WHY I LIKE 'LOGOPOLIS'

(Additional commentary from Josie Hook) As most of you are aware; I am a HUGE 'Doctor Who' fan. I keep it very secretive. I have been watching the series since I was six years old. I am Forty Nine years old now so you do the math. (JH: Forty one for anyone that's not in the mood to do math at the moment) Am I a fanatic? According to my wife, the answer is a big heavy YES! My daughter, who also likes the series, thanks to me, would also say YES to my fanaticism. I would call myself a passionate enthusiastic follower of the genre. I am admitting that I wanted to name our daughter after one of the many female companions of the show. My wife, rightfully, said no since most of the names make no human sense. Anyway, I also know the names of all sixteen actors to play the title character and the alternate media versions. At least the interesting one. For the record I am not counting David Tennant twice. He played Ten and will also be Fourteen but gets counted once in my canon.

I know the names of all Television episodes, how many different variations of the themes, first and last lines, first and last episodes of each Doctor , reason for regeneration. Yes, let us remember, that The Doctor can die but for a Time Lord, death does not mean the end necessarily. If the second heart, Time Lords have two, does not stop then they can regenerate. Technically a rebirth but same person with a new appearance. And yes, I have a cardboard cut out the TARDIS, The Doctor's Police Box Time Machine, life size model for that matter. (JH: I believe it's behind the armoire we call Narnia) The fist story I had ever seen, was called “The Armageddon Factor”, made in 1979 by the BBC. PBS channels broadcasted BBC shows and Doctor Who was seen in the Chicago Illinois area on PBS channel 11 (WTTW). It starred Tom Baker, the Fourth Doctor, and right away I loved the show. It could be about anything and that made it wonderful. I got into 'Doctor Who' because my brother would watch the series on Sunday Nights at 11pm, when there was no school next day or it was summertime, and talked about how who cool the show was. I gained the interest of five people and my brother stopped caring about it because he thought it was a bit campy. Yeah it was and that was part of the coolness of the show. (JH: My uncle thought he was too mature for it after a point)

Tom Baker’s Doctor was the definition of eccentricity. Tall, lanky, mop of curly brown hair beat up old clothes and a long overcoat with a twelve foot long scarf wrapped around his neck. (JH: The scarf was originally supposed to be two) The toothy smile made so many question what he was thinking. He always came out on top because he was always a mile ahead of his opposition.

Never did he seem afraid or beatable. He disarm others with foolish comments or a bag of jelly babies while quickly defeating them without realizing he had beaten them. I loved him in the role and still consider him the true embodiment with all the right characteristics alive.

Moral, fun, charming, intelligent and unpredictable, were the many reasons why Tom Baker would go on to be the longest serving Doctor on Television. 1974 to 1981, seven years, which saw the series go through three producers during that time and many genre changes. First three years saw the show go through the horror/Gothic themes that pushed the boundaries of what a Children Show is meant to be. Yes, 'Doctor Who' was considered a Children’s Show.

There was humor but focused more on suspense, invoking fear and plenty of violence. People died on screen and sometime pretty extreme ways.This was the work of Philip Hinchcliffe, who decided to give Children reason to hide behind the sofas! Deemed to be too adult, Hinchcliffe was taken off ‘Doctor Who’ after three seasons being replaced by Graham Williams. Williams brought a lot more humor and made the series about fantasy. Hinchcliffe did homages to Frankenstein, The Mummy, Day of the Triffids, King Kong, while Williams dealt with fairy type kingdoms; a planet eating planet and a quest for A Key to Time. And did I mention, a robotic dog, named K-9.

By Tom Baker’s seventh, and final, season on the show, John Nathan-Turner would assume the position of Producer. Graham Williams left after three seasons. Most of the Actors who played The Doctor would usually stay with the show for about three seasons. Many have said that the show is fun but difficult project to manage.

Nathan-Turner tried to make the series less Tom Baker and more the concept of ‘The Doctor’. Not Gothic but not fantasy humor. The show was now traditional SCI-FI. More time travel with explanations of how it happens with science not so much ‘magic’. Tom Baker was burned out and wanted to move on, and we saw many changes.

​Production value improved. The opening/closing credits were different as was the music. These changes would work well the following season, with Peter Davison, The Fifth Doctor, but did not work too well with Tom Baker. I believe that is because the changes were too extreme. Even the costume for Baker, adding question marks on the collar and the entire ensemble was now red/plumb. (JH: The changes also didn't really fit with the Baker doctor while they did with the Davison doctor)

The Doctor’s Sonic Screwdriver was also downplayed in this season. The Doctor was known for pulling objects out of his pockets but the Sonic Screwdriver was the ultimate tool, did pretty much anything that the script called for. The fourth Doctor started out the season, season eighteen, with Time Lady Romana, and K-9. Both would be written out throughout the season.

Definitely a youth movement was coming. The replacements were a flight attendant, named Tegan, a mathematician/thief from E-Space, named Adric, and a biochemist from a dead planet, named Nyssa. This was all to improve the show and the season was…okay. The stories were good but not AWESOME good. In my opinion, the best two stories came at the end of the season, 'The Keeper of ‘Traken’ and ‘Logopolis’. ‘Traken’ reintroduced ‘The Master’ and set up the season finale. Logopolis’, written by script editor, Christopher Bidmead, speaks of entropy. (JH: Also, the only story that Adric was likable in was "Full Circle") Everything falls apart as quickly as it is put together. The Doctor seeks to repair, at last, the chameleon circuit. The TARDIS, in theory, can blend into its surrounding if they are not old and broken down.

'Logopilis' was eerie. Had a feeling that things were not going to go well this time. Urgency and goodbye in the mood.

The Doctor and Adric head to Logopolis with Tegan, accidentally wandering into the TARDIS while they are on Earth measuring an actual Blue Police Box. Tegan was not revealed to Adric and The Doctor until after they left Earth. Her car broke down and she entered The TARDIS believing it to be an actual phone booth so call for help.

Tegan was portrayed as very feisty but at time not very intelligent. She does not want to be invloved in all this mess. She wants to go home and to her job as a flight attendant.

Nyssa was quite intelligent, sweet and a bit naive. She is a marvel at tools with a sense of wander and undertanding of the mysterious. A woinderful mood of optimism. She wants to learn.

Adric, was not very well liked because he was a bit overly intelligent, untrustworthy and annoying. (JH: Back to my previous point, he was only likeable in "Full Circle")

Logopolis is inhabited by a race that can create structure through mathematics. This is only capable with exact measurements.The Doctor figures out that The Master has been on board to get to Logoplis as well. During all of this, The Doctor is haunted by a silent white figure, known later as the ‘Watcher’.

We see a much more somber Doctor, who is concerned about this ‘Watcher’. This ghost appears at will and from what we gather is aware of the future. (JH: Whom we haven't seen since) He must warn the Doctor of what may be. On Logopolis, The Master gains controls and stops the work on the planet. The inhabitants of Logopolis were continuously working on equations allowing the universe to remain in existence.

Without that ‘Block Transfer Computataion’, the universe begins to fall apart. Nyssa, from Traken, joins The Doctor permanently. The Watcher rescued her from Traken before it entropy consumed it. The Master killed her father, Tremas, and assumed his form to survive.

The Master was very busy in this story. He turned his TARDIS to look like The Doctor's type 40 Blue Police Box, arriving on Earth first. Materializing his over a real Police Box in the early 80's. The Master had read The Doctor's mind to know where he was going. Time Lord's can do that of course.

Now of course in 'The Keeper of Traken', our heroes thought that The Master was dead. He wasn't and The Doctor, of course, not surprised by this revelation. While on Earth, The Master killed a cop and killed Tegan's Aunt, laughing in shadows while he does it, by shrinking them with his 'Tissue Compression Device'. We do not see The Master until part 2. but we knew he was there. Cool but a bit predictable. (JH: It's Doctor Who, what else did you expect?)

​The Master creates a time bubble in The Doctor's TARDIS, forcing them to be count in a loop. Continuously trapped inside the console room with diminishing lighting and sound. This was to symbolizing time being halted. Of course The Doctor frees The TARDIS but fails to flush The Master and his TARDIS with actual flooding. The Master tried shrinking The Doctor inside the TARDIS to crush him and fails. Even using mind control on Nyssa does not work. It is a bit cartoonish but again, fun!

After all the traps and mysteries, The Doctor is forced to join with The Master to keep the universe from dying. They need a transmitter to keep the portals open to allow the universe not to collapse. The end comes when both are on top of the PHAROS radio tower located on Earth, The Doctor hanging from a cable desperately trying to stop The Master from blackmailing the universe. The Doctor succeeds but falls as The Master gets away.

Now people have criticized the finale because of how it looks. The Doctor is shown lying on his back on the ground, conscious and no blood nor apparent broken bones. True fanatics of the show will tell you that The Doctor should have been visibly injured from falling so high up landing face down. This error would be explained in 2010.

In 'End of Time', The Tenth Doctor explains that his body is rebooting to prepare for regeneration. In reality, Doctor Who was a children's show. There was no may to end the run of a extremely popular Doctor by showing him coughing up blood! Also, probably no budget or time.

​'It's the end, but the moment has been prepared for.' One of the best final lines in any show. With a smile and beckoning motion, it is revealed that 'The Watcher' is The Doctor. This ghost is from possibly the future but I believe that it is actually The Doctor's spirit, maybe his true form. A warning of what was to come. This answers the question as to why The Doctor is so somber and soul searching. Though he wants to avoid this future, The Doctor ultimately accepts his fate. Trusting uncertainty is the only way to save what he loves, The Universe.

The Watcher merges with the dying Doctor to regenerate into a younger Fifth Doctor. Adrian Gibbs played The Watcher was not credited for a long time while Fifth Doctor, Peter Davison, was promoted to the high heavens. Nathan-Turner was great with building hype for the show. I personally love this regeneration story because there was a sense of mystery with obstacles constantly piling onto The Doctor.

Yes, we know he would survive. It is called 'Doctor Who' after all, but the journey is fun. By surviving, The Doctor beats The Master. Destroying The Master's message to blackmail the universe, The Doctor wins. His companions are all orphans now in a way. All they have is The Doctor. This is a really good turning point.

The series continued picking up where it left off without missing a beat. Many thought that The Doctor failed but he did not. He saved the universe and sacrificed himself in the process. One of the most serious episodes.

The BBC was not sure that the show could survive with a new Doctor. Night and day of how different Baker and Davison were from each other. Davison was thirty; medium build and portrayed the character as fallible. Lack of confidence piled into a cricket outfit and a stick of celery on the coat's lapel. And question marks on the collar, again.

Supposedly they would of ended the series on a cliffhanger. If so, the show would never have seen Twenty, Thirty, Forty or Fifty years. We are on sixty two and the future continues.