Doctor Who Rewind - The Krotons

Perhaps the ultimate mistake this four part story makes is revealing who and what the Krotons are, because up until that point I was intrigued enough to keep watching.

After landing on an un-named planet, which looks very much like an abandoned quarry, the Doctor and co discover the inhabitants (the Gonds) are locked in a disastrous long term relationship with entities who arrived in a space ship many hundreds of years before, and who demand regular sacrifices of their most most intelligent people.

The Krotons are never seen by the Gonds, they communicate by way of announcements made over a public PA. The Gonds intelligence is tested by plugging themselves into a computer and solving IQ type tests.

The lucky winner of a date with the Krotons gets to enter into their realm through a door in the city. The Gonds never see them again, but we, the viewer see that they eventually exit the Krotons space (outside of the city) and are murdered by a jet of poisonous gas.

One of the Gonds is hell bent on rebelling against these Krotons fellers. He gets his chance now that the Doctor has arrived because the Doctor decides to take the Kroton test and be selected for some quality time with the Krotons. Unfortunately, Zoe also takes the test and gets selected as well.

When they go into the Dynotrope, which is the very un-inspiring name that the Krotons have named their ship, the Doctor and us, see just just what he is up against.

Unfortunately the Krotons turn out to be Robby The Robots distant relatives, with diamond shaped heads and crude, very un-manoeuvrable arms and legs which make them look clumsy and well, very silly. It's just the kind of thing that gives ammunition to those who want to take the piss out of Doctor Who.

There are some interesting ideas here about slavery, sacrifice and rebellion, but
ultimately this story is let down by poor writing, poor characterisation, and poor design. The only good thing here is that it's only four parts, but three of those are surplus to requirements.

Next time on Doctor Who Rewind it's the return of those cold blooded warriors themselves, the Ice Warriors.