| Final moments of the [[Fourth Doctor]]]]
Adric, Nyssa, and Tegan enter the TARDIS and the Doctor has the Watcher take it out of [[spacetime]]. However, Tegan refuses to co-operate and follows the Doctor, Master and Monitor back to the Logopolis control room. The Monitor reveals that they had been completing a program to make the CVEs permanent. He prepares to use it on one of the surviving CVEs, but entropy takes hold of him. He disintegrates before their eyes. The Doctor dismantles the computer and realises the program is stored in [[bubble memory]] that they can use with the real Pharos Project. The Doctor, Master and Tegan escape from Logopolis in the Master's TARDIS.


Adric and Nyssa watch helplessly in the Doctor's TARDIS as a portion of the universe is wiped out by encroaching entropy — including [[Traken]]. On Earth, the two [[Time Lord]]s reconfigure the Logopolitan program and feed it into the Project's computers, but the Master points out that the transmitter is pointed away from the last surviving CVE. After speaking with the Watcher, Adric brings the Doctor's TARDIS to Earth as the Doctor and the Master run on foot to realign the dish. The Doctor's [[companion]]s distract the guards and the two Time Lords go to the dish's control room, hooking up a [[light speed overdrive]] from the Master's TARDIS to ensure the signal gets to the CVE in time. On transmission of the program, the CVE begins stabilising.
[[File:Fourth-doctor-regenerating.jpg|thumb|[[Fourth Doctor's regeneration|The fourth incarnation regenerates]].]]


The Master's co-operation with the Doctor has been a ploy, however. Holding the Doctor at gunpoint with his [[Tissue Compression Eliminator]], he transmits a message to the peoples of the universe, saying that if they do not acknowledge his rule, he will send a signal to close the CVE and restart the collapse. The Doctor climbs onto the radio telescope's gantry to disconnect the power cable, and the Master tries to prevent him by tilting the dish ninety degrees. The Doctor disconnects the cable, but falls off the gantry. As he hangs onto the disconnected cable, visions of old enemies mock him: The [[The Master (Tersurus)|Decaying Master]], a [[Dalek]], [[the Captain]], the [[Cyber-Leader (Mondas)|Cyber-Leader]], [[Davros]], a [[Sontaran]], a [[Zygon]] and the [[Black Guardian]]. Losing his grip, the Doctor plunges to the ground. The Master enters his own TARDIS and it dematerialises.
The Doctor's companions run to where he has fallen. Dying, the Doctor sees visions of the companions that have accompanied his current incarnation on his travels: [[Sarah Jane Smith]], [[Harry Sullivan]], [[Alistair Gordon Lethbridge-Stewart|Brigadier Alistair Gordon Lethbridge-Stewart]], [[Leela]], [[K9]] and [[Romana]]'s [[Romana I|first]] and [[Romana II|second incarnations]]. Smiling, he looks up at his companions who have gathered at his side and says, "It's the end... but the moment has been prepared for." They turn to see the Watcher approach, and Nyssa realises that "he was the Doctor all the time." As the companions look on, the Watcher merges with the dying Doctor, triggering [[Fourth Doctor's regeneration|his fourth regeneration]]. Moments later the [[Fifth Doctor]] sits up, beaming with a delighted grin.
[[File:Fourth_Doctor_regenerates.png|thumb|The Doctor regenerates into his 5th incarnation]]
The Doctor's companions run to where he has fallen. Dying, the Doctor sees visions of the companions that have accompanied his current form: [[Sarah Jane Smith]], [[Harry Sullivan]], [[Brigadier Lethbridge-Stewart|Brigadier Alister Gordon Lethbridge-Stewart]], [[Leela]], [[K9 Mark I|K9 Mk. I]] and [[K9 Mark II|II]], and [[Romana I|Romana's first]] and [[Romana II|second incarnations]]. He then says "It's the end... but the moment has been prepared for." They turn to see the Watcher approach. As he does so, he merges with the Doctor. Nyssa realises that the Watcher was the future Doctor all the time. As the companions look on, the Fourth Doctor [[regeneration|regenerates]] into a new, younger body — the [[Fifth Doctor]], who sits up.


== Cast ==
== Cast ==
* [[Fourth Doctor|The Doctor]] — [[Tom Baker]]
* [[Fourth Doctor|Doctor Who]] - [[Tom Baker]]
* [[Fifth Doctor|The Doctor]] — [[Peter Davison]]
* [[Adric]] - [[Matthew Waterhouse]]
* [[Adric]] — [[Matthew Waterhouse]]
* [[Tegan Jovanka|Tegan]] - [[Janet Fielding]]
* [[Tegan Jovanka]] — [[Janet Fielding]]
* [[Vanessa (Logopolis)|Aunt Vanessa]] - [[Dolore Whiteman]]
* [[Nyssa]] — [[Sarah Sutton]]
* [[Detective Inspector (Logopolis)|Detective Inspector]] - [[Tom Georgeson]]
* [[Tremas Master|The Master]] - [[Anthony Ainley]]
* [[The Monitor]] - [[John Fraser]]
* [[The Monitor]] - [[John Fraser]]
* [[The Master]] — [[Anthony Ainley]]
* [[Nyssa]] - [[Sarah Sutton]]
* [[Vanessa]] — [[Dolore Whiteman]]
* [[Security guard (Logopolis)|Security Guard]] - [[Christopher Hurst]]
* [[Detective Inspector]]— [[Tom Georgeson]]
* [[Fifth Doctor|Doctor Who]] - [[Peter Davison]]
* Security Guard— [[Christopher Hurst]]


== Production Crew ==
=== Uncredited Cast ===
* [[Watcher (Logopolis)|The Watcher]] - [[Adrian Gibbs]]
* [[Policeman 1 (Logopolis)|Policeman 1]] - [[Ray Knight]]
* Policeman 2 - [[Peter Roy]]
* [[Davis (Logopolis)|PC Davis]] - [[Derek Suthern]]
* Pharos Technician - [[Robin Squire]]
* Security Guards - [[Richard Bonehill|Richard Bonehil]]<nowiki/>l, [[Steve Whyment]], [[Keith Guest]], [[Simon Ramirez]]
 
== Crew ==
* [[Writer]] - [[Christopher H. Bidmead]]
* [[Writer]] - [[Christopher H. Bidmead]]
* [[Assistant Floor Manager]] - [[Val McCrimmon]]
* [[Assistant Floor Manager]] - [[Val McCrimmon]]
Line 90: Line 112:
* [[Film Cameraman]] - [[Peter Hall]]
* [[Film Cameraman]] - [[Peter Hall]]
* [[Film Editor]] - [[Paul Humfress]]
* [[Film Editor]] - [[Paul Humfress]]
* [[Film sound|Film Sound]] - [[Jim McAlister]]
* [[Incidental Music]] - [[Paddy Kingsland]]
* [[Incidental Music]] - [[Paddy Kingsland]]
* [[Make-Up]] - [[Dorka Nieradzik]]
* [[Make-Up]] - [[Dorka Nieradzik]]
* [[Production Assistant]] - [[Patricia Greenland]]
* [[Production Associate]] - [[Angela Smith]]
* [[Production Associate]] - [[Angela Smith]]
* [[Production Manager]] - [[Margot Hayhoe]]
* [[Production Manager]] - [[Margot Hayhoe]]
* [[Script Editor]] - [[Christopher H. Bidmead]]
* [[Script Editor]] - [[Christopher H. Bidmead]]
* [[Senior cameraman|Senior Cameraman]] - [[Reg Poulter]]
* [[Special Sounds]] - [[Dick Mills]]
* [[Special Sounds]] - [[Dick Mills]]
* [[Studio Lighting]] - [[Henry Barber]]
* [[Studio Lighting]] - [[Henry Barber]]
* [[Studio Sound]] - [[John Holmes]]
* [[Studio Sound]] - [[John Holmes (sound designer)|John Holmes]]
* [[Visual Effects]] - [[John Horton]]
* [[Technical manager|Technical Manager]] - [[Terry Brett]]
* [[Videotape editor|Videotape Editor]] - [[Rod Waldron]]
* [[Video effects|Video Effects]] - [[Dave Chapman]]
* [[Vision Mixer]] - [[Carol Johnson]]
* [[Visual Effects|Visual Effects Designer]] - [[John Horton]]
* [[Producer]] - [[John Nathan-Turner]]
* [[Producer]] - [[John Nathan-Turner]]
* [[Director]] - [[Peter Grimwade]]
* [[Director (crew)|Director]] - [[Peter Grimwade]]


== References ==
== Worldbuilding ==
=== Astronomical objects ===
* [[Traken]] and [[Mettula Orionsis]] (Traken's star) are mentioned, both of which Adric and Nyssa witness being destroyed by the entropy field spreading across the Universe.
* The Doctor's transmission of the Logopolis program saves the rest of the Universe, starting with the constellation of [[Cassiopeia]].
 
=== Cultural references from real world ===
* The Doctor misquotes his "old friend [[Thomas Huxley|Huxley]]" by saying, "“The cheese-board is the world; the pieces are the phenomena of the universe". He then corrects himself, says "chess-board" and continues to quote some more.
* The Doctor mentions the [[thermodynamics|second law of thermodynamics]] and [[entropy]].
 
=== The Doctor ===
* The Doctor says to Adric that [[Romana II|Romana]] has "broken the cardinal rule of [[Gallifrey]]. She has become involved, and in a pretty permanent sort of way."
* Before [[Fourth Doctor's regeneration|his regeneration]], the Doctor sees images of {{Pratt}}, a [[Dalek]], the [[Cyber-Leader (Revenge of the Cybermen)|Cyber-Leader]], [[the Captain]], [[Davros]], a [[Sontaran]], a [[Zygon]], the [[Black Guardian]], [[Sarah Jane Smith]], [[Harry Sullivan]], [[Alistair Gordon Lethbridge-Stewart|the Brigadier]], [[Leela]], [[K9]] and [[Romana]]'s [[Romana I|first]] and [[Romana II|second]] incarnations.
* The Doctor uses his trademark [[The Doctor's scarf|scarf]] to trip the Master.


=== [[:Category:The Doctor|The Doctor]] ===
=== Individuals ===
* The Doctor says to Adric that [[Romana II|Romana]] has ''"broken the cardinal rule of [[Gallifrey]]. She has become involved, and in a pretty permanent sort of way."''
* The Doctor has taught Adric how to read [[Earth]] characters. (This is confirmed by Adric reading the [[police box]]'s instruction plate aloud in part one, and later telling the Monitor in part three that the Doctor taught him to how to read Earth numbers.)
* The exact nature of the information given to the Doctor and, later, Adric in unheard conversation with [[The Watcher]] is never revealed.
* The Master had temporarily taken the powers of the [[Keeper of Traken]]. This assisted him in possessing the body of [[Tremas]].
* Prior to his regeneration the Doctor sees images of [[The Master (Tersurus)|the Master]], a [[Dalek]], the [[Cyber-Leader (Mondas)|Cyber-Leader]], [[the Captain]], [[Davros]], a [[Sontaran]], a [[Zygon]], the [[Black Guardian]], [[Sarah Jane Smith]], [[Harry Sullivan]], [[Alistair Gordon Lethbridge-Stewart|the Brigadier]], [[Leela]], [[K9]] and [[Romana]]'s [[Romana I|first]] and [[Romana II|second]] regenerations.
* The school uniform which Romana wore in [[Paris]] in [[1979]] ( [[TV]]: ''[[City of Death (TV story)|City of Death]]'') is shown to be in [[Romana's TARDIS bedroom|her TARDIS bedroom]].
* The Doctor uses his trademark scarf to trip the Master.


=== [[:Category:Species|Species]] ===
=== Locations ===
* The [[Logopolitan]]s are vital to the stability of the [[Universe]]. They discovered long ago that the Universe had passed the natural point of total collapse and so used [[block transfer computation]] to create [[Charged Vacuum Emboitment]]s into other universes.
* The Doctor wants to materialise the TARDIS underwater, in the [[Thames]], but the TARDIS lands on a small jetty near the banks.


=== [[:Category:Astronomical objects|Astronomical objects]] ===
=== Species ===
* The entropy field caused by the destruction of [[Logopolis]] also destroys a portion of the universe; [[Traken]] and [[Metulla Orionsis]] (Traken's star) are mentioned.
* The [[Logopolitan]]s are vital to the stability of the [[universe]]. They discovered long ago that the Universe had passed the natural point of total collapse and so used [[block transfer computation]] to create [[Charged Vacuum Emboitement]]s into other universes.
* The Doctor's transmission of the Logopolis program saves the rest of the Universe, starting with the constellation of [[Cassiopeia]].


=== [[:Category:TARDIS|TARDISes]] ===
=== TARDIS ===
* The Doctor and Adric walk around the [[TARDIS cloisters]].
* The Doctor and Adric walk around the [[Cloister Room|TARDIS cloisters]].
* The [[Cloister Bell]] is described as 'a sort of communication device reserved for wild catastrophes and sudden calls to man the battle stations'.
* The [[Cloister Bell]] is described as "a sort of communication device reserved for wild catastrophes and sudden calls to man the battle stations".
* The Doctor states that the TARDIS was in Gallifrey for repairs when he 'borrowed' her. ''"There were rather pressing reasons at the time"''
* Just before the Master's TARDIS materialises into the Doctor's one, Adric and the Fourth Doctor guess a [[gravity bubble]] is responsible for the instrumentation failure of the TARDIS.
* There are references to the TARDIS' faulty [[chameleon circuit]] and a demonstration of how it ''could'' function.
* There are references to the TARDIS's faulty [[chameleon circuit]] and a demonstration of how it ''could'' function if properly working.
* After picking up Adric and Nyssa, the Watcher disconnects 'the entire co-ordinate sub-system' of [[the Doctor's TARDIS]], which takes it ''"out of [[time]] and [[space]]"''.
* After picking up Adric and Nyssa, the Watcher disconnects "the entire co-ordinate sub-system" of [[the Doctor's TARDIS]], which takes it "out of [[time]] and [[space]]".
* [[The Master's TARDIS]] disguises itself as a [[police box]], a tree and a Doric column at various times.
* [[The Master's TARDIS]] disguises itself as a [[police box]], a [[tree]] and a [[Doric column]] at various times.
* The Master suggests ''"we reconfigure our two TARDISes into [[time cone inverter]]s... We create a stable safe zone by applying [[temporal inversion isometry]] to as much of [[space]]/[[time]] as we can isolate."''.
* The Master suggests, "We reconfigure our two TARDISes into [[time cone inverter]]s... We create a stable safe zone by applying [[temporal inversion isometry]] to as much of [[space]]/[[time]] as we can isolate.".
* Through the [[Architectural Configuration]], the Doctor jettisons [[Romana]]'s room.


=== [[:Category:Technology|Technology]] ===
=== Technology ===
* On Logopolis, [[sonic projector]]s are said to ''"create a temporary zone of [[stasis]]"''. The mathematics of block transfer computation is a way of modelling space/time events through pure calculation
* On Logopolis, [[sonic projector]]s are said to "create a temporary [[Stasis field|zone of stasis]]".
* The Central Registry on Logopolis is a duplicate of the [[Pharos Project]] on [[Earth]].
* The Central Registry on Logopolis is a duplicate of the [[Pharos Project]] on [[Earth]].
* The Master uses an [[electro-muscular constrictor]] to take control over [[Nyssa]]'s hand.


== Story notes ==
== Story notes ==
* This story was the last to feature [[Tom Baker]] as "the current" Doctor. He would reprise his role on screen only in recorded links for the video release of the incomplete ''[[Shada (TV story)|Shada]]'' in [[1992]] and then on the [[Children in Need]] special ''[[Dimensions in Time]]'' (1993), and for the [[BBC Audio]] story arcs ''[[Hornets' Nest]]'' in [[2009]] and [[Demon Quest]] in [[2010]]. Tom Baker holds the record for having the longest tenure (seven years) as the Doctor on-screen, although both [[Sylvester McCoy]] and [[Paul McGann]] would later be considered the "current Doctor" for about nine years each.
* The policeman using the telephone in the police box in the opening scene of the story is named in Christopher H. Bidmead's [[Logopolis (novelisation)|novelisation]] as P.C. Donald Seagrave. This was not derived from any information given in the televised version.
* The key plot point of shunting excess entropy into another universe was previously used in [[Wikipedia:Isaac Asimov|Isaac Asimov]]'s novel ''[[Wikipedia:The Gods Themselves|The Gods Themselves]]''.
* This serial arguably — as pointed out in ''[[About Time 5]]'' by [[Lawrence Miles]] and [[Tat Wood]] — has the largest body count of any ''Doctor Who'' story, albeit not graphically shown, as the destruction of Logopolis apparently causes a significant portion of the entire universe to be swallowed by a wave of entropy. At the very least, the [[Traken Union]] is destroyed, which would put the death toll in the billions and make the Master a mass killer on an unprecedented scale, albeit not by intent. The [[Last Great Time War]] and [[The Flux]] potentially had a higher body count, but even were a death toll to be given, it occurred off-screen.
* This serial arguably — as pointed out in ''[[About Time 5]]'' by [[Lawrence Miles]] and [[Tat Wood]] — has the largest body count of any ''Doctor Who'' story, albeit not graphically shown, as the destruction of Logopolis apparently causes a significant portion of the entire universe to be swallowed by a wave of entropy. At the very least, the [[Traken|Traken Union]] is destroyed, which would put the death toll in the billions and make the Master a mass killer on an unprecedented scale, albeit not by intent. The [[Last Great Time War]] potentially had a higher body count, but even were a death toll to be given, it occurred off-screen.
* [[Christopher H. Bidmead]]'s inspiration for the [[Recursion|recursive loop]] scene came from the end of ''[[The Keeper of Traken (TV story)|The Keeper of Traken]]'', in which the Master escapes via [[The Master's TARDIS|a TARDIS]] within the [[Melkur]], which was also a TARDIS. ([[DOC]]: ''[[A New Body at Last (documentary)|A New Body at Last]]'')
* This is one of the very first instances of a Doctor Who season having an overall story arc leading up to the season finale. This would become standard practice from 2005 onwards.
* This story is the first to feature a human companion since [[Leela]] left the Doctor in ''[[The Invasion of Time (TV story)|The Invasion of Time]]'', and the first to feature one from contemporary Earth since [[Sarah Jane Smith]]'s departure in ''[[The Hand of Fear (TV story)|The Hand of Fear]]''.
* In ''[[The Keeper of Traken]]'', the Master's escape in a TARDIS within the Melkur TARDIS was Bidmead's inspiration for the [[Recursion|recursive]] loop. ([[DOC]]: ''[[A New Body at Last]]'')
** Coincidentally, both Elisabeth Sladen and Louise Jameson, who played Sarah Jane and Leela respectively, were asked to reprise their roles for ''Logopolis''.<ref>http://www.shannonsullivan.com/doctorwho/serials/5v.html</ref>
=== Closing Credits ===
* The story was repeated on [[BBC2]] on consecutive evenings from Monday 30 November to Thursday 3 December 1981 as part of the repeat season ''[[The Five Faces of Doctor Who]]''. The ''Radio Times'' programme listing for the repeat of part one was accompanied by a black-and-white head-and-shoulders publicity shot of the Doctor taken during location filming for [[TV]]: ''[[The Masque of Mandragora (TV story)|The Masque of Mandragora]]'', with the accompanying caption "Another trip through time and space for Doctor Who (Tom Baker): 5.40". ''(original published text)''
At the end of Episode 4:
* Logopolis comes from two ancient Greek words and means "city of speech," alluding to the oral calculations recited by the Logopolitans.
* Tom Baker's face was electronically removed and the titles were re-shot with Peter Davison's face for the following story, ''[[Castrovalva (TV story)|Castrovalva]]''.
* This is the first regeneration story in which the Doctor is shown to be fully conscious immediately after regenerating, a precedent that would be followed by most later regenerations, with the sole exception of ''[[Time and the Rani (TV story)|Time and the Rani]]'' (on account of the [[Sixth Doctor]] having already been unconscious as per the events of ''[[The Brink of Death (audio story)|The Brink of Death]]'').
* The lead character was listed as "Doctor Who" for the last time for the next twenty-four years. Beginning with ''[[Castrovalva (TV story)|Castrovalva]]'', until the series' cancellation in 1989, the character was credited simply as "The Doctor". The [[Doctor Who (1996)|1996 television film]] did not have an on-screen character name credit for either the [[Eighth Doctor]] or [[Seventh Doctor]]; however, the press kit for the film credits them as "The Doctor" and "The Old Doctor" respectively. The [[Rose (TV story)|2005 relaunch]] reverted to using "Doctor Who" until switching again to "The Doctor" starting with ''[[The Christmas Invasion]]''.
* The Doctor reveals a small panel on one of the TARDIS control panels, with a keyboard which the Doctor can input an exterior appearance for the TARDIS. This is the first instance that reveals the TARDIS's chameleon circuit can be manually overridden, so there is no need for the automatic system.
* This is the first episode to credit an actor after a regeneration. Two actors were credited as either "Doctor Who" or "The Doctor" for the first time when a regeneration scene was involved. This also happened at the ends of ''[[The Caves of Androzani]]'', ''[[The Parting of the Ways]]'' and ''[[The End of Time (TV story)|The End of Time]]''. In both of the first two instances Peter Davison received second billing.
* This is the last story for [[Barry Letts]] as executive producer and also the last story he contributed to.
* {{w|Harry Andrews}}, [[Bernard Archard]], [[Geoffrey Bayldon]], [[Peter Cushing]], [[Maurice Denham]], [[Frank Finlay]], {{w|Barry Foster (actor)|Barry Foster}}, [[Marius Goring]], [[Michael Gough]], [[William Lucas]], [[Nigel Stock]], [[Frank Windsor]] and [[Peter Wyngarde]] were considered for the Monitor.
* {{w|Alun Armstrong}}, [[Paul Jerricho]], [[Alec Sabin]], [[John Savident]] and [[Michael Sheard]] were considered for the Detective Inspector.
* {{w|Dorothy Alison}} was considered for Aunt Vanessa.
* [[Sarah Jane Smith|Sarah]] and/or [[Leela]] were considered to return in order to give a familiar face for the Fourth Doctor to go through his regeneration story and ensure a smooth transition. [[Elisabeth Sladen]] and [[Louise Jameson]] declined to return, so Nyssa and Tegan were brought in.
* The Doctor was supposed to scream as he fell to his death. [[Tom Baker]] disagreed, as he felt it was unheroic. He was unhappy with the fact that the final image that viewers would see of his Doctor would be of him lying prone, being photographed from above.
* It was decided to hold off the Master's first on-screen appearance until part three, in order to make the audience wonder if the Watcher might actually be the evil Time Lord.
* During one take of the regeneration, [[Tom Baker]] turned to [[Matthew Waterhouse]] and said, "Adric, you're a c**t and you always will be".
* [[Christopher H. Bidmead]] was a keen computer enthusiast, and used many ideas from computer science in developing his scripts, with elements such as the Monitor, block transfers, and registers all being derived from terminology in computer architecture. Eager to inject ''Doctor Who'' with real scientific notions, Bidmead also drew upon the physics discipline of thermodynamics, making heavy use of the concept of entropy: the measure of unavailable energy in a system, which effectively increases as a system becomes homogeneous. He got a lot of the ideas and language of the story from taking apart and looking at the inner workings of his Vector Graphics MZ system.
* [[John Nathan-Turner]] noticed that a real police box still stood on the Barnet Bypass in London. [[Christopher H. Bidmead]] was fascinated with the TARDIS, and wanted to explore its properties more fully. The Barnet Bypass police box was the last of its kind left in the country. Sadly, the real police box was vandalised and demolished shortly before production started, so the TARDIS prop from the previous season was refurbished and used.
* At the [[Longleat]] celebration, [[Tom Baker]] was asked why he left the series. He replied that he was pushed - by [[Anthony Ainley]].
* [[Christopher H. Bidmead]] defended the scenes where the Doctor attempts to flush the Master out of his TARDIS and the Master holding the universe to ransom with a tape recorder by asking "Does it seem far fetched now we have the internet?"
* [[Tom Baker]] recalled on the [[DVD]] commentary that he was dreading leaving the series and was pretty angry all the time on the shoot. He couldn't take comments or direction from anyone. [[Janet Fielding]] confirms that he was angry with everybody. [[John Nathan-Turner]] claimed that when Baker had finished his last scene, he quietly slipped away without a word.
* When the production crew was unable to locate the owner of the house that [[Peter Grimwade]] had originally intended to use for Aunt Vanessa's residence, they instead moved further up the same street to the home of [[Andrew McCulloch]], who had co-written ''[[Meglos (TV story)|Meglos]]'' earlier that year.
* Logopolis came from the Greek word for "city of numbers".
* The Pharos Project was named for the Egyptian island on which once stood [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lighthouse_of_Alexandria the Lighthouse of Alexandria], one of [[Seven Wonders of the World|the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World]].
* The mystery surrounding the Watcher was felt to be a crucial element to hold the viewers' interest, and so it was decided to hold off the Master's first on-screen appearance until part three, in order to make the audience wonder if the Watcher might actually be the evil Time Lord in disguise.
* [[Tom Baker]] started filming his final story three days after his wedding to [[Lalla Ward]].
* Filming had to proceed without [[Tom Baker]] and [[Matthew Waterhouse]] when a studio day for ''[[The Keeper of Traken (TV story)|The Keeper of Traken]]'' was remounted after being cancelled by an industrial dispute by BBC electricians. As a result, the production crew focused on material involving Tegan at the lay-by on the Barnet Bypass.
* On [[13 March (releases)|13 March]] [[2019 (releases)|2019]] only, special cinema screenings of ''Logopolis'' were shown all around the [[United States]].<ref>https://www.showtimes.com/movies/doctor-who-logopolis-137453/movie-times/</ref>
 
=== Closing credits ===
At the end of part four:
* The usual image of [[Tom Baker]]'s face (and by extension, much of the starfield footage in the closing credits) was electronically blurred as a method of signifying his departure, and the titles and credits were re-shot with [[Peter Davison]]'s face for the following story, ''[[Castrovalva (TV story)|Castrovalva]]''.
* The lead character was listed as "Doctor Who" for the last time for the next twenty-four years. Beginning with ''[[Castrovalva (TV story)|Castrovalva]]'', until the series' cancellation in 1989, the character was credited simply as "The Doctor" at the request of Peter Davison. The [[Doctor Who (TV story)|1996 television film]] did not have an on-screen character name credit for either the [[Eighth Doctor]] or [[Seventh Doctor]]; however, the press kit for the film credits them as "The Doctor" and "The Old Doctor" respectively. The [[Rose (TV story)|2005 relaunch]] reverted to using "Doctor Who" until switching again to "The Doctor" at David Tennant's request, starting with ''[[The Christmas Invasion (TV story)|The Christmas Invasion]]''.
* This is the first regeneration story to credit both the departing and succeeding actors playing the role of the Doctor. [[Patrick Troughton]] and [[Tom Baker]] were not credited for their appearances in ''[[The Tenth Planet (TV story)|The Tenth Planet]]'' and ''[[Planet of the Spiders (TV story)|Planet of the Spiders]]'' respectively, while [[Jon Pertwee]] did not appear at all in ''[[The War Games (TV story)|The War Games]]''. This also happened at the end credits of ''[[The Caves of Androzani (TV story)|The Caves of Androzani]]'', ''[[The Parting of the Ways (TV story)|The Parting of the Ways]]'', ''[[The End of Time (TV story)|The End of Time]]'', ''[[The Night of the Doctor (TV story)|The Night of the Doctor]]'', ''[[The Time of the Doctor (TV story)|The Time of the Doctor]]'', ''[[Twice Upon a Time (TV story)|Twice Upon a Time]]'' and ''[[The Power of the Doctor (TV story)|The Power of the Doctor]]''. In both of the first two instances, Peter Davison received second billing.


=== Ratings ===
=== Ratings ===
* Part 1 - 7.1 million viewers
* Part one - 7.1 million viewers
* Part 2 - 7.7 million viewers
* Part two - 7.7 million viewers
* Part 3 - 5.8 million viewers
* Part three - 5.8 million viewers
* Part 4 - 6.1 million viewers
* Part four - 6.1 million viewers
 
=== Myths ===
''to be added''


=== Filming locations ===
=== Filming locations ===
* Ursula Street, Battersea, London (Outside Vanessa's house)
* Ursula Street, Battersea, London (Outside Vanessa's house)
* Cadogan Pier, Chelsea Embankment, London (the barge the Doctor lands his TARDIS on)
* Cadogan Pier, Chelsea Embankment, London (the barge the Doctor lands his TARDIS on)
* Amersham Road (A413), Denham, Buckinghamshire (the motorway the Doctor lands the TARDIS next to)
* Amersham Road (A413), Denham, Buckinghamshire (the main road the Doctor lands the TARDIS next to)
* Albert Bridge, London (location where the watcher first beckons from)
* Albert Bridge, London (location where the Watcher first beckons from)
* Crowsley Park BBC Receiving Station, Blounts Court Road, Sonning Common, Berkshire (doubled as the Pharos Project for some external shots)
* Crowsley Park BBC Receiving Station, Blounts Court Road, Sonning Common, Berkshire (doubled as the Pharos Project for some external shots)
* The Lovell Telescope at [[Jodrell Bank]] was used for the filming of the location scenes at the Pharos Project.
* [[BBC Television Centre]] ([[List of stories recorded at BBC Television Centre|TC3 &amp; TC6]]), Shepherd's Bush, [[London]]
* [[BBC Television Centre]] ([[List of stories recorded at BBC Television Centre|TC3 &amp; TC6]]), Shepherd's Bush, [[London]]


=== Production errors ===
=== Production errors ===
{{discontinuity}}
{{discontinuity}}
* When the Master puts the bracelet onto Nyssa's wrist, part of it falls off.
* After Tegan closes the front door of Aunt Vanessa's house in part one, when she is shown returning to Aunt Vanessa's car, the front door of the house is visibly open again in the background.
* When the Master puts the mind control bracelet onto Nyssa's wrist, part of it falls off.
* In part four, when the Master enters his TARDIS, his shadow stays after it dematerialises.
* In part four, when the Master enters his TARDIS, his shadow stays after it dematerialises.
* At the beginning of part 2, when the Doctor and Adric are going back to the TARDIS to escape the policemen, the Doctor opens the door to the right, however Adric goes through a door that is open to the left.
* At the beginning of part two, when the Doctor and Adric are going back to the TARDIS to escape the policemen, the Doctor opens the door to the right, but Adric goes through a door that is open to the left.
* When the policemen open the police box and find that the Doctor and Adric have vanished, there does not appear to be any windows in the rear wall. This may have something to do with the shot in part 1, where the Doctor exits the TARDIS from the back, due to the dimensional anomaly.
* When the policemen open the police box and find that the Doctor and Adric have vanished, there do not appear to be any windows in the rear wall. This may have something to do with the shot in part one, where the Doctor exits the TARDIS from the back, due to the dimensional anomaly.
* The Doctor's flashback of the Master is of him saying "Predictable as ever, Doctor.", from episode one of [[DW]]: ''[[The Deadly Assassin]]'', but the Doctor was not actually present when the Master said that.
* When the TARDIS is shrunk, it is first seen without the police box instruction plate. Later, as the shrunken TARDIS is carried away to the Central Registry by the Logopolitans , the instruction plate is there.
* When the TARDIS is shrunk, it is first seen without the "public use" placard. Later, as it is wheeled away, the plaque is there.
* Near the end of part four, whilst the Doctor is crawling across the gantry of the satellite tower, you can easily tell the image of the Master in the doorway behind the Doctor is a photographic blowup because he doesn't move at all, you can't see behind him well and it doesn't at all look lifelike.
* When The Doctor is climbing on the gantry, it is obvious that when The Master is standing in the background, he is a cardboard cut out.
* The Doctor reaches out an arm toward the Watcher before regenerating, but when the Fifth Doctor sits up both his hands are resting on his chest.
* When the Master's TARDIS dematerialises at the end of part four, a light illuminates on the control panel in the background, showing that the dematerialisation is simply a fade between shots.
 
=== Updated Special Effects ===
The story received an '''Updated Special Effects''' version in the [[18 March (releases)|18 March]] [[2019 (releases)|2019]] release of [[Season 18 (Doctor Who 1963)|Season 18]] in ''[[The Collection]]''. The effects were done by [[Niel Bushnell]].{{Store variant data|variant=Updated Special Effects|release date =18 March 2019}}
 
This edition notably featured footage specially-filmed at [[Jodrell Bank Observatory]], with [[Ethan Jones]] doubling for the [[Fourth Doctor]].
 
==== Deviations from original serial ====
''to be added''
 
==== Crew ====
* Special effects - [[Niel Bushnell]]
* [[Fourth Doctor]] body double - [[Ethan Jones]]
 
== Continuity ==
* The Doctor and Adric discuss [[Romana II]]'s recent departure. ([[TV]]: ''[[Warriors' Gate (TV story)|Warriors' Gate]]'')
* The Doctor tells Adric that there were "pressing reasons" for his departure from [[Gallifrey]]. ([[AUDIO]]: ''[[The Beginning (audio story)|The Beginning]]'', [[PROSE]]: ''[[Lungbarrow (novel)|Lungbarrow]]'')
* The [[Third Doctor]] and {{delgado}} previously confronted each other on top of another radio telescope near [[Tarminster]] in the [[1970s]]. ([[TV]]: ''[[Terror of the Autons (TV story)|Terror of the Autons]]'')
* When the [[Fifth Doctor]] attempts to return Tegan to [[Heathrow Airport]], he asks her to confirm the date and time of the flight she missed by entering the TARDIS. She says she was destined for flight A778 at 1730 on [[28 February]] [[1981]] when she entered the TARDIS. ([[TV]]: ''[[Four to Doomsday (TV story)|Four to Doomsday]]'')
* The Doctor reaffirms that he hates farewells. ([[TV]]: ''[[Robot (TV story)|Robot]]'')
* The Doctor mentions [[76 Totter's Lane|Totter's Yard]]. ([[TV]]: ''[[An Unearthly Child (TV story)|An Unearthly Child]]'')
* The Third Doctor and the Master previously had a similar problem with their TARDISes becoming intertwined. ([[TV]]: ''[[The Time Monster (TV story)|The Time Monster]]'')
* The Doctor travels to Logopolis in the hope of having the TARDIS's chameleon circuit repaired. However, earlier in his fourth incarnation, he had described the idea of his future self repairing it as "vulgar." ([[AUDIO]]: ''[[The Light at the End (audio story)|The Light at the End]]'') The [[Sixth Doctor]] was later able to temporarily repair it. ([[TV]]: ''[[Attack of the Cybermen (TV story)|Attack of the Cybermen]]'')
* In a [[parallel universe]] in which [[The Valeyard (He Jests at Scars...)|the Valeyard]] killed the [[Sixth Doctor]] and acquired his seven remaining [[regeneration]]s, the Valeyard intended to stop the Fourth Doctor from destroying Logopolis and steal the Doctor's TARDIS. ([[AUDIO]]: ''[[He Jests at Scars... (audio story)|He Jests at Scars...]]'')
* The [[First Doctor]], [[Steven Taylor]] and [[Dodo Chaplet]] visited Logopolis after leaving [[13th century]] [[Kiev]]. ([[AUDIO]]: ''[[He Jests at Scars... (audio story)|He Jests at Scars...]]''; [[PROSE]]: ''[[Bunker Soldiers (novel)|Bunker Soldiers]]'')
* Before his death, the Fourth Doctor remembered some the enemies he had encountered in this incarnation:
** {{Pratt|c}} ([[TV]]: ''[[The Deadly Assassin (TV story)|The Deadly Assassin]]'')
** A [[Dalek]] ([[TV]]: ''[[Destiny of the Daleks (TV story)|Destiny of the Daleks]]'')
** [[The Captain]] ([[TV]]: ''[[The Pirate Planet (TV story)|The Pirate Planet]]'')
** A [[Cyber-Leader (Revenge of the Cybermen)|Cyber-Leader]] ([[TV]]: ''[[Revenge of the Cybermen (TV story)|Revenge of the Cybermen]]'')
** [[Davros]] ([[TV]]: ''[[Genesis of the Daleks (TV story)|Genesis of the Daleks]]'')
** A [[Sontaran]] ([[TV]]: ''[[The Invasion of Time (TV story)|The Invasion of Time]]'')
** A [[Zygon]] ([[TV]]: ''[[Terror of the Zygons (TV story)|Terror of the Zygons]]'')
** The [[Black Guardian]] ([[TV]]: ''[[The Armageddon Factor (TV story)|The Armageddon Factor]]'')
* The Doctor would later fall from greater heights without regenerating. ([[TV]]: ''[[The End of Time (TV story)|The End of Time]]'', ''[[The Woman Who Fell to Earth (TV story)|The Woman Who Fell to Earth]]'')
* The beginning of the Master's speech, "People of the universe, please attend carefully," would later be quoted by his [[The Master#As Harold Saxon|future]] [[The Master#As Missy|selves]]. ([[TV]]: ''[[The Sound of Drums (TV story)|The Sound of Drums]]''; [[COMIC]]: ''[[The Abominable Showmen (comic story)|The Abominable Showmen]]'')
** Despite this being the first time mentioned on TV, those words had apparently already been used by a {{Delgado|n=former incarnation}}. ([[COMIC]]: ''[[The Heralds of Destruction (comic story)|The Heralds of Destruction]]'')
 
== Home video and audio releases ==
=== DVD releases ===
This story was released on DVD as part of the [[New Beginnings]] box set, alongside ''[[The Keeper of Traken (TV story)|The Keeper of Traken]]'' and ''[[Castrovalva (TV story)|Castrovalva]]''.


== [[Fourth Doctor - Timeline|Timeline]] ==
Special features include:
* This story takes place after [[DW]]: ''[[The Keeper of Traken]]''
* Commentary by [[Tom Baker]] ([[Fourth Doctor|the Doctor]]), [[Janet Fielding]] ([[Tegan Jovanka]]) and [[Christopher H. Bidmead]] (writer)
* This story takes place contemporaneously with [[DW]]: ''[[Four to Doomsday]]''
* ''[[A New Body at Last (documentary)|A New Body at Last]]'' - A new 50-minute documentary looking at the transition from Tom Baker to [[Peter Davison]], featuring many of the actors and production team involved, including exclusive behind-the-scenes footage of the [[regeneration]]
* This story takes place before [[DW]]: ''[[Castrovalva (TV story)|Castrovalva]]''
* ''[[Nationwide]]'' - Interviews from the BBC news magazine show with Tom Baker and Peter Davison
* ''[[Pebble Mill at One]]'' - Peter Davison interviewed on the long-running BBC lunchtime show
* ''[[BBC News Reports]]'' - on Tom Baker's wedding, the announcement of Tom Baker's departure and Peter Davison's arrival
* Music-only Option - The original score for this story is included on a separate soundtrack
* Trailers & Continuity Announcements
* ''[[Radio Times]]'' Billings - Articles and listings from ''Radio Times'' (PDF DVD-ROM)
* ''[[Doctor Who Annual 1982|The Doctor Who Annual 1982]]'' (PDF DVD-ROM)
* [[BBC Worldwide|BBC Enterprises]] literature (PDF-DVD-ROM)
* Photo Gallery
* Production Subtitles
 
<gallery position="center" captionalign="center" hideaddbutton="true">
File:Bbcdvd-logopolis.jpg|Region 2 UK cover
New Beginnings DVD box set UK cover.jpg|New Beginnings boxset
Logopolis DVD US cover.jpg|Region 1 US cover
Logopolis australia.jpg|Region 4 AUS cover
</gallery>
 
=== Blu-ray release: ===
This story was released alongside the rest of Season 18 on the 18th of March 2019 as part of The Collection range. This release contains remastered film footage from their original elements and upscaled studio footage in order to present this serial in HD.
 
Special Features include:
* Audio Commentary by actors [[Tom Baker]] and [[Janet Fielding]] and writer [[Christopher H. Bidmead]].
* Info Text
* Isolated Music Soundtrack
* Optional Updated Special Effects - Including new footage filmed at Jodrell Bank.
* Hanging on by a Thread - Making-of Documentary. New for 2019, With Tom Baker, Janet Fielding, Sarah Sutton, Matthew Waterhouse, Christopher H. Bidmead, June Hudson, Adrian Gibbs (The Watcher), Paddy Kingsland (Music), Malcolm Thornton (Designer) and Margot Hayhoe (Production Manager).
* ''[[A New Body at Last (documentary)|A New Body at Last]]'' - 2006 DVD 50-minute documentary, featuring Tom Baker, Peter Davison, Sarah Sutton, Matthew Waterhouse, John Black, Peter Moffat, Christopher H. Bidmead & Adrian Gibbs.
* Behind the Sofa
* Studio Footage - Go behind the scenes of the regeneration.
* Audio Restoration - A brief look at restoration work on this story.
* Tomorrow's Times - Press coverage of the Fourth Doctor's era.
* Stripped For Action - The Fourth Doctor's comic strips.
* Doctor Who Stories - A 2003 interview with Tom Baker.
* BBC1 Continuity Announcements
* The Five Faces of Doctor Who - Trailer for the repeat season screened in 1981.
* HD Photo Gallery
* PDF Written Archive
* Science Featurette - Entropy explained.
 
=== VHS Release ===
The story was released on VHS on [[2 March (releases)|2 March]] [[1992 (releases)|1992]].
 
<gallery position="center" captionalign="center" hideaddbutton="true">
Logopolis uk vhs.jpg|UK cover
</gallery>


== External links ==
== External links ==
* {{bbcepguideclassic|logopolis/|Logopolis}}
* {{bbcepguideclassic|logopolis/|Logopolis}}
* {{dwrefguide|who_5v.htm|Logopolis}}
* {{radiotimes|2011-05-06/logopolis}}
{{dwcast}}
{{dwrefguide|who_5v.htm|Logopolis}}
* {{briefhistory|serials/5v.html|Logopolis}}
* {{briefhistory|serials/5v.html|Logopolis}}
* {{locguide|logopolis|Logopolis}}
* {{locguide|logopolis|Logopolis}}
* [http://www.fiveminute.net/doctorwho/fiver.php?ep=logopolis Five-Minute '''Logopolis'''] — Parody version


{{DWTV}}  
== Footnotes ==
{{reflist}}
 
{{DWTV}}
{{Revised editions of Doctor Who TV stories}}
{{Regeneration stories}}
{{Regeneration stories}}
{{Master stories}}
{{Tremas Master stories}}
{{Dalek stories}}
{{Dalek stories}}
{{Wikipedia|Logopolis}}
{{TitleSort}}
{{TitleSort}}
{{StoryImages}}
[[es:Logopolis (serial)]]
[[ru:Логополис (ТВ история)]]


[[Category:Articles that were originally Wikipedia forks]]
[[Category:Articles that were originally Wikipedia forks]]
[[Category:Doctor Who (1963) television stories]]
[[Category:Doctor Who (1963) television stories]]
[[Category:Fourth Doctor television stories]]
[[Category:Tremas Master television stories]]
[[Category:The Master television stories]]
[[Category:Stories set in 1981]]
[[Category:Stories set in 1981]]
[[Category:1981 television stories]]
[[Category:1981 television stories]]
[[Category:Stories set in London]]
[[Category:Stories set in London]]
[[Category:Regeneration television stories]]
[[Category:Regeneration television stories]]
[[Category:Fifth Doctor television stories]]
[[Category:Season 18 stories]]
[[Category:Season 18 stories]]
[[Category:Zygon stories]]
[[Category:Stories set on Traken]]
[[Category:Black Guardian stories]]
[[Category:Stories set in Sussex]]
[[Category:Fifth Doctor television stories]]
[[Category:New Beginnings television stories]]
[[Category:Entropy arc]]
[[Category:K9 television stories]]
[[Category:Stories that have been novelised]]
[[Category:Sarah Jane Smith television stories]]

Latest revision as of 20:51, 30 November 2024

RealWorld.png

Logopolis was the seventh and final serial of season 18 of Doctor Who. It was the final regular appearance of Tom Baker as the Fourth Doctor, and introduced Peter Davison in the role as the Fifth Doctor in the closing moments in part four. It also introduced Janet Fielding as new companion Tegan Jovanka.

With this story ending Baker's seven-year tenure as the Doctor, this currently makes Baker, As of 2024, the longest-serving actor in the role.

It also introduced an interim version of the Doctor known as the Watcher, whose sudden presence foreshadowed the regeneration of the Doctor. What triggered the Watcher's creation, however, was not fully explained, but writer Christopher H. Bidmead suggested that as multiple incarnations of the Doctor existed, it would be possible that a future, transitional version of himself could travel back in time to watch events unfold. (DOC: A New Body at Last)

After being introduced in the previous serial, Nyssa, played by Sarah Sutton, began her travels with the Doctor here. It additionally introduced a recurring element in the TARDIS's Cloister Bell. This was also Anthony Ainley's first full story as the Tremas Master.

Synopsis[[edit] | [edit source]]

The Doctor goes to Logopolis to repair the TARDIS's chameleon circuit, not knowing that a shadowy watcher is spying on him.

Meanwhile, his old enemy the Master has only recently gained secure longevity by possessing the body of Tremas, and revels in his safety. He has plans of his own for the planet of mathematicians, Logopolis, and a plan that could spell doom for the entire universe.

The Master's plan could rock Logopolis, the keystone of all life. Could this mean the unravelling of the causal nexus and the end of the universe itself?

The Doctor must pit his wits against the Master in a desperate battle to thwart his plans. But he is aware that this might be a fight which could easily spell the end of his life.

Plot[[edit] | [edit source]]

Part one[[edit] | [edit source]]

On the Barnet Bypass, a policeman is talking on the telephone of a police box in a lay-by. Suddenly, a TARDIS materialises around it in disguise and the phone goes dead. The TARDIS/police box door opens, the policeman is dragged struggling inside and there is an evil chuckle.

Meanwhile, the Fourth Doctor is pacing around the TARDIS Cloister Room, pondering decay and entropy. As he and Adric prepare to leave, the large bell in the centre of the room begins to ring. This worries the Doctor. The sound of the Cloister Bell is a sign of impending universal catastrophe.

The Doctor and Adric with the police box

To divert himself, the Doctor decides to repair the TARDIS's chameleon circuit, which has frozen it into the shape of a police box. To do this, he intends to materialise the TARDIS around a real police box, and then obtain its precise measurements in thirty-seven dimensions. With these measurements, he will have the inhabitants of the planet Logopolis produce a mathematical calculation — a Block Transfer Computation — to reset the circuit. However, the "police box" he materialises around is actually the TARDIS of the Master, who has survived their encounter on the planet Traken. When the Doctor materialises around the Master's TARDIS, a recursive loop of TARDISes within TARDISes is formed.

The Watcher - but what does he represent?

Meanwhile, an airline stewardess, Tegan Jovanka, is being driven to the airport by her Aunt Vanessa. The car gets a puncture and pulls onto the lay-by. Tegan decides to go to the "police box" to call for help, but finds herself lost in the TARDIS instead. The Doctor and Adric enter another police box in a duplicate TARDIS. The Doctor, telling Adric to wait behind, finds himself emerging from behind the police box. He meets uniformed police officers, led by a plain-clothes Detective Inspector, who have found the shrunken, dead bodies of Tegan's aunt and the other policeman in the car. The Doctor realises that the Master has escaped from Traken and must be somewhere nearby.

Part two[[edit] | [edit source]]

The police think the Doctor has caused the incident, but Adric creates a distraction with the policeman's bicycle he has found. This allows the Doctor to escape to the TARDIS, followed by Adric. In the distance, a mysterious, white-clad stranger watches the proceedings. The Doctor dematerialises the TARDIS, leaving behind the real police box. When the Detective Inspector uses the police box's key to open the door, he and his colleagues find only orange road warning lights inside. Realising that the shrunken bodies are the trademark of the Master, the Doctor decides to materialise the TARDIS underwater, to literally flush him out. The Doctor misses the River Thames, however, and lands on a small jetty instead. The mysterious stranger appears here too. He beckons to the Doctor, telling him to go to Logopolis.

As the TARDIS arrives on Logopolis, Tegan finds her way to the control room, annoyed. She asks where her aunt is. The Doctor, realising that Tegan's aunt was the dead woman in the car, evades the question. Once they exit the TARDIS, the Doctor asks the Logopolitan leader, the Monitor, for his help. The Logopolitans are able to model reality by pure mathematics and whatever they calculate can take physical form. Since block transfer computations cannot be calculated by machines or computers, the Logopolitans speak aloud a line of calculations and pass the results on.

Unknown to the group, the Master has arrived on Logopolis and killed several Logopolitans. Adric and Tegan meet with Nyssa, who says she was brought to Logopolis by "a friend of the Doctor". The Logopolitans' deaths have disrupted the calculations for the TARDIS. When the Logopolitans produce the requested computation, the Doctor tries it on the TARDIS. Before the eyes of Adric, Nyssa, Tegan and the Logopolitans, the TARDIS starts to shrink...

Part three[[edit] | [edit source]]

"Nothing like this has ever happened to me before...!"

The TARDIS is now half its normal size, but still shrinking. The Monitor has the Logopolitans carry the half-size TARDIS to the Central Registry where they can try to stabilise it. They use sonic projectors to produce a stasis field while the Monitor and Adric attempt to uncover the fault. (The Logopolitans use Earth numbers for their calculations, which the Doctor has taught Adric how to read.) Meanwhile, Nyssa identifies the Watcher, the mysterious white figure the Doctor spoke with, as the man who brought her from Traken. She is searching for her father. The Monitor and Adric work through the city and discover the shrunken bodies of three Logopolitans. Fixing the error this has caused, they bring the new computation to the TARDIS. Tegan holds the notes up to the TARDIS so the Doctor can read them via the scanner and correct the fault. The Doctor emerges from the restored TARDIS and tells Tegan that her aunt was murdered by the Master. Meanwhile, Nyssa finds the Master, whom she believes is her father as he is inhabiting Tremas's body. "Tremas" gives her a bracelet; it is actually a device which will allow him to control her actions.

Nyssa discovers the Master killed her father, Tremas

The Master attaches a device to the sonic projectors and sets up a counter-wave that brings silence to the Central Registry preventing the Registers from making their calculations. He goes to the Registry's control room (a replica of the Pharos Project on Earth, a radio telescope tasked to seek out signs of extraterrestrial life). He demands the Monitor tell him the true purpose of Logopolis. The Doctor arrives with Adric and Nyssa. Adric deactivates the Master's device, but Nyssa, who is controlled by the Master, attempts to throttle him. Tegan restores the device and the Master repeats his demand. The Monitor warns the Master that bringing Logopolis to a halt will cause universal disaster, but the Master replies that it is only a temporary effect. He attempts to demonstrate this assertion by deactivating the suppression device.

The silence persists and the calculations do not resume. They go outside, and find all the Logopolitans dead, crumbling to dust, and the city collapsing. The Master thinks this is a trick and tries to have Nyssa strangle the Monitor, but the control device ceases to function. He tries to increase the device's power, but it falls apart as local decay increases. The Monitor explains the situation: the universe has long ago passed the point of heat death. To stave off final collapse, the Logopolitans have been modelling temporary Charged Vacuum Emboitements, like the one through which the TARDIS was previously transported into E-Space. The excess entropy generated by the universe had been passing through the CVEs to other universes. The Master's interference has closed the CVEs and the universe is now dying at last. The Doctor realises he has no choice. To save the universe, he has to work with the Master. He orders his companions into the TARDIS. When they argue about him working with the Master, the Doctor points out that he never chose to travel with any of them; Adric came aboard as a stowaway, Tegan's curiosity brought her into the Doctor's life, and Nyssa came to him asking for help to find her father. With that, the three return to the TARDIS. The Master holds out his hand to the Doctor on their agreement to work together. "One last hope," says the Doctor and they shake hands.

Part four[[edit] | [edit source]]

Adric, Nyssa and Tegan enter the TARDIS. The Doctor has the Watcher take it out of space/time. However, Tegan refuses to co-operate and follows the Doctor, the Master and the Monitor back to the Logopolis control room. The Monitor reveals that they had been completing a program to make the CVEs permanent. He prepares to use it on one of the surviving CVEs, but entropy takes hold of him. He disintegrates before their eyes. The Doctor dismantles the computer and realises the program is stored in bubble memory that they can use with the real Pharos Project. The Doctor, the Master and Tegan escape from Logopolis in the Master's TARDIS.

Adric and Nyssa watch helplessly in the Doctor's TARDIS as a portion of the universe is wiped out by encroaching entropy — including Traken. On Earth, the two Time Lords reconfigure the Logopolitan program and feed it into the Project's computers, but the Master points out that the transmitter is pointed away from the last surviving CVE. After speaking with the Watcher, Adric brings the Doctor's TARDIS to Earth as the Doctor and the Master run to realign the dish. The Doctor's companions distract the guards and the two Time Lords go to the dish's control room, hooking up a light speed overdrive from the Master's TARDIS to ensure the signal gets to the CVE in time. On transmission of the program, the CVE begins stabilising.

The Master's co-operation with the Doctor has been a ploy, however. Holding the Doctor at gunpoint with his Tissue Compression Eliminator, he transmits a message to the peoples of the universe, saying that if they do not acknowledge his rule, he will send a signal to close the CVE and restart the collapse. Realising that the Master has control of the CVE "only while that cable holds" the Doctor climbs onto the radio telescope's gantry to disconnect the power cable and the Master tries to prevent him by tilting the dish. The Doctor disconnects the cable, but falls off the tilted gantry. As he hangs onto the disconnected cable, visions of old enemies mock him: the decaying Master, a Dalek, the Captain, the Cyber-Leader, Davros, a Sontaran, a Zygon and the Black Guardian. Losing his grip, the Doctor plummets to the ground. The Master enters his own TARDIS, dematerialising before the Pharos Project guards reach the control room.

The fourth incarnation regenerates.

The Doctor's companions run to where he has fallen. Dying, the Doctor sees visions of the companions that have accompanied his current incarnation on his travels: Sarah Jane Smith, Harry Sullivan, Brigadier Alistair Gordon Lethbridge-Stewart, Leela, K9 and Romana's first and second incarnations. Smiling, he looks up at his companions who have gathered at his side and says, "It's the end... but the moment has been prepared for." They turn to see the Watcher approach, and Nyssa realises that "he was the Doctor all the time." As the companions look on, the Watcher merges with the dying Doctor, triggering his fourth regeneration. Moments later the Fifth Doctor sits up, beaming with a delighted grin.

Cast[[edit] | [edit source]]

Uncredited Cast[[edit] | [edit source]]

Crew[[edit] | [edit source]]

Worldbuilding[[edit] | [edit source]]

Astronomical objects[[edit] | [edit source]]

  • Traken and Mettula Orionsis (Traken's star) are mentioned, both of which Adric and Nyssa witness being destroyed by the entropy field spreading across the Universe.
  • The Doctor's transmission of the Logopolis program saves the rest of the Universe, starting with the constellation of Cassiopeia.

Cultural references from real world[[edit] | [edit source]]

  • The Doctor misquotes his "old friend Huxley" by saying, "“The cheese-board is the world; the pieces are the phenomena of the universe". He then corrects himself, says "chess-board" and continues to quote some more.
  • The Doctor mentions the second law of thermodynamics and entropy.

The Doctor[[edit] | [edit source]]

Individuals[[edit] | [edit source]]

  • The Doctor has taught Adric how to read Earth characters. (This is confirmed by Adric reading the police box's instruction plate aloud in part one, and later telling the Monitor in part three that the Doctor taught him to how to read Earth numbers.)
  • The Master had temporarily taken the powers of the Keeper of Traken. This assisted him in possessing the body of Tremas.
  • The school uniform which Romana wore in Paris in 1979 ( TV: City of Death) is shown to be in her TARDIS bedroom.

Locations[[edit] | [edit source]]

  • The Doctor wants to materialise the TARDIS underwater, in the Thames, but the TARDIS lands on a small jetty near the banks.

Species[[edit] | [edit source]]

TARDIS[[edit] | [edit source]]

Technology[[edit] | [edit source]]

Story notes[[edit] | [edit source]]

  • The policeman using the telephone in the police box in the opening scene of the story is named in Christopher H. Bidmead's novelisation as P.C. Donald Seagrave. This was not derived from any information given in the televised version.
  • This serial arguably — as pointed out in About Time 5 by Lawrence Miles and Tat Wood — has the largest body count of any Doctor Who story, albeit not graphically shown, as the destruction of Logopolis apparently causes a significant portion of the entire universe to be swallowed by a wave of entropy. At the very least, the Traken Union is destroyed, which would put the death toll in the billions and make the Master a mass killer on an unprecedented scale, albeit not by intent. The Last Great Time War and The Flux potentially had a higher body count, but even were a death toll to be given, it occurred off-screen.
  • Christopher H. Bidmead's inspiration for the recursive loop scene came from the end of The Keeper of Traken, in which the Master escapes via a TARDIS within the Melkur, which was also a TARDIS. (DOC: A New Body at Last)
  • This story is the first to feature a human companion since Leela left the Doctor in The Invasion of Time, and the first to feature one from contemporary Earth since Sarah Jane Smith's departure in The Hand of Fear.
    • Coincidentally, both Elisabeth Sladen and Louise Jameson, who played Sarah Jane and Leela respectively, were asked to reprise their roles for Logopolis.[1]
  • The story was repeated on BBC2 on consecutive evenings from Monday 30 November to Thursday 3 December 1981 as part of the repeat season The Five Faces of Doctor Who. The Radio Times programme listing for the repeat of part one was accompanied by a black-and-white head-and-shoulders publicity shot of the Doctor taken during location filming for TV: The Masque of Mandragora, with the accompanying caption "Another trip through time and space for Doctor Who (Tom Baker): 5.40". (original published text)
  • Logopolis comes from two ancient Greek words and means "city of speech," alluding to the oral calculations recited by the Logopolitans.
  • This is the first regeneration story in which the Doctor is shown to be fully conscious immediately after regenerating, a precedent that would be followed by most later regenerations, with the sole exception of Time and the Rani (on account of the Sixth Doctor having already been unconscious as per the events of The Brink of Death).
  • The Doctor reveals a small panel on one of the TARDIS control panels, with a keyboard which the Doctor can input an exterior appearance for the TARDIS. This is the first instance that reveals the TARDIS's chameleon circuit can be manually overridden, so there is no need for the automatic system.
  • This is the last story for Barry Letts as executive producer and also the last story he contributed to.
  • Harry Andrews, Bernard Archard, Geoffrey Bayldon, Peter Cushing, Maurice Denham, Frank Finlay, Barry Foster, Marius Goring, Michael Gough, William Lucas, Nigel Stock, Frank Windsor and Peter Wyngarde were considered for the Monitor.
  • Alun Armstrong, Paul Jerricho, Alec Sabin, John Savident and Michael Sheard were considered for the Detective Inspector.
  • Dorothy Alison was considered for Aunt Vanessa.
  • Sarah and/or Leela were considered to return in order to give a familiar face for the Fourth Doctor to go through his regeneration story and ensure a smooth transition. Elisabeth Sladen and Louise Jameson declined to return, so Nyssa and Tegan were brought in.
  • The Doctor was supposed to scream as he fell to his death. Tom Baker disagreed, as he felt it was unheroic. He was unhappy with the fact that the final image that viewers would see of his Doctor would be of him lying prone, being photographed from above.
  • It was decided to hold off the Master's first on-screen appearance until part three, in order to make the audience wonder if the Watcher might actually be the evil Time Lord.
  • During one take of the regeneration, Tom Baker turned to Matthew Waterhouse and said, "Adric, you're a c**t and you always will be".
  • Christopher H. Bidmead was a keen computer enthusiast, and used many ideas from computer science in developing his scripts, with elements such as the Monitor, block transfers, and registers all being derived from terminology in computer architecture. Eager to inject Doctor Who with real scientific notions, Bidmead also drew upon the physics discipline of thermodynamics, making heavy use of the concept of entropy: the measure of unavailable energy in a system, which effectively increases as a system becomes homogeneous. He got a lot of the ideas and language of the story from taking apart and looking at the inner workings of his Vector Graphics MZ system.
  • John Nathan-Turner noticed that a real police box still stood on the Barnet Bypass in London. Christopher H. Bidmead was fascinated with the TARDIS, and wanted to explore its properties more fully. The Barnet Bypass police box was the last of its kind left in the country. Sadly, the real police box was vandalised and demolished shortly before production started, so the TARDIS prop from the previous season was refurbished and used.
  • At the Longleat celebration, Tom Baker was asked why he left the series. He replied that he was pushed - by Anthony Ainley.
  • Christopher H. Bidmead defended the scenes where the Doctor attempts to flush the Master out of his TARDIS and the Master holding the universe to ransom with a tape recorder by asking "Does it seem far fetched now we have the internet?"
  • Tom Baker recalled on the DVD commentary that he was dreading leaving the series and was pretty angry all the time on the shoot. He couldn't take comments or direction from anyone. Janet Fielding confirms that he was angry with everybody. John Nathan-Turner claimed that when Baker had finished his last scene, he quietly slipped away without a word.
  • When the production crew was unable to locate the owner of the house that Peter Grimwade had originally intended to use for Aunt Vanessa's residence, they instead moved further up the same street to the home of Andrew McCulloch, who had co-written Meglos earlier that year.
  • Logopolis came from the Greek word for "city of numbers".
  • The Pharos Project was named for the Egyptian island on which once stood the Lighthouse of Alexandria, one of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World.
  • The mystery surrounding the Watcher was felt to be a crucial element to hold the viewers' interest, and so it was decided to hold off the Master's first on-screen appearance until part three, in order to make the audience wonder if the Watcher might actually be the evil Time Lord in disguise.
  • Tom Baker started filming his final story three days after his wedding to Lalla Ward.
  • Filming had to proceed without Tom Baker and Matthew Waterhouse when a studio day for The Keeper of Traken was remounted after being cancelled by an industrial dispute by BBC electricians. As a result, the production crew focused on material involving Tegan at the lay-by on the Barnet Bypass.
  • On 13 March 2019 only, special cinema screenings of Logopolis were shown all around the United States.[2]

Closing credits[[edit] | [edit source]]

At the end of part four:

Ratings[[edit] | [edit source]]

  • Part one - 7.1 million viewers
  • Part two - 7.7 million viewers
  • Part three - 5.8 million viewers
  • Part four - 6.1 million viewers

Filming locations[[edit] | [edit source]]

  • Ursula Street, Battersea, London (Outside Vanessa's house)
  • Cadogan Pier, Chelsea Embankment, London (the barge the Doctor lands his TARDIS on)
  • Amersham Road (A413), Denham, Buckinghamshire (the main road the Doctor lands the TARDIS next to)
  • Albert Bridge, London (location where the Watcher first beckons from)
  • Crowsley Park BBC Receiving Station, Blounts Court Road, Sonning Common, Berkshire (doubled as the Pharos Project for some external shots)
  • BBC Television Centre (TC3 & TC6), Shepherd's Bush, London

Production errors[[edit] | [edit source]]

If you'd like to talk about narrative problems with this story — like plot holes and things that seem to contradict other stories — please go to this episode's discontinuity discussion.
  • After Tegan closes the front door of Aunt Vanessa's house in part one, when she is shown returning to Aunt Vanessa's car, the front door of the house is visibly open again in the background.
  • When the Master puts the mind control bracelet onto Nyssa's wrist, part of it falls off.
  • In part four, when the Master enters his TARDIS, his shadow stays after it dematerialises.
  • At the beginning of part two, when the Doctor and Adric are going back to the TARDIS to escape the policemen, the Doctor opens the door to the right, but Adric goes through a door that is open to the left.
  • When the policemen open the police box and find that the Doctor and Adric have vanished, there do not appear to be any windows in the rear wall. This may have something to do with the shot in part one, where the Doctor exits the TARDIS from the back, due to the dimensional anomaly.
  • When the TARDIS is shrunk, it is first seen without the police box instruction plate. Later, as the shrunken TARDIS is carried away to the Central Registry by the Logopolitans , the instruction plate is there.
  • Near the end of part four, whilst the Doctor is crawling across the gantry of the satellite tower, you can easily tell the image of the Master in the doorway behind the Doctor is a photographic blowup because he doesn't move at all, you can't see behind him well and it doesn't at all look lifelike.
  • The Doctor reaches out an arm toward the Watcher before regenerating, but when the Fifth Doctor sits up both his hands are resting on his chest.
  • When the Master's TARDIS dematerialises at the end of part four, a light illuminates on the control panel in the background, showing that the dematerialisation is simply a fade between shots.

Updated Special Effects[[edit] | [edit source]]

The story received an Updated Special Effects version in the 18 March 2019 release of Season 18 in The Collection. The effects were done by Niel Bushnell.

This edition notably featured footage specially-filmed at Jodrell Bank Observatory, with Ethan Jones doubling for the Fourth Doctor.

Deviations from original serial[[edit] | [edit source]]

to be added

Crew[[edit] | [edit source]]

Continuity[[edit] | [edit source]]

Home video and audio releases[[edit] | [edit source]]

DVD releases[[edit] | [edit source]]

This story was released on DVD as part of the New Beginnings box set, alongside The Keeper of Traken and Castrovalva.

Special features include:

  • Region 2 UK cover

    Region 2 UK cover

  • New Beginnings boxset

    New Beginnings boxset

  • Region 1 US cover

    Region 1 US cover

  • Region 4 AUS cover

    Region 4 AUS cover

Blu-ray release:[[edit] | [edit source]]

This story was released alongside the rest of Season 18 on the 18th of March 2019 as part of The Collection range. This release contains remastered film footage from their original elements and upscaled studio footage in order to present this serial in HD.

Special Features include:

  • Audio Commentary by actors Tom Baker and Janet Fielding and writer Christopher H. Bidmead.
  • Info Text
  • Isolated Music Soundtrack
  • Optional Updated Special Effects - Including new footage filmed at Jodrell Bank.
  • Hanging on by a Thread - Making-of Documentary. New for 2019, With Tom Baker, Janet Fielding, Sarah Sutton, Matthew Waterhouse, Christopher H. Bidmead, June Hudson, Adrian Gibbs (The Watcher), Paddy Kingsland (Music), Malcolm Thornton (Designer) and Margot Hayhoe (Production Manager).
  • A New Body at Last - 2006 DVD 50-minute documentary, featuring Tom Baker, Peter Davison, Sarah Sutton, Matthew Waterhouse, John Black, Peter Moffat, Christopher H. Bidmead & Adrian Gibbs.
  • Behind the Sofa
  • Studio Footage - Go behind the scenes of the regeneration.
  • Audio Restoration - A brief look at restoration work on this story.
  • Tomorrow's Times - Press coverage of the Fourth Doctor's era.
  • Stripped For Action - The Fourth Doctor's comic strips.
  • Doctor Who Stories - A 2003 interview with Tom Baker.
  • BBC1 Continuity Announcements
  • The Five Faces of Doctor Who - Trailer for the repeat season screened in 1981.
  • HD Photo Gallery
  • PDF Written Archive
  • Science Featurette - Entropy explained.

VHS Release[[edit] | [edit source]]

The story was released on VHS on 2 March 1992.

  • UK cover

    UK cover

External links[[edit] | [edit source]]

Footnotes[[edit] | [edit source]]

  1. ↑ http://www.shannonsullivan.com/doctorwho/serials/5v.html
  2. ↑ https://www.showtimes.com/movies/doctor-who-logopolis-137453/movie-times/
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Season 20: 1983
Children in Need 1983
Season 21: 1984
 
Seasons 21-23: Colin Baker
Season 21: 1984
Season 22: 1985
Season 23: 1986
 
Seasons 24-26: Sylvester McCoy
Season 24: 1987
Season 25: 1988-1989
Season 26: 1989
 
TV Movie & 2013 specials: Paul McGann
TV Movie: 1996
Specials: 2013
Minisodes
 
Series 1: Christopher Eccleston
Series 1: 2005
Regular episodes
 
Series 2-4: David Tennant
Series 2: 2005-2006
Minisode
Christmas Special
Regular episodes
Series 3: 2006-2007
Christmas Special
Regular episodes
Animated special
Series 4: 2007-2010
Minisode
Christmas Special
Regular episodes
Minisodes
Animated special
Seasonal specials
 
Series 5-2013 specials: Matt Smith
Series 5: 2010
Regular episodes
Series 6: 2010-2011
Christmas Special
Minisodes
Regular episodes
(Part 1: Apr 2011)
Regular episodes
(Part 2: Aug 2011)
Minisode
Series 7: 2011-2013
Christmas Special
Minisodes
Regular episodes
(Part 1: 2012)
Minisode
Christmas Special
Regular episodes
(Part 2: 2013)
Specials: 2013
 
Series 8-10: Peter Capaldi
Series 8: 2014
Regular episodes
Series 9: 2014-2015
Christmas Special
Minisode
Regular episodes
Christmas Special
Series 10: 2016-2017
Christmas Special
Regular episodes
Christmas Special
 
Series 11-13: Jodie Whittaker
Series 11: 2018-2019
Regular episodes
New Year Special
Series 12: 2020-2021
Regular episodes
New Year Special
Series 13: 2021
Minisodes
Regular episodes
Seasonal specials
 
60th Anniversary Specials: David Tennant
Specials: 2023
Minisodes
60th Anniversary Specials
 
Season 1 (2023)-present: Ncuti Gatwa
Season 1: 2023-2024
Christmas Special
Regular episodes
v • e
Revised editions of Doctor Who TV stories
1990s
VFX re-edits
2000s
VFX re-edits
Re-edits
VFX updates
Animation
2010s
VFX re-edits
Re-edits
Planet of Giants • The Trial of a Time Lord Alternate Edits
VFX updates
Animation
2020s
VFX re-edits
Re-edits
VFX updates
Animation
Within each section, stories are listed by modern release order.
v • e
Regeneration stories
The Doctor
TV series
Comic Relief
Comics
Prose
Audio
Home video
Webcast
The Master
Television
Prose
Comics
Audio
Alternate universe
Romana
Television
Prose
Audio
Other
Time Lords
Television
Prose
Audio
Comics
Non-Time Lord Gallifreyans
Prose
Shobogans
Television
Proto-
Time Lords
Television
Audio
Others
Television
Prose
Comics
Audio
For the purposes of this list, a "regeneration story" is one in which a regeneration is actually and initially depicted. For this reason The War Games is not included below, even though it is commonly thought of as a "regeneration story". It doesn't actually include a clear scene of regeneration, and the preponderance of stories in other media confirms that the Second Doctor did not regenerate at the end of it.
Additionally, immediate post-regeneration stories, like the 2005 Children in Need Special Born Again — and ones like Castrovalva, where the regeneration sequence was replayed — are not included.
v • e
Tremas Master stories
Television
Audio
Prose
Comics
Video games
Considered
not part
of the DWU
Substantial appearances only; see a full list of appearances here
v • e
Dalek television stories
For the purposes of this list, a "Dalek story" is one in which one living, authentic Dalek plays a part within the confines of the story, outside of flashbacks to previous stories and cliffhangers that lead into the following story. For this reason, stories such as The Space Museum are not counted due to the Daleks' appearance being defined by their importance to following stories, while stories such as The Wheel in Space and The Waters of Mars are absent due to the Daleks' only contribution being references to past Dalek stories. Stories like The Wedding of River Song, Hell Bent, Once, Upon Time and The Vanquishers are also not included due to the Daleks' appearance being restricted to a single scene of no consequence to the plot of the story, while the TV movie is also absent due to the Daleks only being heard from off-screen.
First Doctor era
Dr. Who films
Second Doctor era
Third Doctor era
Fourth Doctor era
Fifth Doctor era
Sixth Doctor era
Seventh Doctor era
The "Wilderness Years"
Ninth Doctor era
Tenth Doctor era
Eleventh Doctor era
Twelfth Doctor era
Thirteenth Doctor era
Fourteenth Doctor era
Fifteenth Doctor era
Because of the ubiquity of this race, no attempt will be made here to list every appearance in every medium. Instead, we focus on televised appearances here, and invite you to explore a complete list of appearances elsewhere.
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