DWAS Projections in Time: The Keeper of Traken Screening at Riverside Studios

The DWAS were back at Riverside Studios in Hammersmith recently on the 3rd August to screen Tom Baker’s final season story, The Keeper of Traken, as part of their “Projection in Time” series of events. As a favourite Tom Baker story of mine, I was very excited to join a packed auditorium with a full gamut of invited guests who were originally involved in the 1981 story.

The Keeper of Traken was first broadcast in four weekly parts on BBC1 from 31 January to 21 February 1981, with viewing figures of 5.1 to 7.2 million and introduced Anthony Ainley in two roles as Nyssa’s father, Tremas and also as the Master.

Q&A Session One

The first panel of guests in attendance were Roger Limb, the composer, actors Sheila Ruskin (Kassia) and Roland Oliver (Neman), and the set designer Tony Burrough. Both Sheila Ruskin and Roland Oliver greatly enjoyed the experience of working on Doctor Who. Roland knew the director Ian Black and wrote to him for a part.

This event was Tony Burrough’s first Doctor Who convention, and he worked on five stories: The Keeper of Traken (1981), Four to Doomsday (1982), Black Orchid (1982), Warriors of the Deep (1984), and The Two Doctors (1985). Recalling his time on the programme, he remembered the kudos of working on the programme that he was allocated. He was an ambitious young man and described it as a way of climbing the ladder. The design of an alien world was a challenge technically in terms of the size of the studio, which he describes as “always too small”.

There were restrictions due to the large pedestal cameras having to use space to move around the studio. There couldn’t be high ceilings as sound needed to be picked up. He built the furniture in a modular form, which could be moved and reset in a different way. He was always on the studio floor to check what was being recorded on the camera and if any sets needed redressing, but also liaising with the night crew to ensure sets were ready for the morning.

Roger Limb was a member of the BBC Radiophonic Workshop, where he remained until 1995. In 1980, it was decided that the Radiophonic Workshop would provide the incidental music for the show, and he was one of the composers for the programme. He described the process of writing music for Doctor Who. He worked episode by episode with the director, watching a VHS cassette of the episode and noting where music was required. There was a loud ripple of audience laughter that “a bad edit could be hidden with a score” Roger Limb created Nyssa’s Theme: “a gentle little thing” for her character.

Discussion moved onto the differences in recording of the 1980s. The Keeper of Traken was recorded fully in the studio, and Sheila Ruskin explained that sometimes the restrictions of the studio meant there was a cohesion and integrity to the production. It was a very creative environment, which she thought was good.

Anecdotes from the Guests

Sheila recalled having her reflective eye makeup being applied and being left waiting in a makeup chair when lunch was called and everyone disappeared!

Roger Limb shared a story of meeting a young lady called Nyssa in a record shop whose parents were Doctor Who, and there was speculation that many children were named after the Tardis crew!

Q&A Session Two

In attendance for the second panel were Geoffrey Beevers (The Master), Matthew Waterhouse (Adric) and Sarah Sutton (Nyssa)

Sarah Sutton didn’t know she was going to be a long-running companion, and although she couldn’t remember any direct conversations with John Nathan Turner, it was probably arranged through her agent. Actors are always looking for work, so it was an easy choice, so she said yes. Sarah wasn’t new to acting but was nervous around Tom Baker; however, by that stage knew he wasn’t staying in the programme.

Matthew Waterhouse revealed that the screening for The Keeper of Traken was a suggestion he made at a previous screening. He joked that all his stories are so good, but in seriousness, he always liked the story for its production values in design and writing. It has atmosphere and style. He found doing The Keeper of Traken much more relaxed than the previous three stories he had sone as part of the e-Space trilogy. Although he loved the stories, the experience was very stressful, “miserable” for him, especially Warrior’s Gate. There was tension between Lalla Ward and Tom Baker by that point.

By comparison, moving onto The Keeper of Traken, the director John Black managed the cast very well, and Tom Baker was less difficult than in the previous stories. The writing by Johnny Byrne highlighted the pupil and teacher relationship between Adric and the Doctor, which Matthew found sweet to observe.

Matthew revealed his regret that he never properly spoke to Barry Letts, who was the executive producer, as he loved the Pertwee era. I never realised, as Matthew said, that Barry Letts suggested Anthony Ainley as the Master or that he was originally on the shortlist in 1971 alongside Roger Delgado. Geoffrey Beevers discussed how he worked with another Master, Anthony Ainley, at Riverside Studios in a show with Googie Withers and also on a series called Spider’s Web, where Ainley starred.

Geoffrey Beevers, who played the Master, recalled rehearsals with Graham Cole, who played the body of Melkur. In the studio, Graham Cole was in the costume, and Geoffrey was projecting his voice. He had completed a lot of radio by that point in his career. He was also in a scene as the Master with Tom Baker, which had quite extensive make-up.

Anecdotes from the Guests

Matthew Waterhouse revealed Tom Baker called Sarah Sutton “Miss Basingstoke” as she was born there.

Photos and autographs

In between the screening and question-and-answer sessions, there were opportunities for a photograph. Autographs were also available, and if you can evade the queues at the start a great opportunity to chat to the guests and make your memories, which is such a lovely thing.

The next event by the DWAS at Riverside Studios is a screening of ‘Resurrection Of The Daleks’ with special guests on Sunday, 14^th September. Doctor Who: Projections In Time – Resurrection Of The Daleks + Special Guests | Riverside Studios

Another great event from the DWAS! The Keeper of Traken is available on the Doctor Who – The Collection – Season 18 [Blu-ray] [2021].

What are your thoughts on The Keeper of Traken? Post your thoughts here, on the Big Blue Box Podcast Discord Server or Twitter. Let’s talk!