The Power of Kroll

102 – The Power of Kroll
Doctor Who serial
Huge and powerful, Kroll looms over the swamp as the Swampies' leader, Ranquin, offers up prayers to it.
Cast
Doctor Tom Baker (Fourth Doctor)
Companion Mary Tamm (Romana)
Others Neil McCarthy — Thawn Philip Madoc — Fenner John Leeson — Dugeen Grahame Mallard — Harg Glyn Owen — Rohm-Dutt John Abineri — Ranquin Carl Rigg — Varlik Frank Jarvis — Skart Terry Walsh — Mensch
Production
Directed by	Norman Stewart
Written by	Robert Holmes
Script editor	Anthony Read
Produced by	Graham Williams John Nathan-Turner (uncredited)
Executive producer(s)	None
Incidental music composer	Dudley Simpson
Production code	5E
Series	Season 16
Length	4 episodes, 25 minutes each
Originally broadcast	23 December 1978 – 13 January 1979
Chronology
← Preceded by Followed by → The Androids of Tara The Armageddon Factor

The Power of Kroll is the fifth serial of the 16th season of the British science fiction television series Doctor Who, which was first broadcast in four weekly parts on BBC1 from 23 December 1978 to 13 January 1979.

The serial is set on the third moon of the human colony world Delta Magna. In the serial, a methane catalysing refinery's operations in the swamp disturbs the giant squid Kroll, which grew in size after ingesting the fifth segment of the powerful Key to Time. When Kroll surfaces, it subsequently rampages on the moon.

Plot

The Fourth Doctor and Romana have arrived on the third moon of Delta Magna, searching for the penultimate segment of the Key to Time, finding themselves caught in the middle of a dispute between the crew of a methane refinery and the natives (known as 'Swampies'). The Swampies claim the crew have disturbed the waters, and will incur the wrath of Kroll. It turns out Kroll is a giant squid which surfaces to feed every few centuries and is the source of the abnormally large amount of methane being mined. Once of normal size, it ingested the fifth segment of the Key to Time and began to grow and became a god-like figure to the Swampies and their descendants.

After Kroll awakens and begins to attack both the Swampies and the refinery indiscriminately, the Doctor uses the tracer to retrieve the segment of the key, which destroys Kroll and instigates cellular regeneration within the creature to produce hundreds of normal-sized squid. This process not only saves the planet's inhabitants but removes the source of methane from the refinery. The Doctor and Romana return to the TARDIS and set off on their next adventure.

Production

When script editor Anthony Read asked Robert Holmes to write the story, there were two requirements: that it include the largest monster in series history and that Holmes minimise the humour that many scripts from the era were known for. This second requirement was a request from higher up at the BBC. Early titles for the story were Moon of Death and Horror of the Swamp. Holmes said that he considered the idea of a large monster a mistake given the budgetary constraints at the BBC and named The Power of Kroll as his least favourite Doctor Who story.

Extensive location filming took place in Snape, Suffolk around the River Alde from Monday 18 September 1978 to represent the marshes featured in the script. Nine days of location filming were afforded to the serial, including two night shoots, more than is usual for a Doctor Who story. Studio sequences were taped during October 1978.^[1] The serial was directed by Norman Stewart, who had directed the Underworld story a year previously. This was his final assignment on the programme. The actors playing Swampies were coloured green with a special water-resistant dye ordered from Germany. Unfortunately, the make-up artist failed to order the special dye remover, with the result that many of the actors had to take chemical baths to get the green dye off, and many had a green tint for a long period after production was finished. Costume designer Colin Lavers introduced a new tweed coat for the Doctor, which sported four flying duck brooches on its lapels. Around this time, producer Graham Williams fell ill and his duties were taken on by Anthony Read and production unit manager John Nathan-Turner, assisted by Blake's 7 producer David Maloney.^[2]

Broadcast and reception

The story was transmitted over the Christmas and New Year period 1978/1979, leading to higher than normal viewing figures for episode two, transmitted on 30 December.

In their book The Discontinuity Guide (1995), Paul Cornell, Martin Day, and Keith Topping wrote that The Power of Kroll was "very slow" with little humour, and "horribly acted" aside from Madoc and Abineri. They also criticised the "unconvincing" realisation of Kroll.^[5] In 2011, Mark Braxton of Radio Times gave a negative review of the serial, describing it as uninteresting with poor effects, "tepid dialogue and dull characters". However, he felt that some parts were "enlivened by Tom Baker's sprightly performance".^[6] DVD Talk's Justin Felix gave the story two and a half out of five stars, calling it the "least inspired" story of The Key to Time. While he praised Baker and Tamm and their dialogue, he criticised the "flimsy" concept and the Swampies.^[7]

The Power of Kroll was voted at #174 by readers of Doctor Who Magazine in a 2009 poll of the top 200 stories — the fifth lowest of any Tom Baker story.^[8]

Commercial Releases

In print

Doctor Who and the Power of Kroll

Author	Terrance Dicks
Cover artist	Andrew Skilleter
Series	Doctor Who book: Target novelisations
Release number	49
Publisher	Target Books
Publication date	26 May 1980
ISBN	0-426-20101-9

A novelisation of this serial, written by Terrance Dicks, was published by Target Books in May 1980.

References

External links

Wikiquote has quotations related to: Fourth Doctor

• The Power of Kroll at BBC Online
• The Power of Kroll at Doctor Who: A Brief History of Time (Travel)
• The Power of Kroll at the Doctor Who Reference Guide