The Power of Kroll Part Two

The one where Romana is rescued from being sacrificed to a man in a rubber suit...

Oh. My. God! Just when you think you've got a hold of the fact that the unconvincing pincers mauling Mary Tamm at the end of part 1 are being operated by an actor in a rubber suit, it's revealed that it really is a man in a rubber suit! Rather than the mighty god Kroll come to take away his juicy sacrifice, it's actually Swampie Skart in a pretend monster suit. What a brilliant way to undermine viewers' expectations! What's less brilliant is the fact Romana actually believes it to be a real monster. It probably looked more convincing from the front, as the Doctor says...

It's nice to have Tom Baker and Mary Tamm reunited because they're so good at the witty repartee. They bounce off each other so well. I wouldn't call it a natural screen chemistry (such as Baker had with Elisabeth Sladen), but they were definitely on the same page as actors, and riffed to the same thespian rhythms.

For some unexplained reason, the Doctor believes that a secret passage lies at the bottom of a well he happens across, and for some other unexplained reason he decides to go down into it to see what's there. He emerges with a weighty tome, the illustrated history of the tribespeople, from which he and Romana learn an awful lot about the Swampies' background. Quite why the Swampies keep their history books at the bottom of a well is a mystery, as is why the Doctor thought to go looking for it there. Nevertheless, it does lead to a gem of an exchange between our heroes, with the Doctor discovering that Kroll is "obviously one of those monsters who's not always about the place", to which Romana replies: "No, just pops up every couple of centuries." I love these two together, they're an overlooked team!

This episode is jam-packed with long, tortuously dull dialogue scenes between the refinery staff. Scenes which seem under-rehearsed and chronically lacking in energy or enthusiasm from all involved. Philip Madoc seems particularly underwhelmed, acting his way through scenes with a permanent scowl on his face. They all look terminally bored, which is exactly how I felt watching it. I can understand Madoc was feeling a bit cheesed off with the thanklessly bland role of Fenner. He was originally offered the part of leader Thawn (and he'd have been much better in that role), but when Thawn was eventually offered to George Baker (who later pulled out), Madoc inherited the part of Fenner when original actor Alan Browning (husband of Coronation Street star Pat Phoenix) fell ill (he died of liver failure in 1979, aged 53).

The casting of The Power of Kroll is one of its many weak elements, with none of the actors playing the technicians making a good job of it, and poor John Abineri daubed in green paint in animal skins on location in Suffolk. The best of a poor bunch has to be Glyn Jones, who has a good go at rogueish Rohm-Dutt, but there's not very much for him to get hold of to start with. Rohm-Dutt is a prototype of Robert Holmes' much better characters Stotz and Glitz in the 1980s.

Midway through the episode there's a burst of action which sees, in very quick succession, a gun explode in a Swampie's face, a giant monstrous tendril scoop up poor Mensch, and the emergence of the enormous form of Kroll the giant squid. The blink-and-you'll-miss-it shot of the Swampie's bloodied face is satisfyingly gruesome, and the realisation of Kroll's tendril attack on Mensch passably done (the only reason Mensch is played by stuntman Terry Walsh is for this very brief scene!). However, the use of split-screen to show Kroll towering over the swamps of Delta Magna's marshy moon does not work in any way, the very sharp line between the monster and the foreground pushing credulity to its limit. I know it was probably the best they could do at the time with the resources at their disposal, blah blah blah, but come on! That just does not work at all!

There's yet more ponderously paced chatty scenes between bored actors at the refinery ("It hasn't moved for 15 minutes," says John Leeson) before Harg is suddenly dragged into the pipes by a wandering tendril in very comical fashion. "HARG!" yells poor Philip Madoc as the credits crash in. I bet he couldn't wait to collect his pay cheque and move on to the next job. No wonder he never returned to Doctor Who again!

Shockingly, this episode was the most-watched of Season 16's entire 26-week run, notching up 12.4m viewers - almost double the previous week's rating! This seems to be something of a trend for director Norman Stewart, who scored Season 15's highest rating for Underworld Part 4 (11.7m). Maybe there's something to be read into the fact that the most people seemed to watch the worst episodes in the late 1970s, but I'm not sure what that something is...

First broadcast: December 30th, 1978

Steve's Scoreboard
The Good: I like the way Robert Holmes tricks the viewer by revealing that the "monster" really is a man in a rubber suit!
The Bad: The terribly dull dialogue scenes between thoroughly bored and under-stretched actors. Not only is it poor direction, but also uncharacteristically poor writing.
Overall score for episode: ★★★☆☆☆☆☆☆☆

"Would you like a jelly baby?" tally: 18

NEXT TIME: Part Three...

My reviews of this story's other episodes: Part One; Part Three; Part Four

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: https://doctorwhocastandcrew.blogspot.com/2014/08/the-power-of-kroll.html

The Power of Kroll is available on BBC DVD as part of the Key to Time box set. Find it on Amazon - https://www.amazon.co.uk/Doctor-Who-Key-Time-Re-issue/dp/B002TOKFNM