Doctor Who (TV Series) Castrovalva: Part One (1982) User Reviews

A New Era Starts Here

[Theo Robertson · 6/10 · 28 January 2014]

Refers To All Four Episodes Suggestive Spoilers

The newly regenerated Doctor is carried to the Tardis by his companions little realising that a trap is being set by his arch enemy The Master With the recasting of the title role DOCTOR WHO had firmly and broken away from the 1970s and entered and a new decade proper . . Not only that but due to the execs of the BBC the traditional slot of Saturday tea time had also been changed which meant the show was now broadcast during the evenings of Mondays and Tuesdays which led to howls of complaint from the conservative crowd of fandom . As it turned out the execs were justified since season 19 was a big hit in terms of viewing figures . The previous season was scheduled opposite Buck Rogers on ITV which meant Baker's final series had a viewership that rarely got more than 6 million viewers and struggled to make the Top 100 viewed shows for that week . Viewing figures increased by a third with season 19 and the show often crept in to the Top 50 viewed shows

Season 19 also saw the change over from the Bidmead influenced era in to the more traditional type of action adventure fantasy that the show was known for . This story being written by outgoing script editor Christopher H Bidmead contains his hallmarks . It's part of the present continuous storyline started by The Keeper Of Traken from the previous year . Being a regeneration story it's a game of two halves with the first half taken up by the quirks of the new Doctor and the second half has the Doctor realising that he's been trapped by The Master and trying to foil his plan . It doesn't however make for a very involving story since it's trying to be a little bit too clever , not as bad as one of the messes we get with Moffat but when you've got a tale that is inspired by a drawing by surreal artist MC Escher that tells you something

As a production it's an uneasy mix of good and bad and old and new . The first half isn't a very good indicator of what the new Doctor will be like , it's a regeneration story don't you know ? but does contain some very good location filming at Buckhurst Park which doubles for the exterior scenes of the Planet Castrovalva but the interior scenes of Castrovalva are a bit too brightly lit and would be indicative of the problems that would plague other stories throughout the show . It also has a plot turn featuring the secret identity of The Master which became constant through the decade and led to the production team having to come up with an anagram for the end credits and Radio Times

"I'm The Doctor... or I will be if this regeneration works out."

[profh-1 · 6/10 · 1 November 2009]

After the 18th season met with such generally positive response from fans, the 19th was mostly mixed. John Nathan Turner felt he couldn't possibly compete with the legacy of Tom Baker, so he wanted someone as different as possible. Peter Davison was an instance of nepotism-- as they'd worked together before on ALL CREATURES GREAT AND SMALL. Nobody seemed to have any idea what the new Doctor would be like, and they deliberately scheduled his 1st story to be filmed 4th, to help give them time to figure him out. I'm not sure it worked, though.

As with LOGOPOLIS, CASTROVALVA starts out with multiple references to earlier stories (but all done so vaguely only longtime fans could pick up on it). The TARDIS heading for the "big bang" replays the climax of the 3rd William Hartnell story. As things go along, the writing, directing & acting all are sub-standard. I'm afraid that while Christopher Bidmead was a wonderful story editor (he burned himself out after only one season by working himself too hard), he's really only a 3rd-rate writer. It's taken me decades to come to this conclusion; I guess my sensibilities just keep getting sharper.

I rather liked seeing Davison in Tom Baker's black & gold vest. But when he ditched that for the "cricket" outfit... oy. Starting here, characters on this show no longer wore clothes-- they wore "costumes", or "uniforms". JNT may have claimed this was to make them more "recognizable" or "marketable", but really, it's just trimming the budget so he could spend the money elsewhere. (Before taking over from Graham Williams, that was one his his specialties!)

The tribute to M.C. Escher in the concept and visual design of "Castrovalva" was probably the highlight of the entire serial. Beyond that, everyone in it seems dense. Anthony Ainley-- I like to think-- MUST be a better actor than he's given a chance to be. Apart from the absurd costume and really bad haircut, he was apparently told to "over-act" in every scene where he's seen as The Master. (It took until "Survival" before we finally got to see what he could do if he "toned it down" the way he always wanted to.) Roger Delgado, he AIN'T.

Between Adric, Nyssa & Tegan, the TARDIS was over-loaded. JNT may have wanted to pay tribute to the original TARDIS crew, but back then, you had 2 brainy adults and a very strange teenager. Here, you have 2 brainy teenagers and a bossy loudmouth. Oh yeah, and a Doctor who was passive instead of seeming "experienced". It just didn't work. It's no wonder Davison is my LEAST-favorite of all The Doctors. I like him-- I just don't like his Doctor. He was put to much better use when he played Albert CAMPION for 2 seasons of that show a decade later.

Unfortunately, the worst Adric story is coming up next... but I guess I'll "have" to sit thru it again. I have every other one up to this point.

Difficult transition with positive results

[A_Kind_Of_CineMagic · 9/10 · 3 August 2019]

I feel this story is very underrated. Yes the effects are poor and it has some other faults but it also has a lot of strengths.

This is the first story for Peter Davison as the new Doctor (the 5th) and he is brilliant despite being hampered by the story giving him a 'difficult regeneration' that incapacitates him for much of the first few episodes. In every moment that he is speaking and involved Davison shines. There are echoes of all 4 earlier incarnations as his regeneration causes his mind to wander to the past and Davison does great impressions of the first and second Doctors. His mental and physical struggles are very well acted and it is pretty interesting to see a regeneration not going smoothly in this way. The 3rd Doctor had some similar issues so this was a logical extension of that idea. As the story progresses Davison quickly establishes his Doctor as an energetic, positive, caring and heroic personality and shows signs of being a motivating 'team Captain'. I feel this characterisation seems to have been echoed closely by the characterisation of the 13th Doctor many years later. It was a thankless task to follow the legendary Tom Baker but Davison does a fabulous job managing to be a very different but very enjoyable and endearing version of the character.

The effects are very weak and that is a negative aspect as is some time wasting in episode 2 when Nyssa and Tegan carry a large box around the woods which is boring and pointless. That makes that episode the low point but even in episode 2 there are lots of plus points. Right throughout this story all 3 assistants are at their best with all 3 serving a purpose and delivering some intelligent dialogue. Episode 2 has some interesting scenes with Adric captured in 'the web' by the Master utilising his mathematical skills to create a trap for the Doctor. Adric is quite impressive in more ways than one! Adric suffers in the web (although Matthew Waterhouse seems to enjoy it!) and despairs at being used by the Master. Acting from all 3 companions is nothing special but is OK and they are given some good material apart from the journey through the woods. Nyssa uses her brains to good effect and Tegan is feisty as she tries to help. Meanwhile Anthony Ainley shows his acting abilities as he shows a totally different side whilst in disguise proving his cackling villain portrayal of the Master is only one side of him.

The plot is hard to follow or understand but it works somehow and the scientific depths explored give an heir of intelligence and cleverness in the script. I am thrilled that there is no dumbing down and that intellectual ideas are attempted. I find the plot interesting and the dialogue delightfully ambitious.

Michael Sheard makes another guest appearance in Doctor Who and, as always, is superb. He imbues his relatively small role with a lot of depth. Other guest actors are solid and the script is strong. With better effects and production this could have been even better but I still think it is a very good adventure that has some ambition and a lot of qualities.

My ratings: Episode 1 - 9/10, Episode 2 - 8.5/10, Episode 3 - 9.5/10, Episode 4 - 9/10. Overall - 9/10.

A bit hammy. It would get better.

[Sleepin_Dragon · 5/10 · 21 July 2019]

Castrovalva it's fair to say wasn't my favourite storyline, I am somewhat biased to being a huge, adoring fan of Tom Baker, but I will judge it being the Peter Davison fan that I am.

The thing I struggle with, is the acting, it feels as though it's a bit hammy, the guards for starters are shocking, and Peter himself just doesn't cut it somehow, he would become a great Doctor, for my humble part, he didn't start off as such. Even Nyssa and Tegan ars a little wooden as characters here.

As an idea Castrovalva is excellent, and the audiobook is amazing, but as a production I don't love it hugely.

"That's the trouble with with regenerations, you never quite know what your going to get." Oh dear, dull first episode for Davison.

[poolandrews · 4/10 · 4 March 2007]

Doctor Who: Castrovalva: Part 1 starts where the previous story from the previous season Logopolis (1981) finished as the Doctor (Tom Baker) lies at the bottom of the tower with his friends Tegan (Janet Fielding), Nyssa (Sarah Sutton) & Adric (Matthew Waterhouse) looking on as he regenerates for a fifth time, unfortunately the regeneration doesn't go well & the new Doctor (Peter Davison) is very weak. Tegan & Nyssa help the Doctor into the TARDIS while Aric is captured by a security guard, however the Masters (Anthony Ainsley) TARDIS also appears & seems to help Adric escape the clutches of the security guard & to the safety of the Doctors TARDIS that then takes off. The new Doctor is in a bad way needs to get to the healing power of zero room in the TARDIS to recover, it's up to Adric, Nyssa & Tegan to take control of the TARDIS. However, it becomes apparent that Adric was a plant & sabotaged the co-ordinates of the TARDIS which has travelled back in time all the way to the beginning, the creation of the universe & the biggest explosion ever...

This Doctor Who adventure was episode 1 from season 19 that aired here in the UK during early 1982 & was the first story to feature Peter Davison as the Doctor, directed by Fiona Cumming I was less than impressed with Castrovalva. I will always consider Tom Baker as my favourite Doctor, he was simply brilliant & it's as simple & straight forward as that so Davison had an almost impossible task in trying to replace him as far as I'm concerned. Davison obviously went on to be a decent Doctor in his own right & bring a little something unique to the role to be sure but I don't rate him that highly myself. The script by Cristopher H. Bidmead didn't do anything for me, as a first story it was a poor choice in my opinion. Maybe Castrovalva will improve over the next three episodes but Part 1 had minimal storyline, it's set almost entirely within the monotonous confines of TARDIS, the new Doctor seems almost irrelevant to what's going on around him & the Master makes for a dull villain who has next to nothing to do. Another reason why I maybe subconsciously don't like this episode is because this was the point where we had to say goodbye to he fabulous Tom Baker which got the episode off to bad & somewhat sad start for me. The story hasn't really progressed over the episode & to be honest I will probably have to watch the remaining episodes out of duty rather than interest although I did like the idea of destroying the TARDIS by sending it back to the beginning of time to be obliterated by the creation of the universe, the so-called Big Bang. A disappointing start to the Davison era then, the only other Davison story I've seen is Warriors from the Deep (1984) which is decent so hopefully things will get better for Davison.

Even though not much actually happens during Castrovalva the few special effects that feature are poor, the shot of the Masters TARDIS floating in the air looks terrible. Ther are no monsters or aliens in this one either which doesn't help. I'm actually quite surprised that many Doctor Who fans seem to like Castrovalva, god knows why going by Part 1.

Castrovalva comes as a disappointment, it's nowhere near as good as Tom Bakers first story Robot (1974 - 1975) which managed to successfully introduce a new Doctor yet still involve him in a cracking adventure. Even though I consider myself a Doctor Who fan I simply cannot recommend Castrovalva to anyone other than fans like me, there is better out there.

Dull, dull, dreadfully dull

[Flytrap · 4/10 · 22 March 2007]

The Doctor's regeneration is going wrong. The Tardis is heading toward certain doom (what else is new) and The Master is in hot pursuit The main attraction of this episode will be that it's the first series with Peter Davison; since Logopolis already did the regeneration, I can't even recommend it for that scene. Tegan and Nyssa spend countless time roaming around, making faces and small talk. The plot (such as it is) is rather boring and even The Master is less menacing than usual. No real menace in this one, no real tension, but if you need a relief from insomnia, give this one a go. For those who need to see every episode only.

A disappointing start...

[Leofwine_draca · 3/10 · 5 November 2023]

CASTROVALVA is one of the Peter Davison serials I saw on VHS tape back in the day. It disappointed me then and it still disappoints me now, mainly because very little happens of note. Davison is stuck doing his amnesic nonsense for three quarters of the running time, which soon becomes tiresome and annoying; none of the preceding Doctors were ever this irritating! That leaves his gaggle of companions running around filling out the plot while Adric gets stuck in a spider's web (!). Anthony Ainley is on hand to ham it up a bit, but gets little to do. There's a plot of sorts in the third and four episodes, but it's hurried through and makes little impact. Things can only improve...