K is for... Kassia

 

One of the five Consuls who were the political leaders of the planet Traken. This world was part of the Union of Traken, which was presided over by a being known as the Keeper who maintained peace and harmony, even regulating the seasons. He used a bioelectric force known as the Source to achieve this.

Should any entity harbouring malicious intent land on Traken, the Source would instantly freeze and calcify them. They would eventually crumble away to dust. Such entities were known as Melkur.

A particularly evil Melkur which arrived in the grove beside the Consul chambers was given over to Kassia to tend until its eventual destruction. She became quite obsessed by it.

Several years later, on the occasion of Kassia's marriage to her fellow Consul Tremas, the Keeper passed the care of the Melkur over to Tremas' daughter Nyssa. Tremas was to become the new Keeper, which Kassia did not want as it would take him away from her.

The Melkur was really the disguised TARDIS of the Master - come to Traken to seize control over the Source to enable him to regenerate and then provide a power base. He used his hypnotic skills to turn Kassia against her husband - planning to set her up as the Keeper. She was made to kill her fellow Consul Seron, and to discredit Tremas after he befriended the Doctor.

Kassia then took over the Keepership after the old Keeper died - but within moments she was absorbed by the Source, and her place taken by the Master in the Melkur.

Played by: Sheila Ruskin. Appearances: The Keeper of Traken (1981).

• Like many actors JNT wanted to see appear in Doctor Who, Ruskin had appeared in the lavish costume drama The Pallisers, on which he had been a production assistant. Anthony Ainley, who played Tremas and the new incarnation of the Master in this story, was another.
• Ruskin also featured in a Blake's 7 episode "Redemption".