Doctor Who Season 18 Episode 6: The Keeper of Traken
In the TARDIS, the Fourth Doctor and Adric have arrived back in N-Space near the star Metulla Orionsis, home to the Traken Union, famous for its universal harmony. The Doctor describes it as an “Empire held together by people being terribly nice to each other.” When Adric tells the Doctor that the TARDIS is headed for Traken, the Doctor is surprised and accuses him of setting the coordinates himself, which he denies. They find themselves in orbit around Traken, when suddenly the figure of an elderly man on a throne appears within the console room. The Doctor correctly identifies him as the Keeper of Traken — one of the few beings in the universe capable of taking control of the TARDIS. The Keeper reveals that he will soon die and have to pass on his powers to a successor, and asks the Doctor to come to Traken, but warns him of great danger.
At a null point in space and time on the interface between our universe (n-space) and E-space (exo-space), a slaver cargo vessel becomes trapped. It manoeuvres the timelines using members of the leonine Tharil race as navigators – and they too are the cargo of the grim vessel, held in cryogenic storage in its hold. A Tharil named Biroc flees the craft on the time winds, leaving it moored and trapped, and ventures to the TARDIS, which has also become trapped in a time rift in this strange dimension. The creature manifests itself in the TARDIS console room and imparts to the occupants the warning that he is a shadow of his own past—and of their future; and that the others that are following him should not be trusted. The Tharil then disappears, with the Doctor in pursuit. Romana, and Adric are left worried about K-9, whose memory wafers have been shredded by the time winds.
After the events of Full Circle, the Doctor’s adventures in E-Space continues with the Doctor, Romana, K-9, and their newest companion/stowaway, Adric, arrive on a planet experiencing what appears to be a feudal period. The population scratches out a living as subsistence farmers under the thrall of three local lords, Zargo, Camilla, and Aukon, who dwell in a shadowy tower. Adding further fear to their lives, they experience a yearly ritual called “the Selection,” in which a sample of young villagers are taken to the tower, never to be seen again. This selection process is enforced by a thuggish band of guards led by Habris.
The Doctor and Romana’s holiday in Brighton is brought to a sudden end when K-9 takes in sea-water and explodes. They instead venture to the Leisure Hive of Argolis, a holiday complex built by the surviving Argolin following their devastating war with the Foamasi. As ever, they arrive at a point of crisis in the year 2290. The Leisure Hive is facing bankruptcy and the Argolin’s Earth agent, Brock, arrives with his lawyer Klout, bearing an offer to buy the planet outright. Regrettably the offer is from the Foamasi, the only species that could live on the radiation-infused surface of Argolis, and so the Argolin Board will not consider it. Hit by the shock of events, the ageing Board Chairman Morix succumbs to a rapid death – the Argolin war curse of advanced cellular degradation – and his consort Mena is declared the new Chairman.
