Stars: Tom Baker, Louise Jameson

Director: Michael E. Briant

Summary: The Doctor faces a horrific army of merciless machines, controlled by a mad scientist whose only aim is total power.

In this episode, Doctor Who (Tom Baker) and his new companion, Leela (Louise Jameson), land on Storm Mine 4, a planet where a few humans oversee the work of a multitude of servile robots who do the mining. Almost as soon as they arrive, Dr. Who and Leela are accused of committing two recent murders. The crew, knowing and explicitly trusting one another while never considering suspecting the robots, do not hesitate to charge the two strangers who have just arrived. Doctor Who, however, soon realizes that killer can't possibly be human and must persuade the crew before anyone else is murdered.

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Reviewed by: davybozal24-7
Posted on April 28, 2006 9:58 PM

The nuttiest Doctor Who of all is played by the wonderfully funny Tom
Baker , with squashed homberg , extra long scarf and a rather large packet of jelly babies in his pocket . The Robots Of Death , directed
by Michael E. Briant is set on the barren mining planet of Storm Mine
4 , with humans and servile robots working in harmony . However ,
when a murder is commited on board , suspicion flourishes and the group turns on itself ... Can the Doctor persuade the remaining crew members that the killer may be one of the robots . Also stars Louise
Jameson .

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By Tom Baker's third season in the role the actor had become firmly established in the minds of many fans as the definitive Doctor. First broadcast in early 1977, "Robots of Death" follows on directly from "Face of Evil", which was writer Chris Boucher's debut and also that of Louise Jameson's Leela, the Doctor's most shapely companion (a kind of Neanderthal Seven of Nine if you will). Boucher's second Who story concerns an isolated mining ship on which a series of inexplicable deaths take place--although as the Doctor opines, "nothing is inexplicable, only unexplained". The Doctor and Leela inevitably become embroiled in events, which soon turn into a sci-fi murder-mystery: imagine Isaac Asimov crossed with Agatha Christie in a Frank Herbert Dune-like setting. Add an undercover robot sent by "the company" and the claustrophobic, not to say deadly setting of the mining ship and there is a fascinating foreshadowing of Alien, too. It is tightly plotted, intelligent Saturday teatime entertainment (something that was possible then but is now an unthinkable oxymoron) with a typically strong cast of redoubtable thesps in supporting roles (not to mention extravagant costumes and garish make-up). There may be no Daleks or Cybermen, but this is vintage Who nevertheless.

On the DVD: For a mid-70s TV programme, this looks really fresh on DVD, although the sound is mono. Each of the four episodes are broken down into chapter points for ease of use. There is a full audio commentary with producer Philip Hinchcliffe and writer Chris Boucher which suffers from some very long gaps ibetween the interesting nuggets of information. Also included are a few sundries of interest to die-hard fans: unused model shots, floor plans of the studio layout and some scene comparisons between "raw" footage and the same shots after post-production. --Mark Walker

Aspect Ratio:	4:3 Full Frame
Main Language:	English
Region:	Region 2
Special Features:	Directors Commentary, Scene Selection, Graphical Menus, Photo Galley, Model Shots
Subtitles:	English
Year:	1977
Release Date:	November 13, 2000
Runtime:	96 minutes
Certification:
Catalogue Number:	B B C D V D 1012
Keywords:	Death, Who, General, Doctor, Fiction, Science, Tv, Horror, Robots, Sci, Fi
Genre:	Science Fiction