Castrovalva is the latest trap set by the Master following the Fourth Doctor’s regeneration into the Fifth Doctor. The new Doctor has amnesia and is drowsy, he needs to rest! But according to the TARDIS Information System, the perfect place to rest is the city of Castrovalva. Upon arrival, it soon becomes clear to the time travellers that the city is a space-time trap for the Doctor, devised by the Master!

Castrovalva

★★★★☆

TX: 04–12/01/1982

Written by Christopher H Bidmead   Directed by Fiona Cumming

After leaving the Pharos Project (Logopolis), the newly regenerated Fifth Doctor, Tegan, Nyssa and Adric make it back to the safety of the TARDIS. However, after takeoff it becomes clear that the TARDIS is not as safe as they had hoped. Adric was kidnapped by the Master and forced to pre-programme the TARDIS to travel back to The Big Bang where it will be destroyed (Terminus). Thankfully, Nyssa and Tegan use the TARDIS Information System and they jettison part of the TARDIS in order to create enough power to evade the Big Bang. Unfortunately, they jettison the Zero Room, a place of meditation and calm that Time Lords use after regenerating (The Reality War). Nyssa and Tegan use the doors of the Zero Room to create a small, makeshift Zero Room to help the Doctor to complete his regeneration. The TARDIS has landed on a distant planet near a city called Castrovalva, the perfect place to rest. Unbeknownst to the time travellers, Adric has also input Castrovalva into the TARDIS databank on the orders of the Master. After arriving in the vast city of Castrovalva, the Doctor, Nyssa and Tegan initially think that they have found the perfect place to rest. However, it soon becomes clear that the history of Castrovalva has been invented and that the whole city is in fact one big space-time trap set by the Master, who is disguised as the Portreeve of the city. The Doctor helps Adric break free of his web trap and the time travellers escape the city, whilst the Master is apparently torn apart by the Castrovalvan villagers. After returning to the TARDIS in the forest, the Doctor tells Adric, Nyssa and Tegan that he is content with who he is following his regeneration! Sadly, I never had the pleasure of meeting script editor Christopher H Bidmead who wrote this fantastic debut adventure for the Fifth Doctor. The Pharos Project was later revisited as the Pharos Institute in The Sarah Jane Adventures: The Lost Boy, The Day of the Clown, The Eternity Trap & Sky led by Professor Rivers. In many ways, Classic Doctor Who is better than Modern Doctor Who. I watched some of Classic Doctor Who when I was a kid, but I watched the majority of Classic Doctor Who when I was a teenager.