The first script from newcomer Robert Holmes... Wonder if he'll turn out to be any good...
Mark Walker@Mark_Walker maybe not yet...
heh, true. Not a big fan of the Space Pirates, I must admit.
John Bensalhia@JohnBensalhia The Krotons may be easy to criticise as a cynical 40 year old but as a 7 year old in 1981 (Five Faces) this was great stuff!
John Bensalhia@JohnBensalhia The Krotons may be easy to criticise as a cynical 40 year old but as a 7 year old in 1981 (Five Faces) this was great stuff!
It's grown on me over the years, thought it boring compared to showier stories around it, but Pat & the gang are brilliant.
On a planet in what looks like the future, a selection takes place...
And the winners are... Abu Gond and Vana Gond! Come on down!
Bad luck, Abu Gond. Exit stage left.
Thara, son of the Gond leader Selris, objects, but Vana wants to go.
Wierd camera work suggesting the TARDIS descending from space instead of materialising out of time...
Steve Powner@StevePowner Great opening scene; the cast are perfect together, great fun!
Twin suns, eh?
That brolly's a great comic prop for Troughton.
Jamie thinks something stinks. Probably just his sporran.
Some of the best picture quality of the 2nd Doctor's era on show here.
The three friends spy a settlement and make their way towards it...
...where they find a strange machine set into the rocks...
Out pops Abu Gond, who is promptly melted by a cloud of acid. Tonight, Matthew, he'll be an ex-Gond.
Mark Walker@Mark_Walker Strax would be proud.
The combative Eelek arrives - yay, Philip Madoc!
Within seconds of the TARDIS crew arriving...
...they're taken into the chamber under armed guard...
...and Jamie's got into a scrap.
Eelek wants Selris to control his son, and Vana goes into the machine.
Is there anythinig that *isn't* against the law of the Krotons?
The Doctor attempts the very scientific method of jamming a rock in the acid nozzles.
Blimey, Vana's had a rough night.
The Doctor's rock-bunging has worked and Vana is rescued! Hurrah!
But the Doctor's brolly is wrecked! Boo!
The travellers follow Thara's suggestion to take Vana to her nearby house...
...where the Doctor tries to get Vana to snap out of her trance and sleep naturally...
...and Selris explains that the Krotons regularly select the 2 brightest Gonds.
The "Krotons" are described as "Silver men". Must be the Cybermen again.
Thara and his pals rebel and grab the Custodian of the Hall of Learning...
...who tells them that he has never seen the Krotons but sometimes he hears voices!
The Gonds' controller of science, Beta, arrives to warn Selris that his son is up to mischief.
As Thara and his pals attack the learning machines, they're observed from a control room.
Blimey, it's the voice of the Krotons! "This is a warning! Stop breaking our stuff, you vandals!"
M@nterik@Manterik south african twang to them.
The Gonds' controller of science, Beta, arrives to warn Selris that his son is up to mischief.
As Thara and his pals attack the learning machines, they're observed from a control room.
Blimey, it's the voice of the Krotons! "This is a warning! Stop breaking our stuff, you vandals!"
M@nterik@Manterik south african twang to them.
What a bizarre choice the Serth Erfriken accent is for the Krotons... Works, though. Just about. Not sure why writers of this era thought it was such a futuristic accent. See also The Sontaran Experiment.
John Mark Frankland@JMFrankland Sometimes, in my weaker moments, I attempt to speak in the manner of a Kroton.
SHALL I FIRE, COMMANDER? DIRECTION POINT REQUIRED.
John Mark Frankland@JMFrankland My favourite is THIS IS A WARNING
I do keep expecting them to come out with "THIS IS THE VOICE OF THE MYSTERONS!" though.
The unseen observers suddenly take an interest in the Doctor...
Mark Walker@Mark_Walker atomic laser? Is it better than an axe?
...and a snake like machine lurches out towards him!
Mark Walker@Mark_Walker bit 'war of the worlds'.
Mark Walker@Mark_Walker atomic laser? Is it better than an axe?
...and a snake like machine lurches out towards him!
Mark Walker@Mark_Walker bit 'war of the worlds'.
Great jumping Gobstoppers!
Seem to remember this cliffhanger being used for Comic Relief (maybe 93-ish?) with a giant tomato superimposed on it?
The 'eye' is fooled when the Doctor puts his hands in front of his face - it's dependent on facial recognition!
One of the students gets cocky and tries to take the eye snake on on his own. And dies.
Selris worries about provoking the Krotons...
Vana is improving...
...so the Doctor leaves her in Jamie's care...
...whilst he and Zoe go back to investigate the learning machines.
In the learning hall, the Doctor finds that there's an "under-hall" to be investigated...
and leaves Zoe to entertain herself.
Zoe has rather too much fun on one of the learning machines.
The Doctor returns to find Zoe blissed out after getting her sums right.
"Zoe is something of a genius... It can be rather irritating at times."
Jamie and Thara are relieved when Vana comes around, but are puzzled by her mutterings about a flashing ball burning her mind...
Having passed the tests, Zoe Gond is selected to go into the machine, so the Doctor must pass in order to go with her!
"Now go away and don't fuss me. No, come back. What's this? It's all right, I know." Lovely timing from the Trout.
John Mark Frankland@JMFrankland Early signs of Holmes's genius too.
M@nterik@Manterik Love the scene where the Doctor is getting the questions wrong and Zoe is so smug.
Great fooling from Pat there, then he zings Zoe Gond in the electro-quiz.Great little animations on the screens.
Seem to remember this cliffhanger being used for Comic Relief (maybe 93-ish?) with a giant tomato superimposed on it?
The 'eye' is fooled when the Doctor puts his hands in front of his face - it's dependent on facial recognition!
One of the students gets cocky and tries to take the eye snake on on his own. And dies.
Selris worries about provoking the Krotons...
...who tell them all to get lost.
Vana is improving...
...so the Doctor leaves her in Jamie's care...
...whilst he and Zoe go back to investigate the learning machines.
In the learning hall, the Doctor finds that there's an "under-hall" to be investigated...
and leaves Zoe to entertain herself.
Zoe has rather too much fun on one of the learning machines.
The Doctor returns to find Zoe blissed out after getting her sums right.
"Zoe is something of a genius... It can be rather irritating at times."
Jamie and Thara are relieved when Vana comes around, but are puzzled by her mutterings about a flashing ball burning her mind...
Having passed the tests, Zoe Gond is selected to go into the machine, so the Doctor must pass in order to go with her!
"Now go away and don't fuss me. No, come back. What's this? It's all right, I know." Lovely timing from the Trout.
John Mark Frankland@JMFrankland Early signs of Holmes's genius too.
M@nterik@Manterik Love the scene where the Doctor is getting the questions wrong and Zoe is so smug.
Great fooling from Pat there, then he zings Zoe Gond in the electro-quiz.Great little animations on the screens.
Passing the tests induces a sinister soporific effect.
The Doctor shakes it off...
...and he & Zoe go into the machine...
Jamie is too late to warn them about Vana's burning ball...
... and his friends find 2 chairs waiting for them.
They're soon trapped in a force-field.
It seems that the Krotons drain the mental energy of the most intelligent Gonds to power a transformation in a vat of crystals...
Love the Krotons growing out of tanks. Great sound FX here.
The Doctor takes a sample and he and Zoe try to make their escape...
The process is complete and the Krotons' new bodies are fully formed.
Oh my giddy aunt, what's that egg crate doing there?
M@nterik@Manterik they have got skirts tooThink we'll have to retcon the skirt as an amorphous all-terrain material :-D
The Doctor & Zoe escape, much to the annoyance of the Krotons, who note that they are not from this planet.
The Krotons decide to capture Jamie instead. "Its' mind will have the capacity we need!"
Mark Walker@Mark_Walker wrong!
Very wrong! Poor old Jamie is certainly no high-brain!
"It is recovering; test its' mind."
"This is not a high-brain. It is a primitive."
"Then the power will kill it."
The Doctor and Zoe head for the TARDIS to analyze the sample he took.
The ambitious Eelek tries to recruit scientist Beta to his crusade against the Krotons.
"Do you want a repeat of The Massacre...?" Well, yes, actually.
atruedrwhofan@atruedrwhofan oh rather! And please ask, have the Krotons got anything else in their archives? The Power of the Daleks? Fury from the Deep? The Feast of Steven?
Jamie takes a grilling and arouses the interest of the Krotons when he mentions the TARDIS.
Thara, like Cully in the Dominators, is cast too old. Good actor, but too old for the part.
Selris is portrayed as another indecisive leader whose younger counterparts must rally into action.
Thara warns that Eelek is planning a power-grab.
The Dynatrope needs high brains. The Gonds have no high brains. You can say that again.
Hydrogen telluride gives the worst smell in the world (any world) apparently. I still think Jamie's sporran has to be in the running.
Jamie tries to turn the tables on his captors but is soon swatted away.
One of the Krotons leaves the Dynatrope to apprehend the Doctor & Zoe, but they get its SatNav in a tizzy.
The Krotons fires at the TARDIS, and the time machine is enveloped in smoke...
...but the TARDIS has just done the Time Warp and taken a step to the left. Handy HADS!
Mark Walker@Mark_Walker he says 'if he remembers to set them' - why wouldn't you just leave it on?
Did you know Pip & Jane Baker used this in the novel of Time and the Rani to explain how the Rani was able to shoot the TARDIS down?
The Doctor & Zoe make it back to Vana's house and are pleased to find her recovered.
They're less pleased to learn that Eelek is planning an attack on the Dynatrope, and Jamie is missing!
Time is against the Krotons; they sound quite desperate to recapture the "High Brains" now.
Zoe is horrified to see the Doctor getting stoned as the roof collapses! Cliffhanger! I mean roofdropper!
The earthquake caused by Eelek's attack on the Dynatrope has made the Krotons' heads spin.
The Doctor had forgotten all about Jamie! Rude.
Jamie remembers the Doctor's scientific method and shoves a rock in the door mechanism to make his escape.
The Krotons demand the Gonds hand over the Doctor, promising to leave their planet if they do.
MAW Holmes@MAW_H Well, I trust them implicitlyJamie makes his escape and is reunited with the Doctor and Zoe.
The Doctor dispatches Jamie to mix an anti-Kroton cocktail with Beta.
When Eelek's muppets try to stop Vana, she drops the cocktail, and it's picked up by a conflicted Selris...
Eelek prepares to sacrifice the Doctor and Zoe to the Krotons...
They're forced into the Dynatrope too soon...
...but Selris sacrifices himself to get the cocktail to them.
The Krotons are actually quite graceful when they turn around in unison.
"Put on the head sets or you will be dispersed!" As I understand it, Pat needed no assistance from the Krotons to disperse himself.
Mark Walker@Mark_Walker I'll give you that one seeing as it's coming to the end of the story! :-)
Lol, this Robert Holmes chap's scripts are far too sensible. I've got nothing to work with here!
MAW Holmes@MAW_H "The Many Wives of Patrick" was a "thing" you know ;-)
The Krotons don't like questions. The Doctor is not really their ideal houseguest in that case.
MAW Holmes@MAW_H They're lucky it's Troughton! Later ones would be plastered in question marks...
The Doctor tips Zoe the wink to spike the Krotons' crystal vats with acid.
As the Krotons trip due to the acid, their brains melt & they return to their basic form
"We'll have to find our own answers now."
With very special thanks to Paul Cooke for the amazing annual artwork!
TTFN! K.
Coming Soon: The Rescue
MAW Holmes@MAW_H They're lucky it's Troughton! Later ones would be plastered in question marks...
The Doctor tips Zoe the wink to spike the Krotons' crystal vats with acid.
As the Krotons trip due to the acid, their brains melt & they return to their basic form
With the Dynatrope melting and their work done, the time travellers sidle off.
"We'll have to find our own answers now."
With very special thanks to Paul Cooke for the amazing annual artwork!
TTFN! K.
Coming Soon: The Rescue
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