The Keeper of Traken

114 – The Keeper of Traken
Doctor Who serial
The Doctor examines the Melkur.
Cast
Doctor Tom Baker (Fourth Doctor)
Companion Matthew Waterhouse (Adric)
Others Anthony Ainley — Tremas Sarah Sutton — Nyssa Denis Carey — The Keeper Sheila Ruskin — Kassia Geoffrey Beevers — Melkur John Woodnutt — Seron Margot Van der Burgh — Katura Robin Soans — Luvic Roland Oliver — Neman Liam Prendergast, Philip Bloomfield, Ralph Morse — Fosters
Production
Directed by	John Black
Written by	Johnny Byrne
Script editor	Christopher H. Bidmead
Produced by	John Nathan-Turner
Executive producer(s)	Barry Letts
Incidental music composer	Roger Limb
Production code	5T
Series	Season 18
Length	4 episodes, 25 minutes each
Originally broadcast	31 January – 21 February 1981
Chronology
← Preceded by Followed by → Warriors' Gate Logopolis
List of Doctor Who serials

Doctor Who and the Keeper of Traken

Author	Terrance Dicks
Cover artist	Andrew Skilleter
Series	Doctor Who book: Target novelisations
Release number	37
Publisher	Target Books
Publication date	20 May 1982
ISBN

The Keeper of Traken is the sixth serial of the 18th season in the British science fiction television series Doctor Who, which was first broadcast in four weekly parts from 31 January to 21 February 1981. The story introduces Sarah Sutton as Nyssa, who returns as a companion-to-be in the following serial Logopolis, and is also Anthony Ainley's first appearance in Doctor Who; Ainley, who plays Tremas for the majority of this serial, continued to appear as the Master until the series' hiatus in 1989.

In the TARDIS, the Doctor and Adric arrive back in N-Space in an area known as the Traken Union, an empire of peace and harmony. They are surprised to find a holographic image of the elderly Keeper of Traken appear in the TARDIS, calling on the Doctor's help. The Keeper explains that his title is about to pass on soon to Consul Tremas, giving him access to the powerful Source that is the centre of Traken's technological advancement, but senses evil within him, his wife Kassia, and their daughter Nyssa. The Keeper suspects a connection to Melkur, an evil creature that arrived years ago on Traken but became calcified in a grove in the capital. Melkur has since become something of a holy symbol, and Kassia has been tasked with talking to it and keeping it clean; that task is soon to be passed on to Nyssa.

When the Doctor and Adric land at Traken's capital and visit the Keeper, their presence appears to cause the Keeper to warn the assembled group of a great evil, and though Tremas vouches for them, others, including the Fosters, guardians of the spiritual welfare of the capital, remain cautious about their presence. Soon, bodies in the grove are found, the Doctor and Adric determining they have been killed by some type of plasma weapon. Adric works with Nyssa to identify the energy signature of the plasma as being from a TARDIS, while the Doctor assists Tremas in defusing the conflict over their presence. Unbeknownst to either group, Kassia secretly visits Melkur, who gives her a collar to wear, providing the creature with mind-control over her while promising to keep her husband safe. Kassia is able to convince the Fosters to arrest Tremas, the Doctor, Adric and Nyssa, and uses the situation to convince the other Consul to install her as the next Keeper. When the Keeper dies, Kassia takes the throne, but as the pivotal moment of the ceremony is completed, she disappears, leaving the statue of Melkur in her place, now connected to the Source.