"A whole empire held together by... Well, by people just being terribly nice to each other."
After a somewhat protracted pause (busy with trying and failing to write a novel, don't you know), I find myself with the unenviable task of trying to spin a review out of my memories of this episode, memories which are now about two months old. I do not mean to be uncharitable to the old thing, but there is very little that has actually remained with me about The Keeper of Traken in that span of time, apart from getting to see the crispy Master again.
This is not a bad story, but it is also certainly not a particularly exciting one. I feel I did not get the intended experience of getting to enjoy the mystery of the Melkur, having been spoiled on the Master's presence in this story years ago. Would I have held it in higher esteem if it were a surprise to me? Maybe. I have a feeling that Part 3 might still have put me to sleep, however.
Tom feels adrift without Lalla around. I'm certain he was unhappy, now having only Matthew Waterhouse's Adric for a counterpart. He seems pretty snippy, and while it suits the funereal air of his impending regeneration, I can't say that it really makes for enjoyable watching.
Nyssa's introduction is noticed by me, but not much remarked upon in my notes. I don't think she was meant to become a real companion when this story was authored; if she was, I'd be shocked, because we get to know her very little. I'm sure she'll be fine once she's working full-time.
The sets are fairly nice. I like the garden the best. I can't say that Traken feels like much of a living world aside from that. More like a nursing home.
All these points aside, there's very little that I can scrape together from my memory, or even from the notes I took. Just as well to get working on these posts again. It's nearly the end. Logopolis is next.
(Modified from the original posted at Gallifrey Base on 14 December 2021.)
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