Episode #115 : Logopolis

"It's the end... but the moment has been prepared for."

Episode 115:   Logopolis.
Companions:  4th Doctor, Nyssa and Adric.
Air Date:        28th February to 21st March 1981.

The Doctor takes Adric and a young air hostess named Tegan Jovanka, who has come aboard the TARDIS by accident, to the planet Logopolis, home of a race of mathematicians whose help he hopes to enlist in reconfiguring the outer shell of the TARDIS. The mysterious, wraith-like Watcher brings Nyssa from Traken to join them and warns of impending danger - something that is borne out as the Master arrives and kills a number of the Logopolitans.

The final adventure for the 4th Doctor has come. Once again he faces down the Master who threatens to unleash the power of Entropy upon the universe - something he does start even destroying Nyssa's home world of Traken. Thankfully the Master is stopped though much like his earlier self that the 3rd Doctor dealt he proves a little incompetatant at being an evil mastermind.

Nyssa and a new companion, Tegan Jovanka, join the TARDIS crew. Nyssa is an excellent addition giving us a new intelligent and strong female companion. Tegan is another no nonsense companion but in this story she just seems to go with the flow. One thing I enjoy is having a decent number of companions again rather than just one.

We have a twist in the regeneration story with this adventure, in the presence of an entity called the Watcher. It appears as a white "mummified" form that never speaks, at least not on screen. At the end of the story when the Doctor has sustained injury from a high fall, the Watcher merges with the Doctor allowing him to regenerate. It is not explained way and has not been referenced anywhere since to my knowledge.

Tom Baker is one of the popular classic Doctors. Some may say he is the archetypal Doctor in fact. He has certainly taken his place in popular culture as the image of Doctor Who. I find him a great choice with the perfect personality and mannerisms to play the role. I just find that many of the stories under his belt were lacking something in the writing or on occasion the production values and it does colour his run somewhat for me.

Logopolis isn't the strongest regeneration story but it performs well enough and ushers us into the 1980's era of the show.