History Recap / DoctorWhoS19E1Castrovalva

* ArtImitatesArt: The shot used in this story of the town of Castrovalva sitting on a cliffside, and the name of the settlement, was inspired by a print by M. C. Escher. Later in the serial, the collapsing world of Castrovalva takes on a distorted appearance, reminiscent of Escher's surrealist work.

* FakeTown: This trope is in fact its major plotline. Castrovalva looks and feels like a city, except it's a trap set by the Doctor's frenemy, The Master, in order to trap the Doctor, but it ends up turning on the master.

* HiddenInPlainSight: The Master appear to be holding Adric captive in an undisclosed location elsewhere. The net is actually located right behind the tapestry, which explains how the Master could be in two places at once. The Master pulls this off twice: his TARDIS is camouflaged as the fireplace.

* NoOneCouldHaveSurvivedThat: The Master ducks into his TARDIS once his creations turn on him - but he's too monomaniacal to leave the web behind, so he gets tackled by the Castrovalvans as the city vanishes and buried them all (and his TARDIS) under solid rock. The Fifth Doctor doesn't address this, however, and even speaks of the Master in the present tense. He knows better.

* PerfectPacifistPeople: The Castrovalvans who have evolved from a hunting society into a scholarly race. Justified in that it was all a trap by the Master, who knew that the Doctor would prefer to recover in a peaceful planet.

* TrailOfBreadCrumbs: The Doctor's companions aren't much use when it comes to navigating the TARDIS--though Five is, admittedly, foggy on the subject - requiring him to leave bits and bobs of the Fourth Doctor's clothing lying at intersections, so he can be found. Good thing that scarf was so huge. (Tegan uses her lipstick.)

* TheNthDoctor: Creator/PeterDavison makes his debut as the Doctor.

* PlatonicCave: The eponymous Creator/MCEscher-esque setting, custom-made by the Master and PoweredByAForsakenChild, or Adric.

* GettingCrapPastTheRadar: During the filming, Creator/MatthewWaterhouse had a ferocious hangover. Eventually, he ended up running over to a tree and vomiting during the scene where Tegan and the Doctor argue about who landed the TARDIS. The actors kept going so they could use the take. In the serial, if one listens carefully, Waterhouse can just barely be heard tossing his cookies off-screen.

* TheTeaser: Part One is the first episode of the 1963-89 run to include one of these (one of just four in total), which consists of a recap of the final moments of "Logopolis" with different music (a more uplifting soundalike of the original).

%% FakeTown: This trope is in fact its major plotline. Castrovalva looks and feels like a city, except it's a trap set by the Doctor's frenemy, The Master, in order to trap the Doctor, but it ends up turning on the master.

* PotemkinVillage: This trope is in fact its major plotline. Castrovalva looks and feels like a city, except it's a trap set by the Doctor's frenemy, The Master, in order to trap the Doctor, but it ends up turning on the master.

* Creator/MCEscher: The episode is named after an Escher landscape lithograph (not one of his eyeball-benders).

* ShaggySearchTechnique: The Doctor, still dizzy from his regeneration, bungles his first trip into the TARDIS and ends up the cricket room. Having shed most of his old clothes (and shoes) in the halls to avoid getting lost, he makes a jump for the cricket whites and gear on display. He's so taken with the result that it becomes permanent.

* ContinuityNod: The disoriented Doctor confuses his current companions for several previous ones, even going back to One's time when he calls Tegan "Vicki". He also takes on the mannerisms of the First ("I wonder, my boy, what you would do if you were me, hmm?"), Second ("Oh no! We've gone into the wrong part of the TARDIS! Jamie, you go back! When I say run, run!") and Third ("Won't be long now, Brigadier - if the Ice Warriors don't get there first!"), suggesting a sort of dementia.

* GigglingVillain: Anthony Ainley is quietly chuckling to himself all through this episode and [[Recap/DoctorWhoS18E7Logopolis the last one]].

Tegan and Nyssa put their heads together (as usual, Adric is being difficult ''and'' unwillingly in league with the villain), consult the TARDIS manual and inexpertly shteer it to "Castrovalva: the Dwellings of Simplicity". Its brochure makes it sound like an alien day spa: the perfect place for a bit of R&R. The Doctor wakes up for a bit, and the TARDIS tries to help out by dumping a lot of random medicine on his head and providing him with a wheelchair. While spinning in circles in said chair and being extremely amnesiac, he instructs his companions on how to propel the TARDIS away from disaster by deleting rooms. Luckily, the control room doesn't accidentally get deleted. Sadly, the Zero Room does, so they have to improvise a new portable one out of some TARDIS doors [[note]](by using the Sonic Screwdriver as *gasp* a screwdriver; the amazing moment is available to buy at the BBC Store!)[[/note]].

----

Tegan and Nyssa put their heads together (as usual, Adric is being difficult ''and'' unwillingly in league with the villain), consult the TARDIS manual and inexpertly steer it to "Castrovalva: the Dwellings of Simplicity". Its brochure makes it sound like an alien day spa: the perfect place for a bit of R&R. The Doctor wakes up for a bit, and the TARDIS tries to help out by dumping a lot of random medicine on his head and providing him with a wheelchair. While spinning in circles in said chair and being extremely amnesiac, he instructs his companions on how to propel the TARDIS away from disaster by deleting rooms. Luckily, the control room doesn't accidentally get deleted. Sadly, the Zero Room does, so they have to improvise a new portable one out of some TARDIS doors [[note]](by using the Sonic Screwdriver as *gasp* a screwdriver; the amazing moment is available to buy at the BBC Store!)[[/note]].

--> '''Doctor:''' That's the trouble with regeneration... you never know what you're going to get.

-->'''Doctor:''' That's the trouble with regeneration. You never quite know what you're going to get.

* TrailOfBreadCrumbs: The Doctor's companions aren't much use when it comes to navigating the TARDIS - though Five is, admittedly, foggy on the subject - requiring him to leave bits and bobs of the Fourth Doctor's clothing lying at intersections, so he can be found. Good thing that scarf was so huge. (Tegan uses her lipstick.)

* AllThereInTheManual: In the novelisation, Nyssa worries that the Doctor will get high altitude edema.
** The Master set up the trap 500 years ago.

Watch it [[http://www.dailymotion.com/playlist/x1044o_tardismedia_castrovalva here]].

* NotNamedInTheOpeningCredits: Creator/TomBaker doesn't get credited for his (archived) pre-regeneration appearance.

The one where Creator/MatthewWaterhouse throws up.

Previously on ''Series/DoctorWho'', the Doctor took a nasty spill from disconnecting the [[Recap/DoctorWhoS18E7Logopolis Pharos Project]]'s power cable, prompting a sudden regeneration. (It's a big one too -- [[SeriesContinuityError even his shoes regenerated!]]) Unfortunately, he doesn't take to it very well, and is in danger of turning senile; that is, unless he can get some rest and healing in the TARDIS' Zero Room, a sensory deprivation suite.

The one where Matthew Waterhouse throws up.

* TheNthDoctor

* SceneryPorn: The picturesque Castrovalvan [[GhibliHills countryside]], which comprises a good deal of Part 2.

* ShoutOut: The design of Castrovalva was inspired by the works of Creator/MCEsher.