Logopolis Part Four

The one where the moment has been prepared for...

So here it is: the end. The last time we'll ever see Tom Baker's face in the opening titles, the last episode of a monumentally significant and popular era in Doctor Who history. But this moment has been prepared for...

It's strange watching classic Who through the lens of the 21st century, when the departure of a Doctor is given such apocalyptic importance, such grandiloquence. Back in the "olden days", a Doctor going was often treated with as much importance as a mid-season pot-boiler, and in many ways, that goes for Logopolis. These days, this story would be called something grandiose like The End of the Universe, but in 1981, it's named after a planet. And these days the Doctor would go out doing something far more heroic than simply trying to unplug a cable, but there you go. That's how different television was 40 years ago.

Logopolis Part Three

The one where the Master accidentally rots the Universe...

Somewhere, a Logopolitan has got his sums wrong, resulting in the TARDIS reducing in size with the Doctor trapped inside. "The honour of Logopolis is at stake!" whittles Monitor. Yes, just imagine: people laughing at Logopolis because it got one of its sums wrong! I do like the way Peter Grimwade directs the TARDIS interior scenes though, with a muzzy look to the lens as if it's smeared with Vaseline. It reflects the fact the dimensions are compacting (it also makes it look like the Doctor's back on Vortis!).

The Logopolitans (who don't speak or smile, but do carry) transport the miniaturised TARDIS through the streets to the central registry. It's every Doctor Who fan's dream to have a mini TARDIS like this, in the corner of the bedroom or the bottom of the garden! Now most of us have a model police box on our bookshelves, but a model this size is even more exciting. It's almost possible it's the real thing, as we see here and in Flatline over 30 years later.

Logopolis Part Two

The one where someone from the last story randomly turns up...

This is the last episode that we get to see the Fourth Doctor/ Adric dynamic working in isolation, which is a shame. I'll be sorry to see the relationship corrupted by the arrival of additional companions, and ultimately by the change in Doctor. This episode is full of little moments of charm between the two, such as the continuation of the reprise where the Doctor just knows Adric is there behind him, and shouts over his shoulder calling for a diversion to help him escape the police.

Adric searches around for a prop and finds the copper's bicycle, and it's a lovely little moment when Matthew Waterhouse looks at the bike in confusion because of course Adric doesn't know what a bicycle is! Adric then pretends he's fallen off the bike to distract the policemen, allowing the Doctor to skip merrily back into the TARDIS with a cheeky wave. Adric hurls the bike into the pursuing policeman's path before rushing into the TARDIS and slamming the door in their face. What a team!

Logopolis Part One

The one where there's a TARDIS within a TARDIS...

Logopolis. Great word to roll around the mouth, but what does it mean? It's one of those Doctor Who stories named after something that doesn't mean anything until you've sat down and watched it, like Meglos, Praxeus or, indeed, anything written by Christopher H Bidmead. When I was a teenager first encountering this story on VHS, I thought it was pronounced "LO-GO-PO-Lis", stressing the first three syllables in a most unlikely way! I used to say "SON-ta-ran" too until I learnt better!

This 550th episode of Doctor Who opens with a policeman using the telephone of an actual, real police box, which even 40 years on, is ridiculously exciting for a Doctor Who fan. This episode is full of moments like that, teetering dangerously close to fanwank, but that's no reason not to find it exciting! Something wibbly seems to happen to the police box, and the copper is pulled menacingly inside it by malevolent laughter. Attack of the killer clowns?