The Krotons: Episode Four (18 Jan. 1969)

Selris succeeds in drawing the Krotons out of the Dynatrope but Eelek agrees to hand the Doctor and Zoe over to them in return for their leaving the planet.

Director:

David Maloney

Writer:

Robert Holmes (by)

Stars:

Patrick Troughton, Wendy Padbury, Gilbert Wynne

Cast

Episode cast overview:
Patrick Troughton	...	Dr. Who
Wendy Padbury	...	Zoe Heriot
Gilbert Wynne	...	Thara
Madeleine Mills	...	Vana
James Copeland	...	Selris
Philip Madoc	...	Eelek
Richard Ireson	...	Axus
Frazer Hines	...	Jamie
Robert La Bassiere	...	Kroton (as Robert La'Bassiere)
Miles Northover	...	Kroton
James Cairncross	...	Beta
Roy Skelton	...	Kroton (voice)
Patrick Tull	...	Kroton (voice)

Storyline

Selris succeeds in drawing the Krotons out of the Dynatrope but Eelek agrees to hand the Doctor and Zoe over to them in return for their leaving the planet.

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Plot Keywords:

hobo | kilt | formerly lost film | scottish accent

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Genres:

Adventure | Drama | Sci-Fi

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Details

Country:

UK

Language:

English

Release Date:

18 January 1969 (UK)

Company Credits

Technical Specs

Runtime:

23 min

Sound Mix:

Mono

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.33 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

This episode was watched by 7.1 million viewers on its original transmission.

User Reviews

"Yes it is finished, the end of the Krotons it's over." Not a bad story.

Doctor Who: The Krotons: Episode Four starts as the Krotons give the Gonds an ultimatum, either hand the Doctor (Patrick Troughton) & Zoe (Wendy Padbury) over to them or face death. The Krotons tell Eeleck (Philip Madoc) that if they hand them over they will leave their planet, Eeleck agrees to the deal & forces the Doctor & Zoe to enter the Dynatrope for the Krotons to do with as they wish...

Episode 22 from season 6 this Doctor Who adventure originally aired here in the UK during January 1969, one of the few complete surviving Patrick Troughton stories The Krotons was directed by David Maloney & overall I thought The Krotons hasn't been too bad a story to be fair to it. The script by Robert Holmes had some OK ideas to start off with but they have sort of faded out in favour of a rather standard sci-fi adventure, that's not automatically not a bad thing though. The character's have been rather bland, the dialogue not much better & there has been a distinct lack of humour as well. The Krotons plans which amount to nothing more than trying to get home is rather underwhelming when revealed. Also if the Krotons needed people of a higher intelligence why did they purposely stop the Gonds from developing as a society & stop them from learning & developing as a race? Surely those actions were responsible for the Gonds as a race having low intelligence & therefore being absolutely no use to them & in their efforts to operate the Dynatrope & get back home? Then again maybe I'm just thinking about it too much.

This has been an unusual story in the sense that it has had no incidental background music at all, the sets haven't been particularly impressive & the Krotons themselves are really cumbersome looking creations although they sound great. The acting hasn't been that great, Wendy Padbury dressed in tight PVC is the highlight on the acting side of things. Having said that her & her PVC outfit is one of the highlights across the entire four episodes actually. There hasn't been many special effects either, at the end of this episode there are shots of the Kroton spaceship melting which looks OK.

The Krotons: Episode Four is an OK way to round of an OK story, I liked it but didn't love it. Overall I'll give The Krotons a watchable if unspectacular 5 stars out of 10 across it's four episodes, worth a watch if your a fan & of course there aren't many Troughton stories about so beggars can't be choosers.