6x04. The Krotons
Writer: Robert Holmes
Director: David Maloney
Script Editor: Terrance Dicks
Producer: Peter Bryant
Synopsis: The TARDIS crew
encounter an alien race known as the Gonds, who are under the tight
control of the "Krotons," unseen but powerful individuals who have
created a societal and educational structure to keep the Gonds in a
state of semi-voluntary subservience. When the Doctor and his
companions discover that
certain intelligent Gonds who have been selected to "live among the
Krotons" are in fact being killed, the Gonds join them in their efforts
to confront the Krotons and end their dominance of the planet.
Review: One might think of
"The Krotons" as "The Dominators" done properly. It's a story revolving
around ruthless alien conquerors who have the upper hand over a group
of natives, but the conquerors come across as a credible threat, and
the natives are a diverse cast of characters whose subservient position
is given a decent explanation.
"The Krotons" marks the debut of writer Robert Holmes, considered by
many to be the best Doctor Who
scribe. Holmes is at his best in the first episode as he allows the
plot to unfold slowly and focuses on elucidating the background of the
Gonds' peculiar societal structure. The Gonds, it seems, have always
thought of the Krotons as benevolent and are shocked to hear that those
who are "chosen" to live among the Krotons because of their superior
intelligence are in fact being killed. But even when this does become
clear, the Doctor has trouble convincing their leader Selris to do
something about it: they've been under the Krotons' control for so long
that some of them barely even think about it any more. They obediently
stay out of the "wasteland" above ground, having never mustered the
nerve to check and see if it's actually dangerous, and they speak of a
legend in which the Krotons punished them for their attack on silver
men from the sky but subsequently coexisted with them under the current
structure. While it's unclear how this legend developed, it's
especially pernicious because it casts the Krotons as offended gods who
have granted the transgressing Gonds a merciful peace, when in fact, as
we learn later, the situation is just the opposite: the Krotons made an
emergency landing on this planet after their ship suffered damage in a
battle, and then followed "procedure" in exploiting the Gonds as they
saw fit.
This gradually sketched and detailed picture of the Krotons' control
over the Gonds, I think, is a large part of why they're effective
villains: by the time we actually see one of them, we're well aware of
how effectively they've marginalized the possibility of active
resistance, in no small part because they're subtle enough that most of
the Gonds don't even think they're being oppressed in the first place.
And while neither of the Krotons that we meet has much of a
personality, Holmes makes them conceptually interesting in that they
seem to be just barely surviving. They spend most of their time in a
liquid state, assuming their robotic forms out of a stasis tank inside
their ship (scientifically, I'm pretty sure this is bunk, but it's an
inventive image nonetheless), and they've been stealing mental energy
from
the most intelligent Gonds to keep their systems running and eventually
leave the planet. (An even more interesting route might have been to
reveal that the Krotons had in fact already died or departed, having
left behind an automated system that still held dictatorial control
over the Gonds -- though that probably would have been harder to
sustain for four episodes.)
This setup allows Holmes to focus not so much on the "jeopardy" angle,
which is fairly straightforward stuff, and more on the differences and
divisions among the Gonds and how they react to the situation. Selris,
despite his initial unwillingness to resist the Krotons, does not come
off as naive or cowardly: rather, he seems like a wise and cautious
leader who, until just recently, had every reason to believe that he
was keeping his people safe by staying within the bounds of the
societal structure created by the Krotons. Eelek, by contrast, is a bit
too ready to resist, seeing this more as an opportunity to wrest power
from Selris than as a struggle for his people's freedom, and he's more
than willing to sacrifice the Doctor and Zoe in order to get the
Krotons to leave. The scientist Beta, meanwhile, is pleased just to be
given the chance to work outside the stagnating confines of the
knowledge conferred by the Krotons' "learning machines." In the end,
the real victory for the Gonds (as is emphasized a bit too obviously by
the final lines of dialogue) is not the defeat of the Krotons, but
rather that they have become able to think for themselves and act
independently.
The Doctor and Zoe make for an entertaining team in "The Krotons."
Though the Doctor is probably "smarter" in some sense due to all his
experience as a time traveler, we see that Zoe actually has a slightly
more focused mind, as she is able to answer all the Krotons' test
questions easily, while the Doctor gets flustered, makes dumb mistakes,
and ends up needing her help. Easily the best line in the serial is
his: "Zoe is something of a genius, of course -- it can be very
irritating at times!" (As if he has any room to talk about being a
genius in an irritating way.) They also have a funny routine towards
the end when they're stalling for time with the Krotons and stage an
argument over who gets to stand where in front of the computer. Jamie
is given less to do, and I must confess that I'm starting to find the
whole "Jamie isn't very bright" routine (the Krotons aren't interested
in him because, unlike the Doctor and Zoe, he isn't a "high brain")
kind of tiresome. The writers were making a point of this all the way
back in "The Tomb of the Cybermen," and yet most of his behavior, at
least in the available Troughton serials, doesn't seem egregiously
stupid -- he's not as sharp as Zoe or Ian or Barbara, but otherwise he
strikes me as about average. He's sometimes overly aggressive, but that
isn't quite the same thing as being unintelligent.
In a sense, "The Krotons" is still formula (battle against alien
oppressors), but it's formula done well and it's a promising beginning
for Robert Holmes. With its thoughtful approach and diverse cast of
characters, it ranks as my favorite Troughton serial so far.
Rating: ***1/2 (out of four)