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Doctor Who - New Beginnings (The Keeper of Traken [1981] / Logopolis [1981] / Castrovalva [1982]) [1963]


RRP: £29.99
Our Price: £12.18 (subject to change)

Editorial
Amazon.co.uk Reviews

A good value boxset that unites a loose trilogy of stories of varying interest from the back catalogue, Doctor Who: New Beginnings maintains the high standards set of late by the show’s catalogue releases. Beginnings is the underlying theme, with the stories following the introduction of the late Anthony Ainley’s take on The Master, the swansong of Tom Baker’s Doctor, and the debut of Peter Davison in the title role.

The first story, "The Keeper Of Trakken", tells of a living statue that poses a threat to Traken World. It’s quite a good tale, introducing Nyssa to the Doctor Who Universe, but more worryingly for the Doctor it also plays host to a resurgent Master. And it’s he too who plays a crucial part in "Logopolis", Tom Baker’s final story in the title role. It’s the best story in the New Beginnings boxset, as the Doctor battles both The Master, and the potential end of the Universe when the mathematicians of Logopolis are threatened. Along the way, he also adds Tegan to the crew of the TARDIS for the first time, with the first appearance of Peter Davison as the Doctor, too.

Davison’s first full story though, "Castrovalva"", is the weakest link of the set. Again it features The Master, and it follows the newly regenerated Doctor--in a very shaky state--as he heads for the supposedly peaceful retreat of the title, only to find, as you’d expect, that all isn’t as it seems. Sadly, the premise isn’t really realised, resulting in one of the more tepid stories of Davison’s reign.

Ultimately though, Doctor Who: New Beginnings delivers two very good stories. Yet this being Doctor Who, each is backed up by enough extra features to paper over even the most telling of cracks, and there’s plenty on offer to justify the asking price.--Simon Brew


One goodie, two yawn-a-ramas
Review date: 2008-08-25 Rating: 4 out of 10

Box-sets of Dr Who stories connected by some theme or other seem to be slowly taking over individual releases. Some, like the Key to Time season, are excellent. Others seem to be good stories lumped together with total clangers which, on their own, would only be bought by hardcore fans. I'm afraid this seems to be one of those releases. The Keeper of Traken is a first-class tale. It looks great, has an interesting story, the decaying Master is well-played and the walking statue is quite creepy (it was played by one of Sun Hill's finest, incidentally). Logopolis, however, is a story which tries so hard to be clever and far-out and just ends up being a lot of odd things happening with very little rhyme or reason. It's only real saving grace is the regeneration sequence, which is first-class. Castrovalva is one of those stories which, once you've watched it, fails to ever tempt you back for a repeated viewing. On its plus side, Tegan and Nyssa work well together and it's a shame the latter ended up playing second fiddle to a man in a yellow tracksuit and green wellies. On its minus side, the story is slow. Far too much time is spent wandering around the Tardis, for example, with the Doctor doing impressions of his various past incarnations. This was the beginning of a trend towards irritating in-jokes and self-referencing which would haunt Dr Who through many eighties stories. Michael Sheard is in Castrovalva, but is disgracefully wasted. It has to be said that, although Anthony Ainley would later become a brilliant Master, he is terrible in both Logopolis and Castrovalva. Think pantomime villain and you'd be not too short of the mark. To sum up, I'd have prefered it if they'd released Keeper on its own. I suppose you could always sell the other two stories.


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Reviews


Very dissappointing
Review date: 2008-06-30 Rating: 2 out of 10

I was too young to see these stories when they came out so i bought them with no real knowledge about them. And what a mistake it was.

Every story is poor, and the only good thing about them is the DVD extras. But even they don't justify the purpose of buying the DVD.

The main reason i bought this was because the Master was in it. But what a dissappointment he was. I expected a head-to-head battle with the Doctor in each story - but you barely saw the master in any story. I expected a battle of wits like we saw in the brilliant Roger Delgado stories, but it just never happened. There was nothing wrong with Anthony Ainley, but all he seemed to do was give an evil laugh and then disappear again. It's a case of Roger Delgado 1, Anthony Ainley 0.

I would not recommend buying this DVD at all. Very poor.

3 of the best Dr.Who stories ever
Review date: 2008-02-18 Rating: 10 out of 10

This boxset contains 3 of the most important Dr Who stories ever made, and they also happen to be 3 of the finest. Keeper of Traken is one of the most beautiful stories ever made, with gorgeous set-design, costumes and music and successfully reintroduces old enemy The Master plus introduces new companion Nyssa. The momentous Logopolis is Tom Baker's final story and one of the most atmospheric, sombre and complex stories in the series history. Castrovalva is Peter Davison's first ever story and is highly imaginative and intriguing and Davison makes a good first impression. The extras are superb, with the highlight being the New Body At Last documentary, which is one of the best documentaries to have featured on the DVD's so far. Overall, The New Beginnings Box Set is an essential purchase and is, I think, the best Dr Who DVD release to date.

Good but not Great
Review date: 2007-12-19 Rating: 6 out of 10

When Tom Baker announced he would leave the series that had made him a household name it had a number of consequences. Baker is often regarded as the best actor to have played the odd man in the blue box but by his own admission his performances had became lazy, self-indulgent and distracting. He clearly had lost motivation but when John Nathan-Turner took over the role of series producer, in its 18th season, matters came to a head. This box set contains the last two stories of Baker's reign and the introductory story of Peter's Davidson's spell in the role.

"The Keeper of Traken" is great - tightly plotted, superb sets and art design. Admittedly, the acting is of mixed quality but it a far better story than many of the later part of the fouth Doctor's incarnation. (Compared it to "The invasion of Time" or, shudder, "Nightmare of Eden"!)
"Logopolis" and "Castrovalva" are both OK but they seem a bit bit faux- scientific and souless.

The Extras are okay but there simply isn't enough info about the transition between the 2 actors and how the show's production teams views series' change. Good but not great, overall.

"Ask not for whom the Cloister Bell tolls."
Review date: 2007-12-19 Rating: 10 out of 10

The end of Uncle Tom and the start of Peter D. Of the stories themselves, the bookends are wonderful "Keeper of Traken" and "Castrovalva", but the middle 1, Logopolis is a little weak.

Keeper is a fun magical story with a mix of Star Trek style cod science and Midsummer Night's Dream . There are good performances especially from newcomers to the ensemble Anthony Ainley & Sarah Sutton and guest stars such as Sheila Ruskin, John Woodnut, Dennis Carey & Margot Van de Burgh. Ruskin & de Burgh in particular play their roles with just the right amount of Gravitas.

The story moves well and is notable for the double return of the Master 1st in an underrated performance by Geoffrey Beevers and then as Anthony Ainley takes the role for the stinger at the end. The only odd touch is revealing the Master as he turns round in his chair an emaciated figure, because viewers who had not seen the Master's last story, would not have known who he is.

Logopolis carries straight on and although good has 2 episodes in which time is wasted as we only hear the Master's laugh but never see him, the Doctor measures a Police box the tries to flush out the Master by submerging the tardis underwater (although this is aborted) and generally the story goes nowhere. It picks up in the last 2 episodes with new companion Tegan making a good impression and the sense of futility over the Master wreaking havoc coming across well.

Some ideas just don't develop as well as they could e.g. Tardis within a Tardis and the Watcher but there's still lots to enjoy, perhaps not the finale Tom deserved though.

Castrovalva is a fine start for Davison and moves a lot better than Logopolis. Again guests stars are good and the Master is awol for half the story, except he isn't-see the story and you'll get my meaning.

This time the visualisation of the ideas due to limitations at the time lets the story down a little, but the ideas still work well on the whole. The Doctor's post regenerative illness is a good touch as is the ersatz inhabitants of Castrovalva not questioning how a house can be in more than 1 place at the same time, and their final breaking of their restrictions to defy The Master is touching.

Extras are marvellous a documentary on the making of Traken, and a show piece covering Baker's departure and Davison's arrival. Both men and the other interviewee's are on good form. especially fun is Tom's remembrance of how difficult he'd become. The shorter pieces "Return of the Master" & "The Crowded Tardis", should have been a bit longer although Fiona Cumming's "Directing Castrovalva" works well. there are also Interviews with Davison on Swap Shop, Pebble Mill & Blue Peter.

Commentaries include Ainley's only ever commentary for Traken a "Tommentary" for Logopolis plus Davison and Janet Fielding for Castrovalva. Nice extra touches include an easter egg of Davison at the Lord Mayor's show & a tribute to Ainley at the end of Traken as we see him sign off dressed as the Master ( from recording the Master bits for computer game "Destiny of the Doctors")and then an "in memory of" title card comes up.

A class act!

Product Details/Specifications


Actor(s):
Tom Baker
Matthew Waterhouse
Peter Davison
Anthony Ainley

Creators:
Tom Baker (Primary Contributor)
Peter Davison (Primary Contributor)

Recording label: 2 Entertain
Manufacturer: 2 Entertain
EAN: 5014503133122
Binding: DVD
Number of items: 3
Format: Box set, Full Screen, PAL,
Release date: 2007-01-29
Aspect ratio: 1.33:1
Audience rating: Parental Guidance
Region code: 2
Running time: 300 minutes
Theatrical release date: 1963-11-23
Language: English (Original Language)

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