The Keeper of Traken Part Two

The one where Adric detects the wave loop patterns of another TARDIS...

It's an open and shut case, to be frank. The Keeper asks for the strangers to be brought forward, the Doctor asks that he tell the Consuls who he is, and the Keeper replies, rather vociferously: "Evil! Eeeee-vil! Infinite evil!" While the viewer knows that the Keeper is actually referring to Melkur peeking round the door, nobody else knows that, and so by rights, the Doctor and Adric really ought to be executed, by the apparent law of Traken.

But instead they are given a reprieve simply because the Doctor claims he is actually innocent, and that it's obvious the Keeper was under attack, perhaps from some high energy beam. The Doctor has absolutely no evidence of this at all, but still manages to persuade the Consuls to not have him killed. In actual fact, the Keeper was under no kind of attack at all, he was just rattled by the appearance of Melkur at the front door. A bit of a muddle, but at least it saves our heroes' necks.

Tremas affords the Doctor and Adric his Consular privilege of protection, in return for which they must not transgress the laws of Traken, else the Consul's life becomes forfeit. That's a pretty drastic measure to take for a mild-mannered man who has literally only just met the Doctor. If these two strangers are naughty in any way, he's dead. Such trust is ill-advised, I think.

The Melkur creature makes for a pretty creepy monster, lumbering its way through the twilit groves of Traken, zapping unfortunate fosters along the way. The design of the statue is really eye-catching, like something Barbara Hepworth might rustle up, complete with its fierce red glowing eyes and menacing physical presence.

Once back in the grove, the Melkur extends its hold over Kassia by gifting her a rather flimsy but unwieldy choker which glows red when she's under its spell. Plus, Melkur can now speak, voiced by Geoffrey Beevers with a scheming, malevolent lilt. He has the perfect voice for Infinite Evil, silky yet fundamentally unpleasant. We also learn that the statue itself is not what is speaking, but instead there's someone unseen who is seeing through Melkur's eyes, or maybe is inside Melkur looking out. There are control panels and monitor screens through which the unseen menace surveys the Melkur's horizons, and it's all very intriguing. "Find your TARDIS, Time Lord," threatens the unseen menace, "much good will it do you now."

Melkur gets Kassia to initiate a division among the Consuls, as Luvic and Katura begin to suspect Tremas now that he has taken responsibility for the strangers. They're also unhappy that Tremas has been recording the unusual energy readings emanating from the grove, and when Seron reveals he was aware of Tremas's activities, he submits to entering Rapport with the Keeper (or the Source, nobody's sure). Entering Rapport will determine whether Seron is loyal to the Keeper or not.

Meanwhile, Adric and Nyssa start to bond over bioelectronics, with the mathematical boy genius making a discovery that could have serious consequences for the Doctor. It seems the wave loop patterns recorded in the grove indicate the presence of a TARDIS - but, as the Doctor states, not a Type 40 like his...

This hint that there's another Time Lord about doesn't quite match Melkur referring to the Doctor as a Time Lord (as if not a Time Lord himself), but then I suppose a non-Time Lord could have stolen a TARDIS. Is it the Monk? The War Chief? The Master? Drax, even? Towards the end of the episode the Doctor hears Melkur's voice and says: "So you're the cause of all this", as if he might recognise him, but then again, he might just be referring to the Melkur itself.

Some other things about the episode:

• I love Johnny Byrne's use of the Middle English phrase "hugger mugger" when Seron accuses the other Consuls of meeting clandestinely in his quarters (a bit silly of them to gossip in the quarters of somebody who isn't there!).
• There's another clue that there's a second TARDIS about when you hear the faint hum of a TARDIS interior when the unseen menace is watching through Melkur's eyes. This suggests either the Melkur is a TARDIS, or that the Melkur's eyes are connected to a TARDIS scanner.
• The way the Doctor accosts Adric in the grove - leaping out of the undergrowth, hand over his mouth like a Whitechapel mugger - is pretty extreme! Why are the Doctor and Tremas in the bushes anyway, when they said they were going back to the vault stores?
• Seron finds Rapport with the Keeper/ Source, but ultimately falls victim to Kassia's treachery. He is proven loyal by the Keeper, but with one sorry condition: "You are blameless, but doomed. And we are both betrayed." At which point the Keeper gives Kassia some seriously shady side-eye before popping off again. Seconds later, Kassia murders Seron, just as the Keeper predicted.

The cliffhanger sees the Doctor, Tremas and Adric wrapped up in some strange debilitating net - like Han, Luke and Leia bagged by the Ewoks - and Kassia telling Melkur that "it is done". "Oh no, Kassia," comes the malevolent reply, "it is only beginning."

There's a real sense by this halfway point that something much bigger is going on here, something more interesting and consequential than a prissy battle between good and evil on a forest planet in Mettula Orionsis. It really does feel like there's something more, what with evidence of a second TARDIS and "infinite evil". Things are starting to hot up...

First broadcast: February 7th, 1981

Steve's Scoreboard
The Good: The fact there's another TARDIS about, and an unseen, malevolent menace with a malignant voice. There's definitely a feeling that something's brewing, rising to the surface...
The Bad: That jerry-built choker Melkur gives Kassia could have done with a bit more work.
Overall score for episode: ★★★★★★★★☆☆

"Would you like a jelly baby?" tally: 24

NEXT TIME: Part Three...

My reviews of this story's other episodes: Part One; Part Three; Part Four

Find out birth/death dates, career information, and facts and trivia about this story's cast and crew at the Doctor Who Cast & Crew site: https://doctorwhocastandcrew.blogspot.com/2014/09/the-keeper-of-traken.html

The Keeper of Traken is available on BBC DVD as part of the New Beginnings box set. Find it on Amazon - https://www.amazon.co.uk/Doctor-Who-Beginnings-Logopolis-Castrovalva/dp/B000LE1HLQ/