"Better Living Through Chemistry"

For the best part of a couple of decades many Doctor Who fans regarded The Krotons (1969) as little more a punchline, and that was true for both the four part story of that title and its eponymous monsters. Unfortunately, said fans also happened to be the only people ever giving them any thought. 

The costumes were silly and the story was boring, it was said. Yes, it was the first story written by Robert Holmes, one of Doctor Who’s most significant writers but thankfully he got better, eh? Ha ha ha. Frazer Hines, who played Jamie in the story, would routinely refer to it as “The Croutons”. Which prompted fandom’s would be comedians to make jokes about “being in the soup”. Frazer also listed it as his least favourite of the stories he appeared in for Doctor Who Magazine.

It’s easy to forget now, when every existing episode of Doctor Who is available to view more or less instantly and on multiple formats, that for much of the twentieth century Doctor Who fans were fans of a programme we couldn’t actually see. 

Sure, there were new episodes every year (well, at least until 1989) but especially in an era before video cassettes, of only three (then four) channels, and of few repeats of programmes of programmes more than two years old, Doctor Who’s past was obscured, unavailable. Ancient history. It was like being a fan of the Roman Republic. All you had to go with your firm conviction it was a good thing in its day were reports of what other people had once thought about it