"A new body at last!" One of the best endings to a classic story ever. Absolutely chilling. This is one of the Master's best plans in his evil career - a disguise that fooled the Doctor until the final act, temporarily acquired the limitless power of the Keeper and even when defeated, was able to hijack Tremas' body. Although when your name is an anagram of 'master', you're pretty much doomed from the start. As excited as I am for your journey with Anthony Ainley's incarnation, I have to praise Geoffrey Beevers who's reprised his role as the Doctor's crispy nemesis multiple times in Big Finish and his silkily malevolent voice is always a treat.
Geoffrey Beevers' take on the Master, along with his iconic voice, definitely made an impact in this story, plus that ending is one of the most chilling endings in the show's history.
David Tennant once spoke about one of his earliest memories of Doctor Who being him working out that the Master was the baddie of this story. How adorable!
Geoffrey Beevers reprises the Master in Big Finish quite a few times. He also played a UNIT soldier in Ambassadors of Death and he was married to Caroline John who was Liz Shaw.
When Nyssa enters the TARDIS she asks "It's bigger on the inside?" and Adric replies "Yes, that's because the TARDIS is dimentionally transidental" then Nyssa asks "What does that mean?" and Adric replies "It means it's bigger inside than outside" which are the exact same lines The Third Doctor (Jon Pertwee) said to Jo Grant (Katy Manning) when she entered the TARDIS for the first time in "Colony in Space" 10 years earlier.
That final plot twist of the Master hijacking Tremas' body is amazing and a great way to finish this story and build intrigue going into the next one. It's honestly one of my favourite endings to a story ever. This story as a whole is really good too and I love all the world building we got for the Traken society and how it gives context for the way the Master was able to tear it all apart brick by brick and manipulate his way into becoming their leader. A tranquil society that prospers because of how good everyone is to one another visited by evil and corrupted by its influence. It's a really interesting and well told story.
Jess, your reaction to the Master’s reveal and his take over of Tremas’ body was a priceless reaction - similar to the one I and many other fans had when we saw this story back in 1981. The fact is, that if the Source hadn’t been tampered with, the Doctor might have suffered the same fate as Tremas eventually did, by the Master trying to physically take over the Doctor’s mind and his body. Unfortunately, it was Tremas that was taken over, and whilst his body isn’t Time Lord compatible, it is still a body the Master can use to move freely about. It gives him time - a stop gap to find another way to stop his Time Lord body from finally succumbing to his last regeneration and ultimately his death! Did you notice that here the Master looked less crispier than we last saw him in The Deadly Assassin? Less make up was applied to the Master’s face this time (compared to how his face looked in The Deadly Assassin), to show the audience that the Master looked physically better this time around. Remember what the Doctor told Spandrell at the end of The Deadly Assassin, that there had been power emulating from the Eye of Harmony, and that it was possible that the Sash of Rassilon the Master was wearing might have helped him to convert that power? Well, obviously that’s what happened, as it staved off the Master’s final death long enough for him to get to Traken and implement his plan to become Keeper and use that power to take over somebody’s body, which he finally managed to do! This is a fantastic story with a great script, great production design, great costumes and great incidental music, and the acting by all was superb! For me, it is the 2nd best story of the season, with the next story deservedly taking that number 1 position. I can’t wait for you to react to it!
@@nathanjarrett728 It’s funny how he only has one appearance in Classic Who proper and has now become one of the most used version’s of the Master (next to Jacobi as the War Master, I’m pretty sure)
Well done spotting that Tremas is an anagram for Master. There's actually a lot of use of anagrams in the next few years. This time out, the Master is played by Geoffrey Beevers, who was the real life husband of Caroline John, who played third Doctor companion Liz Shaw. Beevers has reprised this version of the Master a number of times for the Big Finish audio Doctor Who stories.
The Master was the first of the opposing characters to receive additional regenerations. We had to wait for the Doctor to get his. So it was a future possibility to break the 12 year limit.
What a great story. This is Who firing on all cylinders: interesting characters, excellent costume and set design, and sharp, taut writing. Anthony Ainley's transition from the kindly Tremas to the cold, deadly Master is fabulous, perhaps only topped by Derek Jacobi's later similar turn. I wish we could have gotten a bit more of Geoffrey Beevers turn as the Master… his silky but deadly voice perfectly conveys the threat from the enigmatic Melkur. There are some Big Finish audios featuring him that I definitely need to check out.
The ending of this episode was the first moment of doctor who I ever saw. I heard of the show before and had a general idea who the Doctor and the Master were, but I didn't realize there were currently reruns I could follow. it strange to see it again now, 25 years later, as an experienced Whovian.
Producer John Nathan-Turner was the figure behind the 'Master/Tremas' anagram. He was really an arch-publicist and in some ways prefigured Russell T Davies in his approach to teasing, if not the public, then certainly fandom. Like modern producers of the show, he had more than his fair share of critics (which we'll come to later), but I think he understood the 'fan-brain'.
This is going to be the longest week ever waiting for Logopolis! Also good on you for catching the master anagram. It's been used on and off through the years to hide the Masters appearances. This wasn't the first and it won't be the last
I will say Seska Johnny Byrne.s original script for Keeper of Traken did not originally feature the Master as the main villain of the story it was a creature called Mogun whom the Doctor had met offscreen in an unrecorded story and also Nyssa,s father was named Hellas but when JNT decided to have the main villain altered to the Master who had not appeared onscreen since the Deadly Assassin in 1976 the year I turned 7 and started junior school. The character Hellas was thus renamed Tremas an anagram of Master, I also when I saw this story in 1981 when I was 12 and in my first year of secondary school I was terrified when the hooded figure inside the grey statue of Melkur turned round in part 3 and revealed his emaciated and mutilated face and I instantly realised the hooded creature was the deformed Master from the Deadly Assassin even though his face was slightly less deformed he was still terrifying to look at the fact the Master having reached his final incarnation was not going to simply accept death so by using the powers of the Keepership he savagely took over the body of Nyssa,s father Tremas and cheated death and thus becomes a carbon copy of the original Master Roger Delgado who had tragically died in fatal motor car accident 8 years earlier at the time when the original Master was going to be killed off in the final serial of season 11 which would have been a 6 part serial entitled the Final Game which was to feature a final showdown between Pertwee,s Doctor and Delgado,s Master and the Master was to be killed off and blown up in a cosmic explosion and the Doctor was to be fatally wounded and thus change into his 4th incarnation.
That's so amazing you were such a little youngling watching Doctor Who. I love you sharing it I honestly get excited hearing stories from those who were children back in the classic era
My theory is the Master was able to regenerate somewhat using the eye of harmony but it wasnt enough to stop his cells from decaying, hence why he looks and sounds different in this story
If you listen to the doctor's comments in the following story your theory is confirmed as straight-up canon. I could be remembering this wrong however I am certain that somewhere along the line what you're saying has been confirmed
@@mikalmos369 the doctor mentioned at the end of deadly assassin the sash would have helped the Master to absorb some energy from the eye of harmony, enough to survive, plus when you see the Master's face in the clock at the end of that same story it looks like he's changing or at least that's what the script implies
You have now reached an era of the master that is arguably the greatest actor for the character. I prefer this one for certain scenes and wad actually the one I was introduced to when watching a classic special.
@@johntomlinson6849 I prefer Delgado as casting for the Master (no surprise since the role was developed around him) but I do think Ainley gets more interesting stories and roles. Some low points sure but honestly the 80s are a lot more interesting in general than the sea of bland Pertwee's era could often be. (imo, obviously)
Remember hearing that the time on the clock (4 minutes to Twelve) was a Hidden reference to the Doomsday clock (4 minutes to Doomsday) at the time. As in nothing spells more doom than a Master now healed, by stealing a body. Like if we were to get that reference now, it would be 90 seconds to doomsday. Ironic that Geoffrey Beevers' only tv story is pretty much only doing the voice while he's in the Melkur TARDIS, when he went on to be the first (and for a while only) actor to reprise the Master on Big Finish. Like highlights include: Master (best listened to not knowing anything tbh) I am The Master (story wise pretty much the Master just doing a podcast) Mastermind (Master doing story's from his life post tv movie e.g that time he got on the Titanic to escape WW1)
To be fair to the Doctor, it seems like it's actually in character for both of them that the Master is far, far more obsessed with his rivalry with the Doctor than vice-versa, and possibly one of the most effective ways the Doctor might have to annoy him would have been, when the Master revealed himself, to have responded to his "*Well*, Doctor...?" in the final episode with something like "Sorry, have we met? Ohh! The *Master*, I'm sorry, I'd forgotten all about you; I thought you were going to turn out to be someone important." Geoffrey Beevers' performance is incredible; like Derek Jacobi all those years later, he takes a one-night performance intended to reintroduce the character, and makes the role his own to incredible evil effect.
I'm glad you noticed that "Tremas" is an anagram of "Master". But I always thought it was weird that it's just a complete coincidence; normally when that kind of thing is in a story, it's because the Master is in disguise but Tremas wasn't related to him. I also felt bad for Kassia. She was being manipulated and was just doing everything because she didn't want to lose her husband. Although it didn't seem like Tremas cared that much when she died.
That's just par for the course in Classic Who: don't let character thoughts about death and loss get in the way of the plot. (I'm being a little facetious, but it was a common back then).
@@flaggerify What can I say? Bidmead and JNT loved their anagrams. It's ironic, really. They wanted to bring back hard science and drop the "silliness" of the Douglas Adams (and previous) eras, but added silliness of their own--including the, um, "questionable" question marks on the Doctor's clothes.
@@kivimik Which was misguided as all hell, but I do think Who needs a bit of an edge and they were right to lean into that a bit more. I know lots of people cry about the violence of the mid 80s or love the Moffat era, or whatever. But 60s Who had a bit of edge and the characters got roughed up, people died, that's how it began. The show is most famous for being family horror, even in New Who the most famous stories are the scary ones. Just like how it had gotten too silly in the 70s, the show has gotten too silly today too. But fat chance they even consider walking that back today. We were lucky to have 80s Who if the alternative was what's happened to New Who over the years. Really New Who lost the slight edge it had as early as 2011 or 12.
I also noticed that several male characters in the stories in this season, of Dr Who were bearded it seemed to be a kind of fashion at the time these stories were aired.
"The Keeper of Traken" was the first adventure I'd ever watched that featured the Master, and it fascinated me. Part of the appeal was Anthony Ainley's performance as Tremas: I think I mentioned in a comment on the previous reaction liking the chemistry he had with Tom Baker as the Doctor. Seeing his transformation into the Master was a surprise - and looking back, I realise that in part the goosebumps I felt were in response to how quickly Ainley took on the manerisms of the Master. True, it was his job... and his range was amazing.
I have been waiting for this reaction for ages. I do like a Dr Who story with a sting in its tail. This is one of the best in classic/new WHO. This season just gets better and better. Poor Tremas. Such a kind intelligent man ruthlessly murdered. Think this is one of the best alien Society’s created in Dr Who. Loved all the characters who were perfectly cast. Think Adric is really good in this story. Remember clearly my memory of watching this back in 1981. I was stunned at the ending and ran down the stairs to tell my mum all about it 😅. Your reaction was great. Looking forward to the next story.
This episode combined with the next two form what I would consider one of the most pivotal periods in Classic Who. Buckle up, cause you are in for a treat that you will engrain itself into the lore like no other.
Despite this fleeting appearance, Geoffrey Beevers has continued as The Master on audio at various points. Mainly because it was a pity to waste him here. He had also turned up in a couple of scenes in 'The Ambassadors of Death' (in which his wife, Caroline John, was playing Liz Shaw of course) and had another small sci-fi credit in 1981 after appearing in the TV version of Douglas Adams' 'The Hitch-Hiker's Guide to the Galaxy'.
They like him so much.I think there's like five distinct versions of him Pre crispy where he's just jeffrey beavers Presumably after delgado was killed by capaldi in that comic book The version we see in this episode is the Most used The one. After the tremas body is eventually ripped apart Is leaving him in the husk of his time lord form And finally the post bruce deathworm[the goo snake drom the move] Version who just kept snatching bodies but quickly burning through them until he eventually died for real
These last two parts for this story I’ve been looking forward to alot. The long waited return of the Master! It’s been a while since we’ve seen the Master, not since the Deadly Assassin, still in his Decaying form. Geoffrey Beavers plays the Master replacing Peter Pratt. Beavers would later play The Master in Big Finish audio dramas and he’s just is great as he is in this story. Before passing the role over to Anthony Ainley who’s the next to play the Master.
I must say Seska when Kassia died Tremas showed no reaction, at all yet when Seron died in part 2 have been savagely killed by Kassia under Melkur,s power he was very upset also when the giant grey statue of Melkur disappeared from the grove I instantly knew the Melkur was a TARDIS and also having the Master back in this story was awesome in trillions of ways.
That reaction to the Master reveal was so good I had to watch it twice! The Keeper of Traken is such a good story and that ending is so dark; it's unusual for a Doctor Who. Looking forward to next week's reaction!
So Geoffrey Beevers played the same incarnation of the Master as Peter Pratt apparently the robe was the same costume that Peter wore but as you saw the make-up was done differently making the Beevers version of the "Crispy Master" look different to the Peter Pratt version with the explanation being that the Master was slightly restored at the end of The Deadly Assassin. I loved your reaction to the body stealing scene!
There's also the art on big finished covers which also looks different but that's meant to be The master reduced back to that form after his stolen bodies get destroyed It's interesting.We got like Five different Flavors Pre crispy who just looks like jeffrey beavers Freshly crispy who is the deadly assassin version Stable crispy who is slightly healthier but still an agonizing pain and looks like this version Post tremas body Crispy Who seemed to be slightly healthier And where is a suit And pose bruce crispy who probably constantly changes appearance since he's hopping from body to body burning them back to crispy Until eventually that burnt paper skin runs to thin and he diess for real And then he was resurrected into the alex mcqueen incarnation
@@plantainsame2049 Thanks for all of that. I'm not across the Big Finish stuff so, I didn't know any of that except the Alex Mcqueen part as I head that from someone a while back but they didn't mention the Bruce Crispy Master and I haven't looked into yet as I heard a rumour they were going to animate some of the Big Finish audios and I thought if that comes to fruition I would to see that. Anyway thanks once again!
@billthewhovian Post bruce bruce is the t v movie master but eventually the master loses that body and ends up back into the crispy The tv movie master is called bruce because the body he's possessing Belongs to a guy called bruce
10/10 for me. A great story, great plot, great sets, costumes and strong cast. So the master is back. And as I said last week, gee Nyssa would make a great companion (I know you’ve already finished the season, so that’s not a spoiler….)
The Tom Baker era is regarded by some as a period that lacks a lot of returning villains or monsters. But it's difficult to know where this idea stems from. As far as I can make out, only Season's 13 and 16 contain nothing from a previous series. Let's face it, the Sontarans (relatively new, but still a comeback), the Daleks (obviously) and the Cybermen (after more than five years away) all turn up in Tom's first series - the latter two back-to-back!
Ah! You did notice that "Tremas" is an anagram for Master! Wonderful. I love this Master. How the Master becomes this "Crispy" form (as he is referred to on screen) is unclear. - Big Finish suggests he has a normal appearance before being flayed alive by an electronet, operated by a future incarnation of himself (He remarks that he spent so long in the Crispy form, he had forgotten what the regeneration originally looked like); - Legacy of the Daleks is an 8th Doctor Book, that claims he is burnt by Susan who blasts him with his own TCE - A 2017 Comic Strip featuring the 12th Doctor, features the Delgado Master attempting to regenerate with insufficient regenerations remaining, resulting in a malformed half-way regeneration. Geoffrey Beevers is technically the incarnation you see in every appearance of the Master until his "Resurrection" by the Time Lords. This is his only appearance on TV, but he plays the role in Big Finish opposite many Doctors. This is the because whilst he is at end of the Master's Regenerations, so narratively, each time he is played by a new actor from this point on, he cheating in someway, often "Possessing" something. Like Bruce in the TV Movie. Strictly speaking even the Snake you see at the beginning of the TV Movie is **This** Incarnation just wearing a different skin suit. So, technically speaking, this incarnation of the Master is played by the most different actors. Because under the skin, it is still this same corrupted master, limping along, trying to survive. This incarnation doesn't appear again on TV, but in other formats, he continues to limp around at least until his final death and subsequent resurrection by the Timelords mentioned in the Sound of Drums. Fun fact, this resurrection, which takes place in a Big Finish Audio called "Day of the Master", was carried out by Missy and the War Master.
Been waiting for this one .. Geoffrey beavers ..So good as the Master. A New Body At last... The Ainley Master...At Last .. Anthony Ainley's Master is so iconic ...
What happened to Tremas at the end of this episode!!! who was so sweet as a man and so dear as a father to Nyssa, to be taken by the Master in both his mind and body, to be used for so much future diabolical acts (as will be seen, sorry spoilers)….this part of Doctor Who kinda fucked me up, in my youth, but essentially as I’m older. To be taken as used, maybe still even conscious of what your knowledge and body is being used for, to perform such horrors on others you’ve never met….it’s just fucked up to think about. Saying that, this new version of the Master is interesting and I kinda like him, though he’s a different take on the character than original established by the great Roger Delgado!
Enter: Anthony Ainley as the Third Master or the Fourth if you count the two actors Peter Pratt and Geoffrey Beevers both playing the Crispy Master. Although this wasn't a "proper" regeneration this is the first time we see The Master switch into another person on-screen even though it was technically an "alien" body he's stolen not his natural "timelord" body his second time was the TV Movie when he was on trial and executed on Skaro by the Daleks then went from being a "snake" to stealing a human body ambulance driver Bruce as played by american actor Eric Roberts then the third time was in NuWho in episode "Utopia" when he regenerated properly from Professor Yana Derek Jacobi to John Simm.
Technically he's the fourteenth master Actually he's just the 13th and a new skin.Since according to the expanded media eventually that body breaks down and he becomes crispy again[ They wanted to use the master post survival but they couldn't get annly] But I will call him 14 overall.Since he does have a distinct personality no doubt do to the Internal differences of the body which I theorize to be the same reason why normal time lord regeneration alters your personality
Anthony Ainley (the new Master here) came from a very wealthy family, so he could pick and choose jobs. When he became the Master, he stopped accepting other work. Being the Master was his pride and joy!
beevers is one of my favourite masters, and while its a shame he obviously wasn't in the show very much, i'm pretty happy that he, of all the televised masters, is the one mostly limited to audio - he sells it with his voice alone!!
Well him darek jacobi As the war master he only had won on screen episode And obviously since he originated an audio alex mcqueen As the version of the master who first appeared in dark eyes I believe I like them all.I wanna put them all in a box and shake it All the masters put them in a box shake it
This may not be the greatest episode. But it's one of the most important and iconic. I can't say anything about the Regeneration that hasn't been already said. Only that the Master doesn't have many onscreen regenerations which makes this all the more special. Again. Traken is a great world within the Whoniverse. And Melkur is a brilliant addition to the franchise and the revaluation that it's a TARDIS is awesome. I hope we get to see the Master's TARDIS take on the form again. I can't say much more because unfortunately the story is not over yet.
It's an unusually bad unfinished business loose ends non-ending. They should have placed the bodysnatch earlier, so that * we would see what follows + a resolution for Nyssa, * the bodysnatch would be part of the fight over the keepership, instead of a scrappy add-on after the story appeared resolved. * then the moment of doing the bodysnatch could have been the Master's weak moment in the fight that lost him it.
The master could possess people Given that this time he could only do at once due to some power he absorbed from the source of traken And the other times it was due to a deathworm That had decayed to a point where his stolen bodies crispified rapidly. Rapidly.And was no doubt completely killed by his regeneration into the Alex McQueen.Incarnation when the time lordss restored him I don't think he has that power anymore
Switching from a mask to make up for The Master's decayed body allows Geoffrey Beevers more freedom of expression...and with that voice too he just oozes malevolence 😁
Part of me misses the idea of the Master just stealing other people's bodies because he's run out of regenerations. It was a unique cruelty and showed his nature well. It never got explored to its full potential in the show IMO. He sort of did it with 13 but it wasn't exactly the same.
You know , as someone who really liked the movie One of the best things they gave us other than Paul.Mcgan of course was giving the master a regular way to steal bodys With his death worm morphient , he has in the movie Since the source Is in this story or the immortality gate In the end of time or the time lord technology he used on the doctor in the power of the doctor all one offs The death worm, on the other hand actually lasted for a long time before decaying, leaving him, returning to a decade.Crispy state faster and faster until he eventually died for real.and that's why the time lords resurrected him
My lost of best masters ( v show only) 1, degaldo and pratt and beevers and ainley and roberts and Jacobi and simm and Michelle Gomez and sacha Dawain all in joint first 2, no one else Sorry I was very bored….. byee
Badly handled this ending. They should have done it earlier than the end. We are left hanging with Nyssa cruelly not knowing what has happened, and we don't know we will ever see any resolution of that. It's an unusually bad unfinished business loose ends non-ending. They should have placed the bodysnatch during the conflict around the clock. So that * we would see what follows + a resolution for Nyssa, * the bodysnatch would be part of the fight over the keepership, instead of a scrappy add-on after the story appeared resolved. * then the moment of doing the bodysnatch could have been the Master's weak moment in the fight that lost him it.
You do realize it's an intentional Cliff hanger because the next story literally takes place immediately after this one yeah?? It's a simple rule.Leave them wanting more.They will tune in next episode
@@plantainsame2049 no. It does not even come across to me as a cliffhanger at all. Nor has it to reactors who I have watched, and I have followed several.
@@conscienceaginBlackadder Then you all have the combined intelligence of a chair This is literally intentional bait to get people to watch The Next Episode It's blatantly obvious
