Top 20 Episodes of Doctor Who #18: Castrovalva

Our next entry brings us the debut episode of the Fifth Doctor, Peter Davison. As I alluded to in the last article, Davison is David Tennants favorite Doctor (as well as his father-in-law but that's a whole other article) and it's not hard to see why. Davison's Doctor was kind-hearted, well-mannered, had a love for cricket, and to, always came across as sort of an eccentric but good-natured neighbor who you would invite over for Christmas breakfast. By that I mean, while many of the other Doctor's had personalities that made them feel like larger than life figures, Davison always seemed the most down to earth and accessible of the Doctors.

Post regeneration stories tend to have a bad reputation, at least they did in the classic series. Examples like Tom Baker’s Robot and Sylvester McCoy’s Time and the Rani spring immediately to mind. In fact, Colin Baker’s debut story, The Twin Dilemma, is almost unanimously considered to be the worst episode in the entire series history. It’s understandable that this can happen. With a new Doctor comes a new direction for the show and sometimes it can take a little while before the actors, the writers and most importantly, the fans, get used to the changes. I only mention this because Castrovalva, the subject of this particular article, is often lumped into the same category as the previously mentioned episodes, and I don’t think that’s fair because this episode is actually pretty good.

The Doctor has just finished regenerating into his fifth incarnation, but there’s no time to sit back and enjoy it. Along with his companions, Nyssa and Tegan, The Doctor must quickly escape the clutches of his arch-rival, The Master, who has already kidnapped The Doctor’s companion, Adric. To make matters worse, the Doctor is experiencing some kind of post-regeneration trauma that appears to be slowly killing him. In order to save The Doctor, his companions are lead to Castrovalva, a planet that is said to be able possess properties than can help heal the Doctor’s mind. However, the Doctor and company have unknowingly walked into a trap and must escape Castrovalva before it vanishes into oblivion, taking the TARDIS crew with it.

This was an episode that had its work cut out for it. Tom Baker’s seven-year run as the Doctor had drawn to a close, and in that time, Baker had become a household name, and for many fans, the only Doctor they’d ever known. So, whoever they got to replace him had to really stand out if he was going to escape the shadow of his predecessor. Fortunately, Peter Davison was more than up to the challenge. Davison takes to the role as if he’d been playing it for years, and he does a great job establishing himself as his own Doctor. My favorite quote from the episode is actually the last line spoken when, having averted narrowly escaped certain doom, the Doctor says,

I feel quite like my old self, or rather my new self. Well, whoever I feel like, it's absolutely splendid. A statement to which this humble writer is inclined to agree with. The companions and the guest cast are also a lot of fun and give great performances, but in my mind, the real star of this episode, even more so than Davison himself, is Anthony Ainley, who plays The Master. Like Davison, Ainley was also fairly new to the role, and he takes to it in a way that would have made the late Roger Delgado proud. To fully express the greatness of Ainley, I must share with you, a little story. Several years ago, I introduced my cousin to Doctor Who. She enjoyed it, but she also developed a nasty habit of predicting the twists of the episode before they were revealing, irritating me to no end. So, deciding I was going to get her good, I showed her Castrovalva. At one point in the episode, the Master disguises himself as a citizen of Castrovalva, and you can barely tell it’s him. Anthony Ainley was just that good of an actor. This is a fun episode that more than meets the challenges laid before it, and it is more than worthy of a spot on this list.

Next time, we jump ahead to the Doctor's next incarnation as the Doctor stands trial for crimes contrary to the laws of the Time Lords.