September 7: The Power of Kroll Parts Three & Four

Kroll emerges to destroy the Swampies' settlement. (The Power
of Kroll Part Three) ©BBC

Actually, these episodes are better than I had remembered them being.  That's not to say that they're undiscovered classics or anything, and part three is definitely the weaker of the two, but they still manage to remain entertaining for the duration.

But man, that join between sky and swamp...

As I said, part three isn't so great, due in no small part to the fact that the Doctor, Romana, and Rohm-Dutt the gunrunner spend most of it being slowly stretched to death as a ritual sacrifice to Kroll.  There are a few moments of fun to be found (such as Romana's exasperation at the Doctor's reaction to their impending demise), but the resolution (giving the Doctor a heretofore unknown superpower of high-pitched screaming that can shatter glass) comes out of left field and is thus rather unsatisfying.

But the emergence of Kroll, join aside, is rather good, and the shot of Rohm-Dutt being dragged away by a tentacle is far better than it has any right to be.  The cliffhanger is rather odd, though, as it hinges on us caring about a nameless Swampie being dragged under the waters of the swamp.  Unless it's simply supposed to represent that Kroll is on the hunt?

Part four has quite a bit going on.  Some of the Kroll shots are better than others -- the one where it's jabbing its tentacles through the shrubbery wall is surprisingly effective.  Meanwhile, Thawn, the leader of the refinery, appears to have gone mad, since he doesn't seem to care about the thought of wiping out the Swampies (and possibly the refinery itself) in his pursuit of destroying Kroll.  He's even willing to kill John Leeson's character to achieve his goals.  This means that things have been accelerated to a fever pitch, and so it's quite exciting when everyone turns up in the refinery for the story's final act.  Ranquin is killed by his god, Thawn is killed by the Swampies, and the Doctor's decisions, first to sabotage the orbital shot that Thawn intends to use to kill Kroll, and then to head out to face Kroll armed with the tracer (he has a theory that the Symbol of Power that Kroll swallowed 200 years ago is the Fifth Segment of the Key to Time) are treated surprisingly somberly.  The latter choice in particular is one that Tom Baker chooses to play very straight.  "Here," he says, giving his scarf to Romana.  "Where are you going?" she asks him.  "To test a theory," the Doctor replies.  " All theories have to be tested some time, and this seems as good as any.  You stay here in case I'm wrong."

Ranquin prays to his god. (The Power of Kroll Part Four) ©BBC

I also don't find I really mind the bit of danger after Kroll is defeated, where the orbital shot is going to go off on automatic and can't be shut down.  Yes, it looks like blatant padding, but it's blatant padding with Philip Madoc at the helm, so it remains highly watchable anyway.

Unless The Armageddon Factor ends up being significantly worse than I remember it being, The Power of Kroll will still end up being the weakest story of season 16.  But other than a bad choice regarding the masking of the camera, the effects of this story are better than I remembered them being.  The Kroll model itself is nicely done (and the shots of it attacking the refinery are pretty good), and the scenes of its tentacles aren't too bad either; in fact, the close-ups of its body as the Doctor goes out to face it with the tracer are surprisingly good.  The worst thing about this story is that it's a bit dull; there's too much focus on the Swampies (who look great but are rather more questionable as characters) at the beginning and the refinery plot remains too unconnected to everything else for too long.  But it does manage to bring things together in a reasonably satisfying way at the end, which is more than can be said for a number of other stories.  It's not the best, but it's better than its reputation.