Doctor Who: The Krotons (Story 47)

Product Description Doctor Who: Ep. 47 - Krotons, TheThe Doctor, Zoe and Jamie are drawn into rebellions of the Gonds against their unseen rulers, the Krotons.]]> Amazon.com The Krotons is one of the final episodes, from the late 1960s, with the underrated Patrick Troughton playing the good Doctor. The Krotons is a clever story, including the best elements of a good Star Trek story as well as The Twilight Zone, with a lot of humor, and even a little politics, thrown in. The Doctor, Jamie (Frazer Hines), and Zoe (Wendy Padbury) arrive on the planet of the Gonds in the TARDIS and discover that the Krotons are controlling the best and brightest of the Gonds. At first it's not clear if the Krotons' intent is toward a greater good or not, but the slow realization of what is truly going on gives our heroes a lot to think about--and to try to rectify. In many ways, the political undercurrent in The Krotons is surprising yet very much of its time. There are nods to the Cold War and the control that Communism held on people behind the Iron Curtain, and there's a bit of late-'60s countercultural rebellion against The Man, and becoming a resident of a house made out of ticky-tacky. There's a good bit of unsettling fear in this episode too, and the fates of the Doctor, Jamie, and Zoe hang in the balance for a good portion of the episode. This disc is packed with cool extras, including astute audio commentary by some of the supporting cast, the makeup director, the costume designer, and production managers. There's also a great hour-long documentary about Troughton's era as the Doctor, shedding light on his particular comedic bent on the character. There's a BBC documentary, and a fan featurette, and several other great goodies that all Doctor Who fans will not want to be without. --A.T. Hurley