Doctor Who - New Beginnings (The Keeper of Traken [1981] / Logopolis [1981] / Castrovalva [1982]) [1963]

Amazon.co.uk Reviews

A good value boxset that unites a loose trilogy of stories of varying interest from the back catalogue, Doctor Who: New Beginnings maintains the high standards set of late by the show's catalogue releases. Beginnings is the underlying theme, with the stories following the introduction of the late Anthony Ainley's take on The Master, the swansong of Tom Baker's Doctor, and the debut of Peter Davison in the title role.

The first story, "The Keeper Of Trakken", tells of a living statue that poses a threat to Traken World. It's quite a good tale, introducing Nyssa to the Doctor Who Universe, but more worryingly for the Doctor it also plays host to a resurgent Master. And it's he too who plays a crucial part in "Logopolis", Tom Baker's final story in the title role. It's the best story in the New Beginnings boxset, as the Doctor battles both The Master, and the potential end of the Universe when the mathematicians of Logopolis are threatened. Along the way, he also adds Tegan to the crew of the TARDIS for the first time, with the first appearance of Peter Davison as the Doctor, too.

Davison's first full story though, "Castrovalva"", is the weakest link of the set. Again it features The Master, and it follows the newly regenerated Doctor--in a very shaky state--as he heads for the supposedly peaceful retreat of the title, only to find, as you'd expect, that all isn't as it seems. Sadly, the premise isn't really realised, resulting in one of the more tepid stories of Davison's reign.

Ultimately though, Doctor Who: New Beginnings delivers two very good stories. Yet this being Doctor Who, each is backed up by enough extra features to paper over even the most telling of cracks, and there's plenty on offer to justify the asking price.--Simon Brew

Customer Reviews:

3 of the best Dr.Who stories ever.......2008-02-18

This boxset contains 3 of the most important Dr Who stories ever made, and they also happen to be 3 of the finest. Keeper of Traken is one of the most beautiful stories ever made, with gorgeous set-design, costumes and music and successfully reintroduces old enemy The Master plus introduces new companion Nyssa. The momentous Logopolis is Tom Baker's final story and one of the most atmospheric, sombre and complex stories in the series history. Castrovalva is Peter Davison's first ever story and is highly imaginative and intriguing and Davison makes a good first impression. The extras are superb, with the highlight being the New Body At Last documentary, which is one of the best documentaries to have featured on the DVD's so far. Overall, The New Beginnings Box Set is an essential purchase and is, I think, the best Dr Who DVD release to date.

"Ask not for whom the Cloister Bell tolls.".......2007-12-19

The end of Uncle Tom and the start of Peter D. Of the stories themselves, the bookends are wonderful "Keeper of Traken" and "Castrovalva", but the middle 1, Logopolis is a little weak.

Keeper is a fun magical story with a mix of Star Trek style cod science and Midsummer Night's Dream . There are good performances especially from newcomers to the ensemble Anthony Ainley & Sarah Sutton and guest stars such as Sheila Ruskin, John Woodnut, Dennis Carey & Margot Van de Burgh. Ruskin & de Burgh in particular play their roles with just the right amount of Gravitas.

The story moves well and is notable for the double return of the Master 1st in an underrated performance by Geoffrey Beevers and then as Anthony Ainley takes the role for the stinger at the end. The only odd touch is revealing the Master as he turns round in his chair an emaciated figure, because viewers who had not seen the Master's last story, would not have known who he is.

Logopolis carries straight on and although good has 2 episodes in which time is wasted as we only hear the Master's laugh but never see him, the Doctor measures a Police box the tries to flush out the Master by submerging the tardis underwater (although this is aborted) and generally the story goes nowhere. It picks up in the last 2 episodes with new companion Tegan making a good impression and the sense of futility over the Master wreaking havoc coming across well.

Some ideas just don't develop as well as they could e.g. Tardis within a Tardis and the Watcher but there's still lots to enjoy, perhaps not the finale Tom deserved though.

Castrovalva is a fine start for Davison and moves a lot better than Logopolis. Again guests stars are good and the Master is awol for half the story, except he isn't-see the story and you'll get my meaning.

This time the visualisation of the ideas due to limitations at the time lets the story down a little, but the ideas still work well on the whole. The Doctor's post regenerative illness is a good touch as is the ersatz inhabitants of Castrovalva not questioning how a house can be in more than 1 place at the same time, and their final breaking of their restrictions to defy The Master is touching.

Extras are marvellous a documentary on the making of Traken, and a show piece covering Baker's departure and Davison's arrival. Both men and the other interviewee's are on good form. especially fun is Tom's remembrance of how difficult he'd become. The shorter pieces "Return of the Master" & "The Crowded Tardis", should have been a bit longer although Fiona Cumming's "Directing Castrovalva" works well. there are also Interviews with Davison on Swap Shop, Pebble Mill & Blue Peter.

Commentaries include Ainley's only ever commentary for Traken a "Tommentary" for Logopolis plus Davison and Janet Fielding for Castrovalva. Nice extra touches include an easter egg of Davison at the Lord Mayor's show & a tribute to Ainley at the end of Traken as we see him sign off dressed as the Master ( from recording the Master bits for computer game "Destiny of the Doctors")and then an "in memory of" title card comes up.

A class act!

Good but not Great.......2007-12-19

When Tom Baker announced he would leave the series that had made him a household name it had a number of consequences. Baker is often regarded as the best actor to have played the odd man in the blue box but by his own admission his performances had became lazy, self-indulgent and distracting. He clearly had lost motivation but when John Nathan-Turner took over the role of series producer, in its 18th season, matters came to a head. This box set contains the last two stories of Baker's reign and the introductory story of Peter's Davidson's spell in the role.

"The Keeper of Traken" is great - tightly plotted, superb sets and art design. Admittedly, the acting is of mixed quality but it a far better story than many of the later part of the fouth Doctor's incarnation. (Compared it to "The invasion of Time" or, shudder, "Nightmare of Eden"!)
"Logopolis" and "Castrovalva" are both OK but they seem a bit bit faux- scientific and souless.

The Extras are okay but there simply isn't enough info about the transition between the 2 actors and how the show's production teams views series' change. Good but not great, overall.

Eminently watchable.......2007-12-15

I sat down to watch a couple of episodes from this boxset at 10.30 one evening before bed. I just kept watching. I know people complain about Doctor Who under John Nathan Turner, about how it was so designed, about how it "destroyed" the classic series, but it worked a lot of the time.

Three stories: Keeper of Traken, Logopolis, Castrovalva. In the first Tom Baker travels to the the paradise of Traken, only to discover that an old foe is waiting for him. In Logopolis, it's Tom's swansong, the introduction of the iconic Tegan Jovanka, and a threat to the whole universe using mathematical equations. Castrovalva is Peter Davison's first (though the fourth he filmed) story and it involves a space/time trap and an unstable regeneration.

And it's all a lot of fun. Tom is subdued, but it means he gives a more measured performance rather than hamming it up, and there is a sense of predestination when he regenerates into Pete. Pete's performance doesn't coalesce into his Doctor's personality until the final scenes of Castrovalva, meaning that the companions carry his story, but he does some impressions of previous Doctors along the way that are a lot of fun.

While Keeper of Traken is more of a fantasy tale about ossifying evil, Logopolis and Castrovalva are built on solid science, and although the special effects budget can't quite visualise the grand ideas, they are fascinating. Logopolis particularly prefigures the new series' School Reunion.

The extras are great too, Tom and Peter have never been afraid of sharing their opinions on Who, so there are some real insights here. And the commentaries are chucklesome.

This is delightful stuff.

Changes and exceptional value.......2007-11-14

The change from Tom Baker to Peter Davison again marked a great change in the series and the eventual demise. The following doctors were all good but the BBC seemed to have lost interest in the series. Personally as much as I liked Tom at the time I felt he had been in the part for too long and it was time for a change. This box represents good value especially from amazon at just under £15 for three DVD's. i like the transition episodes like in Robot and the caves of Adrozani as I can explain to my grand kids how come there have been so many Doctors as they can't get enough of the superb Russel T Davies series being made now

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