Doctor Who:
The Power of Kroll
By Robert Holmes
“Doctor? Sometimes I don't
think you're quite right in the head.”
The Doctor and Romana have
landed on the swampy moon of Delta Magna where there sits a methane
refinery. The factory is run by a group
from Earth who the Swampies he inhabit the moon believe they have been taken
for fools and believe they will lose their home. To make matter worse there is a weapons
dealer giving the Swampies guns to help in their battle with the people from
Earth.
The Doctor and Romana have
gotten themselves stuck in the middle of the disput between the two sides and
Romana gets herself captured by the Swampies and is going to be sacrificed to
Kroll. It turns out to be a Swampie in
costume as The Doctor comes to her aid. To make matters worse the real Kroll has decided
to rear his head after many years and this time he is going after
everyone. So not only does The Doctor
and Romana have to find the fifth segment of the Key to Time but also have to
find a way to defeat a humongous giant squid like creature in Kroll.
This is the last story
Robert Holmes wrote for Tom Baker and he goes back to the base under siege
formula that works so well in Doctor Who if done properly. This one isn’t bad as the refinery is under
attack by Kroll and eventually the Swampies.
Plus you have the paranoid and psychotic commander who doesn’t have any
regard for any life what so ever.
Thawn wants more than ever
to wipe out all the swampies and will do it no matter what even if it means he
has to kill his own men which he does as he kills Duggen. What is funny is that K – 9 is not in The
Power of Kroll but his voice is. John
Leeson who voices K – 9 plays Duggen. So
at least he gets paid for doing something else besides being a robot dog.
The Power of Kroll is the
last story that Philip Madoc was in on TV for Doctor Who. He did do quite a few Big Finish Doctor Who
stories before he dies last year but The Power of Kroll would be his last on
screen Doctor Who appearance and he was pretty good as Fenner with some good
scenes especially in Part 4 when he confronted Thrawn. Philip Madoc was a great
character actor who had some memorable Doctor Who roles and who is sadly no
longer with us.
I really have to laugh at
the Swampies themselves. Their hair
looked ridiculous as it looked like rope glued together and well they are
wearing loin clothes and painted green.
I sure hope the actors were paid well for this but knowing the BBC they
probably were not. But I give them
credit for being a Swampie and wearing that get up.
You have to love
Kroll. Kroll is a big giant squid that
turns out to be the fifth segment of the Key to Time. It was actually a good looking one at least
the tenticles as those looked pretty menancing. Well, ok, maybe not that
menacing but they looked pretty decent for the 1970’s
The Power of Kroll is not
a bad story in itself but when you get a Robert Holmes story you expect more
and this time he goes political again using the Earth people being oppressors
to the Swampies. His stories were he goes scary and gothic work well and with
this production group his style seems to be watered down. At least when Robert
Holmes returns, years later to Doctor Who, for The Caves of Androzani he
delivers the goods with a classic story.
Grade B
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