Castrovalva Part Four

The one where Castrovalva folds in on itself...

I really like the idea behind this episode - or rather, behind the idea of Castrovalva as a place - because it plays with time thematically, in keeping with the story as a whole. The Doctor gradually works out that The History of Castrovalva (all 30 volumes of it) consists of books which were bound 500 years ago, but which chronicle the rise of the township up to the present day. Oops! That's a major boob, Master! But I do like the slow realisation that these old books contain new information from after the time they were created, like "time books"! The entire history, and by association the entire existence, of Castrovalva is a fiction!

At first it's considered that Shardovan the librarian has invented the history himself, a further example of writer Christopher H Bidmead trying to distract the viewer by making them think the man in black is the bad guy here. Actually, he's far from the bad guy, he just likes to dress that way.

The people of Castrovalva are also part of the fiction. So while Shardovan, Ruther and Mergrave seem like perfectly nice, affable fellows, they're not actually real at all, they are part of the recursion. And because they are part of it, they do not understand when the facade begins to crumble. They are the facade.

There's a wonderful scene between the Doctor and Mergrave (Peter Davison and Michael Sheard being gently brilliant together) where our hero tries to make the pharmacist see the truth of his reality. Mergrave draws a map of the town, and when asked to locate his pharmacy, points to four separate places on the map. "Four pharmacies in a small place like this?" questions the Doctor. It's a nice moment, and Sheard handles the situation beautifully, with kid gloves. Mergrave can see that something is wrong, but cannot see what it is. He is open-minded enough to question his own reality, and when Ruther arrives, he too is gently coaxed into a state of self-doubt ("I am a rational man"). He sees four houses belonging to the Portreeve, of which there is only one. Him saying the house may be approached from many sides is a tragically valiant attempt to make sense of it, but Ruther knows he is lost. Michael Sheard and Frank Wylie are so good in this scene, as their world slowly unravels. It's quite touching.

Meanwhile, Tegan and Nyssa locate the missing Zero Coffin Cabinet, apparently being used by the washerwomen of Castrovalva to scrub their clothes (but without water, it seems). Once the washerwomen lose their scrubbing tub, they take to gathering at the door of the visitor (the Doctor) and gossiping. And when Shardovan arrives and asks: "Why are all these women here? Is this a holiday?", straight away we know that Women's Lib has a long way to go in this Dwelling of Simplicity! If the women aren't working, then it must be a holiday! Even in a fictional construct, misogyny prevails.

The History of Castrovalva comes in useful for something when all 30 volumes are piled inside the Zero Coffin Cabinet and sent to the Portreeve. Everybody except Nyssa and Tegan think the Doctor is inside, including the Portr - oh! The Portreeve is actually the Master, what a shock! The Master's transformation is done simply using to-and-fro roll-back-and-mix effects, but I do like how Anthony Ainley straightens up before the change, shedding the physicality of his aged disguise.

The Master is intent upon seeing the Doctor's face one last time before he is destroyed. He tries to open the cabinet, first by using the Tissue Compression Eliminator (making its physical debut here?), and then by using a poker from the fire - very unconvincingly!

Of course, Nyssa always knows best, and dares to bore the Master with the science of the situation. "Don't you understand anything about zero structures?" she patronises. "The internal interfaces are bonded by strong-force interaction. The surfaces can only be separated from inside the cabinet." The Master shoves her hard into Tegan (quite roughly, actually!) and growls: "Don't try to make a fool of me!" Ainley is great here, you can see him losing his rag with the boring little squirt before his violent outburst.

Meanwhile, the Doctor chats with Shardovan, who has for a long time now questioned the reality of Castrovalva himself. He has noticed that something isn't right about the history books, and has refused to take part in the re-enactments of tribal culture in the wilds outside the walls, because he somehow sensed it was all a lie. He doesn't understand how or why, but he has an impression. I'm not sure why it is that Shardovan is more sensitive than the others, perhaps it's because he is the librarian and has been exposed to the books, which seeded the doubt? But I do like how the Doctor empowers Shardovan to see through the fug of fiction. He sees through it, not with his eyes, but with his philosophy. That's a beautiful notion, written poetically by Bidmead.

The Doctor and Shardovan try to get Ruther and Mergrave on side by convincing them that the Portreeve is actually an evil genius intent on mass destruction, but at first they struggle with the idea. They are lost for words, prompting one of those classic Fifth Doctor moments where he erupts with frustration, then quickly tempers himself. "Well, say something please! Yes would be best."

Unfortunately, the Master's magical tapestry has decided to project images of the Doctor being free, and not inside the cabinet at all, so the Master throws the infernal zero structure to the floor, breaking it open as the books tumble out. How does the Zero Coffin Cabinet fall apart so easily if it can only be opened from the inside? I don't know. Maybe that fire poker was more effective than it seemed?

"I'll fetch you out, wherever you are!" howls the Master, clearly annoyed that he's had the wool pulled over his eyes. This Master teeters on the edge of sanity at the best of times, but as soon as his plans start to go wrong, he just flips. When the Doctor tears apart the tapestry to reveal Adric strung up in the hadron web, the Master begins to unravel. "My web!" he screams. "My weee-eeeeeeeeb!"

The hero of the hour is actually Shardovan, the librarian (as a librarian myself, this appeals to me), whose ability to finally see the falseness of his reality causes him to commit suicide, and swing fearlessly into the web. I don't usually approve of characters suddenly giving their own lives for the greater good, as I think it has to be a very particular type of character who would do this. They need to be shown to have a reason for doing it, beyond the writer's need alone. There needs to be a truth to a person's self-sacrifice, it cannot be tokenistic or irrational. Normal people do not have the courage or strength of character to kill themselves for a greater good, but in the case of Shardovan - who has just found out he's a fictional construct, living in a fictional reality created by a mind of pure evil - it's almost like an affirmation. He knew there was something wrong all along, he just hadn't quite grasped what. Now he knows, he doesn't like what he's found, and so destroying it, and himself, is a reasonable reaction. "You made us, man of evil, but we are free!" The Master may have created him, but Shardovan has the self-will to end it.

It's terribly sad, as is the demise of all the Castrovalvans. They appear as real people with real ideas and opinions, real lives and occupations. That they are false is a terrible tragedy. Shardovan giving his own non-life to shatter the 'reality', and Ruther being simply deleted from existence on a whim by the Master - these are the real tragedies of this story.

As the occlusion begins to fray, and Castrovalva folds in on itself, the Doctor and his friends (including Adric now) must escape the township before they are trapped within it. Space is squeezing in too fast, explains the Doctor, which means the Master cannot escape in his fireplace TARDIS either. The race is on to get out, and only Adric can see the way as he is the one who created Castrovalva.

The demise of the Master in the tunnel is powerfully directed and staged. The Master is trying to get out the same way as everybody else, but is held back by his own fictional "creatures", and their agonised screams can be heard in the distance. They know they are doomed, and their final effort is to secure the demise of their evil creator. As Castrovalva folds away, those washerwomen claw and tear at the Master's clothes, and he goes down in the crowd, crying out for help, swamped by the hatred of his own playthings. It's so achingly tragic but wonderfully apt. The people of Castrovalva, in their death throes, revert to the nature of their fictional ancestors, becoming tribal, feral savages. Bravo, Bidmead.

And so Castrovalva is gone, but the planet they are on is very real. So where are they? Castrovalva was supposed to be in the Andromedan Phylox series, so we know that much may be true. Are there any real inhabitants on this world? It's debatable whether the fictional Castrovalvans should have been able to leave the walls of their township to hunt suckling pigs in the real-life forest, but I'll let that pass, because the rest of the episode is so great.

The Doctor, refreshed and renewed, jogs his tribe of youths back to the TARDIS, a trim time ship and its ship-shape team (although Matthew Waterhouse looks far from ship-shape!). He also surreptitiously pins a stick of celery to his lapel, something which goes completely unexplained and uncommented upon. That's weird. If someone did that in front of you, then walked round with it on their lapel all the time, you'd have to ask why. It's a strange thing to do in the first place, but not to explain it is doubly odd. It's not eccentric, it's just weird.

As they begin to climb back into the sideways TARDIS, the Doctor announces that he feels "absolutely splendid", and Davison gives that big, handsome, beaming grin that could charm the birds from the trees. The Fifth Doctor has arrived at last, fully-charged and raring to go. He is a younger man, but older with it. This should be interesting...

Castrovalva is a game of two halves. The first two episodes are chronically dull and slow, attempting to explore the science of regeneration but doing it with about as much energy as a snail. I recognise what Bidmead was trying to do, but he's just not up to the job, he is not a dramatic writer. His ideas are what fuel the story, and they are cracking ideas to be sure. Things are much better when we reach the titular town, and there are some nicely understated, sensitive guest turns. But it's not an ideal debut adventure for a new Doctor, not by any means. Other Doctors had Daleks, Autons, a giant robot, monstrous slugs, evil Time Lords, Sycorax and a dinosaur to contend with on Day 1. The Fifth Doctor has a much too leisurely debut, so let's hope Season 19 cranks up a bit very soon.

First broadcast: January 12th, 1982

Steve's Scoreboard
The Good: The guest cast excel in this episode, giving sensitive performances which reflect the characters' inner turmoil. Well done to Michael Sheard, Frank Wylie and Derek Waring.
The Bad: That celery. It's just weird!
Overall score for episode: ★★★★★★★★☆☆ (story average: 5.5 out of 10)

NEXT TIME: Four to Doomsday...

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

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.

Castrovalva 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/