Doctor Who and the Power of Kroll: 4th Doctor Novelisation
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- Create Date：2021-10-24 11:21:47
- Update Date：2025-09-06
- Status：finish
- Author：Terrance Dicks
- ISBN：1529138566
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Summary
Geoffrey Beevers reads this exciting novelisation of a classic TV adventure for the Fourth Doctor， as played on TV by Tom Baker。
The huge， octopus-like Kroll lives deep in the swamps of the humid， steamy planet Delta Three。 To the native swamp-warriors， Kroll is an angry， mythical god。 To the money-grabbing alien technicians， it is a threat to their profit-making scheme。
When the Doctor and Romana arrive， in search of another segment of the Key to Time， they have to face the suspicion of the lagoon dwellers， the stupidity of the technicians and， finally， the power of Kroll itself。。。
Geoffrey Beevers， who played the Master in the TV series， reads Terrance Dicks's novelisation of a 1978 TV adventure by Robert Holmes。
（P） 2021 BBC Studios Distribution Ltd
Cover illustration by Andrew Skilleter
Reading produced by Neil Gardner
Sound design by Simon Power
Executive producer: Michael Stevens
The huge， octopus-like Kroll lives deep in the swamps of the humid， steamy planet Delta Three。 To the native swamp-warriors， Kroll is an angry， mythical god。 To the money-grabbing alien technicians， it is a threat to their profit-making scheme。
When the Doctor and Romana arrive， in search of another segment of the Key to Time， they have to face the suspicion of the lagoon dwellers， the stupidity of the technicians and， finally， the power of Kroll itself。。。
Geoffrey Beevers， who played the Master in the TV series， reads Terrance Dicks's novelisation of a 1978 TV adventure by Robert Holmes。
（P） 2021 BBC Studios Distribution Ltd
Cover illustration by Andrew Skilleter
Reading produced by Neil Gardner
Sound design by Simon Power
Executive producer: Michael Stevens
Reviews
Damon Habbin
，
Again another book that's better than the TV version。Fairly well paced and easy to read。 Again another book that's better than the TV version。Fairly well paced and easy to read。 。。。more
Craig
，
This is a novelization of the fifth serial in the sixteenth season of Doctor Who， and is also part of the Key to Time sequence， though it's quite easy to understand this one without having read any of the others。 Terrance Dicks wrote the novel， based on the teleplay by Robert Holmes; both were among the best writers of the character。 The Doctor， in his fourth， most popular incarnation， is joined by his companion Romana， also a Time Lord。 （Or Lady; it was the 1970's， after all。） K-9 has to stay i This is a novelization of the fifth serial in the sixteenth season of Doctor Who， and is also part of the Key to Time sequence， though it's quite easy to understand this one without having read any of the others。 Terrance Dicks wrote the novel， based on the teleplay by Robert Holmes; both were among the best writers of the character。 The Doctor， in his fourth， most popular incarnation， is joined by his companion Romana， also a Time Lord。 （Or Lady; it was the 1970's， after all。） K-9 has to stay inside most of the time， not being equipped to dog-paddle through the swamp。 The episode was never among the most popular， primarily due in my estimation to the low special effects budget; rather than seeing fierce alien swamp warriors worshiping a huge Cthulhu-like deity， it looked like a bunch of half-naked somewhat overweight self-conscious men painted green with mops glued to their heads shouting "Kroll" halfheartedly。 And Kroll wasn't very imposing， either。 In the novel， however， Dicks didn't have to worry about such things， and did a very good job of describing the imposing characters and the action。 The story doesn't have as much humor as many of the adventures of the time， but Dicks succeeds in portraying The Doctor as filled with an amusing， dry wit and Romana （or Romanadvoratrelundar if you want to get precise） with a competent cleverness。 The story itself is told concisely， Dicks being able to compress a couple of tedious scenes in the narrative， but he does add a bit of detail and background。 It's another fun read， one of the most under-appreciated。 。。。more
Gareth
，
I always have a soft spot for this story， possibly leading me to rate it higher than I would otherwise， but I always liked the idea of the Kraken， and also gigantic monsters in general， so really enjoy that side to this story。On that front， there is good tension as the threat from Kroll slowly increases， leading to a strong climax， that comes across really good in the novel， which can't be let down by special effects like a TV story can。The Doctor and Romana get a lot of good scenes， and compare I always have a soft spot for this story， possibly leading me to rate it higher than I would otherwise， but I always liked the idea of the Kraken， and also gigantic monsters in general， so really enjoy that side to this story。On that front， there is good tension as the threat from Kroll slowly increases， leading to a strong climax， that comes across really good in the novel， which can't be let down by special effects like a TV story can。The Doctor and Romana get a lot of good scenes， and compared to prior stories there seems a reasonable balance， with both of them getting into and out of Damsel in Distress situations， and though does favour the Doctor a bit in these at least makes it feel more balanced again。 Thanks to the setting， K9 doesn't feature in this story outside of a brief cameo or two。The other characters in the story are a bit of a mixed bag， there is a bit of a moral story coming across， but let down somewhat by some somewhat one dimensional characters within the story， with few of the one off characters feeling fleshed out， making the other main plot thread of the story just not come across as strongly as the Kroll part。Overall though， I will always enjoy this story thanks to Kroll :） 。。。more
Jack
，
This is a fairly straightforward translation of the TV serial into book form， as Terrance Dicks is so good at。 I found the TV episodes to be a little slow and dull， and I will say that I found it more enjoyable to read this story than to watch it unfold。 Green-skinned aliens can look more impressive in your imagination than people covered in body paint！ The plot is simple， and it certainly doesn't stand out as one of the best stories Doctor Who has to offer， but there's nothing particularly wron This is a fairly straightforward translation of the TV serial into book form， as Terrance Dicks is so good at。 I found the TV episodes to be a little slow and dull， and I will say that I found it more enjoyable to read this story than to watch it unfold。 Green-skinned aliens can look more impressive in your imagination than people covered in body paint！ The plot is simple， and it certainly doesn't stand out as one of the best stories Doctor Who has to offer， but there's nothing particularly wrong with it， and this novelisation is a good way to experience the story。 。。。more
Rocky Sunico
，
This is hardly one of the best Doctor Who stories out there， especially given how this is essentially one part of a larger fetch quest that the Doctor and Romana are on。 They are brought to this planet with its protein refinery whose employees are in opposition to the native Swampies， but their real focus is finding their McGuffin。 But of course， they get pulled into the middle of this little conflict and discover that the myth of the might Kroll， who is some giant squid monster figure， is very This is hardly one of the best Doctor Who stories out there， especially given how this is essentially one part of a larger fetch quest that the Doctor and Romana are on。 They are brought to this planet with its protein refinery whose employees are in opposition to the native Swampies， but their real focus is finding their McGuffin。 But of course， they get pulled into the middle of this little conflict and discover that the myth of the might Kroll， who is some giant squid monster figure， is very true and very dangerous。 The resolution was a little cheesy but at least the Doctor was quite cheeky and witty， as is the nature of the Fourth Doctor。 But in the end this is but one stop in a larger journey and the main story isn't taking place here。 。。。more
Book collector
，
Feel free to skip this first section as it will be the same on all of his books。Cards on the table。。。 Terrance dicks is not only one of my favourite writers he's also the author who hooked me on reading when I was young。 His prose is beautifully simple。 He often edited the original stories as he went， fixing little things that didn't quite work， sometimes obviously but often in small subtle ways。 I still read his books over 40 years after first reading some of them。This was adapted from the scri Feel free to skip this first section as it will be the same on all of his books。Cards on the table。。。 Terrance dicks is not only one of my favourite writers he's also the author who hooked me on reading when I was young。 His prose is beautifully simple。 He often edited the original stories as he went， fixing little things that didn't quite work， sometimes obviously but often in small subtle ways。 I still read his books over 40 years after first reading some of them。This was adapted from the scripts by Robert Holmes。 Confession time。 I love this story。 Yes the effects are dodgy。 Yes the sets are cheap looking。 Yes it's all a bit daft。 And I don't care。 It's such good fun。 The fourth doctor and the first romana are great and dicks captures them well in the novel。 It's a relatively simple book but with the usual subtle additions that help the plot or just help set the scene。 The book is fun and it's a good read。 。。。more
Daniel Kukwa
，
A throw-away effort on TV by the otherwise great Robert Holmes gets a lackluster， churned-out-quickly prose adaptation by Terrance Dicks。 There's little to love here， no matter what version of "Kroll" one cares to digest。 A throw-away effort on TV by the otherwise great Robert Holmes gets a lackluster， churned-out-quickly prose adaptation by Terrance Dicks。 There's little to love here， no matter what version of "Kroll" one cares to digest。 。。。more
Rob Cook
，
A standard 'classic' Doctor Who story nicely adapted by Terrance Dicks。 Having not seen the original story and not being overly aware of it in general， I came into this novelisation with an open mind and rather enjoyed it。 A standard 'classic' Doctor Who story nicely adapted by Terrance Dicks。 Having not seen the original story and not being overly aware of it in general， I came into this novelisation with an open mind and rather enjoyed it。 。。。more
Jamie
，
I wasn't sure if I was going to enjoy this book。 Out of the six stories in the Key to Time series， I have always felt that this was the weakest link。 However I really enjoyed it。 There's something about the way Terrance Dicks writes。 He really gets you into the narrative of the story。 I wasn't sure if I was going to enjoy this book。 Out of the six stories in the Key to Time series， I have always felt that this was the weakest link。 However I really enjoyed it。 There's something about the way Terrance Dicks writes。 He really gets you into the narrative of the story。 。。。more
stormhawk
，
Although I'm not overly fond of the Key to Time sequence， this is a rollicking good adventure tale complete with tree hugging activists， primitives， commentary on religious belief， and a megalomaniacal plant manager。 Although I'm not overly fond of the Key to Time sequence， this is a rollicking good adventure tale complete with tree hugging activists， primitives， commentary on religious belief， and a megalomaniacal plant manager。 。。。more
Anandh Sundar
，
One of the Key to Time series。 Nothing more needs to be said about why to read it
Nicholas Whyte
，
http://nhw。livejournal。com/1047630。html#cutid4[return][return]The Dicks/Holmes combination is a rather uneven predictor of quality， so it is worth noting that while this is generally considered the weakest of this season's televised stories， it is possibly the best of the Key to Time books， with the background to the Swampies， Rohm-Dutt and the refinery staff filled out a bit。 Basically the only one of the Season 16 books that I would recommend to the casual collector as opposed to the completis http://nhw。livejournal。com/1047630。html#cutid4[return][return]The Dicks/Holmes combination is a rather uneven predictor of quality， so it is worth noting that while this is generally considered the weakest of this season's televised stories， it is possibly the best of the Key to Time books， with the background to the Swampies， Rohm-Dutt and the refinery staff filled out a bit。 Basically the only one of the Season 16 books that I would recommend to the casual collector as opposed to the completist。 。。。more
Travis
，
A fun adventure with a sci-fi take on English colonialism and a giant monster thrown in for good measure。
bluetyson
，