Logopolis has been released as part of the “New Beginnings†boxed set which also includes The Keeper of Traken and Castrovalva.
Writer Christopher H. Bidmead takes Computer Science 101.
Synopsis
The Doctor decides it is long past time to fix the TARDIS’ Chameleon Circuit. To do so, he plans to measure an authentic police box, take those measurements to the mathematicians on Logopolis and have them repair the Chamealon Circuit via Block Transfer Computation – a form of advanced mathematics that can model real world events using only computations.
The Master arrives first and materializes his TARDIS around the police box, also taking the form of a police box. When the Doctor does the same thinking the Master’s TARDIS is just a police box, dangerous dimensional instabilities are released inside the TARDIS.
Meanwhile, Tegan, an Australian air hostess based out of Heathrow stumbles into the TARDIS thinking it is a police box. She gets lost inside the TARDIS.
The Doctor realizes he cannot got to Logopolis with the Master inside his TARDIS and tries to flush him out, but he changes his mind when he meets the Watcher – a mysterious ghostly figure that has been observing the proceedings. Not realizing the Tegan is onboard, the Doctor and Adric go to Logopolis.
Logopolis is like a living computer, the population perform their calculations in their head, acting as a giant computer. Theyprogram the Doctor’s problem into their system to produce the program he needs to repair the TARDIS. The Master has interfered with the calculations and nearly destroys the Doctor.
Nyssa arrives on Logopolis, brought by “a friend of the Doctor’s.†She’s asked for help locating her father, Tremas, who has gone missing. She does not know that the Master has killed Tremas and stolen his body.
The Master attempts to seize control of Logopolis, but when he stops the calculations, the planet begins to waste away. Logopolis has been using their computations to prevent the universe from dying of entropy. Logopolis is destroyed and the only hope is for the Doctor and the Mster to team up and take the results of their advanced research project to Earth and attempt to permanently open a hole to another universe, allowing the entropy to escape.
They are successful, but when the Master attempts to use it to control the entire universe, the Doctor stops him but falls to his death as a result. The Watcher melds with the Doctor and regenerates into the Fifth Doctor.
Analysis
The making of documentary on the DVD makes it clear that the (then) new production team were full of ideas to “revitalize†the show and it is clear that they were anxious for Tom Baker to depart so that they could move in a radical new direction. It’s also clear from the documentary that Tom and the production team were frequently at loggerheads. They express their opinion that Tom had no respect for their scripts, plots or dialogue. What they failed to realize was that, if they were going to put out muddled nonsense like Logopolis, they didn’t deserve his or the audience’s respect.
The first episode and a half of this four-parter is fluff of the worst kind. Having set up that the goal is to go to Logopolis, they proceed to do nothing about it. The Master’s plan to place his TARDIS inside the Doctor’s TARDIS seems to have no purpose to it whatsoever. The Doctor mentions that he cannot go to Logopolis while the Master is in his TARDIS. Why? The Master’s TARDIS could take him to Logopolis at any time. (Literally, at any time.) The Master already knew the Doctor’s plan to measure a Police Box, clearly he also must know why he was doing it. If the TARDIS in a TARDIS idea is some means to destroy the Doctor it is unclear how it was supposed to do it and, although the Doctor keeps telling us this is very dangerous, we never see that and ultimately, nothing comes of it. Wouldn’t it be equally dangerous for the Master, now inside the Doctor’s TARDIS?
It feels more like Bidmead thought, “Wow, wouldn’t it be cool if there was a TARDIS inside a TARDIS!†and then wasted 30 or 40 minutes of screen time on the idea without integrating it into the plot.
Once on Logopolis, the Master sets about trying to kill the Doctor by interfering with the Logopolitan’s math. Once again, the Master is going about things in a very complicated and prone to error fashion, but at least the Doctor appears to be in real danger for once.
Much of the time on Logopolis is spent throwing around random computer terms, which makes me think the writer just got his first word processor before he wrote this script.* It’s hard not to laugh as Adric reads through HEX digits or they talk of “data statements†or the Doctor is pleased to see they’ve been using “bubble memory.†These types of inclusions don’t integrate very well into the story and have a forced feel to them. Additionally, mentioning obsolete technology like bubble memory makes the story very dated. They might as well have used hollerith cards, at least more people know what those are today because they are distinctly visual.
When the Master fouls up Logopolis, we get our lesson on entropy. In a closed system, entropy increases. Our universe long ago passed the point of heat death (when entropy wins) but the Logopolitans have opened holes to other universes, allowing the entropy to be siphoned off. Surely then, once the holes were closed, our universe would have begin to naturally accrue entropy from that point, not suddenly begin to collapse completely. Having the entropy spread rapidly from Logopolis implies that the holes aren’t closed, but that the entropy is rushing back in from them.
Another strange point: With all the technology in the universe to choose from, the Logopolitans recreated a ridiculously primitive radio telescope from Earth to complete their project. Illogical but convenient, since the Doctor has to go to the real radio telescope on Earth to save the day.
Finally, there’s the Watcher. The Watcher appears to be a future projection of the Doctor, post-regeneration, who assists the Doctor throughout the story. While an avatar from the future is not unprecedented in Time Lord regenerations (see Planet of the Spiders and the Time Lord, K’Anpo Rinpoche) it’s not well explained in this episode and mostly just muddles things up.
Worst of all, the Watcher represents finality. The Doctor doesn’t sacrifice his life like in most of his other regenerations. In this case, while he does die saving the universe, he already knows he’s going to die and he’s just walking through the motions.
It’s not all bad, though, points have to be awarded for attempting something more original that just a typical, Doctor arrives, Doctor gets blamed for something he didn’t do, Doctor runs up and down corridors, Doctor saves the day four-parter. Even if not very well thought through, the concept of Logopolitan Math and the Block Transfer Computation are interesting ideas.
This episode is Anthony Ainley’s debut performance as the Master and while not in the same league as Roger Delgado’s defining performance in the role, it’s good to see the Master back – even if he does spend far too much time insanely laughing.
Extras
The Logoplis DVD includes a 50 minute documentary on the transition from Baker to Davison and several television interviews from the time. There’s also audio commentary from Tom Baker, Janet Fielding and Christopher H. Bidmead.
Doctor Who
Logopolis
by Christopher H. Bidmead
Starring Tom Baker as the Doctor
Story 116
*Before anyone mentions it, yes, I already know that these days Christopher H. Bidmead is a bit of a real tech writer.
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