The Krotons Episode Four

The one where the Gonds are finally liberated from the Krotons...

In episode 3, Eelek claims that the Gond Council has taken a vote in Selris's absence and elected him as leader, thus ousting ol' scrunchy-face. But here, Selris claims that leadership of the Council is hereditary, and so his son Thara will be next leader. If this is the case, then how and why did the Council hold a leadership election at all? If they were looking for a new, young, fresh, robust, strong and stable leader, why not just turn to Thara, who has been just as outspoken about the Krotons - if not more so - than Eelek? A bit of muddy world-building from Robert Holmes there, I fear.

For the first time in the story, the Gonds get to lay eyes on their Kroton masters when one of them comes out of the Dynatrope to demand that the High-Brains (the Doctor and Zoe) are bought to them. Why they didn't just use the booming voice we witnessed in episode 1, I'm not sure, but the emergence of this crystalline creature certainly strikes awe into the people. Seeing the Kroton shuffle down the gangway, its skirt swishing, struck me as terribly silly. They really are terrible in long-shot!

After needlessly destroying an innocent bystander, the Kroton promises that if the Gonds deliver the Doctor and Zoe "in 15 minutes", then they will fly off in their Dynatrope for good and leave them alone. Eelek agrees, and to be honest, I really can't blame him. Since episode 3 we've been led to believe Eelek is merely a power-hungry egotist, but there's actually been very little evidence that what he is doing is all for his own good. It would be strange of anyone other than Thara to have a thirst for power in a society where power is hereditary (it's not like British people are desperate to be the next monarch, because they know it's not possible). But even if Eelek is an opportunist, what he's doing is still for the good of his people.

When Eelek agrees to deliver the Doctor and Zoe to the Krotons, he does it because the creatures promise to leave. After thousands of years of oppression, if this is the only way to rid the Gonds of their oppressors, Eelek is right to consider these terms. He is acting for the good of the people, despite what Selris believes, and if that means hereditary leadership becomes a thing of the past, and Eelek gains power, then so be it. He'll have done more than Selris and his ancestors have ever done for Gond lib.

I think the Gonds will be far better off without Selris, who has done so very little to help liberate his people. His son Thara would be a much better leader, although I'd probably vote for Eelek. He gets things done. Selris does manage to redeem himself though, by half-heartedly forward-rolling into the closing Dynatrope with the bottle of acid to give to the Doctor. Sadly, Selris is rewarded for his bravery by being dispersed by the Krotons, allowing James Copeland a bizarre gurn before expiring. However, Robert Holmes doesn't allow his son Thara a single moment to think about, mourn or even show emotion about his father's death.

The business with the Doctor and Zoe in the Dynatrope is lovely, again showing off the working dynamic these actors had together. After Zoe tips the acid into the Krotons' tank, they have to waste time until the poison gets into the Krotons' system, and Patrick Troughton and Wendy Padbury are wonderful in the scene where the two of them try to decide who should stand where.

The eventual destruction of the Krotons is kind of sad really: they are fundamentally very ingenious creatures, and sort of beautiful too. The idea behind the Krotons - that they are crystalline-based beings which can transfer mental energy into power to "grow" things - certainly has legs (unlike the Krotons themselves!) and although it's no surprise we never saw them again in the TV series, that mileage has been mined some more in spin-off fiction, such as the book Alien Bodies and the audio Return of the Krotons. The melting Kroton and Dynatrope effect by Bill King is really effective too.

So science saved the day after all, with the Doctor explaining that as the Dynatrope was made of 80% tellurium, using a mix of sulphuric acid and "a few other things" would dissolve the ship altogether. I like that science saves the day, it's all very Doctor Who.

"Let's get going, I don't like goodbyes," says the Doctor as he and his companions slip away to leave the Gonds to rebuild their entire civilisation and culture. It's a very classic Doctor Who ending, to have the oppressed overthrow their alien subjugators and start afresh in building an existence of their own. "We have to find our own answers now..." says Thara, echoing a sentiment that has run like a meme through the Second Doctor's era, about people thinking for themselves rather than letting others do it for them. There were similar messages in The Macra Terror, The Ice Warriors and The Dominators.

The Krotons is a pretty poor example of Doctor Who from the era, pressed into production more through desperation than on merit. There's stacks of hammy performances and lame dialogue, but there is a sound idea at its core, and it's pretty efficient at telling what is, after all, a standard B-movie sci-fi tale. Nobody comes out of it shining (and that includes Patrick Troughton, in my view), but it's passable fare.

First broadcast: January 18th, 1969

Steve's Scoreboard
The Good: Bill King's special effects for the destruction of the Dynatrope and Krotons are very effective.
The Bad: The demonisation of Eelek is misplaced, in my opinion. The man may have his faults, but on the evidence presented (rather than what other characters simply believe), he's working for the best ends. Robert Holmes needed to give everything another good think (including the Gonds' method of governance).
Overall score for episode: ★★★★★★☆☆☆☆ (story average: 5.3 out of 10)

NEXT TIME: The Seeds of Death...

My reviews of this story's other episodes: Episode One; Episode Two; Episode Three

Find out birth/death dates, career information, and facts and trivia about this story's cast and crew at the Doctor Who Cast & Crew site: http://doctorwhocastandcrew.blogspot.com/2014/03/the-krotons.html

The Krotons is available on BBC DVD. Find it on Amazon - https://www.amazon.co.uk/Doctor-Who-Krotons-Patrick-Troughton/dp/B007Z10GUG.