The Trodos Conundrum

 

First Doctor (original release)

Mark Seven (custom Captain Jack)

Trods (customs)

The Trod model is basically a plastic cup with a card lid. The tank treads are foamboard. Silver foil makes the neck piece and arms with paperclip fingers and aerial, and a drinking straw for the shoulder joints and gun. The head is made from Super Sculpy. Two Trod models were made for the story, one of them broke during filming so for some later shots, one Trod appears shorter than the other.

When the Hartnell and Troughton figures were released for the first time in 2009, I started to look for enemies they could fight. Of course, there were the Daleks and Cybermen, but using the same monsters time and again would quickly become repetitive.

Reading some old Doctor Who Classic Comics for inspiration, I was reminded of the Trods - TV comic's answer to the Daleks (before they had the licence to use them!) which battled both the first and second Doctors, along with companions Gillian and John. Not only were they perfect for my stories, they would also be a complete surprise to the reader.

The Trodos Conundrum (originally The Trodos Connection) was written as part two of Enemy of the Cybermen (then called Cybermen v Trods). 

THE TRODS IN TV COMIC

In their first appearance, the Trods are the robotic servants of the humans of Trodos but they have overthrown and enslaved their masters. The Doctor, John and Gillian manage to pull the plug - literally!

For the second outing, the Trods summon the TARDIS back to Trodos and force the Doctor and his grandchildren into a deadly booby-trapped city.

Later, in his second incarnation, the Doctor returns to make peace with the Trods only to find the that Daleks have invaded!

If you can get hold of it, the three main Trod comic stories are collected in Doctor Who Classic Comics issue 8.

Due to the overlap in sets, this story was shot back to back with Enemy of the Cybermen. The TARDIS scenes were completed on 11 Sept 2009 along with those for our previous adventure Nemesis From Nowhere. The scenes inside the Trodos city were shot on 17th September 2009. 

The episode was edited in the week beginning 1 Feb 2010.

The opening shot of Trodos city uses photos I took in Dubai and London's Docklands.

The painting of the Trodos humans was added in post production and features the MicroMan figures of Ras Al Gul (Batman Begins) and Chun Li (Street Fighter). The image was taken for an alternate ending of an AFT Catwoman comic.

As previously discussed, we're probably in Season 3 for Hartnell, certainly post The Dalek Masterplan. This meeting of the First Doctor and the Trods clearly places the comics in an alternative timeline.

As mentioned above, this was originally intended to be posted as part two of Enemy of the Cybermen (part one ends with the surprise reveal of the Trods. This episode was meant to explain what they were.) But I felt Enemy of the Cybermen as an adventure, probably couldn't sustain a two month gap between parts 1 and 2.

So after part 1, The Trodos Conundrum was posted exclusively on Outpost Who in daily format between 22nd and 26th February 2010 before appearing on the main site on 15 March 2010 ahead of Enemy of the Cybermen part 2.

It is now published as part of a weekly First Doctor series, a companion to Series 2 on BBC/Disney+. This adventure was posted on 10 May 2025.