Kroll is one of those awesome monsters from Tom Baker era Doctor Who. You can probably tell by the amazing special effects in the image above ;).
Kroll is the god of the Swampies, the primitive people indigenous to the marsh moon of Delta Magna. They have worshiped him for generations and call his appearances throughout their history 'manifestations'.
Humans have come to the moon to mine for methane, which is a bi-product of Kroll's bodily processes while he remains mostly dormant under the marsh. Unfortunately for them their drilling and firing of the methane canisters into space wakes Kroll up. According to the Swampies this is the fourth manifestation of Kroll.
Kroll is actually a mutated giant squid, brought to the planet by humans in the past. At some point the Swampies had a sacred object which was on their High Priest when he was eaten by Kroll before he was huge. This object was actually a segment to the Key to Time and cause Kroll to grow to a mile wide with large numbers of tentacles.
When the Doctor and Romana retrieve the segment of the Key to Time, Kroll returns to his normal size and loses his god like proportions.
Sources: Tardis Data Core - Kroll | Tardis Data Core - Ep | Wikipedia
So, who's a Doctor Who fan? Who is your doctor? Mine's Tom Baker, because I remember watching him every Saturday evening in the 70s.
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So, who's a Doctor Who fan? Who is your doctor? Mine's Tom Baker, because I remember watching him every Saturday evening in the 70s.
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Hi Natasha - over the years (on occasions!) I've enjoyed some of the incredible special effects and had a good laugh .. Kroll - is a good one .. cheers Hilary
ReplyDelete1970s and 80s special effects from the BBC never cease to amuse :)
DeleteYou know, I've never watched Dr Who, but sooner or later I will :-)
ReplyDeleteIt is worth it, promise :D
DeleteAn off meatball and spaghetti hybrid ;)
ReplyDeleteI think that was when it was at its most endearing, with the slightly creaky special effects!
ReplyDeleteYep - and creaky is a good word :) I love the Rutan from Horror of Fang Rock, which appears to be mostly gunk, a balloon and cling film ::g::
DeleteLove the Doctor Who, everything... so many great stories wrapped around cheezy sets. I always closed my eyes to imagine it, if I were reading along on a page somewhere...
ReplyDeleteJeremy [Retro]
AtoZ Challenge Co-Host [2015]
There's no earthly way of knowing.
Which direction we are going!
HOLLYWOOD NUTS!
Come Visit: You know you want to know if me or Hollywood... is Nuts?
I remember thinking the effects were amazing when I was a child - always had to hide behind a cushion :)
DeletePeter Davison is my Doctor. But from the new series, I love Matt Smith (and the River Song storyline).
ReplyDeleteI remember a lot about Peter Davidson and he was my fav for a while, but looking back it has to be Tom :). I'm a David Tennant fan myself, but River is awesome.
DeleteNever really watched Doctor Who. When I read Kroll I assumed it would be a mutation of a Troll. In some ways it is. Unique.
ReplyDeleteHow dare you suggest the Mighty Kroll is a troll! ;)
DeleteSome of my friends expect me to be a Dr. Who fan, but I'm not. (That Kroll looks scarier in the still photo you present.) Cheesy sets usually annoy me. They never did with the Godzilla movies, however.
ReplyDeletePrecious Monsters
Cheesy sets make me feel nostalgic - then at least they had to rely on plot rather than CGI. :)
DeleteIt's like a cautionary tale. "And this is why you don't take squids to outer space." ;)
ReplyDeleteThat is one way of looking at it, yes :D
DeleteBig Doctor fans here. Some of the crazy monsters they come up with is so awesome. Though I love the show, my daughter and I always laugh how all the alien invasions of Earth occur in London like there's where aliens would attack first if they wanted to take over Earth.
ReplyDeleteWell if they wanted everyone to look for a minute, shrug their shoulders and go 'well that's weird' before continuing about their business, they might be on to something ;)
DeleteI never watched Doctor Who....That thing is creepy looking! AT first I thought it was a giant green brain. Ick!
ReplyDeleteIt does look a bit like a giant green brain doesn't it :)
DeleteLove Dr. Who. Don't Blink is my favorite episode. Nut mutated squids? That should me remade into a feature length movie!
ReplyDeleteI'm not sure I have a fav of New Who - or Old Who actually, I like so many or them :)
DeleteOh Doctor Who :) Delightfully campy as ever. I honestly need to watch some of the older seasons (I know it revokes my nerd card, but I have only watched the reboot series). Looks fun :)
ReplyDelete@TarkabarkaHolgy from
Multicolored Diary - Epics from A to Z
MopDog - 26 Ways to Die in Medieval Hungary
We'll let you keep the geek card ;) Some of the old ones really are superb because they had to rely on plot not special effects (as the youtube vid demonstrates :))
DeleteI've been catching up on the new series, but have seen almost none of the original (except for some of the VERY original, first-season stuff). Seeing that meat ball thing makes me want to check out more.
ReplyDeleteAnd Christopher Eccleston is my Doctor. You always remember your first. I am so sad he only mad it one season.
I recommend Tom Baker (4th) and Sylvester McCoy (7th) if you're going to dive into old Who - some of the best eps ever :) I have to say, not a fan of CE, but then my Doctor has always been a somewhat muddled middle class type, so Eccleston didn't fit my head canon - it wasn't that he wasn't good :). He did relaunch a franchise after all!
DeleteMy son is really in to the new Dr. Who. I've watched it a few times, but I think I need to go back to the beg. Giant squids...hooray for sci-fi!
ReplyDeleteThe BBC effects department really made some classics :)
DeleteLoving the Doctor Who references!
ReplyDeleteGood luck with the 2015 A to Z Challenge!
A to Z Co-Host S. L. Hennessy
http://pensuasion.blogspot.com
Thank you :)
DeleteMy parents recently got back into watching Dr. Who, after we'd watched it on PBS back in the Eighties, on our little black and white television in the kitchen. My little brother has also become a fan of the show.
ReplyDeleteWe had black and white in the 70s - we only upgraded to colour in the 80s - funny how lots of the monsters are green :)
DeleteI have yet to start Doctor Who, actually... *runs from the torches and pitchforks* ... but what a creature! :)
ReplyDeleteIt's worth a shot if you like period sci-fi for the original and a mad chap in a blue box for the new one :)
DeleteThat monster stuff is not my favourite viewing material.
ReplyDeleteAwww, but how can you be afraid of Kroll? He's just a misunderstood squid ;)
DeleteMy children have suddenly become huge Dr. Who fans. I don't get it. I still loathe it as much as I did as a child….
ReplyDeleteYou loathed Doctor Who as a child - did you have a bad experience? or was it something else? We were always glued every Sat tea-time :)
DeleteI haven't gotten that far in classic Who, but I have watched some Tom Baker. I see why he's a favorite. He has a quirkiness that is endearing.
ReplyDelete~Patricia Lynne aka Patricia Josephine~
Member of C. Lee's Muffin Commando Squad
Story Dam
Patricia Lynne, Indie Author
They all had their own quirkiness, but I really don't like John Pertwee's Doctor or William Hartnel's. The others are great though :) Tom is still the best!
Deleteheh heh! this is as cool as the random pepperoni pizza looking space creature from star trek the original series. the episode is called devil in the dark.
ReplyDeleteThe Horta, you're talking about the Horta aren't you ... yes, I am a Trekkie too :)
DeleteThat was one hilarious clip. Loved that the guy had the gun pointed the wrong direction. I always think actors look at these roles later in life and wonder if they needed money that badly. However, I am a Dr. Who fan just because of this total weirdness. Wine helps, too.
ReplyDeleteI find wine helps with most seventies TV ;) I think original Who had some of the best plots on TV at the time and some of the worst special effects - and looking at modern TV I think sometimes those two things are correlated.
DeleteYuck! A mutated giant squid. The swampy people seem frightening as well. I enjoyed learning about the Kroll. I am a new follower on your blog, from the A to Z challenge. I see you have two blogs in the challenge. That takes dedication. Good for you.
ReplyDeleteAh, the swampies weren't that bad - just misunderstood ;) Yes, it's the equivalent of 2 and fun, but it's actually 3 - my twin sister and I are sharing the other two and doing half and half.
DeleteI've never been into Doctor Who, but man, am I missing out on some wild stuff.
ReplyDeleteTotally - some of the eps are just bonkers :)
DeleteIt always seems that people have a way of waking up that which shouldn't be woken up like in Kroll's case.
ReplyDeletebetty
Oh yes - charging in where angels fear and all that! :)
DeleteThough totally not the same thing in the least, all this made me keep thinking of is Krull the Warrior King...the name Kate Hudson's character gives to the Chinese crested dog in How to Lose a Guy in 10 Days. Close enough, right? Elle @ Erratic Project Junkie
ReplyDeleteOf course - perfectly close enough ;)
Delete*hides face* I've never watched Doctor Who - I know, I know, I call myself a sci-fi fan! The Kroll sounds like a worthy adversary though - big and mean and ferocious. It's good that he was knocked down a peg or two!
ReplyDeleteNever watched it!?? Okay, I can see why, with so many options some might not have seen it ;) It was good - he was about to eat lots of people.
DeleteWatched Doctor Who since the B&W appearance of William Hartnell, although I have missed a lot of episodes. Liked the Jon Pertwee era, but favourite was Tom Baker. As producer, I got to work with both those actors as well, and that was a great experience. Enjoying your theme Natasha.
ReplyDeleteThank you :) I found Jon Pertwee's Doctor a little too James Bondish, but that's probably because I was so used to Tom Baker and subsequent Doctors before I saw any of his eps.
DeleteSounds like a fun episode. Maybe, once all this A-Z stuff is over, I will finally pick up Doctor Who and have a go. :D
ReplyDeleteAlex Hurst, A Fantasy Author in Kyoto
A-Z Blogging in April Participant
It's a lot of fun - some really good story lines too, although, not so much special effects in the original ;)
DeleteI've never seen Dr. Who, but Kroll looks interesting. What's not to like about a giant squid? ☺
ReplyDeleteUm ... he did have a nasty habit of eating people, but I suppose you could over look that if you like ;)
Delete