Thursday 6 June 2024

What's Wrong With... The Keeper of Traken


Not a lot, truth be told. Wonderful design, great performances, the return of an old enemy, and even Adric is actually quite bearable. If there's a problem with the latter, it's that this story shows up the potential of the character - and how it was totally squandered by later writers and script editors.
Some minor issues are apparent, however.

Traken is supposed to be the most peaceful planet in the galaxy - so why do they have an armoury full of guns with which to arm the Fosters?
The old Keeper nominates Tremas as his successor, and decides that the best time to do this is at the man's wedding - knowing that the role will mean him having to leave his family forever. Why select a person who is married and with a child? Looking at the alternatives, the Keeper hasn't much to choose from: Kassia will also be married, Seron is already very old, as is Katura (who's also terribly closed-minded), and Luvic is a bit of an idiot.
Shouldn't the Keeper have ensured a more promising group of Consuls to rule and to eventually replace him?
We actually see how inept they are when Luvic eventually takes the Keepership as best of a bad lot.

When Tremas falls out of favour, why is there no mechanism to replace him as Consul? The others simply let Kassia begin ordering everyone about, despite her relative lack of life experience. She must have been on the council for the least amount of time, judging by their ages.
Shouldn't control of the Source rely on a certain number of Consuls using their rings? Surely a quorum must always be maintained.
Why does no-one comment on the big collar Kassia has started wearing?
Why does the Keeper not spot any of this? He doesn't suss the Melkur for what it really is, despite being able to materialise within a TARDIS. He knows Time Lords and he knows TARDISes - so why not recognise one when it's sitting outside his palace for years?
And he doesn't twig the influence it's having over Kassia.

Why does the Melkur kill the Foster on the night of the Doctor's arrival - before he has arrived? It draws attention to him - unless he somehow knew that the Doctor was about to turn up.
(If the latter, why is this something that the Doctor can never predict?).
It's a massive coincidence that the Master happens to have two TARDISes at this point, when the plot requires one of them to be destroyed.
Why did his TARDIS assume the form of an alien interloper to the planet, when a native tree or statue would have made more sense? It's supposed to blend in with the surroundings, not take the form of an incongruous alien object.

Nyssa and Adric set up a device which can over-rule the Source, draining its power. They say they hope they will never have to use it - then immediately use it.
Tom Baker has a piece of fake cobweb hanging from his nose in the prison cell scene which is very distracting and looks like snot. 
Earlier in the same sequence you can clearly hear someone coughing off camera.

What's the timescale here? Kassia is tending the Melkur whilst she is supposed to be a teenager or thereabouts. Does the Master really hang around for 10 years or more before making his move?
Does he flit off in the spare TARDIS and have adventures whilst the other one just stands there?
How do the Trakenites know when a Melkur is actually dead if they're calcified. Kassia treats hers like it's still alive, but how would anyone know? If they die on arrival, why bother tending them in the first place?
Last, but not least, what are the chances of the Master coming across someone named Tremas, who's in pole position to become his new body? 
(Imagine what the series would have looked like if it has been Luvic's body he took. Or Katura's).

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