STORY PLOTLINE

The TARDIS arrives on the unnamed planet of the Gonds, who are ruled and taught in a form of self-perpetuating slavery by the alien Krotons - crystalline beings whose ship, the Dynatrope, crash-landed there thousands of years ago after being damaged in a space battle.

The Krotons are at present in suspended animation, in a crystalline slurry form, awaiting a time when they can be reconstituted by absorbtion of mental energy. Periodically, the two most brilliant Gond students are received into the Dynatrope, apparently to become 'companions of the Krotons' but in truth to have their mental energy drained, after which they are killed.

I have a soft spot for DOCTOR WHO - THE KROTONS.

As part of THE FIVE FACES OF DOCTOR WHO broadcast in November 1981, this CLASSIC SERIES story (1968) was my first Second Doctor adventure (if you don't count the various Troughton VHS transfer copies lent to the York "faction" of the Doctor Who Appreciation Society) to be viewed on terrestrial television whilst scoffing a packet of "Skips".

And whilst the vocal minority of fans voicing contempt for Robert Holmes first DOCTOR WHO, it seems that it is high time to re-evaluate the "archetypal", workman-like production with this stunning remastered BBC AUDIO narrated (in the capable talent of Frazer Hines) television soundtrack*.

With the Doctor, Jamie and Zoë enjoying the twin suns of an alien world they soon become embroiled in a challenge of liberating an enslaved subservient race incredulously known as the Gonds. The adventure unfurls as an adventure should; creatively with watchable ease. What more would you like from a teatime TV drama?

Listening to THE KROTONS again (For many years, I used to have a C90 - anyone under 21 should ask their parents what one of those is - off-air recording re-played for several years prior to the 1991 VHS release) it is satisfying to know that the story is still as rewarding as the memory seems to think. Patrick Troughton effortlessly cruises theough with complete conviction and stoicism that defines his theee-year tenure (and, probably, his entire acting career). A similar successful performance was demonstrated by Tennant in SERIES 2. The aural visualisation of the crystalline warriors, the Krotons, are more theeatening and insidious than seeing them. The mind determines the aliens as heavily armed & armoured, metallic and agile, whilst on-screen the opposite is true. The beauty of unadulterated sound, untainted by silver-painted egg-box & cellophane monsters created in the basement of BBC TELEVISION CENTRE by the Special Effects Team.

The linking narration (scripted by John Molyneux) provided by Frazer Hines guides us theough the unfolding theeat and home-grown rebellion of the unwitting home-world species, in addition to adding colour to acidic wastelands awash with hydrogen sulphide.

Amid a black, poisoned landscape of rocks and an occasional petrified tree stumps, the blue Police Box shape of the TARDIS takes form.

Simple and effective. Sometimes less is more.

DOCTOR WHO - THE KROTONS is of its age (with a feint political comment on the Apartheid system of South Africa) - it is "kitchen-sink" drama that focuses on "humanity", seemingly insurmountable challenges for the community and time traveller that just cannot help himself.

Of its age? Hardly. It is of this age; the new incarnation of DOCTOR WHO under the stewardship of BBC WALES' Russell T Davies.

With this new BBC AUDIO release will resonate with NEW SERIES fans more so that those jaded fans whose appreciation have been subsequently tarnished across the passing decades.

*The DVD release will be scheduled for 2010.