Product Details

• Actors: Tom Baker
• Format: Closed-captioned, Color, Full Screen, NTSC
• Language: English
• Region: Region 1 (U.S. and Canada only. Read more about DVD formats.)
  
• Aspect Ratio: 1.33:1
• Number of discs: 1
• Rating: NR (Not Rated)
• Studio: BBC Video / Warner Bros.
• DVD Release Date: June 5, 2007
• Run Time: 98 minutes
• Average Customer Review: 4.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (18 customer reviews)
• ASIN: B000NJXG7M
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #34,956 in Movies & TV (See Bestsellers in Movies & TV)

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• This is item 39 in The Doctor Who: The Fourth Doctor, Tom Baker (1974-1981) Series.

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com

The Keeper of Traken was the beginning of the end for Tom Baker's tenure as the venerable TV sci-fi hero Doctor Who. By the end of the next serial, Logopolis, Baker had been replaced by the Fifth Doctor, Peter Davidson (whose debut, Castrovalva, is also available on DVD, as is Logopolis; both, along with Keeper of Traken, can be found in a three-disc boxed set titled New Beginnings). But fans got one more witty and suspenseful dose of Baker's Doctor with this story, which sends the Time Lord and companion Adric to the planet Traken, a peaceful haven ruled by the all-wise Keeper for a thousand years. The Keeper feels his reign is coming to an end, and with it, the rise of evil from within Traken's governing council itself. The Doctor, however, recognizes the presence of a old and familiar foe at the heart of the mystery--one he thought had been vanquished long ago.

Well-played by the cast (especially Baker, who is given a wealth of amusing lines), and an excellent launching pad for new companion Nyssa (Sarah Sutton), The Keeper of Traken is both a fine addition to the Baker canon and an enjoyable serial for new and old Who fans alike. Extras on the single disc include commentary by Sutton, actors Matthew Waterhouse (Adric) and Anthony Ainley (Consul Tremas), and writer Johnny Byrne; a 30-minute documentary on the serial, which includes interviews with most of the cast and production team; a clip of Sutton on the BBC series Swap Shop; and a featurette on the true identity of the evil plaguing Traken. The by-now-standard photo gallery, text-only commentary track, and PDF of the Doctor Who Annual (here from 1982), Radio Times listings, and BBC sales literature rounds out the crowd-pleasing supplements. --Paul Gaita

Product Description

Traken is a planet ruled by the all-powerful Keeper, who reigns for a thousand years and ensures that his subjects live a life of tranquillity and harmony. Now the Keeper is dying. Summoned by the ailing Keeper, the Doctor and Adric discover that all uis not well on Traken. An evil presence threatens the future of the planet - an evil that knows all about the Doctor. (Episodes 1-4, 98 mins)

DVD Features:
Audio Commentary:Audio Commentary by actors Anthony Ainley, Sarah Sutton and Matthew Waterhouse and writer Johnny Byrne
DVD ROM Features:1982 Doctor Who Annual, Radio Times and BBC Enterprises literature PDFs
Documentary:Being Nice to Each Other: A new 30-minute "making of" documentary that includes contributions from Sarah Sutton, Sheila Ruskin, Geoffrey Beevers, John Black, Johnny Byrne, Christopher H. Bidmead
Interviews:The Return of the Master: Geoffrey Beevers, Christopher H. Bidmead and John Black talk about the return of the Doctors arch-enemy (8 mins) Swap Shop: Noel Edmond interviews Sarah Sutton (11 mins)
Music Only Track
Photo gallery
Production Notes
TV Spot:Trailers and Continuity Announcements (6 mins)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Tom Baker's second to last story, is brilliant, May 15, 1999

By	Don McCullen (Colorado Springs, CO USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Doctor Who - The Keeper of Traken [VHS] (VHS Tape)

Retuning to N-Space. The Doctor and his new companion Adric soon discover that the TARDIS is on preset coordinates to a peaceful world know as Traken. Those coordinates were layed in by the Keeper who governs Traken. He's calls for the Doctor's help. The Keeper is soon to die, and he fears that an evil preance will take over Traken. The Doctor agrees, but as soon as they land on Traken they are instantly accused of being the evil preance that is lurking on the planet. Tremas played by Anthony Ainley(Who would very soon step into the role of the Doctor's arch-enemy "The Master") comes to their help and place the Doctor and Adric under his protection, but his new wife Kassia who has been the caretaker of the Melkur statue(and the real evil on Traken) since she was a child now has fallen under its power. Kassia turns against Tremas order to stop the prevent the Doctor from subverting Melkur's plans to enslave Traken useing Kassia to gain power of the Keepership. Fortuately Tremas's daughter Nyssa come to the help to our heros. But it's too late Kassia gains access To the Source. The energy that sustains Traken. Melkur use his link with Kassia to murder her, and make himself the Keeper. Working sepertaly our heros must find a way to defeat this evil keeper, but the Doctor has some nasty supections about Melkur. Supections that he has met him many times before.

Keeper Of Traken is the beginning of a series of great stories in which the Doctor will face great dangers. Keeper Of Traken is a great send off this trilogy. The Surprise ending is the best, and I mean the "very" end.

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Something wicked this way comes...., August 27, 2000

By	Rottenberg's rotten book review (nyc) - See all my reviews (TOP 500 REVIEWER)

This review is from: Doctor Who - The Keeper of Traken [VHS] (VHS Tape)

What's the saga of Dr. who without a true arch-rival. Only the enigmatic renegade, The Master, kept the Doctor on his toes, and it's hard to imagine life that went no further than some wind-up toy soldiers with a bad allergy to gold (Cybermen) and would be conquerors of the universe who can't even climb up a flight of steps (the daleks). Supposedly doomed by the expense of his lost regenerations, and the death of actor Roger Delagado, the master returns, ravaged and dessicated but not without an idea. He lures the doctor to the idylic world of Traken, home of a powerful being known as the Keeper of Traken, where a solemn ritual will pass the mantle of keeper to a new generation. With its elegant foreshadow of the end of the Tom Baker years - the era that introduced Who to America, "Keeper of Traken" presents death as an evil emerging from a pastoral garden free of entropy. Scenes in which the master appears, eliminates the keeper's would-be successor and ultimately assumes the body of another Traken disturbingly hint at the Master's evil, especially for a show originally intended for children. Even before the Master reclaims a new mortal form, his voice alone is enough to give anybody shivers. Lackluster effects never dissauded Who fans, and the cool determined voice of Whovian evil is better than all the CGI of a season of Star Trek Nex Gen. A must-have.

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars A fine beginning to a 'trilogy', December 27, 2001

By	Sarah Hadley (Murfreesboro, Tennessee USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Doctor Who - The Keeper of Traken [VHS] (VHS Tape)

Season 18 continues on a definite high. Although the story is fairly traditional, certain points make it a much more interesting set of episodes than others of its kind. For one, the planet of Traken and its inhabitants are given some culture...not extending beyond the most elite of elite, but it's _something_ anyway. The idea of the Source, with the Keeper and Consuls, is actually a science fiction sort of concept, rarely seen in "Doctor Who" (although this season, more than any other, would feature such ideas). The ending, too, is very nice, and for viewers of the time must have been quite a shock.

The acting is also quite good. Tom Baker is definitely on-form, although slightly more light-hearted than in the last few stories, and Matthew Waterhouse's companion of Adric hasn't yet become annoying (he will soon enough, early in the next season). Anthony Ainley and Sarah Sutton both do very commendable jobs in their 'guest roles' of Tremas and Nyssa, and without a doubt Geoffrey Beevers steals the show as the villain of the piece.

This story leads into the next two stories, "Logopolis" - the last story of season 18, and Tom Baker's final performance as the Doctor - and "Castrovalva" - season 19's opener, which saw the introduction of Peter Davison's Doctor. These were originally conceived as a sort of linked trilogy, and without giving away how they are connected for those few who don't know, it really does work. Try all three of them today!