Things I've Learnt from Watching My Favourite Doctor Who Stories: Part 36 - Logopolis

 36: Logopolis

Always make sure you prepare for the end!

The next story on my list is another serial from the Five Faces of Doctor Who (included in that season purely on the chance it featured the fifth Doctor, albeit at the end!) There's a sense of occasion to Logopolis, although it starts innocuously enough, in present day Earth, a rarity at that time. A policeman is pulled into a police box standing in a lay-by while a certain someone chuckles sinisterly as he disappears 

We cut to the Doctor and Adric talking about mathematics, in the TARDIS and the Doctor planning to do some architectural restructuring of his ship. I don't subscribe to the theory that TARDIS scenes are dull and also quite like the relationship between the fourth Doctor and Adric, so these scenes are a lot of fun. Matthew Waterhouse comes in for a lot of stick, unfairly I think, although I do agree he seems a better fit with Tom Baker than Peter Davison's Doctor. There's a teacher/student sense to their relationship, with Adric seeming to be more deferential to Four than Five. 

Also thrown into this mix is new companion, Tegan Jovanka. Her employment as air stewardess is more of a label to show her character than actually build any character other than what the actress provides. As I said in the entry on Snakedance, I didn't warm to Tegan particularly when I was a kid, although watching it again as an adult, I see an actress making her mark albeit with a performance she'll take down a notch or two in the next season. 

Poor Auntie Vanessa is a breath of fresh air after a season full of bearded scientists. Dolores Whitman makes her fun but then gets horribly bumped off, her death scene accompanied by the Master's callous laughter. The camera is used to show the masters viewpoint, so we see Aunt Vanessa's cries and look of horror and anguish as she's about to be shot and shrunk by the Master's Tissue Compression Eliminator. It's bloodless but decidedly chilling and one of the scenes that freaked me out as a kid. 

When we see Tegan in the cloister room and hear that sinister chuckle, it makes us realise the TARDIS isn't a safe place anymore. The safety of the ship is compromised and Tegan is in danger. We hear that sinister chuckle in the cloister room and realise Tegan could be next. Again a very sinister scene, with quick cuts to different angles that disorientates the viewer as to where the Master's laugh is coming from. We don't get to see Ainley's Master this sinister again until Survival. After this he's written and performed as a 1960s TV Batman villain, but never less than entertaining. 

But what of the Doctor himself? Tom Baker's mood is sombre in this, but suitably so. I don't get the feeling he's running on empty or counting the days til he can hang up his scarf for good. Having John Frazer as the principal guest star here is a good move; in fact putting a strong actor playing it straight opposite Tom brings out the best in him during this season. Having actors like Frazer, Adrienne Corri, George Baker and yes, Anthony Ainley in this and Keeper of Traken seem to keep Tom from the antics of the previous seasons. Not that I didn't like Tom's antics but here is not the time for that and he matches John Frazer with a strong considered performance. 

It could also be down to Peter Grimwade (along with CHB and JNT) keeping a tighter rein on his performance. General consensus is that Grimwade is a better director than writer and although Logopolis is at the end of the season and the money is starting to run out, this still looks good. The concept of a civilisation keeping the universe going by mathematics is more Douglas Adams than Bidmead would admit to, but I think they're both two sides of the same coin, and Bidmead's vision of Doctor Who is not as humourless as some make out. 

And then it is the end and it has been prepared for. The Doctor's new companions make way for his old friends (and enemies!) to say goodbye in a regeneration sequence that still after all these years gives me chills! Ground control to Mister Tom, the Coach and Horses beckons and it's time for the new guy to come in and make his mark. As it says at the end of Bidmead's excellent novelisation "Well that's the end of that... But it's probably the beginning of something completely different!" 

Next Time : Don't judge a six-parter on just one episode!