LAWS OF THERMODYNAMICS
Logopolis was made to give Tom Baker a proper send-off. For seven long seasons, he was the Doctor. Quite possibly, no one will ever be the Doctor more than he was. Part of the success of his portrayal was based on sheer longevity. He was in the role for so long that younger fans couldn't actually remember there ever being a Doctor before him.
But it wasn't just the length of time that he played the Doctor that had made him so identifiable as the character. While I have been quite open about how I am not all that big of a fan of Doctor Four, I will never deny the sheer talent of Tom Baker. It's a well known fact that his drinking got really out of control during the later seasons. That there are any number of scenes that he shot after consuming copious amounts of alcohol during lunch and dinner breaks. But I will still admit: a drunk Tom Baker performs better than a lot of sober actors do! The man has amazing instincts. As an actor, myself, I have learnt so much from him just by interviews that he's had where he discusses his philosophy as an artist. He is great at his craft.
I also won't deny the tremendous charisma he possesses. Tom Baker won the love of the entire British population. He has the most endearing of smiles and a rich deep voice that is intensely pleasant to listen to. The demeanor that he projects when in the public eye and his enormous love of children gets even the most hardened of hearts to fall in love with him.
Regardless of my own feelings about some of the choices he made with his portrayal, Tom still deserved a story like Logopolis as a swansong. A good chunk of the plot hinged on the concept that the Doctor's fourth incarnation had reached his end. There's that heavy funeral atmosphere so many fans talk about that was conveyed through the music and the, overall, directorial tone. There's also that super-cool concept of the Watcher. I love how he just keeps following the Doctor along, waiting for the moment that's been prepared for him.
It's all quite awesome.
Now, if you're playing close attention, you'll notice I started my last entry in a similar manner. I talked about how great of a story Castrovalva was even without the involvement of the Doctor's greatest enemy. And then, of course, I finished my first section of the entry by explaining that - on top of all those qualities - it was an amazing story for the Master.
I'm going to follow that formula but go even a little further with it. I'm not just going to close off this section by saying Logopolis is a great Master Story. I am, in fact, going to top that by stating quite clearly: Logopolis is the best Master Story ever.
CONTINUING THE FORMULA OF THE CASTROVALVA ENTRY
I will keep imitating the style of my previous essay a little bit longer. Just as I did in the last entry, I will spend my next section discussing the Master's presence in this story. I do apologise for my lack of originality, but this format just really works well for analysing both of these tales.
If you'll recall, I talked a lot about how much I loved the way the Master was used in Part One of Castrovalva. We didn't really actually see much of him. It was more a case of feeling his presence throughout the episode. Knowing he was up to something but only witnessing shreds of his plan as he lurked about largely unseen. It was an absolutely gorgeous effect that really made the character sinister and dangerous.
Logopolis does an even better job with this. Episode One, in particular. Especially if you have no knowledge of the whole Regeneration Trilogy storyline. You get only snippets of an unseen figure laughing evilly. This mysterious being also seems to be in possession of a TARDIS. The episode is skewed so that we're left wondering if it really is the Master at work. Only in the final moments of that cliffhanger do we get a full confirmation. The whole thing is gorgeously executed. The Doctor is definitely having another clash with his arch nemesis.
Part Two keeps this whole effect moving along beautifully. We're still not going to actually see the evil Time Lord. Just a few more menacing chuckles and some more shenanigans with his TARDIS. I love the way he takes time to creep out Tegan while she's in the Cloister Room. And it's quite fun to watch him using his chameleon circuit as he keeps displacing himself. We get our first look at the famous ionic column that will be his default setting for the next little while. It's a fun imitation of the way the Corpse Master loved the grandfather clock shape.
Even though he still hasn't made a proper appearance, his presence in the second episode is just a little stronger. We get this sense that things are moving along to a grand entrance of some sort. I love the build-up that is happening in the first half of the story. The Master has never been brought into the plot in such a gorgeous manner. Nor will he ever be, again.
At last, in Part Three, the Ainley Master starts making himself visible to us. Technically, we caught a brief glimpse of him at the end of Keeper of Traken, But it does nothing to take away from the brilliant shot of him tucked into an alcove as a miniaturised TARDIS is rushed past him.
"At long last, Doctor. I've cut you down to size!" - The moment is executed to sheer perfection.
Which is another important point about how the villain is presented. While we are dealing with the overlit cheapness of an 80s video broadcast, there's still some beautiful cinematography going on whenever they're shooting Ainley. There's a really outstanding sequence where the Master takes out the two Logopolitans that are returning the equipment they used to stabilise the Doctor's TARDIS. It's still looks painfully low-budget (particularly the Barbie dolls!), but the moment genuinely transcends its limitations. It's really quite chilling.
As the Master creates the cancelling wave through the Pharos Project, he is well-and-truly in the story, now. In fact, there aren't a whole lot of scenes from this point onward where we don't see him. Ainley is fantastic in every shot he's in. While he would chew up the scenery a little too much in future stories (really, the only one that I feel he got a little too hammy in was Time Flight), he plays the part to perfection, here. He bears that gentlemanly disposition that we got in Delgado, but there is also a maniacal gleam to his eyes. It's a great combination of conflicting traits that gets me to instantly fall in love with his interpretation.
But the gradual flow in which the Master is brought into the true conflict of the adventure (I love how all the real danger is caused by his bumbling) is a magnificent work of art. Again, it has to contend with some poor effects here and there, but it all still looks so great that we don't care.
Never has the Master been inserted into a plot as well as he was in Logopolis. This element, alone, makes it the best story featuring this villain. But there is still so much more to enjoy...
OTHER GREAT THINGS ABOUT LOGOPOLIS
If we're going to rip off my own format, we might as well pursue it to the bitter end!
There is a beautiful moment in Part Four that really stands out for me. The Master and the Doctor have successfully re-opened a CVE but the evil renegade has made it clear that he's going hold the Universe at ransom (the beautifully crisp speech that he pre-records is so memorable that the Simm Master will bastardise it in a much later story). Once he is certain that he's achieved victory, the Master has a sort of meltdown. "It's mine!" he cackles insanely, "The CVE is all mine!".
This, to me, is a defining moment for this incarnation of the Master. For most of the adventure, he bears a striking resemblance to Delgado. Both in appearance and mannerism (with the exception of those maniacal eyes I just mentioned a few paragraphs back). We do find ourselves wondering if Ainley will just be doing an imitation of what has gone on before with the character. With, perhaps, just a slight spin of his own.
But then the Master just loses it, here. The hints his eyes have been making about a sense of insanity that is only so well-buried come true. The madmen from within bursts out. He's truly gone round the bend. It's a pattern of behavior we would never see from Delgado. And I love that. The fact that this new incarnation will just lose control of himself from time-to-time adds a great new dimension to the villain's personality. We see that whole idea explored much better in Castrovalva, But it's first displayed in this scene. I love what this moment represents. Particularly since, from this point onward, the Master will always have episodes of this nature. All of Ainley's successors, at some point, would act the way he is as he seizes control of the CVE.
Pretty much anytime I talk about Logopolis, I have to make mention of the incidental music. It's some of the best I've heard in a Doctor Who story. Most of the time, I'm going on about the funeral atmosphere that it creates as the fourth Doctor approaches his demise. But I should also bring up the various haunting melodies that play out for the Master. Lots of unpleasant discordant notes that really play up how disturbing the character is. His themes are particularly effective in the first two parts where we are not seeing him, yet. It helps enormously to cement the subtle presence he has during this part of the story.
And then there's the incredibly obscure visual references made to previous Master/Doctor conflicts. References so obscure that they may not even have been intentional! But you have to admit, the Doctor and the Master's TARDISes being inside one another does remind us of Time Monster. And the two Time Lords struggling along on radio telescope gantries in the final moments of Part Four of Logopolis look similar to some scenes we saw in Terror of the Autons. Whether the production team was imitating these visuals on purpose or not doesn't really matter. It's still a great touch.
There's a few superficial things that I quite like, too. We don't get a very good look at it in Keeper of Traken, but we definitely soak in the Master's new outfit, here. The high collar gives it a very alien feel. As does the way the outfit fits around his torso in a tunic-like manner. But then the lower half looks more like Victorian wear with the trousers and coat tails. It's a beautiful blend of styles.
I also love how trigger-happy this Master has gotten with the tissue compressor. It really becomes the weapon of choice for this particular incarnation. He relies on it quite heavily in most of his stories. But it's in Logopolis where the tissue compressor's reign of terror begins. We see its effects several times over throughout the course of the tale. It's great fun every time a doll is left behind in the Master's wake.
Anthony Ainley also has a really awesome evil laugh. Which we hear for the first time and get to enjoy quite a few times over in Logopolis. I love it.
THE RETURN OF THE MASTER
And now, at last, we break the Castrovalva Review Formula to discuss a very important subject.
While my opinion of the Roger Delgado era doesn't necessarily line up with that of General Fan Consensus, I still acknowledge that this was a Golden Age for the villain. His appearances on the show back then were treated with great reverence. Everyone cheered when he showed up in a story. He was great fun and we all appreciated the character enormously.
When Roger Delgado died tragically in a car accident, we could have just gotten a new incarnation and not bothered to show the regeneration sequence. But it seemed highly inappropriate to try keep the Master going. For a while, at least, he needed to rest.
His first return in Deadly Assassin was quite fun. I really enjoyed how radically different he was from Delgado. He would be intensely unique from any incarnation that would follow him, too. The ending of the story was left beautifully open-ended so that he could brought back, if desired. But, for some reason, he wasn't.
The Regeneration Trilogy isn't just about the Doctor moving into a new incarnation. It's just as much about the Master's rebirth, too. But, this time, his return to the series was going to be a legitimate attempt to re-create those glorious Delgado Days. The character would have a solid presence in the show, again. For a few years, Ainley was actually contracted to make two appearances a season. Whether they actually produced two Master Stories or not, he still got paid for them. That's how serious the production team was about the foothold they wanted the villain to have in the show.
Enormous attention was given to making this Master's return a big deal. Both Keeper of Traken and Castrovalva do a fair amount of heavy lifting to make the whole event so grand. But Logopolis, in my opinion, is the cornerstone. This was the new Master's first real impression on the audience. It had to be perfect. And, quite honestly, it was.
A truly marvellous spectacle. It will probably always be my favorite Master Story.
As I said at the top of the entry, Logopolis is as much about bringing in a new Master as it is about saying farewell to Four. The attention that is given to the evil Time Lord as the tale unfolds is as abundant as all the dark brooding scenes that Baker works his way through. This is about both Renegades moving through major changes.
Just look at how the whole story begins. If it was more about the Doctor, than it would have opened with him looking sullen in the Cloister Room. But, instead, that's the second sequence. The first scene is the Master attacking the policeman who is trying to use a real police box. Starting the story in such a manner sets a real tone. Doctor Four is leaving. And that's going to be sad. But, also, the Master is back. And that's awesome.
And it was. The Ainley Master rocked.
Even in Time Flight!
Okay then, that wraps up the Mater Countdown. Hope you enjoyed what I had to say about the stories I love even if they aren't the same ones you'd pick .
Up next.... the Cybermen!!
The Full Countdown:
Number Five:
Number Four:
Number Three:
Number Two:
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