The Krotons

Notes

For conversion into full article:

• Background to the Krotons as a race can be found in Alien Bodies (8th Doctor and Sam)
• One of my favourite TARDIS teams - Zoe for the brains, Jamie for the brawn (and although Zoe tends to be scantily-clad, she is at least on a par with the Doctor when it comes to intelligence, as the tests of the Krotons show).
• Several actors from Dad's Army - or rather the other way round given recording dates.
• Do none of the Gonds realise that those who enter the Kroton's craft never return? There must be hundreds of 'companions' in there by now.
• Quite liked the voice of the Krotons, wasn't too similar to anything else (e.g. Daleks or Cybermen).
• Shame that the Krotons are so immobile, not exactly difficult to run away from.
• Idea of guiding development of the Gonds and avoiding the discovery of dangerous (to the Krotons) technology was interesting, although this seems like an incredibly long game to play.
• Krotons are not the most frightening of monsters given their slow movement and their initial inability to leave their ship.
• One wonders how the Gonds are useful to the Krotons, given that they are kept at such a primitive level of development.
• 'I'm not a doctor of medicine Zoe' says the Doctor, directly contradicting what he told Polly in The Moonbase.
• The Krotons have supposedly been on the planet for thousands of years. Even allowing for their effective immortality, things must have changed in the surrounding solar system.
• James Copeland (Selris) seems to clench his fists whenever he is stood still.
• 'Great jumping gobstoppers' is a great phrase to use when surprised by something.
• Troughton plays the intelligent fool with style as always.
• As with many Troughton 'monster era' stories, the limited special effects budget means that in many ways this is a more rewarding read as the Target novelisation.
• What happened to the original Krotons who the Gonds fought? Did they disperse themselves?
• Although the Krotons have been inactive for thousands of years, they say there has not been time for another species to evolve (referring to Jamie, Zoe and the Doctor).
• How can the Krotons tell that Jamie, Zoe and the Doctor are not Gonds? Possibly by their clothes? They do not appear to differentiate between the members of the TARDIS crew, even though Jamie and Zoe are hundreds of years apart and the Doctor is a completely different species.
• How can the Krotons disperse the TARDIS at a distance? They claim to be able to do this when looking at the TARDIS from within their ship.
• Why does the Kroton leaving the Dynotrope require 'vision control'? Why can the Krotons see via the video link but not directly? It is too light outside? If so why not wait until it is dark before leaving the Dynatrope?
• 'The Dynatrope will exhaust in 3 hours' - convenient that the Krotons use the same measurement of time (or at least the same name) as Earth.
• Conversion of mental power to energy is an interesting idea.

Elsewhere

The following podcast episodes have concentrated wholly or primarily on The Krotons.

• Krynoid Podcast: Episode 104 - features feedback from Paul.