The Keeper of Traken (TV story)

The Keeper of Traken
Doctor:	[[doctor::Fourth Doctor]]
Companion(s):	Adric Nyssa (introduction)
Main enemy:	The Master
Main setting:	Traken, circa 1981
Key crew
Writer:	Johnny Byrne
Director:	John Black
Producer:	John Nathan-Turner
Release details
Release number:	115
Premiere broadcast:	31st January - 21st February 1981
Format:	4 25-minute episodes
Production code:	5T

(This article is about the television story, "The Keeper of Traken." For information on the character and office of Keeper, see Keeper.)

Synopsis

The Doctor and Adric learn from the wizened Keeper of Traken that a great evil has come to his planet in the form of a Melkur - a calcified statue. The Keeper is nearing the end of his reign and seeks the Doctor's help in preventing the evil from taking control of the bioelectronic Source that is the keystone of the Traken Union's civilisation.

The Melkur, via various deceptions, becomes the next Keeper. It is then, however, revealed to be the Master's TARDIS. Its owner, still blackened and emaciated, hopes to use the Source's power to regenerate himself. The Doctor manages to expel him and install a new Keeper in his place, but in a last minute ploy the Master traps one of the Traken Consuls, Tremas, and merges with his body before fleeing the planet.

Plot

to be added

Cast

• The Doctor - Tom Baker
• Adric - Matthew Waterhouse
• Nyssa - Sarah Sutton
• The Master - Geoffrey Beevers
• Tremas - Anthony Ainley
• Kassia - Sheila Ruskin
• The Keeper - Denis Carey
• Seron - John Woodnutt
• Katura - Margot Van der Burgh
• Luvic - Robin Soans
• Neman - Roland Oliver
• Fosters - Liam Prendergast, Philip Bloomfield

Crew

• Assistant Floor Manager - Lynn Richards
• Costumes - Amy Roberts
• Designer - Tony Burrough
• Executive Producer - Barry Letts
• Incidental Music - Roger Limb
• Make-Up - Norma Hill
• Producer - John Nathan-Turner
• Production Assistant - Alan Wareing
• Production Unit Manager - Angela Smith
• Script Editor - Christopher H. Bidmead
• Special Sounds - Dick Mills
• Studio Lighting - Don Babbage
• Studio Sound - John Holmes
• Studio Sound - Alan Fogg
• Theme Arrangement - Peter Howell
• Title Music - Ron Grainer
• Visual Effects - Peter Logan

References

• Melkur means 'a fly caught by honey'.
• Traken is in the Mettula Orionsis.
• The Master appears to have two TARDISes, the Melkur and his grandfather clock.
• The Doctor's TARDIS is displaced via a time cone.

Story Notes

• Foreshadowing / continuing the tradition of the Master having aliases of 'Master', Tremas is an anagram.

Ratings

• Part 1 - 7.6 million viewers
• Part 2 - 8.1 million viewers
• Part 3 - 5.2 million viewers
• Part 4 - 6.1 million viewers

Myths

to be added

Location Filming

to be added

Discontinuity, Plot Holes, Errors

to be added

Continuity

• This story forms the 'Return of the Master' trilogy containing; The Keeper of Traken, Logopolis and Castrovalva.
• The Master is in the burnt / crippled version as seen in The Deadly Assassin.
• Nyssa appears but does not become a companion until the next story; Logopolis.
• Primeval also takes place on Traken, and is more or less a prequel to this story.
• This is the last story to feature a Master regeneration until Utopia.
• The Fourth Doctor has already met Nyssa in Asylum (however this took place in her future after Terminus).

DVD, Video and Other Releases

to be added

Target Novelisations

to be added

See Also

to be added

External Links

• BBC Episode Guide for The Keeper of Traken
• Outpost Gallifrey Episode Guide: The Keeper of Traken
• Doctor Who Reference Guide: Detailed Synopsis - The Keeper of Traken
• A Brief History of Time (Travel) entry for The Keeper of Traken