K is for... Kraals

 

The Kraals were a belligerent race from the planet Oseidon. This world had unnaturally high levels of natural radiation, made worse by the technological exploitation of the planet. In appearance they looked like thick-skinned bipedal rhinoceroses.

They decided to abandon the planet and invade a new one - selecting Earth as a suitable candidate. It was chosen as they had encountered a human astronaut named Guy Crayford, whose spaceship had failed catastrophically near Jupiter. Their chief scientist Styggron convinced him that the Kraals had saved his life and rebuilt his shattered body. In return he would help them invade the Earth, although he believed they only wanted part of the planet for themselves. Styggron was working with military leader Chedaki on a scheme to wipe out the Earth's population using a lethal virus, which would be spread by android duplicates.

An android testing ground mimicking the UK Space Defence complex and the neighbouring village of Devesham was set up on Oseidon, created from Crayford's memory patterns. When the TARDIS materialised here the Doctor thought it was the Earth version, though he was suspicious of the high background radiation levels.

When Crayford returned to Earth he had Styggron hidden aboard his ship. Chedaki was following with his fleet, which would only land after the virus had done its work. However, the Doctor used a reprogrammed android copy of himself to destroy the scientist, who fell onto a sample of his own virus.

With Earth's defences now on high alert, Chedaki withdrew the fleet.

Played by: Martin Friend (Styggron), Roy Skelton (Chedaki) and Stuart Fell. Appearances: The Android Invasion (1975).

• This was only the second story written by Terry Nation not to include the Daleks.
• Producer Philip Hinchcliffe was unhappy with the creature design as he couldn't see how these brutish-looking beings could possibly handle intricate android circuitry.
• The Doctor would encounter another race of bipedal rhino beings in the Judoon.
• The final sentence of the profile above is an assumption. The story simply fails to mention what the rest of the Kraals do once Styggron is killed.