|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
| Previous Story: Logopolis | Next Story: Four To Doomsday |
| Previous in Production: Kinda | Next in Production: Black Orchid |
|
Serial 5Z: Castrovalva
|
| Plot |
| Production |
Commissioned on October 7th, 1980 under the title of Project Zeta-Sigma, Flanagan and McCulloch's scripts underwent further work in association with producer John Nathan-Turner and outgoing script editor Christopher Bidmead, as well as Bidmead's temporary replacement, Antony Root. During this time, the story acquired several new titles, including Incident On Zeta Minor, Project: Zeta Plus and Project: Zeta Plus One. Despite all the work invested in the story, however, it soon became clear that it bore a number of difficulties, such an entire scenes which were virtually impossible to realise on camera. First, it was apparently decided to push the adventure back to second in the production order behind the second serial to be broadcast, Four To Doomsday. This plan did not entirely meet with Nathan-Turner's approval, because he liked the idea of new star Peter Davison having time to acclimate himself to the role of the Doctor before tackling his debut story. By spring 1981, however, it became clear that Flanagan and McCulloch's scripts would not be ready to serve as the season opener.
Serendipitously, it was around this time that BBC-1 Controller Alan Hart decreed that Doctor Who would, for the first time, move from its traditional Saturday evening timeslot. Season Eighteen had experienced the series' worst ratings since the Sixties, and furthermore Hart was toying with the notion of launching a new soap opera which would air in the evening on consecutive weekdays. It was felt that Doctor Who would make a good test case for this unusual scheduling, and so for Season Nineteen, the series would air on Mondays and Tuesdays at around 7.00pm. Season Nineteen had already been pared back down to twenty-six episodes from the previous year's twenty-eight -- the other two episodes being sacrificed to permit the production of the fifty-minute K-9 And Company spin-off. The new airdates meant that Doctor Who would now be broadcast over just thirteen weeks. Consequently, the decision was made to push Season Nineteen's premiere back to January 1982 (a season of repeats was scheduled to cover the extended gap). This meant that there was now extra time to get the debut serial ready for broadcast.
Although Flanagan and McCulloch's scripts were not completely abandoned at this point -- they were briefly considered for the season's final slot -- they would never ultimately see production. This meant that a new story was needed to lead off the season, and so Nathan-Turner and Root contacted Bidmead, who was of course intimately familiar with what would be needed from him. In particular, this meant the inclusion of the Master, but Nathan-Turner also requested that the Doctor be in an unstable state following his regeneration (a state brought about by the entropy unleashed in Logopolis), to accentuate the vulnerability of the new incarnation.
Bidmead found inspiration in paintings hung in the office of Graeme McDonald (recently promoted from Head of Serials to Head of Drama). These were drawn by the Dutch artist Maurits Cornelius (MC) Ecsher, and their optically illusory nature had been a source of irritation for Nathan-Turner. Combining this with the idea of recursion (particularly as it is defined in mathematics and in computer science), Bidmead devised an outline entitled The Visitor (a reference to the amnesiac Doctor). On April 8th, Nathan-Turner himself -- acting briefly as script editor following the departure of Root but before Eric Saward took up the job -- commissioned the serial under the revised title of Castrovalva. This name came from an early lithograph by Escher of buildings on a mountainside.
By this time, Castrovalva had been shifted back to fourth in the production order, becoming Serial 5Z. The director assigned to the story was Fiona Cumming, who had worked on Doctor Who as an assistant floor manager on The Massacre Of St Bartholomew's Eve and as a production assistant on The Highlanders and The Mutants. Since becoming a director, Cumming had helmed episodes of programmes such as Z Cars, The Omega Factor and Blakes' 7; it was her work on this later series which brought her to Nathan-Turner's attention. Ironically, because the season premiere was made so late, Cumming found herself requesting that the regulars tone down their characters' familiarity. Sarah Sutton's "fairy dress" briefly made its reapparance in Castrovalva. At the start of the production on the season, Nathan-Turner had decided Sutton should wear pants instead of the skirt, and the reason for the change was therefore established in this serial.
Location work got under way on September 1st. Although Castrovalva was to resume directly from the end of Logopolis, the location used for the final scenes of that serial --in Caversham -- was too distant to be employed again here. As a result, a similar spot was found at Duddleswell in East Sussex. The majority of filming took place on the estate of Lord De La Warr, Buckhurst Park at Withyam in East Sussex. De La Warr waived a fee in favour of a charity donation of a photograph of himself beside the TARDIS prop. It was here that Matthew Waterhouse, having partied too hard the night before, famously vomited against a tree immediately after the final scene was recorded.
Studio work was comprised of a two-day session beginning on Tuesday, September 15th and a three-day block from the 29th. On this second Tuesday, Patrick Troughton paid a visit to the set and replaced Davison for camera rehearsals. September 30th saw the involvement of Souska John as the Castrovalvan child; John, it transpired, was the niece of Caroline John, who played former companion Liz Shaw.
Episode one of Castrovalva was broadcast on January 4th, 1982. For part three, the acronym Neil Toynay was used to credit Ainley's work as the Portreeve, so as not to give the deception away too early. Nathan-Turner, meanwhile, instructed that Davison should be credited as playing "The Doctor" instead of "Doctor Who", as the role had been billed throughout the series' history.
| Details |
| Episode | Date | Time | Duration | Viewers | Audience App. |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 4th January 1982 | 6.55pm | 24'14" | 9.1m (54th) | |
| 2 | 5th January 1982 | 7.02pm | 24'13" | 8.6m (84th) | |
| 3 | 11th January 1982 | 6.55pm | 23'35" | 10.2m (47th) | |
| 4 | 12th January 1982 | 7.06pm | 24'12" | 10.4m (46th) |
| Producer | John Nathan-Turner |
| Script Editor | Eric Saward |
| Writer | Christopher H Bidmead |
| Director | Fiona Cumming |
| Designer | Janet Budden |
| Costume | Odile Dicks-Mireaux |
| Incidental Music | Paddy Kingsland |
Principal Guest Cast: Anthony Ainley (The Master), Michael Sheard (Mergrave), Derek Waring (Shardovan), Frank Wylie (Ruther).
Novelisation: Castrovalva by Christopher H Bidmead (book 76), March 1983; photomontage cover; rerelease cover by Alister Pearson (1991).
Video Release: Castrovalva, episodic format, March 1992; PAL (BBC Video cat.# 4737) and NTSC (Warners cat.# E1144) formats available; cover by Andrew Skilleter.
Other: Released as a set of three ViewMaster reels (with seven images each), Castrovalva, by the Gaf Corporation.
Rankings: 21st (75.06%, Doctor Who Dynamic Rankings website, 22nd June 1999); 49th (73.39%, DWM 1997 Annual Survey).
| Sources |
Back to Doctor Who On
Television
| Previous Story: Logopolis | Next Story: Four To Doomsday |
| Previous in Production: Kinda | Next in Production: Black Orchid |