"Logopolis" marks the end of an era, as Tom Baker moves aside and the fourth Doctor regenerates. The basic elements of "Logopolis" are set up around this, from the ominous presence of The Watcher, and the carefully planned return of The Master, finally living up to his billing as The Doctor's nemesis.

The departure of Romana and K9 in "Warrior's Gate" left The Doctor with just Adric, putting the character in a quasi-paternal relationship with the young boy. This isn't especially clear, as the fourth Doctor's whole personality keeps him at arm's length from everyone, but it does make The Doctor appear more serious. Tom Baker's performance is one of the main plus points for "Logopolis"... the jokes are still there, but the energy's gone, and he scores huge gravitas as this burnt-out genius aware the end is coming, but he has to do his duty before resting.

Sadly, these themes are all muddled up in a disappointing script from Bidmead. The main thread of block transfer computation and Logopolis (a planet of mathematicians whose calculations prevent the universe from collapsing into entropy) works well on paper, but it makes for an astonishingly dull and cod-highbrow story, best personified in the numbing sequence where Adric reads figures off a sheet - the finding of an erroneous number is clearly meant to trigger nerve-jangling excitement. While it's good to have a genuine attempt as pseudo-science fiction rather than the usual practice of plot device nonsense, it can be done without being quite so relentlessly boring. It's not helped by Logopolis itself being realised as a bunch of chaps in wigs sitting in unconvincing polystyrene hunts in front of a pink studio wall, and by Logopolis' mouthpiece, The Monitor. John Fraser clearly doesn't understand a single word he's saying, and just seems dazed throughout. The realisation that this spaced-out, bewildered old fool is in charge of regulating the balance of the universe is much more chilling than The Master wiping out a chunk of it later on.

Astonishingly, for all the hard work put in by Bidmead as script editor across the season, there are some staggeringly illogical sequences in the story as well. Firstly, we have a police inspector who finds two shrunken corpses in a sports car, and instead of being staggered by this curious cause of death, he casually arrests The Doctor. Is he ex-UNIT or something? It's topped by The Doctor's bizarre attempt to flush The Master out of the TARDIS. It's a desperate sequence as, like with Logopolis, Bidmead has the great idea of the TARDIS recursion, but no idea what to do with it. So The Doctor plans to land in the Thames, and literally flood The Master out. A bit risky, but thankfully he has a safeguard so his own TARDIS won't get filled with water - he and Adric will lean against the doors. Marvellous. What would The Doctor do if he was stuck near an exploding nuclear power station? Hide behind a jeep? Oh.

There's also a thoroughly daft climactic scene between The Master and The Doctor. The scenes where the two work together to save the universe are among the best of the story, and the broad idea of The Doctor simply being ambushed by The Master's lust for power is marvellous, but again the realisation is found wanting. The Master just whips out a tape recorder and plays some demands to the universe, indicating that he will destroy it unless everyone agrees to his terms. Now, we'll give this the benefit of the doubt and say The Master's mad enough to blow up the universe when he's in it, or that he can somehow use his TARDIS to get out of this, or something. But how exactly is the universe meant to get in touch with him and let him know whether they agree? It's every bit as embarrassing as anything the character did before or since.

While the fourth Doctor and Adric work fairly well together, the supporting cast is soon unbalanced by the addition of Tegan and Nyssa. The latter really does nothing beyond reminding us The Master took over Tremas' body, and for noting Traken has been destroyed. Janet Fielding, who I really do like, has a horrid debut. She's given diabolical lines by Bidmead (notably the cringe-inducing sequence with the TARDIS console when she first stumbles on board, and Tegan's insistence at using airline terminology whenever the chance arises), and generally seems to be as nervous as Hell. Thankfully she'd get a lot better, while poor Sarah Sutton would always be living on scraps. And it's a minor relief when Tegan's deeply irritating aunt is killed off.

There are good scenes, to be fair... the recursion of TARDISes is set up nicely, while the Doctor/Master alliance is gripping. The regeneration scene itself is terrific - it suits the larger than life fourth Doctor to go out saving all of creation by doing something simple and brave like detaching a cable at 60 feet, and the actual regeneration is touching. The Watcher is a nice concept too, making this one feel, rightly, a bit special. These parts go a long way towards redeeming "Logopolis", and combined with the reverent direction of Peter Grimwade, the doom-laden score from Paddy Kingsland and Baker's gothic performance lend the story a tremendous atmosphere.

Sadly, there are just too many stupid bits to make it a true classic, or even really a satisfying conclusion to Baker's reign, though for such a flawed story it does stand up remarkably well to multiple viewings.

Review written: 23/07/2006
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