Will Brooks’ 50 Year Diary - watching Doctor Who one episode a day from the very start...
Day 584: Castrovalva, Episode Three
Dear diary,
In some ways, Castrovalva is the perfect example of Doctor Who talking a story with a fascinating idea at the heart of it, but not quite being able to pull it off due to time, or budget, or ability. I love the idea of an entire town being based around the work of Escher, and it’s a great cliffhanger to have the entire place collapsing in on itself, but because of the way Doctor Who was made in studio at this point, it just isn’t an idea that can be very well realised. I’d really like to see what they could do with it these days, given the time to really do it properly - the sequence of the Doctor and his companions trying to make their escape would be the subject of a full day’s filming now, whereas they probably had to do it in about twenty minutes originally!
Ah, yes, the Doctor and his companions. I’d never noticed before just how little Adric actually appears in this one... and the story doesn’t really suffer as a result. That’s not a slight on the character (I’m still rather liking him, and the appearance he makes today standing behind Nyssa in the mirror is one of the better performances he’s given), but the Doctor is working well with just Nyssa and Tegan at his side. Not that he gets to spend a great deal of time with them, though, because they’re teamed off on their own for a large portion of the story, and they’re working really well together. I’m hoping that it becomes clear just how much the pair get on as this season progresses, because if there’s a perfect bonding situation for them, then trying to look after the Doctor in this story would be it!
It’s nice to see the Doctor start to get back some more... ‘Doctorish’ moments, too. Peter Davison has been good in his first two episodes, but there he’s been playing a somewhat amnesiac version of the character, and we’ve not really gotten a good look at the way that this new Doctor is going to be carried. Things get off to a great start here when we find him laying halfway along the trail of blood, crunched up on the floor... and then it transpires that he’s fine, and he’s listening in to get the measure of his surroundings. Tellingly, it’s a scene I can imagine Tom Baker playing, but not with such a subtle approach. It helps that I’m coming to this from a standpoint where I know that Peter will be around for a few years yet, but it’s great to see how quickly you get over the departure of the Fourth Doctor and start simply enjoying the Fifth.
There’s other parts of his character slipping in to place today, too. He takes a big bite of some celery (there’s a great clip of the original take on the DVD here somewhere where Davison takes the bite... and then clearly shows how little he actually likes celery with the expression on his face), gets to do some of his hands in pockets and breathless acting... we even got the spectacles in yesterday’s episode. Everything is starting to come together very quickly.
I’m also pleased to say that bringing in a supporting cast has helped to give the story a bit of life. As much as I like our regulars, and I’ve enjoyed their performances so far, it’s nice to see them bouncing off other actors, and being thrown in to a busy setting. I can’t really remember how the story winds up from here, so I’m looking forward to seeing where things go, and then we can move on from the ‘introduction’ story, and start simply enjoying this new era properly.
