Castrovalva

The Doctor has saved the universe again, and this time it has cost him another of his lives. The newly regenerated Doctor is younger, fair haired, and weakened like never before after the change he has endured, and he needs the recuperative powers of the TARDIS zero room to help him. With Adric abducted by the Master, it is up to Tegan and Nyssa to help the Doctor recover, taking him to Castrovalva to enjoy its peace and tranquil surroundings. Castrovalva is not all it seems to be, though, and behind its simply lifestyle is another trap set by the Master, something that will tear the Doctor's conscious mind apart before he can even fully recover.

This is really the first time that regeneration gets a proper examination and explaination, but by the same token it's the first time it actually starts to fail. Used to be the Doctor could just sleep off the effects of regenerating as if he'd been out drinking the night before, but now the Doctor lapses back through his previous personas while marching through the TARDIS corridors, gets his companions' names wrong, and has lapses all through the adventure. The companions take it in stride, probably since they have not been with him long enough to get attached to his previous self. The difference is, as always, noteable: younger, more of an innocent, not half as crazed looking... possibly not as much fun, but it's early days at this point.

The first episode of Castrovalva is distinctly similar to The Edge of Destruction with the TARDIS hurtling back in time towards the beiginning of the universe and the Big Bang (or Event One ... hey there's a good name for a one day convention) with the crew unaware of what kind of danger they are in. Unlike before, though, the TARDIS does not make any attempts to warn anyone through psychic attacks, it just leaves cryptic messages on the console screens. But there are a lot of corridors. Oh yes.

And then there's Adric. Trapped by the Master and wound up in a web and used and abused .. he never had it so good. They should have let the Master keep him for a while. It would have saved us from so much grief in the future. Really.

NEXT EPISODE : FOUR TO DOOMSDAY