Broken Frontier

Doctor Who fans were saddened to hear that a beloved actor who had long held the role of the Doctor would be leaving the series. Shortly thereafter they were shocked to learn that a much younger actor, in fact, the youngest man to ever take the role, would be the next Doctor. Sound like the scene earlier this month? In this case it was actually 1980 and the departing actor was Tom Baker while the incoming, new, young Doctor was 29 year-old Peter Davison. The story that would see the departure of one Doctor and the arrival of a new one would be 1981’s "Logopolis".

The Doctor heads to Earth with companion Adric to find a real police box in order to get precise measurements that can be used to finally fix the TARDIS’s malfunctioning chameleon circuit. Unfortunately for the Doctor, the Master is one step ahead of him and uses the TARDIS to hitch a ride to the planet Logopolis. Accidentally along for the ride as well is Australian flight attendant Tegan Jovanka. On Logopolis the Doctor tries to get help fixing the TARDIS and the Master causes trouble of the fatal kind. What neither Time Lord knows is that the Logopolitans have been preventing the universe from dying. With the delicate balance upset by the Master the universe threatens to fall into entropy! Meanwhile, who is the mysterious watcher in white who had been dogging the Doctor’s footsteps?

Tom Baker had threatened to quit Doctor Who on more than one occasion; at the start of his seventh series in the role, however, he was determined to make it stick. John Nathan-Turner, recently promoted to producer, was not averse to the idea – seeing in it a chance for some new directions for the show. After seven years, however, Baker had become the only Doctor a number of fans had ever known. The two biggest questions where who to get to replace Baker and how to manage the replacement?

Nathan-Turner considered a number of people for the role but he had worked previously with Peter Davison on the British TV series All Creatures Great and Small. Additionally, Davison had quite a fan following from that series and Nathan-Turner hoped those fans might follow to Doctor Who. When approached about the role Davison was caught off guard as the offer came out of the blue. He was reluctant to accept at first but eventually decided it was something he couldn’t pass up.

Nathan-Turner also decided to increase the number of companions in hopes of easing the transition between Baker and Davison. Matthew Waterhouse had been brought on as Adric about half-way through the year and Nathan-Turner felt there was a lot of potential in the character of Nyssa (who had appeared in the previous serial "The Keeper of Traken") as well as the actress who played her – Sarah Sutton – so he brought her back to join the permanent cast. Finally, Nathan-Turner had been trying to strike a deal with the Australian Broadcasting Company (ABC) and felt that an Australian character might help matters along. To that end he found Australian actress Janet Fielding and cast her as the newest companion: Tegan Jovanka.

The final ingredient for the story was the script. Throughout Baker’s final year on the show the writers played with themes of decay, entropy and death. Those themes culminated in "Logopolis". Additionally, Nathan-Turner decided to use Baker’s final stories to re-establish the old Doctor Who villain the Master – now played by actor Anthony Ainley. The result of all of this was definitely a mixed bag.

Christopher Bidmead had been script editor from 1980-1981 but wished to leave at the end of the season. For his swansong he agreed to write Baker’s last episode. Bidmead was a computer enthusiast as well as an early student of computer science at a time when very few people had home computers and when computer programming language was as alien as anything on Doctor Who. Bidmead chose to put his passion for computers into the script in the form of much that goes on in Logopolis. In addition, he brought full circle the themes of entropy and decay with the fates of Logopolis, the universe, and the Doctor himself.

Unfortunately, no matter how much the underpinnings of the computer science used in the script may still be valid it feels old, outdated, clunky, and plain weird in this modern age of Microsoft, Macintosh, laptops, Blackberries, iPhones and the internet. Even more – the computers and computer equipment that appear in the story are woefully dated (there’s a dot-matrix printer for heavens’ sake). Thankfully, the themes of decay, death, and general ‘things fall apart’ have done anything but fall apart. They remain strong and resonant.

Another area where the story falls down to a modern audience, though, is in the use of studio filming. Doctor Who had taken a lot of flack in the past for using old, abandoned quarries for alien worlds. Here, the entirety of Logopolis was created on a soundstage and it shows badly today. The scenery looks stagey and the backdrops are obviously painted. We won’t even begin to discuss the scenes on "Earth" which have the Doctor lying on wrinkled, bright green, Astroturf.

The performances throughout the story also mostly range from solid to sterling when viewed today. Tom Baker turns in a remarkably restrained performance, toning down his clownishness to give viewers a very worried and at times very angry Doctor, bolstering the sense of dread and threat that infuse the story. Matthew Waterhouse, however, struggles. A novice actor, his work for Doctor Who was his first acting job and the show had a tendency to be unforgiving to the inexperienced. Waterhouse occasionally manages some flashes of charm and interest but often comes across as flat at best and floundering out to sea at worst. More solid is Sarah Sutton. She inhabits the character of Nyssa well and manages to project an alien calmness and serenity, beyond human intelligence, and innocence in the face of tragedy. Janet Fielding, rounding out the TARDIS crew was also in her first real mainstream work but her own, natural, brassy temperament works well with the character to give the audience a new touchstone – someone who could be unnerved at being thrust into this new life but determined to get a handle on things.

Finally, there is Anthony Ainley as the new version of the Master. For a generation of fans, Ainley would become the actor they most associated with the character – a tribute to his ability to throw himself into the role. His Master was virtually one step below the old-fashioned, moustache twirling, villain but it was obvious that he relishes this role and there is no denying that there is something deliciously fun amidst the suave villainy. And what of Peter Davison? He did not even have a line of dialogue on his first day in the role. In point of fact, his first day on the set he still did not have any idea about how he intended to play the role! Lucky for him he had a little time to make up his mind but that is a story for a different DVD….

What really adds to this DVD are the extras. There is an interesting documentary on the serial featuring many of the cast and crew who were involved at the time. It is fascinating to see Tom Baker make no bones about the problems his attitude was causing on the set during his last year. It is also informative to see what went into the decision to cast Peter Davison as well as Davison’s decision to take the role. In addition to the documentary there is a fun and informative cast commentary with Janet Fielding, Christopher Bidmead and Tom Baker. There are also clips from various British news and entertainment shows announcing Tom Baker’s departure and Peter Davison’s hiring as well as little interviews from the time period with Baker and Davison separately. Fans may get a particular kick out of one segment in which Davison interacts with fans in the studio about what they would like to see in the future and how they hoped he would play the character.

While some aspects of the story have aged poorly, such as the sets and props, the heart and soul of "Logopolis" still resonates today. A struggle against the very forces of death, two bitter enemies facing off in a high-stakes battle, intrigue, back-stabbing, triumph and tragedy – all the stuff of Shakespeare can be found in this four-part drama. And if nothing else, it is a testament to the enduring inventiveness of this British, sci-fi TV show as an actor bows out and yet another waits in the wings to take his place.

Doctor Who: Logopolis on DVD is  available from the BBC priced $24.98.