Original air dates December 1968 through January 1969. None of them appear to be lost episodes, which is a nice change.
We see a class of students, with two being picked to graduate to serve the Krotons. The female’s boyfriend is not happy about it.
The TARDIS arrives on some scree, and the companions complain of the rotten eggs smell. The Doctor says, “Sulfur and ozone – very bracing!”
They go down a hill and find a building or large machine. A door opens and a man in the ceremonial robes comes out, and gets gassed, melted into a puddle. The Doctor and companions explore a side door and find another way in, to see the challenge of the boyfriend not letting her go. She goes, despite knowing no one come back.
Jaimie and one of the men fight because of the interruption. Words happen. However they came from “The Wasteland” and are thus poisioned. They go.
They find the girl, who staggers out of the door and the Doctor evades thier gas with some rocks and his umbrella.
They go back in and the people there are not happy to see them, even with the near comatose girl.
Some of the locals decide to get the attention of the Krontons, and get a giant voice that this is a warning. The machine threatens the Doctor, and kills another local who attacked it.
Zoe tries the teaching machines, and gets a high score. She is summoned by the machine. The Doctor insists on going with her, so tries the machine and gets a high score. They are taken in and brain-scanned and it uses their brains as power. They escape.
The Gon – the local people – plan on an attack of the Krotons, which the Doctor discourages.
They plan a different attack, breaking the foundation of the machine, which the Doctor arrives too late to stop. The ceiling collapses on him, and the credits roll.
The ceiling falls, but everyone dodges. Jaimie works on escaping. The robots heads spin while they panic. The machine stabilizes.
The Doctor finds a leak in the machine, indicating it might not be a full power.
The Gon have internal arguments. The young man is a hardhead.
The Krotons come out of their machine to get the high-brains. They kill someone. They give them fifteen minutes to round up the high-brains on pain of dispersal. The ship is called the Dynatrope, and it’s a great name.
The Doctor gets sulfuric acid in the breathing tank the Krotons use, and chokes them. It causes the machine to melt, and they run away. The Gon pour acid on the machine, and the machine dissolves. They all leave the melting mess and toxic gas.
The Doctor, Jaimie and Zoe leave in the TARDIS, leaving the Gon to their own devices.
Tags: doctorwho