Line #3 Recap/DoctorWhoS18E6TheKeeperOfTraken


1	[[WMG:[[center:[-''[[Series/DoctorWho Doctor Who]]'' [[Recap/DoctorWho recap index]]\
2	'''Fourth Doctor Era'''\
3	'''Season 18:''' [[Recap/DoctorWhoS18E1TheLeisureHive 1]] \| [[Recap/DoctorWhoS18E2Meglos 2]] \| [[Recap/DoctorWhoS18E3FullCircle 3]] \| [[Recap/DoctorWhoS18E4StateOfDecay 4]] \| [[Recap/DoctorWhoS18E5WarriorsGate 5]] \| '''6''' \| [[Recap/DoctorWhoS18E7Logopolis 7]]\
4	'''[[Recap/DoctorWhoS17E1DestinyOfTheDaleks <<< Season 17]]''' \| '''[[Recap/DoctorWhoS19E1Castrovalva Season 19 >>>]]''']]-]]]
5	!The Keeper of Traken
6	[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/keeper_2065.jpg]]
7	[[caption-width-right:350: The Keeper, sitting on his [[CoolChair magical moving chair]].]]
8	->Written by Johnny Byrne\
9	Directed by John Black\
10	'''Production code:''' 5T\
11	'''Air dates:''' 31 January - 21 February 1981\
12	'''Number of episodes:''' 4
13
14	->''"They say the atmosphere there was so full of goodness that evil just shriveled up and died. Maybe that's why I never went there."''
15	-->-- '''The Doctor'''
16
17	JustForFun/TheOneWith [[Franchise/MastersOfTheUniverse Skeletor]]. Who then becomes Captain Camp.
18	----
19
20	Welcome to Traken, a world so perfect that [[SugarBowl evil can't survive!]] Seriously: any evil that tries to enter the atmosphere will literally crystalise out of the Trakenite air, ending up as a nugget of evil enclosed in a creepy humanoid statue with glowing red eyes.
21
22	And yet the Trakenites are ''good'' to the evil statues. They are so good that they assign people to ''look after'' the statues: bring them little bouquets of flowers, inquire after their families, persuade them to forsake wickedness, wipe off the bird poo, etc., until such time as the statue's residual sentience fades away, probably from sheer irritation. Then the stone crumbles into harmless dust and enriches the Trakenite soil.
23
24	But ''one'' statue was different. ''One'' statue contained an especially intractable malevolence, dubbed "Melkur", and its assigned guardian was a high-ranking Trakenite: Consul Kassia. Kassia's husband, Consul Tremas, was also a Traken elite, not to mention next in line for the Keepership; his daughter Nyssa was poised to carry on her family's august traditions. So, when Kassia was eventually corrupted by Melkur's malign influence, she was extremely well placed to wreak some serious damage to the Trakenite status quo.
25
26	Not that the planet's ruler, the kindly old Keeper of Traken, suspects Main/TheMole in their midst. All he knows is that something is going pear-shaped, and he'd very much like the Doctor to drop by and help fix it. The Doctor is obliging, and soon he and Adric have made landfall--conveniently enough--right in front of Melkur!
27
28	They get hauled up in front of the Trakenite version of the OmniscientCouncilOfVagueness, where the Keeper is summoned again but only says "''Evil! '''EEEEEEVIL!'''''" Which, it must be admitted, does cast our heroes in a rather poor light. Thanks a ''lot'', Keeper. Consul Tremas speaks up, protesting that the Doctor and Adric haven't been convicted of anything (yet, anyway); he gets rewarded by having them released into his custody and warned that his head is at stake if they misbehave.
29
30	Vicious group of people they got on this "perfect" world, isn't it?
31
32	Over in Tremas' quarters, we meet his daughter, Nyssa. She's been assigned to Melkur-visiting duty ever since her father and stepmother married, but she doesn't know that Kassia has been visiting it on the sly. Or that it's started talking to her, or given her a necklace that makes her evil.
33
34	Back in the Council Chambers, one of the interchangeable Consuls tries to commune with the Keeper to figure out what's going on, but the stress kills him.
35
36	Actually, Kassia kills him. ''Actually'' actually, the Melkur controlling her killed him, by shooting laser beams from her eyes.
37
38	Meanwhile, the Doctor, Tremas, Adric, and Nyssa run around trying to subvert the Melkur's evil plans. The Doctor discovers that the Melkur is actually a TARDIS and that the being controlling the Melkur is actually his [[ArchEnemy archenemy]], the Master. Who is still [[Recap/DoctorWhoS14E3TheDeadlyAssassin little more than a withered almost-corpse on the edge of death]], seeking to use the powers of Traken to, well, ''not'' be a withered almost-corpse... and presumably get rid of the crusty black cloak while he's at it. Thing must smell awful by now, and we're not just talking about the Master's flesh. Dun-dun-''dun''.
39
40	The Master and the Doctor do their usual dance of trying to beat each other, and while the Doctor does keep the Master from taking over the Source (some sort of HiveMind for Trakenites), the Master has the [[EvilLaugh last laugh]]. He [[GrandTheftMe hijacks Tremas's body]], freeing himself from the Kentucky Fried Time Lord he has been for the past four seasons and exulting in "a new body, at last," which somehow de-ages and becomes a sharp-dressed, slick-haired man in a goatee not unlike the late Creator/RogerDelgado (sure enough, the [[Franchise/DoctorWhoExpandedUniverse Expanded Universe]] would claim that the Delgado Master and the Crispy Master are one and the same). Just after the Master leaves in his disguised TARDIS, Nyssa enters, wondering where her father may be.
41
42	----
43	!!Tropes:
44	* AgonyBeam: The Melkur likes zapping people into compliance with one.
45	* AscendedExtra: Nyssa was originally created just for this story, but the producers saw potential for her character as a companion and wrote her into [[Recap/DoctorWhoS18E7Logopolis the following story]] (though she was phased into it rather than joining the Doctor right away).
46	* TheBadGuyWins: The Master may not get control of Traken but he gets what he wanted most: a new body.
47	* BigBad: The Master.
48	* ClothesMakeTheManiac: Kassia is turned evil by the necklace the Melkur gives her.
49	* CoolChair: The Keeper's throne.
50	* CorruptCop: Neman is pretty morally flexible when it comes to accepting bribes, something both heroes and villains take advantage of.
51	* CrystalSpiresAndTogas: Traken (though in this case it's more of an Elizabethan throwback combined with high technology).
52	* DeathByOriginStory: Both of Nyssa's parents die as a result of the Master's machinations. Her stepmother Kassia, whom the Master manipulated, then killed once he had no further use for her, and her father Tremas, whose body he wears for the rest of the 1980s. As if that wasn't enough, [[spoiler: her home planet is destroyed by the Master in the next story, completely by accident.]]
53	* EpiphanicPrison: Anyone who is evil and winds up on the planet becomes imprisoned in a stone form called a "melkur" by the anti-evil effects of the area (ItMakesSenseInContext). "Melkur" is their word for a fly trapped in honey. To be freed, all you have to do is ''not be evil anymore.'' Once your heart changes, you're free. Naturally, The Master had been stuck for a good long while. ''Not''. The Melkur is ''really'' his TARDIS, whose chameleon circuit works just fine. He's been free and able to orchestrate the evilness that had been going on all along. He probably avoided actually becoming a melkur by staying inside and moving it wherever he needed to be, as the Melkur was sometimes seen to move.
54	* EvenEvilHasLovedOnes: As warped as Kassia has become by the Master's manipulations, she genuinely cares for Tremas, and a lot of her actions are the result of not wanting him to take up the mantle of the Keeper (and thus be separated from her forever).
55	* EvilRedhead: Kassia, after her FaceHeelTurn.
56	* EyeBeams: The Melkur can do this, and transfers the power to Kassia later.
57	* FauxAffablyEvil: The Master's right back in here, addressing people with impeccable politeness as he's making them kill one another against their will.
58	* FlowersOfRomance: Kassia became gradually infatuated when she was a child to the Melkur (giving flowers to the humanoid). However, the Melkur turned out to be The Master, who manipulated her into [[LoveMakesYouEvil killing and manipulating others]] in order to achieve the Keepership.
59	* GrandTheftMe: Tremas's body gets stolen by the Master.
60	* HijackedByGanon: Contrary to the beliefs of some fans, people who watched this story unspoiled do claim to have been surprised when the Master was revealed. The Melkur is revealed to be operated by someone, and that someone has a history with the Doctor, but the fact it's ''the Master'' isn't made explicit right up until the final episode when he and the Doctor come face to face.
61	* HonourBeforeReason: The Doctor asks Tremas to share his knowledge of the Source so they can figure out how to defeat the Melkur, and Tremas replies that he can't, because he swore an oath as Consul to safeguard the secrecy of the Source's workings. The Doctor says sharply that in that case Traken is doomed, but not to worry, at least Tremas's honour will be intact. After an inner struggle, Tremas allows himself to be persuaded.
62	* IHaveYouNowMyPretty: The Master wants the Doctor's body... not like that. Well, ''hopefully'' not like that, but he seems very eager about getting it. ''Way'' too eager.
63	* ItWasHereISwear: When the Trakenites go to where the TARDIS landed to verify the Doctor's story, it's vanished.
64	* JackassGenie: Kassia's desire that leads to her downfall is that her husband Tremas should not become the Keeper (and thus be separated from her, because whoever becomes the Keeper must abandon all their mortal ties). The Melkur promises that he will prevent Tremas from becoming the Keeper, and he does -- by forcing Kassia to become the Keeper instead.
65	* JustOneSecondOutOfSync: How the Melkur hides the TARDIS from the Doctor and the Trakenites.
66	* KarmicDeath: Kassia ends up selling out her entire society to the Melkur due to a combination of LoveMakesYouEvil and LoveMakesYouStupid. Once [[YouHaveOutlivedYourUsefulness she stops being useful]], she gets what she so richly deserves.
67	* LeaningOnTheFourthWall: An ancient alien is coming to the end of a long life, and everyone's tremendously worried about the transition to the new incumbent, with evil forces playing interference. Oh, and of course this is Tom Baker's second-to-last serial as the Doctor as well.
68	* LighterAndSofter: Compared to [[Recap/DoctorWhoS14E3TheDeadlyAssassin the last Crispy Master-centric serial]], this one is far less violent and features none of the political commentary and psychological horror of its predecessor. If anything, it's far closer to the kind of story that Creator/RogerDelgado's original take on the Master would've featured in.
69	* LivingStatue: The Melkur turns out to be the Master's TARDIS, with the Master stuck inside.
70	* LoveMakesYouEvil: Kassia is tricked into serving the Melkur because she doesn't want to lose Tremas.
71	* MeaningfulName: Tremas. His body is taken over by the Master, whose title is a SignificantAnagram of "Tremas". The Master frequently used aliases related to his name-- Colonel Masters, Reverend Magister, Professor Thascalos-- but usually he had a chance to pick them himself.
72	* NightmareFace: The Master. He gets a new one at the end.
73	* TheNthDoctor: Geoffrey Beevers takes over as the Master, only for Creator/AnthonyAinley to take over at the story's end.
74	* NotUsingTheZWord: The Master is only called by his name once in the story, and neither actor who plays him is credited as such.
75	* OhCrap: The Doctor, when he's informed that the Fosters couldn't find the TARDIS in the grove.
76	* ReadingsAreOffTheScale: Early on, Tremas does a bit of scanning near the gardens the Melkur's been killing in, and finds the readings are way off the scale.
77	* ReasonableAuthorityFigure: The Consuls are generally this, especially Tremas and Seron. Not so much Kassia, though, and the others seem a bit naive about the possibility of evil within their society. It never occurs to them to question some of Kassia's claims.
78	* RedEyesTakeWarning: The Melkur has these, and combined with his voice you know right away he's a baddie. Kassia gets them later on.
79	* ReplacementArtefact: By the time he left the series in "[[Recap/DoctorWhoS18E5WarriorsGate Warriors' Gate]]", the previous story, half of K-9's function was stunning opponents for the Doctor with a red laser beam from his "nose cannon". So what do we see the Doctor doing in this story? Stunning opponents with a ''green'' laser beam from an "ion bonder" nicked from Nyssa. The device is used again in "[[Recap/DoctorWhoS19E1Castrovalva Castrovalva]]" before getting waterlogged and removed from the story. It presages the [[ExecutiveMeddling producer-mandated]][[invoked]] destruction of the sonic screwdriver [[Recap/DoctorWhoS19E4TheVisitation later]], which also led writers to introduce various one-off gadgets that served exactly the same narrative purpose as the original screwdriver.
80	* SarcasmMode: When going through the Doctor's logs, Adric mentions his handwriting, prompting the Doctor to ask "What about my handwriting?" Adric just replies, "''Marvellous''."
81	* SealedEvilInACan: Unfortunately the can isn't as sealed as everybody thinks.
82	* SequelHook: Leading right into the next episode, the Doctor decides instead of going back to Gallifrey that the TARDIS get a tune-up.
83	* SignificantAnagram: Averted, unusually enough for ''Doctor Who''. "Tremas" is an obvious enough anagram for "Master", leading the viewer to think he's a baddie-- but he is a good man and a staunch ally of the Doctor throughout. Not shockingly, the name of "Tremas" was [[ExecutiveMeddling demanded]][[invoked]] by producer Creator/JohnNathanTurner because actor Creator/AnthonyAinley, who played the character, would be playing the Master soon enough. Reflecting back on it, most of the cast think that it was a pretty silly reason for the name.
84	* SignOfTheEndTimes: The Keeper of Traken keeps it safe. That includes, apparently keeping the environment under control. As he dies and his control wanes, Traken's weather starts reasserting itself quite violently.
85	* SuddenDownerEnding: All is well, the day's saved and the Master thwarted. And then Tremas decides to investigate that odd looking clock that wasn't there a moment ago...
86	* SuspiciouslySimilarSubstitute: The new Master looks a lot like the iconic Master of the early 1970s.
87	* UnfitForGreatness: Subverted. Luvic has this opinion of himself and so rules himself out for the Keepership. When the post needs filling in an emergency, though, he finds his fitness.
88	* WhamShot: Two in quick succession. After Melkur has been seen walking around a few times, and revealing that someone is looking through its eyes on video screens, its operator [[ChairReveal swings round to face the camera]], revealing that it's the Master. The very next shot is of the Melkur, revealing its true nature by dematerializing with the familiar TARDIS sound effect.
89	* WickedStepmother: Kassia has shades of this.
90	* TheXOfY
91	* YouAreTooLate: The Doctor tells Melkur that they're going to stop him, and Melkur replies that he's too late. Moments later, Melkur gains control of the Source.
92	* YouCanTalk: Kassia has an almost romantic fixation on the Melkur, but even she is shocked when it starts to talk back to her.
93	* YouHaveFailedMe: Melkur has Neman executed for his chronic inability to keep the Doctor imprisoned.
94	* YourPrincessIsInAnotherCastle: At the end, the Master has been defeated and possibly killed and the Doctor has left. Then the Master reappears, kills Tremas and gains a new body, and it turns out to be the first part of a trilogy.
95	----

Context Recap / DoctorWhoS18E6TheKeeperOfTraken