You'll all love this: Apparently one of the scripts that fell through prior to this story getting approved for filming, called "Prison in Space", had a plot where the Doctor and Jamie were captured and chained up by a race of aliens that were essentially young nubile girls dressed in Nazi officer caps and thigh-high leather boots carrying around riding crops (so, basically, in dominatrix gear); with Zoe trying to find a way to free them. Apparently, to this day, Frazer Hines still laments that they never got to shoot that story.
There was a point when The Krotons was one of the few complete Troughton serials, and Frazer Hines (who plays Jamie) used to bemoan at conventions "Why did they have to keep THAT one?!"
I think there's probably a whole generation of British fans for whom (like me) 'The Krotons' was their first experience of the 2nd Doctor. This is because it formed part of a repeat season, featuring adventures from each Doctor, that was shown on BBC2 during late 1981. Those lacking the historical context may wonder why they chose this particular story - it doesn't have the best reputation - but it was the only Troughton 4-parter left in the BBC Archives! Even then, it was a slightly blurry film print (as all black & white stories were before the advent of Vidfire) and so bleeds together in my memory with contemporary re-runs of 'Flash Gordon', Laurel & Hardy and Harold Lloyd; who all reached new and younger audiences at the time. This was 'The Krotons's first repeat on terrestrial TV in the UK (and there was no other kind!) since it went out in 1968 - following 'An Unearthly Child', in it's first broadcast since 1963! It was this sense of the history of the show that attracted me and probably turned me into a fan. Fond memories.
Let's start a GoFundMe to get Jess a fabulous cape. It doesn't sounds like a high bar but Classic Who episodes that have some nice character moments with the Doctor and companions automatically make them better for me. And these first two parts had some nice moments with all three (especially Zoe), so I'm happy.
You're definitely right, by the way, those that worked with him have said that Troughton was very fast to identify a weaker script and used to work incredibly hard in rehearsals and on set to try and lift the whole thing for the audience, in his performance and with new gags he'd come up with to add to the script.
@@bobdallas4860 Gosh, I don't think Troughton is underrated at all - I note that Matt Smith named him as an influence in his portrayal. His stories always seem highly regarded, as does his performance. Luckily we are able to reassess his era these days with the fortunate recoveries of some classic stories and the new animations.
Ah, first appearance of the mighty Philip Madoc, arguably the greatest recurring character actor on Doctor Who. You'll be seeing more of him before too long. And yes, it's not the greatest story, but it has lots of lovely character moments, and Zoe particularly gets to shine.
One day, I hope that, in the comments section of a food/cooking video, someone writes "Croutons??!? Aren't they a sorta cheesy robot monster from Dr. Who?"
When the Doctor at 5:00 says "That, was my favorite umbrella," I immediately thought, "Don't worry, you'll get a new favorite umbrella 6 lifetimes from now!"
I haven't even started watching this vid, and I've already liked it. Why? Because I have full faith that Sesska will entertain me as always with these reactions, even though I've barely seen any 1st or 2nd Doctor episodes
Patrick Troughton once said that "The Krotons" was the weakest serial of his era. This is the first serial written by Robert Holmes, who will remain in the series until the Sixth Doctor era and is (rightly) considered one of the best writers of Classic Who... Although, I admit, you would never have guessed that based on the two serials he wrote for the Second Doctor, "The Krotons" and "The Space Pirates".
Personally I cut 'The Space Pirates' some slack because it is mostly missing, and as we've seen with (e.g.) The Enemy of the World and - to a more limited extent - Galaxy 4, opinions can change when episodes are recovered. Having said that, I haven't seen or heard one positive review so far, so... But if 'The Krotons' is the weakest serial of Troughton's era, that is still setting quite a high bar. It isn't perfect, the story itself it quite simplistic, and I wonder what we might have got if 'Prison in Space' had been made and this was in the place of 'The Space Pirates'. But it certainly isn't bad, and i wonder why Troughton placed this higher than (e.g.) The Dominators which isn't great, even if it is just about passable entertainment.
@@SGlitz Correct! The great Robert Holmes was the Script Editor from Robot to The Sun Makers. It is awkward though thinking about that one of the purest genius who gave us: Spearhead from Space, Terror of the Autons, Carnival of Monsters, The Time Warrior, The Ark in Space, Pyramids of Mars, The Brain of Morbius (co wrote with another genius Terrance Dicks), The Deadly Assassin and most of all The Talons of Weng-Chiang, to Tom Baker's quotes his favorite Doctor story ever, he begin in the wrong foot with this one and The Space Pirates, possibly the two leakest of his era.
Since I first saw this, over 30 years ago, I have referred to salad croutons as Krotons ever since! Alot of people forget that Jamie is a true Highland warrior and not scared of anything!
At a glance I don't see another reference to this in the comments, so you know Mr. Smith, from the Sarah Jane Adventures? Her supercomputer that comes out of the wall with that fanfare? As conceived, it was meant to be a Kroton, but like many intended classic-series references in that show they filed off the serial number at the last minute and just never said that in the show. Everything else about it remains except the name.
Not me! I mean, don't get me wrong, I adore Pertwee and the UNIT fam. But the Two/Jaime/Zoe team is one of the best in all of DW history, and I want it to last as long as possible!
I love the second Doctor, but same. I just rewatched all of season 7 recently, and I feel like Jess will really love Pertwee. She does still have two all time Troughton classics (Krotons is certainly not one of them) to get through though.
@@Melancthon7332 Well my favourite era of Who is 2nd-3rd so I'm just sitting here revisiting my golden era lmao, but I really want us to get to The War Games, my favourite DW story of all time.
Yes, well; Robert Holmes didn't hit the ground running. A few false starts, but he gets there in the end! I will always love the times when Patrick effects the Stan Laurel 'I'm very smart aren't I' look on his face, but very quickly turns to an 'OH NO!' when he realizes a mistake.
Like the Krotons and the Gonds i can see both returning in some form. It has a interesting concept Congrats on watching your first story by the legendary Robert Holmes 'This is not a high brain, it is a primitive ' is one of my favourite doctor who lines ever
For a while, this was the only 2nd Doctor story available at the BBC. It's definitely a weird one, not the worst of this season, but far from the best.
While the plot to this one isn't the most complex (although starting off weird), it is quite a fascinating story in that it gave me a lot of questions. Great comedic moments between the Doctor & company & had the outstanding Phillip Madoc in his first of I think 5 roles during classic Who. Also notable as the first story written by Robert Holmes, widely considered to be one of the best if not the best writer for classic Who & certainly a sentiment I hold (although this is perhaps not his finest effort). Great reaction as always!
You wouldn't know it from this story, but the writer, Robert Holmes, would go on to write some of the best loved Doctor Who stories of all time. His first two efforts, however, are kind of stinkers. There is some fun to be had here with the TARDIS crew, as you pointed out. Pity that the Krotons themselves are so clunky
In retrospect, Jamie is for many obvious reasons very popular, but Zoe is a really interesting companion. You can see a lot of some future companions in her.
Aah, The Krotons... While I don't think the plot is that bad, it was unfortunately saddled with one of the worst monsters in Doctor Who history and their Brummie accents are... interesting to say the least! Although, this was the first story to be written by the legendary Robert Holmes, who would famously go on to heavily contribute towards Classic Who's golden age, as well as pen some of the best stories of Classic Who.
Have you read the novel 'Alien Bodies' by Lawrence Miles? He manages to make the Krotons seem terrifying. He graphically describes a Kroton killing a Dalek.
The Kristin's have an insanely cool and unique concept that's used pretty badly here. In the expanded universe they get to show their potential much better, not dissimilar to the Quarks from earlier in the aeason
The Kroton accents are considered to be very 'west-midlands' - and can make it difficult for some to take them seriously. As if there weren't already enough reasons for that...
James Copeland, who plays Selris (the guy in black) has a son who is also an actor and is also named James Copeland - however, you probably know him by his stage name - James Cosmo. You may remember him as Jeor Mormont from Game of Thrones, Farder Coram in His Dark Materials and other parts that require a big hairy Scotsman.
I'm afraid the Krotons were really weak. The shame is that they didn't give more emphasis to Phillip Madoc who was a really good actor and a great antagonist in many productions. The one thing I do like from this is, to be honest, that although Wendy's outfit is pretty horrible she does look very nice regardless. Oh and Pat is amusing, as usual.
For me The Krotons is the weakest 2and Doctor story, but Troughton is my favourite Doctor so it's still watchable Though I did assume you would struggle with this one Jess. I love how for many years in fandom many believed the Krotons were the winning entry for Blue Peter's design amonster for the show competition which happened around the same time this was made.
Sad to be close to losing the Second Doctor, I'm not a huge fan of the third doctor, hes not as cool and suave as he thinks he is and treats his companions pretty badly. However I cannot wait for the GOAT Roger Delgado!
You'll all love this: Apparently one of the scripts that fell through prior to this story getting approved for filming, called "Prison in Space", had a plot where the Doctor and Jamie were captured and chained up by a race of aliens that were essentially young nubile girls dressed in Nazi officer caps and thigh-high leather boots carrying around riding crops (so, basically, in dominatrix gear); with Zoe trying to find a way to free them. Apparently, to this day, Frazer Hines still laments that they never got to shoot that story.
I think Patrick would have quite enjoyed that as well!
If you love a fabulous cape, wait till the Third Doctor shows up. lol
I was thinking the same thing!
There was a point when The Krotons was one of the few complete Troughton serials, and Frazer Hines (who plays Jamie) used to bemoan at conventions "Why did they have to keep THAT one?!"
I think there's probably a whole generation of British fans for whom (like me) 'The Krotons' was their first experience of the 2nd Doctor. This is because it formed part of a repeat season, featuring adventures from each Doctor, that was shown on BBC2 during late 1981. Those lacking the historical context may wonder why they chose this particular story - it doesn't have the best reputation - but it was the only Troughton 4-parter left in the BBC Archives! Even then, it was a slightly blurry film print (as all black & white stories were before the advent of Vidfire) and so bleeds together in my memory with contemporary re-runs of 'Flash Gordon', Laurel & Hardy and Harold Lloyd; who all reached new and younger audiences at the time. This was 'The Krotons's first repeat on terrestrial TV in the UK (and there was no other kind!) since it went out in 1968 - following 'An Unearthly Child', in it's first broadcast since 1963! It was this sense of the history of the show that attracted me and probably turned me into a fan. Fond memories.
Let's start a GoFundMe to get Jess a fabulous cape.
It doesn't sounds like a high bar but Classic Who episodes that have some nice character moments with the Doctor and companions automatically make them better for me. And these first two parts had some nice moments with all three (especially Zoe), so I'm happy.
You're definitely right, by the way, those that worked with him have said that Troughton was very fast to identify a weaker script and used to work incredibly hard in rehearsals and on set to try and lift the whole thing for the audience, in his performance and with new gags he'd come up with to add to the script.
Such a great actor, it pains me how underrated he is within the fandom considering he was the original "silly" Doctor.
@@bobdallas4860 Gosh, I don't think Troughton is underrated at all - I note that Matt Smith named him as an influence in his portrayal. His stories always seem highly regarded, as does his performance. Luckily we are able to reassess his era these days with the fortunate recoveries of some classic stories and the new animations.
Ah, first appearance of the mighty Philip Madoc, arguably the greatest recurring character actor on Doctor Who. You'll be seeing more of him before too long.
And yes, it's not the greatest story, but it has lots of lovely character moments, and Zoe particularly gets to shine.
His name will also go on the list of great recurring Who actors
First story written by the great Robert Holmes. Luckily his work gets much better in the 70s.
Oh yeah, this episode exists. I always confuse it with The Dominators
I do that too! But I do think this is the better of the two.
One day, I hope that, in the comments section of a food/cooking video, someone writes "Croutons??!? Aren't they a sorta cheesy robot monster from Dr. Who?"
You can be that person, if you want
When the Doctor at 5:00 says "That, was my favorite umbrella," I immediately thought, "Don't worry, you'll get a new favorite umbrella 6 lifetimes from now!"
The Doctor taking the test has to be one of his more iconic comedic moments. It's rather lovely that he fucks it up.
I haven't even started watching this vid, and I've already liked it. Why? Because I have full faith that Sesska will entertain me as always with these reactions, even though I've barely seen any 1st or 2nd Doctor episodes
Oh yeah, Krotons. Those are the pieces of dry bread they put on your salad, right?
Well, the Doctor *does* defeat them by smothering them in ranch dressing.
No, those are Croutons. Krotons are those colored wax sticks that children draw with.
DavetheAvatar No, those are crayons. Krotons are a type of elementary particle.
The High Brains are mocking us!
Patrick Troughton once said that "The Krotons" was the weakest serial of his era.
This is the first serial written by Robert Holmes, who will remain in the series until the Sixth Doctor era and is (rightly) considered one of the best writers of Classic Who... Although, I admit, you would never have guessed that based on the two serials he wrote for the Second Doctor, "The Krotons" and "The Space Pirates".
And Script Editor for the first couple of years of the Tom Baker Era. The greatest have to start somewhere. :)
Luckily Jess doesn't have to watch the Space Pirates due to it being mostly lost.
Personally I cut 'The Space Pirates' some slack because it is mostly missing, and as we've seen with (e.g.) The Enemy of the World and - to a more limited extent - Galaxy 4, opinions can change when episodes are recovered. Having said that, I haven't seen or heard one positive review so far, so...
But if 'The Krotons' is the weakest serial of Troughton's era, that is still setting quite a high bar. It isn't perfect, the story itself it quite simplistic, and I wonder what we might have got if 'Prison in Space' had been made and this was in the place of 'The Space Pirates'. But it certainly isn't bad, and i wonder why Troughton placed this higher than (e.g.) The Dominators which isn't great, even if it is just about passable entertainment.
@Aunchient Pistol It does make me wonder what The Space Pirates is actually like.
@@SGlitz Correct! The great Robert Holmes was the Script Editor from Robot to The Sun Makers.
It is awkward though thinking about that one of the purest genius who gave us: Spearhead from Space, Terror of the Autons, Carnival of Monsters, The Time Warrior, The Ark in Space, Pyramids of Mars, The Brain of Morbius (co wrote with another genius Terrance Dicks), The Deadly Assassin and most of all The Talons of Weng-Chiang, to Tom Baker's quotes his favorite Doctor story ever, he begin in the wrong foot with this one and The Space Pirates, possibly the two leakest of his era.
Since I first saw this, over 30 years ago, I have referred to salad croutons as Krotons ever since! Alot of people forget that Jamie is a true Highland warrior and not scared of anything!
"Jamie's mind gets like, shit on ALL the time" lmao He's not too bright but damn it! He's got the street smarts.
Zoe's costume was actually made out of paper!,in fact in one scene you can even see a massive tear around the shoulder area very briefly
Every time I watch The Krotons I find myself wanting to say everything in a Kroton South African/ Birmingham accent.
At a glance I don't see another reference to this in the comments, so you know Mr. Smith, from the Sarah Jane Adventures? Her supercomputer that comes out of the wall with that fanfare? As conceived, it was meant to be a Kroton, but like many intended classic-series references in that show they filed off the serial number at the last minute and just never said that in the show. Everything else about it remains except the name.
I'm just over here patiently waiting for Jess to get to the Third Doctor's tenure.
Not me! I mean, don't get me wrong, I adore Pertwee and the UNIT fam. But the Two/Jaime/Zoe team is one of the best in all of DW history, and I want it to last as long as possible!
The Second Doctor is better!
I love the second Doctor, but same. I just rewatched all of season 7 recently, and I feel like Jess will really love Pertwee. She does still have two all time Troughton classics (Krotons is certainly not one of them) to get through though.
Same for the 5th🥺
@@Melancthon7332 Well my favourite era of Who is 2nd-3rd so I'm just sitting here revisiting my golden era lmao, but I really want us to get to The War Games, my favourite DW story of all time.
Yes, well; Robert Holmes didn't hit the ground running. A few false starts, but he gets there in the end! I will always love the times when Patrick effects the Stan Laurel 'I'm very smart aren't I' look on his face, but very quickly turns to an 'OH NO!' when he realizes a mistake.
Like the Krotons and the Gonds i can see both returning in some form.
It has a interesting concept
Congrats on watching your first story by the legendary Robert Holmes
'This is not a high brain, it is a primitive ' is one of my favourite doctor who lines ever
Consider giving 'Alien Bodies' a read, it's both a fantastic use of the Kristin's and introduces the best villains of the expanded universe IMO
@@MyAbridged Faction paradox? Yeah I've tried looking for it, no luck
@@MyAbridged
The Kristin's?
We need an autocorrect that knows the names of Doctor Who monsters.
I recently listened to the Big Finish story 'Return of the krotons' and I forgot how cheesy they were as a villain
So much fun with the Doctor and Zoe in this.
As a Brummie myself - I love the Krotons!
Aunchient Pistol Krotons or Brummies?
For a while, this was the only 2nd Doctor story available at the BBC. It's definitely a weird one, not the worst of this season, but far from the best.
While the plot to this one isn't the most complex (although starting off weird), it is quite a fascinating story in that it gave me a lot of questions. Great comedic moments between the Doctor & company & had the outstanding Phillip Madoc in his first of I think 5 roles during classic Who. Also notable as the first story written by Robert Holmes, widely considered to be one of the best if not the best writer for classic Who & certainly a sentiment I hold (although this is perhaps not his finest effort). Great reaction as always!
You wouldn't know it from this story, but the writer, Robert Holmes, would go on to write some of the best loved Doctor Who stories of all time. His first two efforts, however, are kind of stinkers. There is some fun to be had here with the TARDIS crew, as you pointed out. Pity that the Krotons themselves are so clunky
In retrospect, Jamie is for many obvious reasons very popular, but Zoe is a really interesting companion. You can see a lot of some future companions in her.
@Aunchient Pistol A bit, yeah. But also I think a lot of Pertwee's companions, and Adric etc.
Aah, The Krotons... While I don't think the plot is that bad, it was unfortunately saddled with one of the worst monsters in Doctor Who history and their Brummie accents are... interesting to say the least! Although, this was the first story to be written by the legendary Robert Holmes, who would famously go on to heavily contribute towards Classic Who's golden age, as well as pen some of the best stories of Classic Who.
Have you read the novel 'Alien Bodies' by Lawrence Miles? He manages to make the Krotons seem terrifying. He graphically describes a Kroton killing a Dalek.
The Kristin's have an insanely cool and unique concept that's used pretty badly here. In the expanded universe they get to show their potential much better, not dissimilar to the Quarks from earlier in the aeason
“ No! “
“ Press the Button! alright there no need to shout “
Petition to change the name of 'the Krotons' to the Croutons
There's nothing worse than a Brummie robot in breaking the human spirit
Not often the Doctor gets hunted by a giant thing that looks like an extendable part of the male anatomy
Ahhh the croutons. Love em!
Hiya. 'Fury From The Deep' has been released, btw. Stay safe. All the best to you.
Not until the 14th I don't think.
@@markmckeown87 - Hiya. True. I confused it with the advanced order system. All the best.
Ah the krotons, well hav to get this one out of the way sooner or later...
The Kroton accents are considered to be very 'west-midlands' - and can make it difficult for some to take them seriously. As if there weren't already enough reasons for that...
So...give Jess a fabulous cape and she'll walk to her death?
First story written by Robert homes
Who wrote this? Robert Holmes? Never heard of him. Hopefully, he'll get a chance to write something else in the future
James Copeland, who plays Selris (the guy in black) has a son who is also an actor and is also named James Copeland - however, you probably know him by his stage name - James Cosmo. You may remember him as Jeor Mormont from Game of Thrones, Farder Coram in His Dark Materials and other parts that require a big hairy Scotsman.
I'm afraid the Krotons were really weak. The shame is that they didn't give more emphasis to Phillip Madoc who was a really good actor and a great antagonist in many productions. The one thing I do like from this is, to be honest, that although Wendy's outfit is pretty horrible she does look very nice regardless. Oh and Pat is amusing, as usual.
Oh no! Slow moving robots with pincers. I think this one is going to be a fun filler. Zoe is good with the "He's almost as clever as I am" routine.
I thought Krotons were small pieces of toasted or fried bread you put in soup.
There were some crisps in the early 80's called Krotons lol!
@@jimmybisk Didn't know that. Mind you, I had never heard of Hedgehog Crisps either until an Uncle told me.
@@Jamienomore Hedgehog crisps were delicious. Shame they don't make them anymore.
@@Jamienomore Oh god yeah Hedgehog crisps! They were out at around the same time although I couldn't stomach tasting them lol!
An interesting story, The Krotons. Not the best but entertaining.
Zoe. Nuff said
I like this one. Its decent
For me The Krotons is the weakest 2and Doctor story, but Troughton is my favourite Doctor so it's still watchable
Though I did assume you would struggle with this one Jess. I love how for many years in fandom many believed the Krotons were the winning entry for Blue Peter's design amonster for the show competition which happened around the same time this was made.
Why do the Krotons sound like the Transformers?
Sad to be close to losing the Second Doctor, I'm not a huge fan of the third doctor, hes not as cool and suave as he thinks he is and treats his companions pretty badly.
However I cannot wait for the GOAT Roger Delgado!
"Do as I say!"
Delgado is arguably one of the best things about the Third Doctor's era, I cannot wait to see Jess' reaction to his first episode! 😁
I heard a rumor that the eleventh and the FINAL SEASON of The Walking Dead is coming.