The Krotons

The Krotons is a similar type of story to The Dominators- the Doctor helps a race of humanoids against alien aggressors. This time, however, the story succeeds because it is far more intelligently scripted. This is the début story for Doctor who stalwart Robert Holmes, who would go on to become one of the programme's most respected writers.

The story (which has shades of John Christopher's Tripods books) deals with the Gonds, a race who are ruled by the unseen Krotons. The Krotons spoon-feed knowledge to the Gonds very selectively, making sure they do not get too advanced in areas that will enable them to threaten their dominance. In return, the brightest Gond students are sent to become 'companions' of the Krotons. In reality, their mental energy is drained and then they are disintegrated. The script touches on themes such as colonialism (the Gonds being a subject race with the conquerors inhibiting their development and stealing their resources) and religious faith (the Krotons are seen as being almost gods, and they forbid certain areas of study) without beating the viewer over the head with them. The script also contains some fascinating ideas. The Krotons themselves are crystalline beings who cannot really die, but can be 'deactivated' if their structure dissolves. They can, however, recrystallise later. They use mental power to fly their spaceship, the Dynatrope and are on the lookout for two more 'high brains' to enable them to leave. Ironically, their limitation of the Gonds learning has led to none of them being suitable, which makes the arrival of the Doctor and Zoe very interesting for the Krotons. While Holmes's script doesn't have the excellent characterisation he would become famous for later, it is very economical, especially when compared with the bloated 6-parters of the previous season.

David Maloney's direction is understated, but very effective, as are the designs. The sets for the Dynatrope are excellently designed and lit and the Krotons themselves are effective, if a bit cumbersome, with great booming voices (one of which, strangely, sounds either South African or from Northampton!). The story is notorious for the first shot, where the shutter for the Krotons' message delivery system doesn't close properly. This is actually only really noticeable if you're looking for it and doesn't really detract at all.

The guest cast are solid, although the only real standout performance is the excellent Philip Madoc as Eelek. The regulars are given some very good material and do their usual magic. Wendy Padbury is particularly marvellous- only she could pull off the line 'The Doctor's almost as clever as I am' without being annoying. All in all, this is a hugely underrated story and well worth a look.

NEXT: The Seeds of Death