Doctor Who Season 12 Part 3 - The Sontaran Experiment "Alright! Come to your death!"

 

 

 

 

 

 

OK, so its time for Part 3 of my review of Season 12 of the original Doctor Who series, which was Tom Baker's debut season as the fourth doctor. And this post will be on the third story of the season, The Sontaran Experiment.

So, how does The Sontaran Experiment fair??? Well, let's find out. 

Oh and the usual warning is coming up....

SPOILERS ARE AHEAD!!!

STORY

Right, so the story takes place just after the events of the previous one "The Ark in Space" and it begins with the Doctor (Tom Baker), Sarah (Elisabeth Sladen) and Harry (Ian Marter) beaming down to Earth, which appears to be uninhabited.  The Doctor then starts to work on the transmat receptors for the space station above (from the previous story also) and tells Harry and Sarah to go off and have a wander.  However as Harry and Sarah wander about, Harry slips and falls down a crevasse, leaving Sarah to go back and find the Doctor, but he is nowhere to be seen.

Sarah, however soon finds an astronaut called Roth (Peter Rutherford) who is distressed and tells her that he was tortured by an alien that lives up in the rocks along with its patrolling robot.  Roth then takes Sarah toward the astronauts campsite but he is reluctant to meet with them as he had seen the leader of his team, Vural (Donald Douglas) apparently collaborating with the alien.

Meanwhile, the Doctor is taken captive by the other astronauts, who on the Doctor telling them he came from the space station Nerva, don't believe him as they heard that Nerva was a myth.  Vural, the leader, tells the Doctor that they arrived on Earth in answer to a distress signal and they came to investigate but they were soon stranded as their ship was vapourised and their crew of nine vanished one by one.  The Doctor however is soon rescued by Sarah when she arrives with Roth, who Vural and his men chase after, making a distraction for the Doctor and Sarah to leave.

As the Doctor and Sarah try to escape and find Harry, the Doctor soon also falls down a crevasse and Sarah is captured by the patrolling robot along with Roth and they are taken to the alien creature, which turns out to be a Sontaran warrior named Styre (Kevin Lindsay).  Roth tries to escape but Styre shoots him dead and then takes Sarah for interrogation and subjects her to his torture methods.  And we soon learn that Styre has been capturing the astronauts to learn about their weaknesses so that the Sontarans can launch an invasion on Earth.   

And its from here that the Doctor and his companions must try and find a way to stop Styre from carrying out his evil plans....

THOUGHTS

I think its safe to say that The Sontaran Experiment isn't really a classic story, given that its just two parts it doesn't have the scope to be one and its more like a filler story for the season.  However that being said its still an entertaining story with some good moments in it and it also makes good use of its external locations as it was filmed up at Dartmoor (well actually it was shot all on videotape and was the first ever story to be recorded that way).

The story also makes a welcome return for the Sontarans as the villains as they make for one of the more memorable aliens in the show outside the regulars that we are so used to in the Daleks or Cybermen.  This was also the 2nd story to feature the actor Kevin Lindsay in the role, who apparently said that the suit he wore was so heavy he could not leave the Dartmoor location for breaks and had to say there as well as use a stunt double for his fight scene with the Doctor.  The story's production was also notable for Tom Baker sustaining an injury during filming as he broke his collarbone and he had to wear a neck brace, which was disguised under his costume's long scarf.    

PERFORMANCES AND NOTABLE SCENES (Warning: may contain spoilers)

Moving onto the performances, well they are mainly good here with one or two exceptions.

Starting with Tom Baker who is excellent as ever here as the fourth Doctor and even though this was only his 3rd story (but it was the second one recorded and first to be produced by the show's then producer, Philip Hinchcliffe) he is starting to become quite comfortable in the role already.

Tom naturally has some great moments in the story that include the opening scene where the Doctor tries to repair the transmat receptors and he tells Sarah and Harry to go off and do a recce.  And the Doctor says to them "Ah, Sarah. You're looking well. Look, er, it's going to take some time to do the whole lot. Why don't you two make the most of it?".  And Sarah puzzled says "Make the most of what?" and the Doctor says "Glorious day. Beautiful un-spoilt countryside. No one's set foot here for thousands of years".  And Sarah sharply says to the Doctor "What you're trying to say is that you're busy and you'd like us to push off!" and the Doctor says to her without looking "I'd phrase it more elegantly myself, of course. Yes".   And as they are about to set off the Doctor says to them "Trafalgar square is that way!  Mind the traffic!". 

Then there is the scene where the Doctor, after narrowly avoiding being killed by Styre, who shot at him later on in the story, meets up with Harry.  And Harry says to the Doctor "Doctor, I thought you were dead" and the Doctor tells Harry "Not me. Piece of the synestic locking mechanism from Nerva's rocket. Popped it in my pocket" and he produces a piece of metal from his pocket and Harry says "Fortuitous" and the Doctor corrects him "Foresight. You never know when these bits and pieces will come in handy!" and he throws it away!  And then the Doctor says to Harry "Never throw anything away, Harry. Where's my five hundred year diary? I remember jotting some notes on the Sontarans. It's a mistake to clutter one's pockets, Harry!".  

And lastly there is the scene where the Doctor (SPOILER!!) having defeated Styre goes and contacts Styre's commanding field Marshal.  And the Marshal looks outraged at seeing the Doctor and says "What is this?!" and the Doctor says "Your Waterloo, Marshal. Your intelligence mission has been destroyed and your invasion plans are in our hands. One move across the buffer zone, Marshal, and your entire fleet will be destroyed!".  And the Marshal says to the Doctor "We will destroy your planet!" and the Doctor mockingly says to him "What, without Styre's report?!" and the Marshal threatens the Doc saying "Next time, Earthling, we shall utterly destroy you!" and he signs off, leaving the Doctor to smile saying "Not today, thank you!" and he cheerily turns to Sarah and Harry and says "Brinkmanship I think they call it!".

Elisabeth Sladen is great as usual as Sarah-Jane Smith and here her character had already met a Sontaran in her debut story "The Time Warrior" so when she sees Styre for the first time, she mistakes him for Linx. 

And this makes for a good moment when Sarah looks at Styre wearing his mask and she utters in surprise "Linx!" and Styre then moves towards her and says "The female of the species!" and roughly examines her faces and let's her go.  And Sarah looks surprised and says "Linx. A Sontaran. Can't be. You were destroyed in the thirteenth century. You were blown to smithereens!" and Styre says to her "You may have seen one of us" and Sarah says "But you're identical!  The same ugly...." and Styre cuts her off saying "Identical, yes, the same, no. I am Styre. Field Major Styre, as you will address me, of the Sontaran G3 Military Assessment Survey. And your opinion of my looks is of no interest to my programme!".

Roth then looks on terrified as he sees Styre and says in fear "You wont get me again!" and he tries to run off but Styre shoots him with his ray gun and Sarah screams. Styre then looks at Sarah and asks "Why did you make that disagreeable noise?" and Sarah, shocked, says "You killed him!" and Styre tells her "I am a warrior, that is my purpose!" but Sarah angrily shouts "Murderer! Murderer!" and Styre shouts at her "Silence! He was of no further use to me but you as a female are far more interesting". 

Ian Marter is also excellent again as Harry Sullivan, and here he gets to do a bit of scouting on his own as Harry is separated from the Doctor and Sarah for most of the story.  

Ian also has one or two good scenes and one that comes to mind is when the trio arrive on Earth at the start of the story and Ian helps Sarah who has fallen head first into the heather in the fields.  And Harry helps her up and says "Okay, old thing?" and Sarah says "Harry, I am not a thing!" and as the Doctor tells them go and have a look around, Harry says To Sarah "Oh well, might as well have a recce while we're here. Coming old thing?" and he quickly corrects himself "Coming, Sarah?!". 

And then there is the scene where Harry attempts to rescue Sarah, who has been chained by Styre and an invisible force barrier placed infront of her, which Harry can't get through.  And Sarah tells Harry "He's locked me inside a force field, Harry, its no good!" and Harry tries to reassure and says "Well, don't you worry, old thing. I'll find a way. I'll get you out of there if I have to knock his bally head off and grab his keys!  Just don't you worry, Sarah!". 

Kevin Lindsay makes a welcome return here to the show as he plays another Sontaran, Styre and he is once again excellent in the part.  Lindsay sadly however had a heart condition at the time of filming and not long after the story was made he died the following year in 1975.  

Lindsay naturally has his share of good scenes that include his first main introduction where Styre has captured Sarah and Roth and in the scene, Roth tries to escape so Styre shoots him dead.  And as Sarah screams in shock, Styre asks her "Why did you make that disagreeable noise?!" and Sarah yells "You killed him!" and Styre says "That is my function.  I am a warrior!" and Sarah, appalled shouts "Murderer!  MURDERER!!".  And Styre silences her saying "Silence! The moron was of no further use to me. I had already tested him. You, as a female, are far more interesting. And soon I will have the rest of your companions!".

Then there is the scene where the Doctor finds Sarah, who has been chained up by Styre and subjected to a form of mental torture as Styre uses a device to project fear into her mind but the Doctor destroys it and the shock renders Sarah unconscious.  Then Styre appears and says "Very touching!" and the Doctor looks outraged and shouts at him "You unspeakable abomination!!" and charges at Styre who knocks him back.  

And Styre arrogantly says "Words, Earthing, will never prevail against Sontaran might!" and the Doctor asks "Why did you do it to her?!" and Styre says "I did nothing. I merely resurrected those things which lay buried in the depths of her pathetic little mind. She was a victim of her own fear. And now, your turn!".  And Styre takes aim at the Doctor with his ray gun, but the Doctor distracts him and runs off only for Styre to eventually shoot the Doctor, who slumps over apparently dead, leaving Styre to says with contempt "Worm!".  

And lastly there is the scene where the Doctor confronts Styre for the last time and he goads him into fighting him in hand to hand combat.  So the Doctor taunts Styre, who levels his gun at the Doctor and the Doctor says "Is that the Sontaran way? The mighty warrior sheltering behind his gun? I challenge you, Styre. Single combat. Or are you afraid?!".  So this really pisses off Styre who is enraged by the Doctor's comment "Afraid?!!!  A SONATARAN AFRAID???!!" and he then picks up a machette and yells "Alright then, come to your death!!".  And as their fight is about to end, the Doctor struggles with a tired Styre and says to him "You're weakening, Styre!  You're weakening!" and Styre shouts "AM I?!" and he grabs the Doctor and flips him over onto the ground!   

As for the rest of the cast well they are a bit of a mixed bag particularly the astronauts as Donald Douglas is not too bad as Vural although his accent is somewhat hard to place and sounds a bit South African (as does the rest of the astronaut crew).   

 

However, Douglas still has some good moments in the story that include the one where, Vural angrily grabs the Doctor as he interrogates him. So, Vural angrily says to him "Listen. If you are one of the Old People, we're not taking orders from your lot. While you were dozing away, our people kept going and they made it. We've got bases all across the galaxy now. You've done nothing for ten thousand years while we made an Empire. You understand?!!". 

 

WARNING: BIG SPOILER COMING UP! 

 

And later there is the scene where its revealed that Vural betrayed his men as he was taken captive by Styre and let go later. So, in the scene, Styre has Vural and his men captured by Styre's robot and Styre says to them "Good! The final batch of material!". Vural then pleads with Styre "But not me! Not me!" and Styre says "All of you!" and Vural panics and says "But I helped you! I did everything you said!" and his crew member, Krans outraged shouts "WHAT?!!" and Vural pleads with Styre "You said you would save me if I..." and Styre dismissively says "Oh, why would I save you! A traitor to your own miserable kind!". Erak then in disgust says "You stinking lousy swine, Vural! You tried to do a deal with this thing?!" and Vural pleads "Its all I could do. It gave us more time!".

Peter Rutherford does fair better though as the distressed astronaut, Roth, who was previously captured by Styre and he conveys his character's fear and anxiety well. And lastly of course there is  Glyn Jones, who actually wrote a previous Doctor Who story from the William Hartnell era, "The Space Museum" but his acting chops are not worth writing home about, well not here anyway so maybe he'd be better at sticking to the writing! 

DIRECTOR AND MUSIC

As for the director for the story, Rodney Bennett, who directed the previous story "The Ark in Space" does a fine job here with this one and he uses the location of Dartmoor very well and also does well at building the suspense throughout the first episode before he reveals Styre.  Bennett then went on to direct another Tom Baker era story, "The Masque of Mandragora" so it showed that his contribution to the show was valuable one and its a pity that he didn't direct anymore after that.

As for the music score, Dudley Simpson, the show's regular composer does another fine score as he was starting to hit his stride in this period of the show as he regularly churned out fine dramatic scores that were well suited to its era and it was a good departure from the cheesy electronic synth stuff he did during the Pertwee era.

FLAWS 

As for the story's flaws....yes well The Sontaran Experiement isn't quite perfect and for starters I think its main problem is that being just a two parter, there isn't much time to develop anything much in the way of the supporting characters, who Styre uses as just fodder for his cruel experiments.  And yes because it is also only a two part story, it does feel like just filler and a stop gap between the two great classic stories of "The Ark in Space" and "Genesis of the Daleks".

Another issue I had with the story is why did the astronauts have South African accents???  It just seems a bit weird that they should have been cast that way!  Although apparently the writers of the story, Bob Baker & Dave Martin requested a change of accent for the parts anyway and indeed most of the actors who played the astronauts were indeed South African.  I guess I may have just answered my own question here!

I also felt that the Doctor's way of suddenly preventing the Sontaran fleet from invading Earth was pretty daft in that all he had to say to the threatening Sontaran Marshal (also played by Kevin Lindsay) "What invade us without Styre's report???" and that's it!  I mean the Marshal could easily have gone ahead and said "To hell with you, Doctor!  Let's invade!" but of course nope!  All it takes is just one taunt from the Doctor and that sorts it out!

And lastly there is of course Styre's stupid looking patrol robot, which is hardly that menacing and in the end the Doctor defeats very easily by just zapping it with his sonic screwdriver!  So in the end, the robot was both not intimidating and also useless into the bargain aswell!  Yep, the show it had to be said excelled at dishing out crappy robots up to this point (well Michael Kilgarriff's robot in Tom Baker's debut story "Robot" is something of an exception).

So that's it for the flaws.

SUM UP

So to sum up, "The Sontaran Experiment" is an enjoyable story if not a classic from the Tom Baker era but it still fits its purpose, which is bridge the gap between two classic stories in Baker's opening season.  And it is helped along by good performances by the leads and also an excellent performance once again from Kevin Lindsay as another Sontaran warrior, Styre.  So while its not a classic, its still an entertaining way to spend 50 minutes of your time if you are a fan of the show.

 

So, I will give The Sontaran Experiment:

 

8 out of 10 

 

So, that's it for Part 3 and I will be back soon with Part 4, which will cover the classic story, Genesis of the Daleks. 

 

Until then, bye for now!  

Doctor Who: Season 12 Review Part 2 - The Ark In Space "Indomitable!"

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

OK, so now its time for part two of my look at Season 12 of the original Doctor Who series, starring Tom Baker and this story features his second story, The Ark in Space. 

So, let's take another look at this classic serial and see how it fairs after 46 years...

And the usual warning is coming...

PLOT SPOILERS ARE AHEAD!!!

STORY 

So, the story begins with the TARDIS landing onboard a space station, which appears to be in an inert state.  And as the Doctor (Baker) and his two companions, Sarah (Elisabeth Sladen) and Harry (Ian Marter) look around they quickly find that there is no air supply, which leaves Sarah almost unconscious.  The Doctor then manages to restore power and the air supply just in time however Sarah in the meantime is transported and placed into cryogenic suspension, leaving the Doctor and Harry to explore the station further.

As they look around the Doctor and Harry find a large cryogenic chamber, which holds a large number of humans in cryogenic suspension and they soon also find Sarah in one of the pallets.  The Doctor suggests they try and find a resuscitation unit which Harry finds in a cupboard along with a large insectoid alien life form.

Then one of the humans, Vira (Wendy Williams) in cryogenic suspension is awoken and revives herself using the equipment Harry found.  Vira, who is a medical technician, then manages to start the revival process for Sarah and also her leader, Lazar who is nicknamed as Noah (Kenton Moore).  The Doctor then tells Vira that they have overslept for thousands of years as the alien insect must have sabotaged their control systems, which the Doctor had earlier repaired.

Once Vira has revived Noah, Noah is immediately suspicious of the Doctor and Harry and as the Doctor investigates the ship's power room, he discovers that an alien larvae and traps it inside the ship's solar stack.  Noah soon encounters the Doctor in the control room of the Ark and stuns him with a laser weapon and heads down to the power room where is infected by the alien creature.  The Doctor soon recovers and encounters Noah again who hides his hand from him, which has been infected and is starting to change into a green scaly skin.

As Vira revives another shipmate, Libri (Christopher Masters) the young shipmate sees Noah and backs away in fear as he thought he saw something horrible in Noah.  Noah however while talking to Vira, insisting the reviving process must be halted, starts to exhibit strange behaviour as he feels his mind struggling against the influence of the alien creature and he leaves quickly.  The Doctor then convinces Libri to go after him, which Libri does with a gun, but Noah overpowers him and shoots Libri dead and reveals that he is starting metamorphose into the alien creature.  Noah then sends out a message to Vira that they are all in great danger and that the alien creatures, named the Wirrn, will overtake and absorb the humans.

The Doctor and Vira then decide to pay Noah a visit, who has started to mutate even more into one of the Wirrn and he tells him they don't have much time.  The Doctor then decides the best solution now is to find out how to kill the Wirrn by finding their weakness and the Doctor dissects a part of the Wirrn's brain tissue and joins with it through a mental link using the control system and he discovers that electricity killed the dead creature.

From here, Noah now advancing into Wirrn form shuts off the system's power and as the Doctor goes to the power room to turn it on again he is attacked by Noah, who fully transforms into a Wirrn and warns Vira, who arrives with Sarah and Harry and the others to leave the ark or die.  And from this point on, the Doctor and his companions must find a way to defeat the Wirrn and save the future of the human race....

THOUGHTS 

As the debut story of the golden era in the show of the Hinchcliffe and Holmes years, The Ark in Space is undeniably effective and it shows the series go in a more gritty and darker direction.  And with Hinchcliffe and Holmes, the show became a bit more dark and gothic in terms of its approach but at the same time it still retained the show's humour as well but it was a stark contrast to the light-hearted jaunty tone of the Jon Pertwee years.

And the Hinchcliffe & Holmes debut of The Ark in Space is a great example of the approach that Hinchcliffe and Holmes would use so well and here they dared to explore themes, which they would also later look at again in body horror, and transformation (which they do again in The Seeds of Doom) and the story has some strong and fairly shocking moments for its time.  The story also even featured a scene that was cut where the mutated Noah begs Vira to kill him, which was cut out by Hinchcliffe as he deemed it as being too frightening and the story would also signal the beginning of Hinchcliffe's battle with Mary Whitehouse, who was strongly opposed to several of the stories of that period due to the more horror orientated content.

The story also features another disturbing image where we see Noah finally complete his transformation at the end of the third episode as his human eyes are the last thing to change before he becomes a complete Wirrn.  And its moments like this that with Ark in Space it sure signaled that the show was changing and also for the better as Hinchcliffe believed the show should also appeal to adults as well as children hence the change in tone.  

PERFORMANCES AND NOTABLE SCENES (Warning: this section contains spoilers and is quite big!)

Performance wise the story is very good as you would expect from both the regular cast and the supporting one.

And to start off with Tom Baker, who here really started to lay the grounds for his portrayal of the Doctor after trying to find his feet in his debut story, Robot, as he plays the Doctor with a good level of seriousness, eccentricity, and a little bit humour as well as a strong moral sense.

And Tom has some great moments in the story and the first that comes to mind is the scene in the first episode where the Doctor tells off Harry for messing about with a control switch in the TARDIS.  So, as the Doctor exits the TARDIS into the ark's control room he berates Harry "You're a clumsy ham-fisted idiot!".  And we hear Harry say "I said I was sorry, didn't I?" and the Doctor irritably says "What?! Come out!  And don't touch anything!".   

Another good scene is when the Doctor tells Harry to throw his shoe to distract the electric guard cutout, which fires at anything organic.  So, the Doctor and Harry, who are hiding underneath a table, poise themselves.  So, the Doctor asks Harry "You don't want your shoe, do you?" and Harry says "I suppose not" and the Doctor then says "Slip it off! Right. Now, I want you to throw it across the room" and Harry makes to throw his shoe but the Doctor stops him by firmly grabbing Harry's arm "When I give the word, understand?!".  So, the Doctor then says " I'm going to try to distract it. Let's hope it's not double-barrelled. Ready? Now!" so Harry throws his show and the Doctor reaches up and disables the electric guard.  So, afterward the Doctor cheerfully says "I think we've done it, Harry!" and he then picks up his singed scarf (as the electric guard zapped it) and he says "Pity about the scarf. Madame Nostradamus made it for me. A witty little knitter. Never get another one like it!".
 
Then there is the scene where the Doctor is impressed by Harry's suggestion as to why the Ark is in space and he suggests it might be some sort of survival kit.  So, the Doctor smiles and says "You're improving, Harry!" and Harry, pleased asks "Am I really?" and the Doctor grins and says to him "Yes your mind is beginning to work!  Entirely my influence of course, you shouldn't take any credit!".  The Doctor then continues and says to Harry " Yes. If we are to assume that some great cataclysm struck Earth, and that before the end they launched this lifeboat, then the one obvious missing element is man himself. What's happened to the human species, Harry?".  The Doctor then presses a switch, which prompts another door to open and it reveals a cryogenic chamber filled with human shaped plastic pods, some of which contain humans, leaving the Doctor and Harry in a state of awe.

So, this leads into the Doctor's great speech where he addresses the cryogenically frozen humans and says "Homo-sapiens! Its only been a few million years since they learned crawl out of the mud and walk, puny defenseless bipeds. They've survived flood, famine and plague. They've survived cosmic wars and holocausts and now here they are set out among the stars, waiting to begin a new life and outsit eternity. They're indomitable! Indomitable!".  

And then there is the hilarious and most likely unintentionally double entendre line where the Doctor explains his medical status and Harry's to Vira.  So, in the scene Harry introduces himself and the Doctor and Vira asks them "You claim to be med-techs?" and the Doctor replies "Well my doctorate is purely honorary and Harry here is only qualified to work on sailors". Nice! 

Another good moment is where the Doctor tells Sarah and Harry how Vira didn't stop them from going after Noah.  So, in the scene Harry asks the Doctor "Funny how they've given us the run of the ship!  Why doesn't Vira try and stop us?" and the Doctor tells him "Not her function, Harry".  Harry then asks "How do you mean?" and the Doctor tells Harry "By the 30th century human society had become highly compartmentalized.  Vira is only a medtech and I expect we are an executive problem!" before being confronted by Noah, who confirms his theory and holds them at gunpoint and says "Right, Doctor!  But not a difficult one! You can always be eliminated". 

The Doctor then warily says "Unlike the thing you saw in the stack, Noah?" and Noah says "I say a pathetic attempt at sabotage. The observation port is damaged" and the Doctor says to himself "Then its escaped, we're too late!" and Noah sharply tells the Doctor "Turn about! We'll return to the cryogenic section" and the Doctor agrees "You're absolutely right, there's no time to waste! Come on!" and he sharply turns around and walks back.   

Another good scene is where the Doctor discovers that the missing crewmember, Dune, was used by the Wirrn, who planted eggs inside his body and Vira says "You mean Dune's knowledge??" and the Doctor says "Has been thoroughly digested I'm afraid!".  And Sarah frightened by the prospect says "Don't make jokes like that, Doctor" and the Doctor says to her "When I say I'm afraid, Sarah, I'm not making jokes".     

Then there is scene where the Doctor teases Sarah in the last episode, where she pushes herself from a very narrow conduit panel, carrying a power cable behind her and she get's all upset as she get's stuck.  And the Doctor says to her "Stop whining girl!  You're useless, I knew we couldn't rely on you!  Hundreds of lives are at stake and you just sit there blubbing!".  So, this angers Sarah, who says to him "You wait until I get out of here!!" and as she appears the Doctor offers to help her and she says "I can manage I don't need your help!" and the Doctor grins and says "Yes you do, yes you do!" and helps Sarah out of the conduit. So, the Doctor says to Sarah "You've done marvellously, Sarah. I'm very proud of you. I really am very proud of you!".  Sarah then frowns and says "Conned again! You're a brute!" and the Doctor a little hurt says "Don't be ungrateful, I was only encouraging you!".

Another great moment from Tom comes when Noah, now a full grown Wirrn gives the Doctor an ultimatum to leave the ark or die but if they do leave then they are to "leave the sleepers for us!". So, the Doctor with great sincerity pleads with Noah and says "Noah, listen to me! If there is any part of you that is still human, if there is any memory of the man you once were, leave the Ark, lead the swarm into space! That's where the Wirrn belong, Noah. Not on Earth, not where you were born. Remember the wind and the sun, the fields, the blue sky? That's Earth, Noah. It's for the human race. Don't abandon it". However, as we see Noah listen to the Doctor's pleading words, Noah coldly says "I have no memory of the Earth!".

And last of all is the scene where the Doctor is saved by Rogin at the last moment from being killed by an exhaust blast from the Ark's shuttle. So, the Doctor turns up back in the Ark at the end to a much relieved Sarah, Harry and Vira.  And the Doctor tells them of Rogin's fate "Rogin's dead. I woke up in a protection hatch.  Was Noah on our side and one step ahead of us at the end?".  Then Vira receives a call from the Wirrn Noah, who tells her "Goodbye, Vira" and he destroys the shuttle, wiping out the Wirrn with it.  The Doctor then looks on and says "More than a vestige of human spirit.  It can all begin now, Vira.  Mankind is safe".  And at the end of the story, Sarah and Harry join the Doctor as they prepare to beam down to Earth together, and the Doctor throws his bag of jelly babies to Vira and says "Have a jelly baby, Vira!".      

Elisabeth Sladen is also as good as ever in her part as Sarah Jane Smith and she has some great moments in the story such as when the Doctor, Sarah and Harry land on the Ark and look around but they are soon aware of the lack of air.  And the Doctor says "Not much oxygen. Still, nothing to worry about" but Sarah reacts in disbelief and says "Suffocation is nothing to worry about?!" and the Doctor says "We can survive for quite a time yet".  And he starts to use his yo-yo and Sarah says "While you play with that yo-yo!" and the Doctor says "Just a simply gravity reading, Sarah. Yes, almost certainly we're in some kind of artificial satellite. Now isn't that interesting?" and Sarah says "Not very!" and the Doctor says "I think it is".  Sarah then with a heavy breath says "It's dark, it's cold and it's getting very airless!". 

Then there is the scene where Sarah near the start, is starved of oxygen due to the Ark's air supply turned off, but as the Doctor makes his repairs and turns it on again, Harry reassures her calling her "old girl".  So, Sarah groggily stirs and slowly says to Harry "Harry, call me old girl again and I'll spit in your eye!" and the Doctor says "Welcome back, Sarah Jane!".   

Another good scene is when the Doctor and Vira are trying to come up with a plan to fight the Wirrn but first Harry asks Sarah what did Noah say to them, so Sarah says "Vamoose, or stick around and get killed!".  And as Sarah suggests she could drag power cables through the conduits so they can rig up the power to electrocute the Wirrn.  So in the scene, Sarah says "Why can't I take that cable through?" and they look at her and Sarah says "Well I'm about that wide!" as she indicates the width of the conduits.

And last of all is the scene which also begins to show the natural chemistry that Tom and Liz had with one another on screen where the Doctor teases her to get her to move on.  And Sarah first off get's Harry trying to spur her on by saying "Come on, Sarah!  Stick at it!" and Sarah complains "That's the trouble!  I keep getting stuck!".  But when Sarah starts to get upset and teary eyed, the Doctor teases her and says "Stop whining, girl, you're useless!" and Sarah says "Oh, Doctor!".  

And the Doctor then says to her "Oh, Doctor! Is that all you can say for yourself?! Hundreds of lives are at stake and you just sit there blubbing!".  And this angrily motivates Sarah into action and she angrily says "You wait until I get out of here!" and as Sarah emerges from the conduit the Doctor takes her hand and she protests "I don't need your help, I can manage thank you!" and as the Doctor tells her he is proud of her, she gasps and says "Conned again!  You're a brute!".

Ian Marter is also great here in his first second outing as Harry Sullivan (after playing a smaller role in his debut story, Robot) the bumbling but well meaning navy medic and he also provides some comic relief as well as he is given some possibly unintentionally funny lines to deliver.

Ian actually gets some of the best lines in the story such as his first scene where the Doctor berates Harry for messing about with the TARDIS controls and he calls him a "clumsy ham-fisted idiot!" and Harry says "I said I was sorry, didn't I?" and the Doctor says "What?! Come out!" and Harry off screen says "I was only trying to open the door!".  And then Harry steps out the TARDIS onto the Ark's control room and he says "We aren't where we were, are we?  I've gone mad!" and then Harry says to the Doctor of the TARDIS "You know you could sell that thing, Doctor" and the Doctor, taken aback asks "I could what?!" and Harry "Jolly useful in Trafalgar square.  I mean hundreds of bobbies could fit inside..." and Sarah interrupts him and says "Harry, stop burbling!".

Another good scene for Ian is when the Doctor and Harry find the cryogenic chamber with all the pods containing the chosen members of the human race but Harry is convinced they are dead.  So, Harry opens one of the pods and looks at one of the sleeping humans and says "Dead as door knocker".  Then the Doctor sees Harry checking the human's life signs with his stethoscope and Harry says to the Doctor "Sorry to contradict you, Doctor. Not a flicker of life!".  The Doctor then tells Harry "Suspended animation" but Harry looks incredulous and says "There are no metabolic functions at all. I mean, look at him. Now, even in the deepest coma, the hair and fingernails continue to grow. The epidermis....".  The Doctor then interrupts Harry and says "Total suspension, Harry! You can't 10,000 years in a coma" and Harry surprised asks "10,000?!" and the Doctor "50,000! 100,000! Time is immaterial!".

Then there is the scene when Vira says there is a technical fault on the ship, so the Doctor goes off to investigate it.  And Vira says "The Ark was designed to have a negative fault capacity" and Harry tells to her "Gremlins can get into anything, old girl, first law of the sea!".  And after the Doctor recovers the power, Harry cheerfully says to Vira "There you are.  What did I tell you?  The Doctor's a first class boffin!".   

Another is the scene where the Doctor and the others listened to an automated message of the future prime minister of the Earth (a female voice). So, Harry says to Sarah "Well I bet that did your female chauvanist heart a power of good" and Sarah asks "Why?" and Harry rather smugly says "Well imagine a member of the fair sex being top of the totem pole!".

And lastly there is the scene where Ian delivers one of Harry's best lines when the Doctor after overcoming the intense mental link-up with the Wirrn reveals that electricity is the one way in which they can fight against the Wirrn.  So, the Doctor says to the others "Electricity. Only by electricity. That's the one thing I found out!  It was the auto-guard that killed the queen. Half a million volts" and Harry says "We found the Queen in the cupboard!".

As for the guest cast, Wendy Williams does well enough in her role as Vira, the senior medical technician who revives her crew mates and loyalties are torn between the Doctor and Noah.

Wendy has some good moments in the story such as the scene where she tries to revive Sarah and the Doctor says that she has changed Sarah's body into a battlefield, and Vira says "Battlefield?!  I hypoid in classics by you dawn timers have a language all of your own!".  Then she opens a pod that has the Ark's leader in it, Noah, so Vira says proudly to the Doctor and Harry "Here is our prime unit" and Harry, puzzled, asks "Prime unit?" and Vira says "Our leader you might say? Noah!".  And Harry get's it and says "Oh, I see as in Noah's Ark, eh?" and Vira says "It is a name from mythology. His real name is Lazar, but we called him Noah as an amusement" and Harry asks "A joke" and Vira asks "A joke?" and she gets the word and says "Oh, yes".

Vira then continues "But there was not much joke in the last days" and the Doctor asks "What happened in the last days, Vira?" and Vira, surprised asks "Your colony has no records, no history?!  Where are you from?!".  Harry tells Vira "London, actually.  England.  The Earth!" but Vira says "That is not possible.  The Earth is dead!". The Doctor however disagrees and says "I'm afraid you're probably wrong about that" and Vira says "The solar flares destroyed all life on Earth" and the Doctor says "Ah, solar flares. I see!".  Vira then tells the Doctor "Our scientists calculated it would be five thousand years before the biosphere became viable again" and the Doctor suggests "Oh, the absolute minimum I would say!".

Another good scene from Wendy is when Vira tells Sarah and Harry that they should leave with the Doctor.  So, Vira says to them "If you are space travellrs as you claim, you should leave now" and Harry, a little taken aback, says "I say, that's a bit brusque, isn't it? I mean, if it hadn't been for the Doctor..." Vira then interrupts him and says firmly "Noah will not permit contamination of the genetic pool. All regressive transmitters have been eliminated!".  Harry, protesting says "Come off it! We're not contaminating anybody!" and Vira warns him "He has the authority to initiate condign action. Personally, I consider your destruction is not necessary".  Vira then walks away, leaving Harry in a state of disbelief, who says "Thanks very much!".

WARNING: THIS NEXT PARAGRAPH REFERS TO END OF THE STORY!!

And lastly there is the scene at the end where after Noah, in Wirrn form, leads the Wirrn swarm into the Ark's shuttle and he speaks to Vira for the last time over the radio and says "Goodbye, Vira!" and the shuttle is then blown up, leaving Vira stunned.  So, Vira says "He must have known that that would happen! Noah deliberately neglected to set the rocket stabilisers".  And as the Doctor tells Vira that he will need to go down and check out the teleport receptors are working correctly, Sarah and Harry go into the TARDIS and get changed and come back out and join the Doc at the teleport.  So, the Doctor says to Vira "I hope don't mind being left" and Vira smiles and says "Well, I won't be alone for long. Life is returning to the Ark, and soon to the world".  So, the Doctor then throws his bag of jelly babies to her and says "Have a jelly baby, Vira!" and she laughs and says "Oh, thank you!". 

Kenton Moore is also quite effective in his role as Noah, who starts off as a rather arrogant crew leader but is soon consumed by the Wirrn and he starts to become slightly pitiful.

Moore also some good moments such as the scene where just after Noah has been slimed by the Wirrn larvae, he stops the Doctor, Sarah and Harry at gunpoint as they head to stop him going to the solar stack.  So, the Doctor explains to Harry about how the future works in terms of human society "By the thirtieth century, human society was highly compartmentalised. Vira is a med-tech, and I suspect we're an executive problem".  And at this point, Noah appears from nowhere and holds a gun at them and he says "Right, Doctor!  But not a difficult one, you can easily be eliminated".  The Doctor then says "Unlike the thing you saw in the stack, Noah?" and Noah says "I saw a pathetic attempt at sabotage. The observation port is damaged".  The Doctor looks aghast and says "Then its escape, we're too late" and Noah firmly tells them "Turn about! We will return to the cryogenic section!" and the Doctor is in agreement and says "You're absolutely right! There's not time to lose!  Come on!".  

Another good scene from Moore is when he shows his mental torment as coming into contact with the Wirrn larvae begins to effect his mind.  So, he gives his gun to one of the revived Ark members, Libra and as he goes off, Vira stops and asks him where is he going, so Noah says "The system must be shut down".  Vira then asks "What?" and Noah firmly says "The revivication must be stopped!" Vira however is puzzled and asks "Why? I don't understand" and Noah, suddenly hesitant says "It is an order.  I am the commander!".  Vira however protests and tells Noah "But the first phase isn't completed, and we need the technical crew, Noah, to operate the station!" but this makes Noah more anguished and he says painfully "Yes. No! No, the plan is changed! Hear me, hear me, the plan is changed!".  Vira, now very concerned asks Noah "Noah? What is it?  Is it something to do with Dune?" and Noah asks "Dune?" and Vira says "Technician Dune. I reported him missing".  However, Noah then says "But I'm here.  I'm Dune!" and Vira looks stunned and asks "What?" and Noah looks tormented and says "The system must be shut down! No more aliens!".    

Another good scene where he pleads with Vira to evacuate the ark and he fights to tell them agains the Wirrn, which is starting to take control of his mind "We...! You are all in great danger! Get our people out before.....before the Wirrn....!".  But then a calm comes over Noah and he suddenly gives an evil look as the Wirrn briefly takes control of him and his voice changes to a lower tone saying "We shall absorb the humans.  The Earth shall be ours!".

And last of all is the moment where the Noah having just fully turned into his Wirrn form tells Vira to abandon the Ark and leave it to the Wirrn.  So, in the scene, the Wirrn version of Noah says to Vira "Stay, Vira. Stay. Abandon the Ark, Vira. Take the transport ship. Leave now. If you stay, you are doomed!".  Vira however tells Noah "That would be desertion!" and Noah then says "Then you must die, all of you!" When the Wirrn emerge, you will be hunted down and destroyed, as you destroyed us!".

Sarah, confused asks what Noah means, so Noah explains "Long ago, long ago humans came to the old lands. For a thousand years the Wirrn fought them, but you humans destroyed the breeding colonies. The Wirrn were driven from Andromeda! Since then we have drifted through space, searching for a new habitat. The Ark is ours. It must be ours!".  The Doctor however says to Noah "
But the Wirrn live in space. You don't need the Ark!" but Noah says to him "You know nothing! We live in space but our breeding colonies are terrestrial!".  So, Noah completes his story and gives his ultimatum again to Vira "Leave the Ark, Vira, or die with the rest of your race!"

And lastly Morgan Richardson is great in his role as the Ark crew member, Rogin, who is somewhat grumpy and he too get's some of the story's best lines.

An example is the scene where Rogin has been revived and he says to Vira "I told there has been a snitch up!  We should have taken our chances on Earth and went into the thermic shelters!  We'd be happily dead by now!".  And later he says to other revived friend, Lycett, "We should have stayed on the Earth.  I liked the Earth.  I like heat!".  Then there is the line where Rogin and Harry use the transmats to transport between areas in the Ark and Harry after he is arrives says "I say!  What a marvelous way to travel!" and Rogin rubs his teeth saying "It always sets my teeth on edge!".

And last of all is the scene where the Doctor and Rogin release the synestic locks from the Ark's shuttle, which would mean certain death for one of them if they stayed to remove the final lock.  So, as the Doctor is about to take out the last one, the Doctor says "Leave this to me" and Rogin says "You know what happens when you release that lock?".  The Doctor however insists "There's no point in both of us getting killed by the blast!  Get into the ark, man!" but Rogin then says "You don't want trouble with the space technician's union, Doctor!" and he suddenly punches the Doctor in the face, knocking him out, Rogin grabs the Doctor and says "That's my job!" and then he goes on to sacrifice himself by releasing the final lock.  

DIRECTOR AND MUSIC

As for the direction, Rodney Bennett does a fine job with the story and along with The Sontaran Experiment, it was the only other story that Bennett would direct for the show as he provides a good deal of tension of suspense throughout the story.  The sets are also very noteworthy in the story as future academy award winner, Roger Murray Leach produces some brilliant and imaginitive sets for the Ark space station. In fact you could almost say that this story acted as an inspiration for Ridley Scott's sci-fi classic, Alien, which was released four years later in 1979. 

And last of all, a nod deserves to go out to the show's regular composer at the time, Dudley Simpson who provides another fine dramatic score for the story, which is very well suited and features many atmospheric and dramatic cues.  In fact under the Hinchcliffe/Holmes era, this is where Dudley's scores became more rich and dramatic and less synthesizer orientated as they were in the Jon Pertwee era. So, overall its a very good one from ol Dudley.  

FLAWS (Warning: this section might contain the odd spoiler!)

As for the flaws... well yes, The Ark in Space isn't quite perfect.

And its main flaw probably lies in the fact that while Noah's transformation into the Wirrn throughout the story is quite effective, the Wirrn themselves are less so and in the end we are subjected to more men in rubber suits shifting about!  And after the effectiveness of the story for the first three episodes, when you see the plastic rubber suited Wirrn shift around the studio, it takes away any convincing impact the creatures should make.  But I guess given the show's limited budget back then and the limited effects technology of the time they always in the end has to resort to using men in rubber suits for any insectoid alien lifeforms!

I think the pacing of the story towards the end is a little slow although it does get off to a very strong start, particularly in the first episode, which is atmospheric and suspenseful and the reveal of the Queen Wirrn at the end is very effective.  However by the time we get to the final episode, the pacing does dip a little, especially when the Doctor and the others try and sort out their plan to wire up the cryogenic chamber with electric cables to keep the Wirrn out as they last segment seems to drag on quite a bit.   

The lack of budget obviously was clearly a bit of an issue where we see in the scene the Doctor, Sarah and Harry walk down the corridors of the Ark that in fact there is only really one corridor area, which they keep reusing at different angles!  But to be fair these were just the time and budget constraints the production staff had to work with at the time.

And last of all on a plot point, how the hell did Sarah get changed into her "Ark" outfit?? I mean she was unconscious when she underwent the process to be transferred into the pod and there were no other conscious people onboard at that point other than the Doctor and Harry.  So for me it doesn't make any real sense that she should magically change outfits without being conscious or anyone else helping her to either!

Anyway that's it for the flaws.

SUM UP

So to sum up, The Ark in Space is an excellent introduction to the Philip Hinchcliffe/Robert Holmes era of the show, which many people (and myself included!) believe it to be one of the very best periods of the show's history.  The story itself for the most part remains a very gripping and enjoyable one and even if the tone is maybe a bit dark at times and the cheap rubber suited Wirrn look a bit disappointing, not to mention the pace drags in the fourth episode.

However the story's strong script and top performances more than make up for any of the story's fairly minor drawbacks and it certainly did its part in introducing the show into a brand new, bold era.

So, I will rate The Ark in Space:

9 out of 10

So, that's it for now and I will be back soon with Part 3, which is The Sontaran Experiment. 

Until then its bye for now!  

Doctor Who Season 12 Review Part 1 - Robot "I'll show that wretched woman!"

 

 

 

 

 

 

Right, so I've recently purchased the Doctor Who Collection Season 12 disc set, which was the first season of the Tom Baker era, so I thought I would do another revisit the stories from that season on the blog and update the previous reviews for them.

So, with that said, let's take a look at the first story of the season, which is Tom Baker's debut: Robot.

And the usual warning is coming...

SPOILERS ARE AHEAD!!!

STORY

So the story begins with the Doctor (Baker) having just regenerated in front of his companion Sarah Jane Smith (Elisabeth Sladen) and the Brigadier (Nicholas Courtney) babble incoherently before he passes out.  The Doctor is taken to the medical bay where he soon comes round and tries to sneak back into the TARDIS but is stopped by the medical officer, Lt Harry Sullivan (Ian Marter) but the Doctor ties him up and puts him in a cupboard.  But as the Doctor is about to leave in the TARDIS, the Brigadier and Sarah both convince him to stay to help them find the culprit behind the theft of plans for a new powerful disintegrator gun.

The Brigadier then takes the Doctor to the Ministry of Defence advanced research centre where the plans were stolen where the Doctor notices a crushed flowers and strange rectangular footprint.  The Brigadier then sets a perimeter around the centre to prevent any attack, but the culprit outwits them by burrowing up from underground as it collects the final part needed for the weapon.

Sarah meanwhile investigates a "think tank" group run by its director, Hilda Winters (Patricia Maynard) and her assistant Arnold Jellicoe (Alec Lindstedt).  Sarah finds out that they are developing a prototype robot K1 (Michael Kilgariff) which has been built to perform hazardous tasks in place of humans.

Sarah discovers also that the robot was in fact designed by Professor Kettlewell (Edward Burnham) who was a former member of the think tank who has now turned towards methods of alternative energy.  Kettlewell insists that he had dismantled the robot and that neither Winters or Jellicoe have the ability to re-programme the robot correctly but if they have tried to it could have resulted in the robot suffering an existential crisis.

Despite the potential dangers of the robot, Sarah starts to feel sorry for it as she realises that Winters appears to be using it for her own ends and she programs the robot to kill a cabinet minister, Joseph Chambers (Walter Goodman).  The robot kills Chambers and then steals some papers which turn out to be launch codes for nuclear weapons of the major nations to only be used in times of grave emergency.

The Doctor soon discovers that Winters and Jellicoe are members of the Scientific Reform Society, who are a society dedicated towards putting scientists in charge of the world believing they can make better decisions for humanity.  The Doctor attends the meeting only to discover that Kettlewell, who is also present, is in fact the mastermind behind it all and he rebuilt the K1 robot along with Winters and Jellicoe and steal the codes to force humanity to change its ways.

And it is from here, the Doctor must try and find a way to stop Winters and Kettlewell from carrying out their plan which could lead to the end of the world.....

THOUGHTS

As a debut story for the Baker era, Robot is a very entertaining one and it sees the Fourth Doctor start with a nice bright and breezy story, which proved to be the final story to be produced by Barry Letts who said he intended to oversee the casting of the new doctor and also the first story before handing over his mantle to Philip Hinchcliffe.

The story itself also proved to be one of the last UNIT stories before they were eventually phased out by Hinchcliffe with Terror of the Zygons and the Android Invasion proving to be the last stories connected with UNIT in the Baker era and indeed until the Sylvester McCoy era story, Battlefield.  Terrance Dicks who wrote the story had already given over his former script editor duties to Robert Holmes and he provides a pretty decent script as well.

And story wise even though its nothing too original its still quite an entertaining one and the inclusion of the robot as a Frankenstein like monster proves to be quite an effective centre piece for the story and the robot itself turns out to be quite sympathetic as it is reprogrammed by its masters and it feels an emotional conflict as a result.

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

Moving onto the performances things are pretty good here.

Starting with Tom Baker, who turns in a fine debut performance as the Fourth Doctor.  Tom at this stage naturally was yet to find his feet in the role but he does already show the doctor's eccentric ebullience and provides plenty of fun moments too.

And as a few examples there is the scene where the Doctor shortly after his regeneration, finds the TARDIS key in his boot and says "Of course. Obvious place!" before being stopped by Harry Sullivan.  And Harry says to the Doctor that he's "not fit" and the Doctor takes offence and angrily says "Not fit?!  Not fit?!  Of course I'm fit!  All systems go!" and he karate chops a brick in half on the table and sprints on the spot to prove his point.  Then the Doctor afterwards checks out his face in a mirror and he looks surprised and disappointed and says "As for the physiognomy. Well, nothing's perfect. Have to take the rough with the smooth. Mind you, I think the nose is a definite improvement!".

And as Harry tries to persuade the Doctor to go back to sickbay, the Doctor instead tries to prove that he is fit to Harry by grabbing a long piece of robe and he starts skipping the rope and forcing Harry to join in.  So, as the Doctor skips with Harry, he shouts a nursery rhyme "Mother, mother, I feel sick. Send for the doctor quick, quick, quick. Mother, dear, shall I die? Yes, my darling, by and by. One two three four!",

Another fun moment comes when the Doctor tries out various outfits before settling on his usual one.  And one such example is when the Doctor dresses up in a viking outfit and asks the Brig what he thinks and the Brigadier says "UNIT is supposed to be a security organisation" and the Doctor sheepishly asks "You think I might attract attention?" and the Brigadier says "It's just possible!".  Then after trying another couple of outfits he emerges from the TARDIS wearing his first proper outfit and he says to the Brigadier "Well, how about this?!" and the Brig says "Much better, Doctor!".    

Another good scene comes when the Doctor examines the crime scene of the centre where the Robot broke in and the Doctor looks at a crushed flower and says "And according to my estimation of the resistance to pressure of vegetable fibre, it was stepped on by something that weighed a quarter of a ton!".

Then we have the scene where the Brigadier and his men surround Emmett's Electronics and the Brigadier says he has everywhere covered.  So, the Brig says to the Doctor " Believe me, Doctor, the place is impregnable" and the Doctor seems a bit wary and says "Never cared much for the word impregnable. Sounds a bit too much like unsinkable".  And this prompts Harry to ask "What's wrong with unsinkable?" and the Doctor says "Nothing, as the iceberg said to the Titanic" and Harry, puzzled asks "What?" and the Doctor does an imitation of a ship sinking as he says "glug, glug, glug!".  

And after the robot breaks in and steals the next element needed to build a disintegrator gun and kills one of the UNIT soldiers, the Doctor, Brig and Harry enter the electronics vault and the Doctor checks out the big hole dug out of the ground.  And the Doctor says to the Brigadier "There seems to be a very large rat about, Brigadier" and the Brig asks "Rat???" and the Doctor says to him "Perhaps you should employ the services of a very large cat!".

Another fun scene is when the Doctor tries to enter the Scientific Reform Society meeting and he
empties his pockets at the front outside the meeting infront of a security guard (stunt actor and series regular, Terry Walsh).  So, the Doctor says to the guard "Freedom to the city of Skaro? No. Pilot's licence for the Mars Venus rocket run. Galactic passport. Do you travel much? Honorary member of the Alpha Centauri Table Tennis Club!".  

However the guard grows tired quickly of the Doctor's antics and he stands up and walks toward him and the Doctor backs away and says "Very tricky opponents, those chaps. Six arms, and of course six bats. It really keeps you on your toes. I'll tell you what, I'll just pop outside and try something...".  The Doctor then swiftly trips up the guard with his very long scarf and he says to the guard "Oh dear, I'm terribly sorry. You just like there and get some rest. I'll find help. And above all, don't worry. Everything's going to be all right!".

Then there is the scene where the Doctor tries to make a metal virus that will destroy the robot at Professor Kettlewell's lab and he complains about Kettlewell's notes and says "Why didn't that man write up his notes properly?!".  

And later the Brigadier radios in to say that the robot has sealed himself inside the bunker with Sarah.  So, the Doctor says to himself "Of course!  Supressed Oedipus complex leading excessive guilt and overcompensation!".  So, the Doctor grabs the radio from Harry and he asks the Brigadier "Brigadier, the robot will try to carry out Kettlewell's plan. Is the computer terminal in the bunker still active?!".  The Brigadier answers "As far as I know..." and the Doctor interrupts and asks "Can you switch off the electricity supply?" but the Brigadier tells him "No! Its on a special sealed circuit!".  So, the Doctor warns him "Then warn all the major powers. The emergency is not over!  They must operate full fail-safe procedures at once!".      

And last of all there is the last scene in the story where the Doctor tries to console Sarah, who is somewhat distraught over the robot being destroyed.  So, the Doctor in the scenes offers Sarah a jelly baby but she says nothing and he says to her "I had to do it, you know" and Sarah realises this and says "Yes, yes, I know. It was insane and it did terrible things, but, but at first, it was so human!".  The Doctor then says "It was a wonderful creature, capable of great good, and great evil. Yes, I think you could say it was human".

However as Sarah mentions to the Doctor about his commitments to the Brigadier in his unpaid job as a scientific advisor for UNIT and he says to Sarah "The Brigadier wants me to address the Cabinet, have lunch at Downing Street, dinner at the Palace, and write seventeen reports in triplicate. Well, I won't do it. I won't, I won't, I won't!" and he thumps his hand on the brick and instead this time hurts thumb.  And Sarah says he is being childish and the Doctor says "Well of course I am.  There's no point in being grown up if you can't be childish sometimes!".  The Doctor then holds out his bag of jelly babies and says to Sarah "Are you coming?" and they both smile and she takes one gleefully just before Harry enters the room to end the story. 

Elisabeth Sladen also does a fine job again as Sarah Jane Smith who in this story takes a shine to the robot and ends up feeling sorry for it as the story goes on.  

Liz has some good moments in the story as well such as the scene near the start where the Brigadier mentions that the Doctor is still recovering in sick bay and that Harry Sullivan is looking after him.  So, Sarah asks the Brigadier of Harry "You sure you've got the right man to look after him?" and the Brig says to her "Young Sullivan?  Oh, he's a very fine chap.  First class doctor" and Sarah says "Seems a bit old fashioned".  The Brigadier then says to Sarah "Nothing wrong with that, Miss Smith. You may not have noticed, but I'm a bit old fashioned myself" but Sarah tells the Brig "Nonsense, Brigadier!  You're a swinger!".
 
Then there is the scene where Sarah shows her concern for the creature after Winters attempts to show that the robot cannot harm humans by ordering it to destroy Sarah and the robot refuses and becomes distraught before it is switched off.  And Sarah says to Winters "That was a cruel thing to do" and as Winters says its not human and has no feelings, Sarah say to her "Oh, it's got a brain, hasn't it? It walks and talks like us. How can you be sure it doesn't have feelings too?!".  

Sarah then asks the robot "Are you alright?" and the robot responds "My functioning is unimpaired" but Sarah says "But you were distressed. I saw that!" and the robot says to Sarah "Conflict with my prime directive causes imbalance in my neural circuits".  Sarah then says to the robot "I'm sorry it wasn't my idea" and the robot says to her "The imbalance has been corrected.  It is not logical that you should feel sorrow".  So, after Miss Winters and Mr Jellicoe warn her to keep quiet about the robot but Sarah simply says to them "Goodbye, Miss Winters, Mister Jellicoe" and Jellicoe is about to show her out, Sarah annoyed says "Oh, please, don't bother to see me out!".   

Another highlight for Liz in the story is when Sarah pays a visit to the Scientific Reform Society where she talks to a rather snooty staff member, Mr Short (Timothy Craven) who is aptly named as he is somewhat "short" with Sarah in this scene!  So, in the scene Sarah says to Short "Oh, I see you're having a meeting here tonight. Do you think it'd be possible for me to come?" and Short bluntly says "Sorry, out of the question. Private meeting, members only. No press!".  Sarah then asks "But if I joined?" and Short patronisingly says "I really don't you'd qualify.  We have very high standards!".  

So, Sarah thanks Mr Short for his time and then he asks her before she goes "I do hope you'll include us in your article. We've been sadly misrepresented" and Sarah says to him in a flippant tone "Really? Well, we're covering a number of fringe organisations, and I'm sure we'll find a place for you. Somewhere between the flying saucer people and the flat Earthers!". 

Another good scene is when Sarah suggests to Professor Kettlewell while they are UNIT, that they later try to go to Scientific Reform Society meeting where Winters and Jellicoe will also be attending.  However, Benton is not so keen and he says regarding them going off together "But the Brigadier will go spare, so will the Doctor!" and Sarah says "Well one's away and the others asleep!".  Benton then suggests "Well, I'll go and wake the Doctor and see what he says" but Sarah insists "Don't you dare. He had a nasty knock on the head and he needs to rest!".  

However, Benton stands his ground and tries to stop them and says "I'm sorry, Miss, its just not on!" but then Sarah asks him "Mr Benton, are we members of UNIT?" and Benton says "Well, no, of course not".  Sarah then asks Benton "Are we under arrest?" and Benton sighs and says "No, miss" so Sarah then says to Benton "Well then, what we do and where we go is none of your business, is it?!" and she leads out Kettlewell and she turns to Benton and patronisingly says to him "Now just you go and blanco your rifle, or something!".

WARNING!  BIG SPOILER IN THIS PARAGRAPH!!

And last of all is the scene where the robot holds Sarah captive after it has killed Professor Kettlewell, it decide to go through his initial plan to launch the world's atomic missiles and start a nuclear war.  So, as the robot reactivates the countdown, Sarah tries to stop it but the robot pushes her aside and Sarah falls to the ground and she get's up clutching her head she asks "Why?  Why?!" and the robot tells her "I destroyed Kettlewell! I must see his plan does not fail".  Sarah however tries to tell the robot that Kettlewell changed his mind "But he changed his mind!  He wouldn't want you to continue!".  

Then later as the world powers activate their fail-safes and stop the countdown, Sarah says to the robot "You see? They've operated the fail-safe mechanism. Give up now. Please!" but the robot says "Humanity must be destroyed!  It is evil, corrupt!" so Sarah tries to plead with the robot "But you can't take on the whole world. Don't you understand? They'll destroy YOU!!".  The robot however just tells Sarah "Do not fear.  I cannot be destroyed" and they head out to face the UNIT troops. 

Nicholas Courtney is also really good once more as Brigadier Lethbridge Stewart who along with the Doctor investigates the think tank and their nefarious activities.  

And Nick has his share of good moments in this story, such as the one where the Doctor tries out a number of new outfits none of which seem suitable.  So, when the Doctor appears in his first outfit, which is of a viking and the Brigadier says "You've changed!" and the Doctor thinks he means his face and says "Oh, no not again!".  However the Brigadier corrects the Doctor and says "I didn't mean your face, I meant your clothes" and the Doctor asks "Don't you like them?" and the Brig says "UNIT is supposed to be a security organisation".  So, the Doctor asks "Do you think I might attract attention?" and the Brigadier says "Its just possible!".   

And then we have the scene where the Brig and his men and the Doctor arrive at the bunker where Miss Winters and Jellicoe are holed up along with the robot. And in the scene we see they have machine gun nests firing, so the men take cover and afterward the Brigadier angrily says to Benton "Mr Benton, I would you want to find those machine gun nests and knock them out!" and he says almost to the camera "I'll show that wretched woman!".

Then there is the scene where the Doctor asks the Brigadier "There's just one teeny weeny thing.  and the Brig asks "What's that?" and the Doctor says re: the robot "What are we going to do when we find it?".  So, the Brigadier wearily says "Yes. You know, just once I'd like to meet an alien menace that wasn't immune to bullets!".  

And later there is the scene where the Brigadier spots the disintegrator gun which he points at the robot and he says to Sgt Benton (John Levene) "Of course the very thing! I think just for once we won't need the Doctor!".  However as the Brig takes aim and fire the disintegrator gun at the robot because of its molecular structure the disintegrator ray causes the robot to grow to a giant size!  

And Nick has one of the story's best lines at the very end where he walks into the Doctor's lab and notices the TARDIS has gone (as he has just taken off) and the Brig says "Oh Doctor, her majesty is expecting us about....." and he looks around and says "Oh well, I'll just tell them you'll be running a little late!". 

Ian Marter also does very well in his debut as Harry Sullivan, the old fashioned army doctor, who is assigned to look after the Doctor only to be eventually tied up by him and little does he know would end up traveling with the Doctor for the rest of the season!  However Ian is somewhat underused in this story though and its only in the other stories in this season where Ian's character gets more screen time.  
So, Ian despite his somewhat limited screen time still has some good moments as well in the story such as the scene where the Doctor sneaks out of sickbay and tries to leave in the TARDIS but he is stopped by Harry.  So, in the scene, Harry says to the Doctor "There you are.  Now come along, Doctor, you are supposed to be in the sickbay!" and the Doctor looks at him and says "Don't you mean the infirmary?".  Harry then says "No I don't mean the infirmary, I mean the sickbay! You're not fit yet" and the Doctor looks at him and says "Not fit? I'm the Doctor" and Harry says "No, Doctor, I'M the doctor and I say that you're not fit".  However the Doctor tries to prove his point that he is and runs on the spot and then checks out both of his heartbeats and Harry listens in on his stethoscope and the Doctor says "Hearts beat?" and Harry says "I say, I don't think that can be right!".  

Then there is the following scene where Sarah and the Brigadier find Harry tied up in the cupboard and they hear a clattering from the cupboard at first and then open it to find him there.  So, Sarah asks Harry "What are you doing down there?!  Where's the Doctor?!" and Harry says to them both "He tied me up and hung me up in here like an old pair of boots!".   

And then there is the last scene where Harry enters the UNIT lab and sees that the Doctor and Sarah are about to leave in the TARDIS and he asks where they are going and the Doctor says they are going for a trip in the police box.  And Harry says to the Doctor "On, come along now, Doctor.  We're both reasonable men.  Now we both know that police boxes don't go careering all over the place!".  The Doctor then asks Harry "Do we?" and Harry laughs and says "Of course we do.  The whole idea is absurd!" and then the Doctor asks him "Is it?  Would you like to step inside for a moment?  Just to demonstrate that it is all an illusion?" and Harry says "Well if you think it will help" and the Doctor says "Yes it would make me feel much better".  So, Harry then says "Right-o" and he steps inside the TARDIS and we hear him exclaim in surprise "Oh, I say!!" and both the Doctor and Sarah grin. 

Patricia Maynard next up does well with her role as the officious and amorally ambitious "Think tank" director, Hilda Winters, who plans to be take over the world by holding it to ransom using the nuclear codes to launch a nuclear strike if their demands are not met.

And Patricia has some good scenes aswell that include the one where Sarah sneaks back into robotics section of Think Tank but then suddenly the doors open the robot walks in and advances on Sarah but it is soon deactivated by Winters and Jellicoe.  So, in the scene Sarah asks "Is it dangerous?" and Winters asks "Why do you say that?" and Sarah tells her "Well, it just struck me that it could be a very powerful weapon if it got into the wrong hands. It could be misused".  Winters then turns quite sinister and says "Like this you mean?" and she turns her attention to the robot "This girl is an intruder and a spy. She must not leave here alive. Destroy her!".  However the robot becomes conflicted as it refuses to obey, so Winters tells it to terminate and it goes limp. 

So, just before Sarah goes, Winters warns her about what she has seen of the robot "One moment, Miss Smith. If I were to make a formal complaint about your behaviour here, you might find yourself in a very difficult position".  Jellicoe pitches in aswell and says "Dangerous thing, curiosity.  Can get you into a lot of trouble".  So, Winters gives Sarah her an ultimatum "So I'll make a bargain with you. Keep quiet about what you've discovered here, and I'll keep quiet about how you discovered it" but Sarah simply says goodbye to them and walks out.  And after Sarah goes, Jellicoe objects to Winters demonstration "That was an appallingly dangerous thing to do! Telling it to destroy her. The inhibitor's only just been reset. You know there have been problems. Suppose it had obeyed you?!" and Winters looks to Jellicoe and simply says "It made an interesting test".  

And lastly there is the scene where Winters delivers her passionate speech at the Scientific Reform Society meeting.  So, Winters says "And as you know, my friends, tonight is the culmination of many years of work and planning. A brilliant and audacious scheme is about to come to its climax! You have all waited long and patiently during the years of scorn and ridicule. The days when we were laughed at as cranks. Well now a new and better future is almost within our grasp!".  So, Winters continues "A future in which we, the elite, will rule as is our right! We owe it all to one man. The man whose unrivalled scientific genius has put us in the commanding position we now hold. Professor Kettlewell!" and Kettlewell walks onto stage to a warm standing ovation.  And Winters finishes her speech "He brings with him the symbol of our movement. The creature whose intelligence and power make him a fitting emblem for our scientific new order!" and then there a big cheers.  

Edward Burnham is also good in his role as the seemingly harmless Professor Kettlewell who built the robot and in the end turns out to be working with Winters and he also sprouts a pretty ridiculous looking hairdo! 

And I will only mention one of Burnham's scenes and its the one where the Doctor, the Brig and Sarah visit Kettlewell at his lab.  And during the scene the Doctor takes a look at Kettlewell's scientific notes and he says to him "This will never do, you know!  If theta over x coincides with your disputed factor, you're losing half your output!".  But Kettlewell defiantly says "Oh, rubbish!  I checked all those calculations myself" and the Doctor says "Look, the error's in the third part of the calculation" so Kettlewell checks his figures on his calculator and looks astonished at the Doctor and says "Bless my soul!".  The Doctor then encourages Kettlewell by saying "But you're doing vital work, Professor. Earth's human race should have started tapping solar power long ago!" and Kettlewell wholeheartedly agrees and says "This new solar battery will provide an endless supply of pollution free energy at a fraction of the present cost and they haven't the wit to see it!".

So, as Kettlewell babble on about the days of the great scientists, the Doctor cuts him short and says "Professor, I think you ought to tell us about the robot".  So, Kettlewell stops and takes a moment and says "It was the last project I worked upon before I decided to leave. I gave orders for him to be dismantled. It was like putting my own son to death. I thought it was for the best. His power, his capacity to learn had begun to frighten me!".  Sarah then says "But it wasn't destroyed was it?" and Kettlewell suggests "I don't know. That woman, Winters, might have countermanded my orders".  And when Kettlewell asks if people were killed during the break-ins and if the robot could have carried them out, he says "Oh, it's out of the question. You said he refused to harm you, didn't you? Yes, well, I gave him my own brain pattern. He has my principles, my ideals!".  The Doctor then suggests that the robot's circuitry could be tampered with but Kettlewell dismisses the idea that Winters could do it.  However, Kettlewell does finish the scene by saying "If they force him to go against his prime directive, they'll destroy his mind. He'll go mad!".
 
John Levene also nicely reprises his role as Benton, who in this story is promoted to Regimental Sergeant Major and looks rather pleased with himself when he tells Sarah about it and he says to her "You see, technically speaking, the Brig should have a Major and a Captain under him. The UNIT budget won't run to it so they settled on promoting me!". 

Then later there is the scene where Benton saves Sarah and the Doctor from the robot as he and the other UNIT soldiers divert the robot from them and it escapes.  So, Benton asks Sarah of the unconscious Doctor "Is he OK, Miss?" and Sarah says "Yes, yes, I think so" and Benton says "We just couldn't stop it".  Sarah then objects to Benton firing on the robot "Oh, well, what did you have to start shooting for? He wouldn't have harmed you" and Benton says "You could have fooled me. It was trying to kill the Doctor, wasn't it?".  Sarah then says "Yes, but that was because. Well, it doesn't matter, and it wasn't your fault, I suppose. You did your best" and Benton rather taken aback says "Oh, thank you very much. The US cavalry never got treated like this!".

And lastly there is the scene when Benton gives the Doctor the vital information he needs to help destroy the robot as he refers to what he heard from Professor Kettlewell about the robot's growing metal capacity.  

So, Benton says to the Brigadier "Excuse me, sir. When Professor Kettlewell was here talking to Miss Smith, he said the robot was made of some kind of living metal. He even said it could grow".  The Doctor, interested says "Did he now" and Benton continues "Yes, and he went on about some kind of metal virus. Something that attacked the living metal...." and the Doctor, intrigued muses "The same way that disease attacks animal tissue".  Benton however suddenly thinks he has been no help and says "Oh, I'm sorry. It was probably a daft idea anyway..." however the Doctor is delighted as it has given him the answer and he shakes Benton's hand and exclaims "Wonderful, Mr Benton!  Wonderful!".  

Alec Linstead is also pretty good in his role as Jellicoe, Miss Winters henchman, who takes part in their wicked activities.  I will only mention one of his scenes and its the one where Winters and Jellicoe are working on the robot as Jellicoe adjusts settings inside the robot and having removed the robot's head, he reattaches it.  

So, Jellicoe says to Winters "There. I think that's it" and Winters asks him "Think? You better be sure!" and Jellicoe says "It's a delicate job. I'm not really trained in this sort of work" and Winters says "Well, we better test it".  Jellicoe then says "This time, emphasise the recall instructions. You know, it refused to return after that last business. I found it wandering near Kettlewell's place" and Winters laughs and says "How touching. Perhaps Miss Smith was right!".  Jellicoe asks "About what?" and Winters says "Perhaps it does have feelings. It misses Daddy!".  

And I will also quickly mention his laughable scene where Jellicoe tells Winters about the arrival of Harry, who is posing as a ministerial figure sent by the Brigadier to spy on them. So, in the scene Jellicoe tells Winter " Someone from the Ministry of Health has just turned up. Apparently, under some obscure regulation they've just remembered, we have to have a complete check up on the medical records of our staff here". And Jellicoe introduces Winters to Harry and says "Director, this is Doctor Sullivan from the Ministry" and we see Harry wearing a coat and a bowler hat and he tips his hat to Winters.

And last of all Michael Kilgarriff provides a nice performance as the K1 Robot and Kilgarriff himself does both the voice and plays the physical part of the robot and his robot costume is actually fairly impressive (if a bit clunky!).  Kilgarriff also does a nice job at showing the robot's emotional conflict when it is asked to carry out evil deeds and you actually feel sorry for the robot as it has been viciously manipulated by Winters to do her evil bidding.  

And Kilgarriff has some good scenes aswell such as the one where Miss Winters as a demonstration to prove the robot cannot harm humans, orders it to destroy Sarah.  However in the scene the robot becomes conflicted and says "I cannot obey. This order conflicts with my prime directive!" and Winters pressures it more by saying "You must obey..." but the robot still feels conflicted and it says "I must obey...I cannot obey...! I, I!" as it clearly shows sign of anguish and then Winters says "Terminate" and the robot goes limp. 

Sarah then asks the robot "Sarah then asks the robot "Are you alright?" and the robot responds "My functioning is unimpaired" but Sarah says "But you were distressed. I saw that!" and the robot says to Sarah "Conflict with my prime directive causes imbalance in my neural circuits".  Sarah then says to the robot "I'm sorry it wasn't my idea" and the robot says to her "The imbalance has been corrected.  It is not logical that you should feel sorrow". 

Then later there is the scene where Winters has programmed for the robot to kill the Doctor as he is lured to Kettlewell's lab and the robot is there waiting for him.  The robot asks the Doctor "Are you the Doctor?" and the Doctor says "How do you do?  I've been so looking forward to meeting you" but the robot asks again "Please confirm your identity. There must be no mistake. You are the Doctor?" and the Doctor says "Yes, yes of course!".  The robot then advances on the Doctor and says "You are an enemy of the human race. I must destroy you. Please do not resist. I do not wish to cause you unnecessary pain!" and it takes a swing at the Doctor, who ducks and the robot smashes a window.  

So, the Doctor tries to slow the robot down to little effect but then he asks it "Prime directive!  What is your prime directive?!" and the robot says "I must serve humanity and never harm it!" and the Doctor says "Then you musn't harm me!  I'm a friend of humanity!" but the robot insists "No, you are an enemy. You must be destroyed!". The Doctor then briefly subdues the robot by sticking his hat over its head but the robot then hits the Doctor on the head and he falls down on the ground and the robot advances on him.

Another good scene from Kilgarriff is when the robot turns up at Kettlewell's lab in a state of emotional conflict.  So, the robot in an anguished voice says "I,I, I...I have been given orders that conflict with my prime directive!" and Kettlewell says to himself "Oh, no!" and the robot continues "They say there is no conflict, yet I know there is conflict. I do not understand. Help me!". 

Then later there is the scene where the robot unwittingly shoots Kettlewell with the disintegrator gun and it cries out "Aghhh!  I have killed the one who created me!!" and the robot then collapses.  And later the robot also takes a shine to Sarah and when it is fortified in the research bunker with Sarah the robot says to her "I can bring about the destruction of humanity!  But do not fear, Sarah.  You alone will be saved".

DIRECTOR AND MUSIC

Finally moving onto the director Christopher Barry who does a good job with the story and he keeps the tone of it nice and light and paces the story out well and as a four-parter its just the right length and ticks along nicely without ever feeling overlong.  Barry was already a veteran director on the show as he directed the very first Dalek story from the William Hartnell era and would later go on to direct two more serials from the Baker era, The Brain of Morbius and The Creature from the Pit.   

As for the music score Dudley Simpson provides another light, pleasant and jaunty score for the story which saw Simpson move even closer toward pure orchestral arrangements with the odd bit of keyboard thrown in here and there. And its a pity now that old Dudley has passed on as he was a real stalwart of the old series but he still had a good innings as he died in 2017 at the age of 95.   

FLAWS (Warning: this section may contain spoilers!)

So as for the old flaws section..... yes Robot has the odd one or two.  

To start off the story itself is pretty silly and unoriginal with yet another megalomaniac in Winters wanting to take over the world its nothing the show hasn't done before now and it has been done better in previous stories as well.  Which brings me to the character of Winters herself who comes across more like a stern school teacher rather than anything else and she isn't really a character that makes you feel intimidated or has effectiveness to make the viewer believe she is a dominating megalomaniacal figure head.  

Another point of the show which it has to be said is pretty daft is the use of CSO (colour separation overlay) which was a visual effect constantly overused during the Barry Letts era of the show, where a false background is superimposed (quite badly) and is well noted in the scenes where the robot grows in size and picks up Sarah as it just looks silly.  This is especially daft when you see the robot carry a miniature doll version of Sarah for the medium shot!  

And worst of all is the stupid inclusion of the tank scene in which a tank is wheeled in by the Brig to try and destroy the robot but the robot instead destroys it easily with the disintegrator gun, and the tank used in the scene itself is a toy one!  And at this point in the story it really is quite laughable and obviously the BBC's budget couldn't stretch to using a full tank (well that and the fact that they couldn't disintegrate one either no doubt!). 

I also though the scene where Miss Winters demonstrates the robot will not harm humans by ordering it to kill Sarah was also a bit bizarre, not in the manner of the demonstration but more the fact Miss Winters essentially attempted to murder Sarah right then and there.  Yet in the scene, its actually Miss Winters that wants Sarah to keep quiet, despite the fact that she instigated an attempted murder!  So, surely Sarah could tell her "Well I don't need to keep quiet as I will just tell the others that you tried to use the robot to kill me!.  Basically I think Sarah had more leverage on her side with what went on than Miss Winters did!    

And lastly I thought the moment where the Doctor warns the Brigadier to inform all the major powers to activate their fail-safes was also a bit silly because at that point the countdown was pretty much done!  So, that meant between the Doctor and the Brigadier radio conversation they had about 20 seconds to make the call to the major powers and get them to activate their fail-safes!  I'm pretty sure that 20 seconds really wouldn't cut it in all honesty here, well either that or the Brigadier has a hotline right through to them!  Still even at this, its pretty far fetched to think that they could abort the countdown so quickly!

So, that's it for the flaws

SUM UP
 
So, to sum up, Robot is still a very enjoyable debut story for the Tom Baker era and it saw Tom make a very self assured start to his new role as the Doctor and one where even then, he started to nail his portrayal of the character that he would then go on to develop further.  The story is also very well backed up by a solid cast and with Elisabeth Sladen and Nicholas Courtney both in very good form as well as the introduction of Ian Marter as Harry Sullivan, the rather old fashioned medical doctor, who would later end up travelling with the Doctor and Sarah. 

And yes it has some problems with the plot here and there and yep that toy tank is frankly just laughable when you see it and yes again, Barry Letts shows his overt passion for using CSO once again. 

But despite these drawbacks, they don't stop Robot from being a very entertaining start to the 4th Doctor's era, who would always be in the public's eye, one of the most popular and enduring incarnations of the character.  

So, I will give Robot a rating of:

8 out of 10

So, that's it for now and I will be back with Part 2 of Season 12, which is the story, The Ark in Space.

Until then its bye for now!