Castrovalvan: Difference between revisions

Physically, Castrovalvans were identical to [[human]]s, although they dressed in extravagant, often pastel-coloured clothing unlike any known human civilisation. Mentally, however, although they could pass for human, a close inspection would reveal their artificial, sketched-out nature: being part of the structure of Castrovalva, they were unable to grasp its idiosyncrasies and spatial paradoxes. [[Shardovan]] alone was intelligent enough to grasp that something about Castrovalva's [[space loop]] was illogical, and even then, only through "his [[philosophy]]"; his eyes still refused to actually ''see'' the paradoxical shortcuts.  

[[File:The Portreeve.jpg|thumb|left|{{Ainley}} in his guise as the benevolent Portreeve of Castrovalva.]]The lengthy official history books of Castrovalva described the Castrovalvan people as having ascended, over twelve hundred years, from warring tribal people to a perfect, pacifist [[democracy]].  

Castrovalva and its people were invented by {{Ainley}} ([[PROSE]]: ''[[Castrovalva (novelisation)|Castrovalva]]'') as part of a scheme to trap and defeat his long-time enemy, [[the Doctor]], who had recently regenerated into [[Fifth Doctor|a fifth, youthful body]]. He gave them a measure of reality by forcing boy genius [[Adric]] (trapped in a [[Hadron web]] by the renegade) to perform [[Block Transfer Computation]].  

The Castrovalvans existed long enough for [[Shardovan]] to progressively realise the truth about his world, before being visited by the Doctor and the two of his three companions who had not been captured, namely [[Tegan Jovanka]] and [[Nyssa|Nyssa of Traken]]. The Doctor eventually figured out the riddle of Castrovalva, leading the Master to reveal himself to gloat over his enemy in what he believed were the Doctor's final moments. However, he had failed to anticipate that the Doctor would be able to convince the witnessing Castrovalvans that the Portreeve had indeed betrayed them.  

Although the Master was able to "unmake" any given rebellious Castrovalvan with a thought, as he demonstrated on [[Ruther]] the element of surprise was enough for one of the Castrovalvans to rush at the tapestry which embodied the [[Hadron web]] within Castrovalva and to destroy it.  

As Castrovalva collapsed around them, the Doctor and his companions escaped through a breach in Castrovalva's reality which had formed by the cliffs as a result. The Master attempted to follow them, but the Castrovalvans, who had also followed the Doctor, chose to spend their last moments in existence helping the Doctor and friends make their getaway; they held the Master back, tearing at his clothes ([[TV]]: ''[[Castrovalva (TV story)|Castrovalva]]'') and [[flesh]] ([[PROSE]]: ''[[Castrovalva (novelisation)|Castrovalva]]'') until the portal to the outside world closed and the city ceased to be, supposedly "gone forever" with its inhabitants.