Doctor Who: The Keeper of Traken

THE KEEPER OF TRAKEN - The Union of Traken is famous as a place of universal harmony, held together by the Keeper, Guardian of the bio-electronic "Source" which forms the organizing power of the Empire. So benign is the atmosphere of the place that it literally calcifies visiting evil creatures into the form of statues. Such a being is known on Traken as "Melkur", and one of these stands even now in the Grove of the Keeper's Sanctum, tended by the fervently u[right Consul Kassia. But all is not well on Traken. The current Keeper's millennium is about to come to an end, and the Union will shortly enter a period of great trial. This is the urgent news the keeper conveys to Adric and the Doctor when he invites their help. Consul Kassia marries Consul Tremas, the chief scientist of the Traken Union, and the man who - Kassia learns to her secret distress - the Keeper has chosen as his successor. She confides to the Melkur statue that she is shortly to lose her husband to the power of the Source (and is frightened and astonished to hear Melkur reply, seeming to promise help). Melkur seizes upon Kassia's plight to arrange for Kassia's husband, along with the Doctor and Adric, to be imprisoned on false charges. As Melkur become the new Keeper of Traken, he reveals himself to be the Master! (The statue of Melkur is in reality the Master's TARDIS.) Thanks to an almost catastrophic diversion, during which Adric and Nyssa, Tremas's daughter, nearly succeed in destroying the Source, the Doctor manages to defeat his old enemy. In a last minute twist, the Master seizes upon Tremas's body to effect his thirteenth regeneration.

Traken is a planet ruled by the all-powerful Keeper, who reigns for a thousand years and ensures that his subjects live a life of tranquillity and harmony. Now the Keeper is dying. Summoned by the ailing Keeper, the Doctor and Adric discover that all is not well on Traken. An evil presence threatens the future of the planet - an evil that knows all about the Doctor.

Cast
The Doctor - Tom Baker
Adric - Matthew Waterhouse
Nyssa - Sarah Sutton
Fosters - Liam Prendergast
Fosters - Philip Bloomfield
Kassia - Sheila Ruskin
Katura - Margot van der Burgh
Luvic - Robin Soans
Melkur - Geoffrey Beevers Geoffrey Beevers played the Master but was credited as the Melkur to conceal this plot twist. The walking Melkur statue was played by Graham Cole (now better known for his starring role in the ITV police series The Bill)
Neman - Roland Oliver
Seron - John Woodnutt
The Keeper - Denis Carey
Tremas - Anthony Ainleyv Production Credits
Director - John Blackv Assistant Floor Manager - Lynn Richards
Costumes - Amy Roberts
Designer - Tony Burrough
Executive Producer - Barry Letts
Incidental Music - Roger Limb
Make-Up - Norma Hill
Producer - John Nathan-Turner
Production Assistant - Alan Wareing
Production Unit Manager - Angela Smith
Script Editor - Christopher H Bidmead
Special Sounds - Dick Mills
Studio Lighting - Don Babbage
Studio Sound - John Holmes
Studio Sound - Alan Fogg
Title Music - Ron Grainer and the BBC Radiophonic Workshop, arranged by Peter Howell
Visual Effects - Peter Logan
Writer - Johnny Byrne