The Keeper of Traken (TV story)

(This article is about the television story, "The Keeper of Traken." For information on the character and office of Keeper, see Keeper.)

Synopsis
The Doctor and Adric learn from the wizened Keeper of Traken that a great evil has come to his planet in the form of a Melkur - a calcified statue. The Keeper is nearing the end of his reign and seeks the Doctor's help in preventing the evil from taking control of the bioelectronic Source that is the keystone of the Traken Union's civilisation.

The Melkur, via various deceptions, becomes the next Keeper. It is then, however, revealed to be the Master's TARDIS. Its owner, still blackened and emaciated, hopes to use the Source's power to regenerate himself. The Doctor manages to expel him and install a new Keeper in his place, but in a last minute ploy the Master traps one of the Traken Consuls, Tremas, and merges with his body before fleeing the planet.

Plot
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Cast

 * The Doctor - Tom Baker
 * Adric - Matthew Waterhouse
 * Nyssa - Sarah Sutton
 * The Master - Geoffrey Beevers
 * Tremas - Anthony Ainley
 * Kassia - Sheila Ruskin
 * The Keeper - Denis Carey
 * Seron - John Woodnutt
 * Katura - Margot van der Burgh
 * Luvic - Robin Soans
 * Neman - Roland Oliver
 * Fosters - Liam Prendergast, Philip Bloomfield

Crew
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Story Notes

 * Foreshadowing / continuing the tradition of the Master having aliases of 'Master', Tremas is an anagram.

Ratings

 * Part 1 - 7.6 million viewers
 * Part 2 - 8.1 million viewers
 * Part 3 - 5.2 million viewers
 * Part 4 - 6.1 million viewers

Myths
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Location Filming
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Discontinuity, Plot Holes, Errors
to be added

Continuity

 * This story forms the 'Return of the Master' trilogy containing; The Keeper of Traken, Logopolis and Castrovalva.
 * The Master is in the burnt / crippled version as seen in The Deadly Assassin.
 * Nyssa appears but does not become a companion until the next story; Logopolis.
 * Primeval also takes place on Traken, and is more or less a prequel to this story.
 * This is the last story to feature a Master regeneration until Utopia.
 * The Fourth Doctor has already met Nyssa in Asylum (however this took place in her future after Terminus).

DVD, Video and Other Releases
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Target Novelisations
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