Doctor Who Retro Review: ‘Logopolis’ Part 4
By Leah Tedesco
Here is Part Four of our review of the classic Doctor Who serial ‘Logopolis,’ starring Tom Baker as the Fourth Doctor, Janet Fielding as Tegan Jovanka, Matthew Waterhouse as Adric, Sarah Sutton as Nyssa, and Anthony Ainley as the Master.
the Master and the Fourth Doctor in ‘Logopolis’ Part 4 (credit: BBC)
*** This review contains spoilers. ***
And now we have come to the very last episode of Tom Baker’s run as the Fourth Doctor. Throughout my watching of it, I kept thinking to myself that this was going to be one of the most challenging reviews that I have done thus far. It is not that I did not understand the general gist of what was going on, it is just that there was so very much sciency wiency jargon that it was not always easy to keep up with the specifics. Tegan even echoes this sentiment in the following exchange:
"Doctor: Bubble memory.Tegan: Bubble memory.Doctor: Yes. You realise what this means?Tegan: No, as a matter of fact I don’t, Doctor."
Granted, the Doctor does explain this particular concept well enough to be understandable:
"Doctor: Bubble memory is non-volatile. Remove the power and the bit patterns are still retained in tiny magnetic domains in these chips. The research team’s final project is still here."
Anyway, let’s back up a bit from that to start at the beginning. After putting the companions on the Doctor’s TARDIS, under the protection of the all-white man — whom Adric is finally referring to as “the Watcher” in this episode — the Doctor and the Master go in search of the Monitor. When they find him in the Central Register, he tells them that he is attempting to use the computers to repair the catastrophic damage originating on Logopolis and spreading throughout the Universe.
(As a side note, our own Dave Hill pointed out that the computers in this episode remind him of the 1980s Prime Computer advertisements in which the Fourth Doctor and Romana starred.)
Tegan, despite Adric’s protests, leaves the TARDIS in search of the Doctor. She does this because he is her “ticket back to London airport.” What makes her think that this will be easy for him without his vehicle, I am not sure. When she meets up with the three men, the Doctor, moderately irritated, is the only one who acknowledges her initially.
the Monitor in ‘Logopolis’ Part 4 (credit: BBC)
The Master verbally outlines his own plan right before they watch the Monitor suddenly disintegrate as part of the collapse of the Universe. At this point, the Master decides that he is going to wash his hands of the matter.
"“Do what you like, Doctor. Logopolis is yours.” – the Master"
Despite Tegan’s protests, the Doctor lets him walk away. He does comment, however, on the Master’s “brilliant mind” based on his suggestion to “reconfigure [their] two TARDISes into time cone inverters”… Yeah, I don’t know, either. Whatever the case, the computers on the planet are breaking down, so they must go in search of a computer to run the bubble memory chips. The Doctor’s solution: Earth… and they need the Master’s TARDIS to get there.
Unluckily for the Master, he becomes trapped under some falling debris in the ruins of the city, preventing him from escaping Logopolis. Luckily for the Doctor and Tegan, this allows them to catch up with him, and he agrees to take them to Earth after the Doctor rescues him.
"“One good lift deserves another, don’t you think?” – the Doctor"
They travel to the computer room of the Pharos Project. (The technician there does something odd: After crumpling up an empty plastic cup and throwing it away, he gets another one when he goes to get a drink. Was there something gross in the bottom of the first cup? If not, frack that guy. I know that it was “another time,” but come on.) Just when we start to think that the Master isn’t so bad, he attempts to shoot the unsuspecting human. The Doctor pulls the man out of the way, resulting in the latter ending up unconscious on the floor.
the Watcher, Nyssa, Tegan, the Fourth Doctor, and Adric in ‘Logopolis’ Part 4 (credit: BBC)
Meanwhile, the Watcher navigates the Doctor’s TARDIS outside of time and space, and initiates a private talk with Adric, warning the boy of future events. Adric and Nyssa then observe on the viewscreen the gradual deterioration of the Universe. She has a Princess Leia (or alternate universe Spock) moment as she realizes that Traken, her home planet, has been wiped out, along with its entire star system. Supposedly per the Watcher’s instruction, Adric navigates to Earth to meet up with the others.
They need the project’s antenna in order for their plan to work. There is a somewhat comical beat when the Master aims his weapon at the facility’s guards, and the Doctor grabs it out of his hand to toss it over his own shoulder. There is a bit of a kerfuffle with everyone involved, but the Doctor and the Master manage to make it to the antenna control room thanks to the companions distracting the guards.
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Long story somewhat shorter, the Master hijacks the operation so that the peoples of the Universe must surrender to him for protection, or else face destruction — classic Master. In the process of stopping him, the Doctor falls from the scaffolding and is fatally wounded.
Before he drops, his encounters with various enemies flash before his eyes. While he is on the ground, the same process happens, this time with various companions. Because he has previously spoken with the Watcher, he knows that he is about to die.
"“It’s the end. But the moment has been prepared for.” – the Doctor"
The Watcher merges with the Doctor just as the regeneration begins. It is implied that the mysterious figure is something of a manifestation of the Doctor when Nyssa comments, “He was the Doctor all the time.” How she comes to this conclusion is unclear. The explanation behind the Watcher is one of the greatest mysteries in the history of Doctor Who.
Enter Peter Davison as the Fifth Doctor.
Nyssa, Tegan, the Fifth Doctor, and Adric in ‘Logopolis’ Part 4 (credit: BBC)
What is remarkable about ‘Logopolis’ is how epic it is plotwise, while still having an understated feeling. Somehow, it works.
Fun tidbit: The unofficial word of the serial is “entropy,” which was uttered a total of twelve times over the course of the four episodes.
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Next: Doctor Who Retro Review: 'Logopolis' Part 3