Doctor Who and the Power of Kroll

"I've no desire to die in the company of a rogue."

Writer: Terrance Dicks

Format: Novel

Released: May 1980

Series: Target 49

Featuring: Fourth Doctor, Romana I

Synopsis 

The huge, octopus-like Kroll lived deep in the swamps of the humid, steamy planet. 

To the native swamp-warriors, Kroll was an angry, mythical god. To the money-grabbing alien technicians, Kroll was a threat to a profit-making scheme.

In their search for another segment of the Key to Time, the Fourth Doctor and Romana have to face the suspicion of the Lagoon dwellers, the stupidity of the technicians and, finally the power of Kroll...

Verdict 

The Power of Kroll was an excellent novelisation of the televised story of the same name! This was an unexpected treat and was so much better than what I remember the serial being like on screen. I must admit that my memory of the on screen story was not vivid but I suspect I didn’t enjoy as much down to the special effects. The visuals Terrance Dicks was able create here were tremendous and having that alongside the stunning cover made this an incredibly easy read! I read the whole book in two sittings that didn’t total too much more than two hours and I really was able to fly through it! The pace was brilliant and didn’t let up which was helpful in the story presentation. Whilst this is known as being the fifth instalment of the Key to Time saga, its significance was played down for the most part which was the right move given that the Target books were released in a random order to those that were broadcast. The little moment at the end that teased towards The Armageddon Factor was a nice touch, but I was really able to enjoy this adventure in standalone form for probably the first time. The setting of Delta Three as a moon of Delta Magna was really good and I loved that the Doctor and Romana arrived amidst a swamp. That was far from ideal for the first Romana incarnation and her more elegant and classy style and demeanour. The relationship between her and the Doctor was good although for me I can’t see past Lalla Ward’s second incarnation when it comes to Romana. It’s difficult to top! The nature of the planet was good and the dynamic amongst some of the characters was tremendous. I was a big fan of the human colonists having differing thoughts towards the native Swampies which in itself was a pretty derogatory term! The death of Mensch was impactful but the moment that really took me back was Rohm-Dutt getting taken by a tentacle of Kroll. That was savage and Romana's reaction really sold how terrible it was. The Doctor had warned that Kroll hunted on vibrations and that did prove valuable at the end when it came to his attack on the Refinery. That served as a good base for the likes of Dudgeon, Thawn and Fenner who were really strong characters in the story. I was a big fan as well of Ranquin as the Swampies' leader and he made for a fine man in charge. The way Kroll was presented was fantastic and I loved the scale of his size. It felt more believable in the prose format and worked very well. The use of the tentacles was gross and impactful at the same time with them being a good explanation for the protein that was being extracted from the lake. The Doctor and Romana escaped death on more than one occasion in this story but one thing that was a little too much was the use of the Doctor breaking the glass window and soaking the creepers to get out of that predicament. Other than that though this was a stellar read! I liked that Kroll itself turned out to basically be the segment of the Key to Time and the little moment at the end with several other squid Krolls was great! Overall, a really brilliant read! 

Rating: 9/10