Doctor Who - The Robots of Death "Nine times out of ten!"

Right, its time for a new post (with new content that is an not a revisit!) and this is yet another Doctor Who one and it will cover a story from the Tom Baker era this time and the story in question is The Robots of Death.  This story has often been considered a fan favourite and one of the standouts of the Baker era, but is it????  Well let's take a look....

Oh and the usual warning is coming...

SPOILERS ARE AHEAD!!

STORY

OK, so the story is set onboard a large sandmining vehicle, which is manned by a human crew of nine as well as a number of servant robots, whom are classed in three categories, dumbs, who are mute and carry out simply tasks, Vocs, which can speak and Super Vocs, who control all the robots.  Most of the humans onboard however are accepting of the robots, apart from one, Chub (Rob Edwards) a meteorologist, who not too long after is found murdered in a storage room. 

Meanwhile, the TARDIS materialises inside one of the scoops of the sandminer and the Doctor and his companion, Leela (Louise Jameson) look around.  However as they do so, the crew of the sandminer remove the TARDIS from inside the scoop as it was blocking it and the Doctor and Leela are soon found by the robots, who take them to a room where they are to wait.  The Doctor then uses his sonic screwdriver to unlock the door and he looks for the TARDIS and Leela wanders off and watches some robots take away Chub's dead body.

The human crew in the meantime suspect the Doctor and Leela, since they are stowaways, are responsible for the murder and by the time they are recaptured, the Doctor finds the body of another crew member, Keril and Leela finds a third dead man, Cass aswell as a Dum robot, which can speak.  The ship's commander, Uvanov (Russell Hunter) decides that the Doctor and Leela are locked up inside the ship's robot storage bay.  However, the Doctor and Leela are soon released by one of the other crew, Poul (David Collings) who believes that they were not responsible for the murders. Poul then shows the Doctor and Leela where Chub was murdered and the Doctor suggests that Chub may have been murdered by a robot.  

Meanwhile, one of the female crew members, Zilda (Tania Rogers) heads to Uvanov's quarters where she breaks down crying and over the tannoy system accuses Uvanov of being the murderer, however she herself is soon killed by one of the robots.  And to make matters, the controls onboard the sandminer are soon sabotaged as the controller for the sandminer's motors, Borg (Brian Croucher) is also murdered, which causes the sandminer's engines to run out of control.  However the Doctor soon steps in and saves the sandminer from being destroyed by cutting the motor power and one of the remaining crew, Dask (David Bailie) repairs the motors.  Leela also at this point helps tend to one of the senior crewmembers, Toos (Pamela Salem) who is wounded during the encounter. 

The Doctor not long after goes to visit the Dum robot that can speak, D84 (Gregory de Polnay) who reveals that itself and Poul are in fact undercover agents for the sandminer's company, who were sent as a precaution in case a robot uprising took place as there are rumours of such an uprising occuring at the hands of a renegade scientist, Taren Capel.  And the Doctor soon suspects that Taren Capel himself is onoard and he has been tampering with the programming of the robots in order to make them kill.  

And from here the Doctor must try and find a way to stop the malicious robots from killing the remaining crew and save humanity from the prospect of the robot uprising......

THOUGHTS

It has to be said that while The Robots of Death is often regarded as one of the classics of the Tom Baker era, for myself I think its actually a bit overrated although it is still a pretty good story, which is very enjoyable and has alot going for it.  However I would have to say though the story itself is no more than an Agatha Christie-esque "Whodunnit" or in this case a "Doctor-whodunnit!".

Regardless of this though the story does have some excellent visuals effects with the exterior shots of the sandminer, imaginative costume designs for the crewmembers and the robot costumes are also excellent.  And the robots themselves also make for pretty creepy and effective enemies, despite their benevolent tone of voice.  And to the story's credit it also does a fine job at continuing to develop Leela's character as she just joined the Doctor in the previous story (The Face of Evil) and to the story's credit they also work well together here.

PERFORMANCES AND NOTABLE SCENES (Warning: this section may contain spoilers!)

As for the performances, well they are all very good with both the regular and supporting case in fine form.

Starting with Tom Baker, who is great once again as the Doctor and he has his share of good moments here and great lines.  

And I will mention a few scenes of his such as the one at the start where the TARDIS has just materialised in the sandminer scoop and just before they go outside, Leela picks up one of her Sevateem warrior weapons and the Doctor tells her she won't need it.  And he says to her "You won't need that" and Leela asks "How do you know?" and the Doctor tells her "I never carry weapons. If people see you mean them no harm, they never hurt you. Nine times out of ten!".

Then there is the scene where the Doctor is captured and taken to the human crew members and as he waits around to be spoken to, he offers one of the crewmembers, Borg, a jellybaby.  And the Doctor says to Borg "Would you like a jelly baby?" but Borg angrily knocks the Doctor's bag of jelly babies out his hand and he shouts "SHUT UP!!" and the Doctor then quietly says "A simple no thank you, would have been sufficient".  

And in the next moment, the Doctor is questioned by Uvanov, who asks the Doctor "What are you doing here?" and the Doctor grins and says "Just standing here, talking to you!".  Then after this, Uvanov suggests either one of the crew murdered the others or the Doctor and Leela did, but then the Doctor offers "There is one other possibility you seem to have overlooked".  And Borg angrily says to the Doc "We've heard quite enough out of you!" and the Doctor then says "You know, you're a classic example of the inverse ratio between the size of the mouth and the size of the brain!".

Then there is the scene where the Doctor tells Leela about the mental disorder, Robophobia, which one of the crew, Poul suffers from later on.  And the Doctor says to Leela "Its an unreasoning dread of robots. You see, most living creatures use non-verbal signals. Body movement, eye contact, facial expression, that sort of thing".  And the Doctor continues, saying "It undermines a certain type of personality, causes identity crisis, paranoia, sometimes even personality disintegration. Robophobia".   And as Leela continues to ask the Doctor more questions as he takes apart the remains of the inoperative robot's head, he suddenly snaps at Leela "Do you have to talk so much?!" and Leela sheepishly says "Sorry". 

And lastly there is the scene near the end (SPOILER!!!) where the Doctor is strapped to a bench by the villainous Taren Capel (OK I won't at this stage give away who he is!).  And the Doctor looks at him and tells him "You look ridiculous in that outfit.  You're not half the robot your father was!" and Capel shouts "You insolent animal!" and then proceeds to torture the Doctor with a laser probe device. 

However the day is soon won as the Doctor overcomes Capel (SPOILER!!) by giving Leela a canister of helium to alter Capel's voice so he won't be recognised by the robots and they won't obey his orders.  And after the menace is done, Leela's voice is squeaky from the helium and the Doctor on hearing voice says "Ah, a mouse in the wainscoting!" and he opens the cubby hole where she hides and says "Well squeaked, mouse!".

Louise Jameson is also pretty good (and pretty sexy it has to be said in that leather skin outfit of hers!) as Leela, the Doctor's new companion at this stage and she shares some good scenes with Tom throughout the story.

And I will mention a few of Louise's scenes such as the one near the start where Leela plays with the Doctor's yo-yo, but she thinks it to be a magical device and cautiously keep the yo-yo going.  And Leela asks the Doctor "Doctor?  Can I stop now?" and the Doctor says "If you want to" and Leela asks "It will not affect this?" and the Doctor says "No, its a yo-yo.  Its a game.  I thought you were enjoying it".  And Leela all of a sudden drops the yo-yo, annoyed, she says "Enjoying it?! You said I had to keep it going up and down. I thought it was part of the magic!" and the Doctor asks her "Magic, Leela. Magic?" and she sighs and says "I know, I know.  There's no such thing as magic".

And then the Doctor tries to explain to Leela how the TARDIS is bigger inside than out and the Doctor uses two boxes, one big and one small to explain and how "If you could keep that exactly that distance away and have it here, the large one would fit inside the small one" and Leela simply looks at the Doctor and says "That's silly!".

Then we have the scene where Leela is found and captured by Uvanov after she has discovered one of the murdered crew.  And Uvanov asks Leela "Can you think of any good reason why I should not have you executed on the spot?" and Leela tells him "No, but you can, otherwise you would have done it!".  And then Poul enters and looks surprised at Leela and says to her "You must be stronger than you look!" and Leela almost smiles and says "You must stupider than you look if you think I did that!" and Leela is soon taken out the room and she shouts "I didn't kill him!  I DIDN'T KILL HIM!!".

And lastly there is the scene where the Doctor and Leela are visited by Poul, while they are held captive onboard the sandminer.  However, Leela is wary of Poul's motives for being on the ship and she says to the Doctor "Be careful of him, Doctor.  He's not what he seems" and Poul, surprised asks "Well, you move like a hunter.  Watch all the time".  And as Poul unlocks the Doctor's restraints, Leela catches Poul's attention to unlock hers and he does so and she says in a rather uncharacterstically posh way "Thank you!".  This is most likely a touch added by Louise herself and it works pretty well in the story.

As for the supporting cast members Russell Hunter is very good as Commander Uvanov, who's character is entirely motivated by money as he commands the sandminer in its search for ore minerals.  However Uvanov (SPOILER!) soon turns his way of thinking around as he helps the Doctor and Leela fight against the robot uprising.  

And he has his moments but to keep things short I will mention only mention a couple of his scenes such as where Uvanov tells the Doctor what Poul is suffering from, i.e. Robophobia.  And the Doctor asks Uvanov "Do you know what's wrong with Poul, Uvanov?" and Uvanov grimly says "Yes.  Robophobia" and the Doctor says "Yes, that's right.  The Loid called it Grimwade syndrome".  And Uvanov continues to tell a story of how one of his former crewmates suffered from it "I have seen it, Doctor, once before. My very first command. A young kid just ran outside the mine. I tried to save him, but I couldn't. I'll never, ever, forget the look on his face". 

And lastly there is the scene where Uvanov manages to destroy one of the robots with a makeshift explosive and he says to Toos as they leave the command deck to find other robots "Do you know what I think, Toos? I think it's high time we went on the offensive!!" but Toos warns him "We might not be so lucky a second time!". 

Pamela Salem also does pretty well in her role as Toos, the ship's second in command, who later helps the Doctor and Leela in their struggle against the robots and of course the mysterious Taren Capel.  

And I will just mention one scene for Pamela, which is the one where Toos rests in her quarters, however SV-7, quietly sneaks into her quarters, seemingly with the intent to kill her but SV-7 draws back just as she wakens.  And as SV-7 updates her on the situation, Toos then says "You may go now, but keep me informed. Oh, and find the girl Leela and bring her to me. Tell her my arm hurts" but SV-7 offers "The commander is in pain?  I will take her to sickbay".  However Toos says "No, no, no.  Just bring her to me" but SV-7 does not appear to hear her and Toos again says "Well, do, as I say!" and SV-7 obeys "Yes, Commander". 

David Bailie is also pretty good in his role as Dask, one of the crew, who is not all he seems to be at first in the story.  And yes OK (SPOILER!!!!!!!!!!!!) as it turns out, Dask is indeed Taren Capel and Bailie has some good moments in the story. 

And these include the scene where Dask sneaks around the robot storage bay and looks at a badly damage robot and he says "Irreparable!" and places a corpse marker on it (a circular red sticker device used to mark a deactivated robot).  And as Dask leaves the storage bay, he meets Poul, who looks at him suspiciously and asks "What are you doing?" and Dask replies "My job" and walks off.

Then there is the scene where Dask is revealed to be the main villain, Taren Capel as he pretends to be plead with Uvanov and Toos to open the command deck doors.  And we cut to Dask outside, now with his face painted to resemble a robot and he shouts "LET ME IN!!!!" and he turns to the robots and says "All right, my brothers.  The doors.  Force them open!!".  

And lastly there is the scene where Dask has captured the Doctor and straps him to a bench and prepares to use a laser probe to torture him.  And the Doctor mockingly asks Dask "Are you going to tell me your plan for running the universe???" and Dask says "No, Doctor. I'm going to burn out your brain.  Very, very slowly!".  And the Doctor insults Dask's outfit as being ridiculous, which angers Dask who shouts "Insolent animal!" and he proceeds to use the laser probe to torture the Doctor.  And after the Doctor asks Dask of his robot upbringing and Dask says to him "Yes, Doctor.  I was brought up a superior being. Brought up to realise my brothers should live as free beings, and not as slaves to human dross!".

David Collings is excellent as Poul, the undercover company agent, who is sent onboard with D84 as a precautionary measure against any risk of a robot uprising.

And Collings has some good moments also that include the scene where Poul meets with the Doctor and Leela after they have been captured and restrained in the robot storage bay as he believes they might be innocent of the murders they have been accused of. And Poul says to the Doctor "Never mind about me. What matters to you is Commander Uvanov. I know him, and I know it's only a matter of time before he decides that it's a waste of food, water and labour keeping you alive". And the Doctor asks "Does that concern you?" and Poul says "I didn't think you did it. I know she (Leela) couldn't have strangled Cass, not without knocking him out first, and there's no sign of that. So tell me what you know and I'll try to help you".

And in the next scene, Poul takes the Doctor and Leela to the storage area where Chub was killed and the Doctor asks Poul what Chub was doing there. And Poul tells the Doctor of Chub "Oh, we were on a run up to a storm. He came to get an instrument package to send up in one of his weather ballons". And the Doctor points to one of the packages on a storage shelf "Is that one of his packages?" and Poul says "Yes, I think it is" and the Doctor says "Good. Imagine you're Chub, pass me one of those packages". So, Poul tries to grab one of the boxes but it won't move and he says "Its jammed, it won't move" and the Doctor hurriedly says "Come on, come on! In those circumstances you'd be in a hurry. What would you do?" and it dawns on Poul what the Doctor means "Well, I'd...I'd call for a robot".

Gregory de Polnay is also pretty good as the voice of D84, a robot who is secretly an undercover agent on boartd, and D84 remains one of the stories more sympathetic and likeable characters in the story.  

And I will only mention one scene for Gregory and its the one where Leela discovers a dead body in a crew quarters and D84 springs up behind her and he says "Please do not cry out.  It is important that I am not found here".  And Leela says "Obviously" and D84 tells her "If I had killed him, would I have not killed you, too?".  

Brian Croucher is also worth a mention here in his role as Borg, one of the crew onboard the sandminer, who is soon to fall victim of the robot uprising.  So for time (again!) I will mention just one scene from Brian and that's the one where, Borg is briefly suspected of murdering Chub as he appeared to harbour a grudge against him.  But Borg protests and says "Now look, I had nothing against Chub.  OK, he talked too much but...".  And as the crew continue to discuss the situation, Borg says "Not just a murderer, then. Seems like one one of us is a maniac!".  However one of the crew, Cass tells Borg "Use your brain, Borg. We would know, wouldn't we?" and Borg approaches Casa and says "But we don't" and he places the corpse marker found form Chub's body on Cass's hand and Borg adds "Do we?".

And last of all Miles Fothergil also does well in providing the calm, soothing voice of the Super Voc robot, SV-7, who controls all the other robots, but SV-7 also falls foul to Taren Capel's evil plans.  And again Forthergil's calm voice is nicely at odds with SV-7's altered, violent behaviour later on in the story.

DIRECTOR AND MUSIC

Finally getting onto the show's director, Michael E. Briant does a fine job here with the story and he paces it out pretty for the most part and provides quite a few moments of tension and suspense off and on throughout.  Briant also previously directed two serials during the Jon Pertwee era of the show, namely The Sea Devils and The Green Death, so this is another fine effort from Briant here once again.

As for the music duties, once again they belong to the show's then regular composer, Dudley Simpson, who once more provides another good score for the show and it features nice moments of grandiose sounding melodrama.  But the score also has some unsettling moments of the quiet that work well during the scenes where we see the robots point of view as they walk the corridors, looking for their prey.  So overall its what you'd come to expect from Dudley and there's nothing much wrong with that.

FLAWS (Warning: this section may also contain spoilers!)

As for flaws....yes, The Robots of Death is not a perfect story, so there are some to be found.

And to start off one of the problems with the story is just like with The Deadly Assassin, they give away the identity of the villain a bit too soon as in episode three when we see SV-7 given his secret orders to presumably kill, we see the distorted image on a large video screen that looks suspiciously like Dask!  And if you listen to the voice at that point you can even tell that its Dask, although it is a bit more subtle than The Deadly Assassin was in that regard.  But it still stands that you know too early on who the real villain of the story is! 

I also felt that the story also lacked much in the way of interesting characters as they are all mainly pretty cynical, spoilt or in Uvanov's case, greedy money grubbers!  The exception to the rule here is D84, who is the most unique character in the story and the only one with which you can really empathise given that he is secret robot agent, who helps out the Doctor and later (SPOILER!) sacrifices himself. 

Then there is the whole idea of Dask's masterplan, or rather an inherent lack of it, as it would appear that Dask would intend to take control of all the robots in the known civilisation and have them rule the world.  However Dask never really reveals any more other than this, so you are just left to wonder what he intended beyond this one simple statement and this remains one of the weaker aspects of this story, because basically Dask is a pretty weak villain and not well written.

And on a side issue, which is more a technical issue with the story that had always bugged me about this story, is the scene where Chub is killed we hear his scream off camera but the scream itself is horribly dubbed over and it sounds awful.  In fact whenever I see that scene it kind of makes me cringe and wonder why in the hell didn't they just have him scream properly off camera than use a bloody awful sounding dub.  

And lastly I think it is also safe to say that the story's ending is wrapped up just a little too quickly and the Doctor and Leela sneak off in the TARDIS without even bothering to say goodbye to Uvanov and Toos, which makes you think that they had somewhat rushed the writing of this story.

Anyway that's it for the flaws.

SUM UP

So to sum up, The Robots of Death is a very enjoyable story from the Tom Baker era of the show even though it has to be said it is somewhat overrated.  And given that this story was chosen to represent the Baker era as part of the show's 50th anniversary by the British Film Institute, it makes you really think that they could have chosen a better one than this as there are plenty of other classic stories that would have better fit the bill.

Anyway regardless of this, the story is still worth checking out despite any of its flaws and The Robots of Death has worn well after 40 years and its visuals, set design and good performances commend it well enough as a solid, if not classic entry from the Tom Baker era.

Right, so that's it for now and I'll be back again in the near future with yet another post.

Till then, its bye fer now!