| 090 – The Robots of Death | |
|---|---|
| Doctor Who serial | |
 With the Doctor having put his hat and scarf on the robot, V5 is attacked by the damaged V4 as SV7 informs the latter that V5 is not the Doctor. Doctor Who is a British science fiction television programme produced by the BBC. The Fourth Doctor is the name given to the fourth incarnation of the Fictional character known as the Doctor seen on screen in the long-running The long-running British science fiction television series Doctor Who has featured many Robots The Daleks and Cybermen are |
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| Cast | |
| Doctor | Tom Baker (Fourth Doctor) |
| Companion | Louise Jameson (Leela) |
| Production | |
| Writer | Chris Boucher |
| Director | Michael E. Briant |
| Script editor | Robert Holmes |
| Producer | Philip Hinchcliffe |
| Executive producer(s) | None |
| Production code | 4R |
| Series | Season 14 |
| Length | 4 episodes, 25 mins each |
| Originally broadcast | January 29–February 19, 1977 |
| Chronology | |
| ← Preceded by | Followed by → |
| The Face of Evil | The Talons of Weng-Chiang |
The Robots of Death is a serial in the British science fiction television series Doctor Who, which was first broadcast in four weekly parts from January 29 to February 19, 1977. The Doctor is the central character in the long-running BBC television science-fiction series Doctor Who, and also features in Thomas Stewart "Tom" Baker (born 20 January 1934 is an English Actor. The Fourth Doctor is the name given to the fourth incarnation of the Fictional character known as the Doctor seen on screen in the long-running History of the Doctor Who companion When Doctor Who was created the dramatic structure of the programme's cast was rather different from the hero-and-sidekick Louise Jameson (born 20 April 1951 in Wanstead, London) is an English actress, most famous for playing Leela Leela is a fictional character played by Louise Jameson in the long-running British science fiction television series Doctor Who. Chris Boucher (born 1943 is a British Television writer best known for his frequent contributions to two genres science fiction and Crime dramas Michael E Briant (born in Bournemouth, Hampshire, England on 14 February 1942) is best known as a British Television This entry is about the television scriptwriter For other people with the same name see Robert Holmes (disambiguation. Philip Hinchcliffe (born 1944 is a former British Television producer, who is probably best known for the overseeing of British television series Doctor This is a list of Doctor Who television serials and episodes. Events 904 - Sergius III comes out of retirement to take over the papacy from the deposed Antipope Christopher. Events 197 - Roman Emperor Septimius Severus defeats usurper Clodius Albinus in the Battle of Lugdunum Also 1977 (album by Ash. Year 1977 ( MCMLXXVII) was a Common year starting on Saturday (link displays The Face of Evil is a serial in the British Science fiction television series Doctor Who, which was first broadcast in The Talons of Weng-Chiang is a serial in the British Science fiction television series Doctor Who, which was first broadcast This is a list of Doctor Who television serials and episodes. The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom, the UK or Britain,is a Sovereign state located Science fiction first appeared on Television during the Golden age of science fiction, first in Britain (UK and then in the United States Doctor Who is a British science fiction television programme produced by the BBC. Events 904 - Sergius III comes out of retirement to take over the papacy from the deposed Antipope Christopher. Events 197 - Roman Emperor Septimius Severus defeats usurper Clodius Albinus in the Battle of Lugdunum Also 1977 (album by Ash. Year 1977 ( MCMLXXVII) was a Common year starting on Saturday (link displays
Contents |
Synopsis
In a remote desert on a distant planet, a vast mobile sandminer is on an extended expedition in search of rare and valuable ores. The vessel is commanded by a crew of indolent or avaricious human staff - many of whom have secrets to hide - but they are easily outnumbered by the elegant and efficient robots employed in various duties. It is a happy partnership until the human crew start being murdered one by one. . .
Plot
On a distant planet, a huge sandminer vehicle, Storm Mine 4, is slowly scraping the surface of a vast, barren desert in search of precious minerals. The sandminer is manned by nine humans and numerous robots - black 'Dumbs' that cannot speak, green 'Vocs', and a silver 'Super Voc' which controls all the 'Dumbs' and 'Vocs'. The robots conduct a routine scan of the area and locate a large sandstorm, which the humans decide to pursue, as the storm will bring heavier minerals to the surface. One of the humans, a meteorologist called Chub, goes to collect an instrument package to place into his weather balloon to study the storm. However, he is later found strangled.
At about this time, the TARDIS materialises in one of the scoops. The TARDIS ( T ime A nd R elative D imension(s I n S pace is a time machine and Spacecraft in the After the Doctor and Leela emerge from the TARDIS, it is removed by a large mechanical arm as it is blocking the scoop. Later, the Doctor and Leela are brought out of the scoop by two robots and locked in a room. The Doctor uses his sonic screwdriver to unlock the door, and goes in search of the TARDIS, while Leela finds Chub's body being taken away by some robots.
The human crew suspects the two time travellers of murdering Chub, and tensions increase when it is found that they have left the room in which they were locked. By the time they are both recaptured, the Doctor has found a second dead man, and Leela has found both a third dead man and a 'Dumb' robot which can secretly speak. Commander Uvanov orders them to be locked up in the robot storage bay, on suspicion of killing all three humans.
One of the humans, Poul, believes the Doctor and Leela to be innocent, so he frees them and shows them where Chub was murdered. There, the Doctor convinces Poul that a robot may have killed the mineralogist. While this is happening, a women named Zilda is murdered, and Poul - sent to the room to investigate Zilda's accusations of murder against Commander Uvanov over a tannoy system - finds the Commander over Zilda's body and has him confined to his quarters for murdering Zilda.
The sandminer's engines begin to run out of control, threatening the vehicle with destruction. It is found that Borg, the human responsible for controlling power to the motors, has been viciously strangled, and the controls have been sabotaged. The Doctor saves the miner by cutting off the power to the motors, while a man named Dask repairs the damaged controls so that the miner can continue on its way.
The Doctor goes to see the 'Dumb' robot that Leela claimed could speak, D84. The robot reveals that it and Poul are undercover agents for the mining company, who were placed on board the miner as a precaution to threats of a robot revolution by a scientist called Taren Capel, who was raised by robots. D84 itself is unique in the fact that it can function autonomously from Super Voc SV7's commands, and appears to possess a high level of logical reasoning. The Doctor and D84 search the miner for proof that Taren Capel is on board, and find a secret workshop where the robots' programming has been changed to enable them to kill humans. The Doctor arranges for all the remaining humans to go to the command deck.
Dask shuts down all of the robots whose programming has not been changed, leaving just the killer robots and D84 operational. Dask is later revealed to be the mad scientist Taren Capel, intent on 'releasing [his] 'brothers' (the robots) from bondage to human dross' and 'programming them with an ambition to rule the world'. Taren Capel orders his modified robots to destroy the remaining humans and the Doctor and Leela. Leela shows the Doctor a damaged robot in the storage bay with its hand covered in blood - which the Doctor reasons is Borg's, guessing that Borg sabotaged the engine controls in a suicidal attempt to destroy the miner and all the killer robots on board. The Doctor dismantles the damaged robot and creates a final deactivator - a device that will destroy any still functioning robots at close range. The Doctor hides Leela in Taren's workshop with a canister of helium gas, telling her to release it when Taren comes in. The Doctor hopes that this will change Taren's voice, so his robots - unable to recognise him - won't obey his orders.
Taren arrives and damages D84, but the robot is able to activate the Doctor's device to destroy a killer robot, knowingly sacrificing itself in the process. Leela releases the helium gas, causing Taren's voice to become high-pitched and squeaky, and Taren is killed by SV7 when it fails to identify his voice. The Doctor then destroys SV7 with a laser probe.
The robot threat over, and a rescue ship coming to collect the surviving humans, the Doctor and Leela return to the TARDIS and leave the sandminer.
Cast
- Doctor Who — Tom Baker
- Leela — Louise Jameson
- Uvanov — Russell Hunter
- Toos — Pamela Salem
- Dask — David Bailie
- Poul — David Collings
- Borg — Brian Croucher
- Zilda — Tania Rogers
- Chub — Rob Edwards
- Cass — Tariq Yunus
- D. The Doctor is the central character in the long-running BBC television science-fiction series Doctor Who, and also features in Thomas Stewart "Tom" Baker (born 20 January 1934 is an English Actor. Leela is a fictional character played by Louise Jameson in the long-running British science fiction television series Doctor Who. Louise Jameson (born 20 April 1951 in Wanstead, London) is an English actress, most famous for playing Leela Russell Hunter ( February 18 1925 – February 26 2004) was a popular Scottish Television, stage and film Actor Pamela Salem (born 22 January 1950) is a British Film and Television actress David Bailie (born 1937 is a British actor known for his performances on stage, Television and Film. David Collings (born 4 January 1940 in Brighton, East Sussex) is a British Actor. Brian Croucher (born in Surrey) is an English actor perhaps best known for his role as Ted Hills, which he played from 1995 to 1997 in the popular Rob Edwards is a British actor His Television credits include Doctor Who (the serials The Face of Evil and 84 — Gregory de Polnay
- S. Gregory de Polnay is a London-born actor who is noted for his work on British Television. V. 7 — Miles Fothergill
- Robots — Mark Blackwell Baker, John Bleasdale, Mark Cooper, Peter Langtry, Jeremy Ranchev, Richard Seager
Cast notes
- Features guest appearances by David Collings, Russell Hunter and Pamela Salem. Miles Fothergill is a British actor best known for his roles in Science fiction television See also Celebrity appearances in Doctor Who. Many celebrities and notable actors have made Guest appearances in Doctor Who.
- David Collings, who plays Poul, previously appeared as Vorus in Revenge of the Cybermen (1975) and would later appear as Mawdryn in Mawdryn Undead (1983) as well as an alternative incarnation of the Doctor in the Big Finish Productions' Doctor Who Unbound audio drama Full Fathom Five. Revenge of the Cybermen is a serial in the British Science fiction television series Doctor Who, which was first broadcast Year 1975 ( MCMLXXV) was a Common year starting on Wednesday (link will display full calendar of the Gregorian calendar. Mawdryn Undead is a serial in the British Science fiction television series Doctor Who, which was originally broadcast Year 1983 ( MCMLXXXIII) was a Common year starting on Saturday (link displays the 1983 Gregorian calendar) Big Finish Productions is a British company that produces books and audio plays (released straight to Compact disc and Full Fathom Five is a Big Finish Productions audio drama based on the long-running British science fiction television series
- Pamela Salem, who plays Toos, would later appear as Professor Rachel Jensen in Remembrance of the Daleks (1988). Remembrance of the Daleks is a serial in the British Science fiction television series Doctor Who, which was first broadcast Year 1988 ( MCMLXXXVIII) was a Leap year starting on Friday (link displays 1988 Gregorian calendar)
Continuity
- This story reveals the Doctor's immunity to the vocal-altering effects of helium. Helium ( He) is a colorless odorless tasteless non-toxic Inert Monatomic Chemical It is not clarified whether this is due exclusively to Time Lord physiology (such as his respiratory bypass system), or to a technique he learned (like Venusian aikido). Physiology (from Greek grc φύσις physis, "nature origin" and grc -λογία -logia) is the study of the mechanical physical The VENUS ( V ictoria E xperimental N etwork U nder the S ea project is a cabled sea floor observatory operated by the University is a Japanese martial art developed by Morihei Ueshiba as a synthesis of his martial studies philosophy and religious beliefs
- The BBC Books spin-off novel Corpse Marker by Chris Boucher is a sequel to this serial, as are the Kaldor City audio plays, although the latter do not feature the Doctor. Corpse Marker is a BBC Books original novel written by Chris Boucher and based on the long-running British science fiction television Kaldor City is a human city of the future on an unspecified alien world created by Chris Boucher for the Doctor Who serial The Robots of Radio drama is a form of audio storytelling broadcast on radio.
- This serial marks the final appearance of the wood paneled secondary TARDIS console room.
- The 2007 Christmas special the "Voyage of the Damned (Doctor Who)" references the story with the look of the Hosts' Faces, various scenes from this episode such as the Hosts' chanting "Kill" and the scene of a Host having its hand caught in a door and then having it fall off. " Voyage of the Damned " is an episode of the British science fiction television series Doctor Who.
Outside references
- The murder plotine owes a great deal to Agatha Christie; notably Ten Little Indians and The Mousetrap.
- The treatment of robots in this serial has many intentional nods to Isaac Asimov's Three Laws of Robotics. Isaac Asimov (c January 2 1920 &ndash April 6 1992 ˈaɪzək ˈæzɪmʌv originally Исаак Озимов but now transcribed into Russian as, was a Russian In Science fiction, the Three Laws of Robotics are a set of three rules written by Isaac Asimov, which almost all positronic robots appearing in his fiction
- The villain of the story is named Taran Capel, which is a reference to Karel Čapek, who is credited with first coining the word "robot". Karel Čapek ( pronounced) ( January 9, 1890 – December 25, 1938 was one of the most influential Czech writers of the 20th century
In print
| Doctor Who book | |
|---|---|
 |
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| Doctor Who and the Robots of Death | |
| Series | Target novelisations |
| Release number | 53 |
| Writer | Terrance Dicks |
| Publisher | Target Books |
| Cover artist | John Geary |
| ISBN | 0 426 20061 6 |
| Release date | 24 May 1979 |
| Preceded by | Doctor Who and the Invisible Enemy |
| Followed by | Doctor Who and the Image of the Fendahl |
A novelisation of this serial, written by Terrance Dicks, was published by Target Books in May 1979. Doctor Who is a British science fiction television programme produced by the BBC. This is a list of Doctor Who novelisations, in order of publication Terrance Dicks (born 10 May 1935 in East Ham, Essex (now Greater London) is an English Writer, best known for Target Books was a British Publishing Imprint, established in 1973 by Universal-Tandem Publishing Co Ltd, a paperback publishing company John White Geary (December 30 1819 February 8 1873 was an American lawyer politician and a Union general in the American Civil War. The Invisible Enemy is a serial in the British Science fiction television series Doctor Who, which was first broadcast Image of the Fendahl is a serial in the British Science fiction television series Doctor Who, which was first broadcast Terrance Dicks (born 10 May 1935 in East Ham, Essex (now Greater London) is an English Writer, best known for Target Books was a British Publishing Imprint, established in 1973 by Universal-Tandem Publishing Co Ltd, a paperback publishing company
VHS and DVD releases
- This story was released in the omnibus format in April of 1986 and in the complete, episodic format in February 1995.
- This story was released on DVD in the United Kingdom on November 13, 2000. DVD (also known as " Digital Versatile Disc " or " Digital Video Disc " - see Etymology)is Events 1002 - English king Ethelred orders the killing of all Danes in England, known today as the St 2000 ( MM) was a Leap year that started on Saturday of the Common Era, in accordance with the Gregorian calendar.
- When subtitles are used in the 2000 edition of the DVD the Doctor is credited as 'Doctor Who' while actor Tom Baker is speaking. However in other DVDs he is simply referred to as the Doctor.
External links
- The Robots of Death at bbc.co.uk
- The Robots of Death at Doctor Who: A Brief History Of Time (Travel)
- The Robots of Death at the Doctor Who Reference Guide
- Essay on The Robots of Death (contains plot detail)
Reviews
- The Robots of Death reviews at Outpost Gallifrey
- The Robots of Death reviews at The Doctor Who Ratings Guide
Target novelisation
- Doctor Who and the Robots of Death reviews at The Doctor Who Ratings Guide
- On Target — Doctor Who and the Robots of Death
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