Robot (Doctor Who)

This article is about a specific Doctor Who serial. For robots in the series in general, see List of Doctor Who robots.
075 – Robot
Doctor Who serial

The Robot prepares to take Sarah captive
Cast
Others
Production
Directed by Christopher Barry
Written by Terrance Dicks
Script editor Robert Holmes
Produced by Barry Letts
Executive producer(s) None
Incidental music composer Dudley Simpson
Production code 4A[2]
Series Season 12
Length 4 episodes, 25 minutes each
Date started 28 December 1974[2]
Date ended 18 January 1975[1]
Chronology
← Preceded by Followed by →
Planet of the Spiders The Ark in Space

Robot is the first serial of the 12th season in the British science fiction television series Doctor Who, which was first broadcast in four weekly parts from 28 December 1974 to 18 January 1975. It was the first full serial to feature Tom Baker as the Fourth Doctor, as well as Ian Marter as new companion Harry Sullivan.

Plot

Following his third regeneration, the Doctor briefly becomes delirious and then falls unconscious in front of Sarah Jane Smith and Brigadier Lethbridge-Stewart of UNIT. The Brigadier has Lieutenant Harry Sullivan take the Doctor into his care. Soon, the Doctor wakes, eludes Harry, and tries to sneak off in his TARDIS, but the Brigadier and Sarah Jane stop him, convincing him to help in finding the culprit in the theft of top secret plans for a disintegrator gun. The Brigadier takes the Doctor to the Ministry of Defence advanced research centre where the plans were stored, where the Doctor observes crushed flowers and a rectangular footprint. UNIT sets to protect factories where critical parts for the gun are manufactured, but find the culprit is able to outwit them, including burrowing up underground to collect the final component necessary for the weapon.

Meanwhile, Sarah Jane investigates the National Institute for Advanced Scientific Research, colloquially known as the "Think Tank". There, she finds that director Hilda Winters and her assistant Arnold Jellicoe are developing a robot, Experimental Prototype Robot K1, to be used to perform tasks in hazardous locations in place of humans. Sarah Jane learns that K1 was originally built by Professor J.P. Kettlewell, a former member of the Think Tank who has now turned his sights on alternative energy. Kettlewell attests that he had disassembled K1 after finding its thought processes were growing too quickly, and further asserts that Winters, Jellicoe, nor anyone at the Think Tank have the capacity to program it correctly, and that if they have tampered with its programming, the robot is likely suffering an existential crisis. Sarah Jane takes sympathy on the robot. Later, K1 appears at Kettlewell's residence and attempts to kill him, but when the Doctor, Sarah Jane, and UNIT arrive, the robot becomes confused and escapes.

Unknown to UNIT, Winters and Jellicoe have instructed K1 to kill Cabinet Minister Joseph Chambers as "an enemy of humanity", and to use the completed disintegrator gun to steal papers from his personal safe. UNIT discovers this death, and the Brigadier explains the importance of Chambers; the stolen papers were launch codes for the nuclear weapons of the major nations, given voluntarily to British as a neutral entity to only be released in the time of great need. Further, Winters, Jellicoe, and others of the Think Tank are found to be members of the Scientific Reform Society, seeking to put scientists in charge of the world believing they can make better decisions for humanity than the current governments. Learning of a Reform meeting that night, UNIT prepares to move out, while Sarah Jane, after discovering Kettlewell is also a member, convinces him to go to the meeting to allow her to sneak into it.

At the meeting, Sarah Jane is stunned to learn that Kettlewell was the mastermind behind the plot; he had rebuilt K1 with Winters and Jellicoe so as to get the launch codes to force humanity to change its ways, and had feigned K1's attack at his home. K1 discovers Sarah Jane's presence, and Winters orders K1 to kill her; Kettlewell had never expected to put Sarah Jane in harm and realises Winters is more vicious than he originally thought. When UNIT arrives, Winters, Jellicoe, Kettlewell, and K1 escape with Sarah Jane as their hostage. Harry, having entered the Think Tank under the guise of medical inspections, sees the group enter a bunker and warns UNIT before he is captured.

Winters sends a list of demands to the world governments and gives them thirty minutes to comply, and subsequently orders Kettlewell to connect to the launch computers and prepare to send the launch codes. Kettlewell, who never expected their plan to get to this stage, hesitates, and in the ensuing discussion, Sarah Jane and Harry attempt to escape with Kettlewell's assistance. Winters orders K1 to stop the pair, but the robot, already conflicted to its programming, inadvertently fires the disintegrator gun at Kettlewell, killing him. The death of its creator puts K1 in a further confused state, falling to the ground and apparently shutting down. Winters attempts to program the countdown, but the Doctor arrives and successfully counters it. As UNIT forces take Winters and Jellicoe away, K1 reactivates and begins to attack UNIT. K1 seeks out Sarah Jane to protect her, a result of an Oedipus complex it developed from Sarah Jane's previous compassion, according to the Doctor. UNIT fires the disintegrator gun at the robot but the blast is absorbed, causing the robot to grow to an enormous size. Realising the growth is due to the living metal that Kettlewell used in constructing K1, the Doctor races back to Kettlewell's lab to synthesize a batch of metal-biodegradable virus, a side discovery made by Kettlewell. The Doctor throws a bucket of solution containing the virus onto K1, and the robot slowly shrinks down in size before it vanishes.

As they regroup back at UNIT headquarters, Sarah Jane is saddened by the loss of K1. The Doctor offers to cheer her up with a trip in the TARDIS, extending the invitation to Harry as well. The TARDIS dematerialises just as the Brigadier comes into the laboratory, and frets about letting Buckingham Palace know that their guests will be late for a celebratory dinner.

Production

As the Doctor was transitioning from the third to the fourth incarnations, changes were also occurring in the production department of Doctor Who. Long-time producer Barry Letts was leaving the series but would stay on to cast the part of the new Doctor as well as produce the first story, Robot. Letts would be replaced for the next story by incoming Producer Philip Hinchcliffe.

Veteran Script Editor Terrance Dicks was also leaving the series, being replaced by the new Script Editor Robert Holmes. Holmes had been a writer for the show since season six, having penned several stories including The Krotons, The Space Pirates and Spearhead from Space, the Third Doctor's first serial. Though Dicks was leaving as the script editor, he would still be involved with the series as a writer and had previously helped write the serials The Seeds of Death and The War Games and it would be Dicks who would write the first story for the incoming Fourth Doctor.

Conception and writing

Robot was written by Terrance Dicks, who had joined the series in 1968 as assistant script editor and took over the script editor position soon after.[3] Dicks stated that a major influence for this story was King Kong.[4] The initial script was written before Tom Baker had been cast as the Fourth Doctor, and there was some discussion of returning to an older actor. This would have required a younger character to handle the action scenes, so the character of Harry Sullivan was created. This was Sullivan's debut story, but he had been mentioned in the final episode of the preceding serial, when the Brigadier telephoned him, requesting medical help for the Doctor.

Dicks included a number of elements from the Third Doctor's transition story Spearhead from Space including the Doctor being disoriented after regeneration; going to hospital to recover; escaping from hospital in a hospital gown, which led to a costume change for the new Doctor; viewing himself in a mirror to see the change; and storing the TARDIS key in his shoe.[5] These elements helped the audience with the transition between actors.[6][7][8]

Casting

Tom Baker made his debut as the fourth incarnation of the Doctor in Robot.

It was known beforehand that Jon Pertwee would be leaving his role as the Third Doctor and that a new Fourth Doctor would need to be cast for the part.[9] Tom Baker was an out-of-work actor who had been working in construction at the time.[10][11] Baker had been a television and film actor, having major parts in several films including The Vault of Horror (1973). He had written to Bill Slater, the Head of Serials at the BBC, asking for work.[11] Slater suggested Baker to Doctor Who producer Barry Letts who had been looking to fill the part.[10][11] Letts had been the producer of the series since the early Pertwee serials in 1970. He had seen Baker's work in The Golden Voyage of Sinbad and hired him for the part.[12] Baker would continue in his role as the Doctor for seven seasons, longer than any other actor to play the part.[13]

Elisabeth Sladen had renewed her contract to play Sarah Jane during the previous season. Nicholas Courtney and John Levene reprised their roles as Brigadier Lethbridge-Stewart and Sergeant Benton respectively.[1] Levene had started his role with the Second Doctor story The Invasion (1968) as a member of the military organisation UNIT, the United Nations Intelligence Taskforce. Courtney started a year earlier in The Web of Fear, with his character's rank being a Colonel. They, along with Sladen, would be the transition cast to carry through from the Third Doctor to the Fourth Doctor, though this would be the only UNIT story for the twelfth season. The Earth-based stories involving UNIT that had dominated the Third Doctor's period on the show, were an effort to reduce production costs by Peter Bryant and Derrick Sherwin, the show's previous producer and script editor. This effort had been scrapped during the Third Doctor's run by producer Barry Letts and script editor Terrance Dicks who were just leaving the series as Baker was taking his role as the Fourth Doctor.

Edward Burnham portrays the wild-haired, bespectacled boffin, Professor Kettlewell, who creates the titular K1 robot.[1] Along with Courtney and Levene, Burnham had also played a part in The Invasion where he had the role of Professor Watkins, another scientist-type character. The part of the K1 robot is played by Michael Kilgarriff[1] who had played another robotic part in the 1967 story The Tomb of the Cybermen where he had part of the Cyberman Controller. Patricia Maynard is cast in the part of Miss Hilda Winters, the director of the National Institute for Advanced Scientific Research.[1] Miss Winters' assistant, Arnold Jellicoe, is played by Alec Linstead.[1] Linstead had played the part of Sergeant Osgood—a member of the technical staff at UNIT—in the 1971 serial The Dæmons.

Recording

This was the first Doctor Who serial to have its location material shot entirely on OB videotape, as opposed to the more usual BBC television drama practice of the time of shooting studio interiors on videotape and location exteriors on film. This was due to the large number of video effects involving the eponymous robot required in exterior scenes (shot at the then BBC Engineering Training Department at Wood Norton, Worcestershire[1][14]), which were easier and more convincing to marry to videotape than to film. The team had learned that lesson during the previous season's Invasion of the Dinosaurs. The Wood Norton facility was chosen for location shooting because it had an underground bunker, which director Christopher Barry felt would be suitable for the entrance to the underground complex in the story; however, they were refused permission to shoot in that area.[14]

Broadcast and reception

Serial details by episode
EpisodeBroadcast dateRun timeViewers
(in millions)
"Part One" 28 December 1974 (1974-12-28) 24:11 10.8
"Part Two" 4 January 1975 (1975-01-04) 25:00 10.7
"Part Three" 11 January 1975 (1975-01-11) 24:29 10.1
"Part Four" 18 January 1975 (1975-01-18) 24:29 9
[15][16][17]

Robot was the first serial of the twelfth season of Doctor Who. Part one of Robot was first broadcast on BBC One on Saturday, 28 December 1974[1][2] and had a viewership of 10.8 million, which was higher than the first serial for season eleven. The next three parts were broadcast over the next successive Saturdays, each having an audience of over 10 million with the exception of the part four on Saturday, 18 January 1975 which only had viewership of 9 million.[1][15][16][17]

Reception

Robot is considered to have been influenced by the 1933 film King Kong

Viewer reaction was mixed as defined in an Audience Research Report conducted by the BBC. About 30% felt the show was "definitely enjoyable" with a lower percentage being "distinctly unimpressed". A number of viewers thought the new Doctor would "take some getting used to", but most younger viewers gave positive comments about the serial.[6][8] As with all of the Doctors, Baker received some criticism by the audience, who felt he was a "loony" and presented as "stupid".[18]

Critical reception of Robot was generally positive. Jonathan Way felt the episode was fun[19] and Robert Cope praised Baker's performance as the new Doctor and also noted that the relationship between Baker's Doctor and Sladen's Sarah Jane worked well.[20] David J. Howe and Stephen James Walker, writing in The Television Companion, admired the performances of Nicholas Courtney and Elisabeth Sladen and felt Marter's debut as Harry Sullivan was promising. They also commended the K1 Robot costume, which was built by Allister Bowtell and designed by James Acheson. Howe and Walker, however, criticised the use of CSO (colour-separation overlay) effects for a number of shots involving the K1 Robot, as did Robert Cope.[6][8][20]

Mark Braxton of Radio Times praised the introduction of Baker and Marter, as well as the K1 concept. However, he felt that the villains were stereotypical and wrote that Robot "boasts perhaps the show's worst visual effect ever".[1] IGN reviewer Arnold Blumburg gave the story a rating of 7 out of 10, attributing its success to Baker. He too criticised the effects, feeling that it made the story "[fail] when trying to present an epic conclusion".[21] DVD Talk's Nick Lyons wrote that it "may not be the most original episode, but it is one of the stronger episodes of the Baker years simply because it never drags and is a breezy action-adventure. It doesn't hurt that the robot itself is a nifty villain". He gave the serial three and a half out of five stars.[22] In 2010, SFX named the scene where the Doctor tries on many different costumes as one of the silliest moments in the show's history.[23]

Reviewing the serial in 2007, literary critic John Kenneth Muir noted several influences on the writing of Robot. Kettlewell's K1 Robot is programmed so that it cannot harm humans; Muir traces the inspiration for this directly from the Three Laws of Robotics devised by Isaac Asimov in his 1950 story collection, I, Robot. He also considers the relationship of Sarah Jane Smith with the K1 Robot, its transformation into gigantic antagonist (holding a captive damsel in distress, Sarah Jane, in its claw) and its tragic destruction by military force as an analogue of the 1933 film, King Kong.[4]

Commercial releases

Robot has had a number of commercial releases on video, in print and audio.

In print

Doctor Who and the Giant Robot
Author Terrance Dicks
Cover artist Peter Brookes
Series Doctor Who book:
Target novelisations
Release number
 28
Subject Featuring:
Sarah Jane Smith, the Brigadier, Harry Sullivan
Publisher Target Books
Publication date
 13 March 1975
Pages 124
ISBN 0-426-10858-2

A novelisation of this serial, written by Terrance Dicks, was published by Target Books in 1975, titled Doctor Who and the Giant Robot.[24] A second edition was released in 1978 by W. H. Allen Ltd with new cover art; a third edition, retitled Doctor Who - Robot and using the VHS release artwork, was released in 1992.[24]

It was also one of two Doctor Who serials to have a second novelisation written, aimed at younger readers using simpler language (the other being Junior Doctor Who and the Brain of Morbius). Also written by Dicks, this edition was titled Junior Doctor Who and the Giant Robot.

Audio book

An unabridged reading of the novelisation by actor Tom Baker was released on compact disc on 5 November 2007 by BBC Audiobooks.[25] The audio book was released as Doctor Who: The Giant Robot on 4 CDs for an American audience in 2008 by Chivers Children's Audio Books.[13][26] The audio book was released a third time as a pre-loaded Playaway digital audio book in 2009 by BBC Audiobooks.[27]

Home media

Robot first entered the home video market as a VHS release in January 1992.[24] The North American VHS release occurred in 1994 when CBS/Fox Video released the serial.[28]

BBC Video first released Robot on DVD in the United Kingdom on 4 June 2007.[29][30] It was released later in the United States on 14 August 2007.[22] The DVD release received generally positive reviews and was praised for the extras, including a documentary titled Are Friends Electric? detailing the production and casting of the show.[21][22][29] Robot was released as part of issue 49 of Doctor Who DVD Files, published 17 November 2010.

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 Braxton, Mark (7 May 2010). Preston, Ben, ed. "Doctor Who: Robot - Radio Times". Radio Times. London, England, UK: Immediate Media Company. ISSN 0033-8060. OCLC 240905405. Retrieved 13 January 2013.
  2. 1 2 3 4 Lofficier, Jean-Marc; Jean-Marc; Randy, Lofficier (1 May 2003). The Doctor Who Programme Guide: Fourth Edition (4th ed.). Bloomington, Indiana, USA: iUniverse. p. 118. ISBN 9780595276189. Retrieved 9 January 2013.
  3. ↑ Leach, Jim (1 April 2009). "Doctor Who": TV Milestones Series (illustrated ed.). Detroit, Michigan, USA: Wayne State University Press. ISBN 9780814333082. OCLC 768120206. Retrieved 9 January 2013.
  4. 1 2 Muir, John Kenneth (1999). "Season 12". A critical history of Doctor Who on television (illustrated ed.). Jefferson, North Carolina, USA: McFarland & Company. pp. 222–223. ISBN 9780786404421. OCLC 40926632. Retrieved 1 November 2016.
  5. ↑ http://www.bbc.co.uk/doctorwho/classic/episodeguide/robot/detail.shtml
  6. 1 2 3 BBC staff (2007). "BBC - Doctor Who Classic Episode Guide - Robot - Details". Doctor Who The Classic Series. BBC. Retrieved 10 January 2013.
  7. ↑ Cornell, Paul; Day, Martin; Topping, Keith (1 October 2004). The Discontinuity Guide: The Unofficial Doctor Who Companion (2nd ed.). Austin, Texas, USA: MonkeyBrain Books. ISBN 9781932265095. OCLC 56773449. Retrieved 10 January 2013.
  8. 1 2 3 Howe, David J.; Walker, Stephen James (30 October 2004). The Television Companion: The Unofficial and Unauthorised Guide to Doctor Who. Tolworth, Surrey, England, UK: Telos Publishing. ISBN 9781903889527. OCLC 59332938. Retrieved 10 January 2013.
  9. ↑ Sladen, Elisabeth (2012). Doctor Who Stories: Elizabeth Sladen Part 1 (DVD). Doctor Who: Invasion of the Dinosaurs. London, England, UK: BBC Video. ISBN 9780780684416. OCLC 750279801.
  10. 1 2 Westthorp, Alex (24 April 2008). "Who could've been Who? An alternate history of Doctor Who". Den of Geek. London, England, UK: Dennis Publishing. Retrieved 9 January 2013. Eventually a suggestion by the wife of BBC drama head Bill Slater was followed up and the production team found the wild-eyed and naturally eccentric Tom Baker mixing cement on a building site.
  11. 1 2 3 Westthorp, Alex (1 April 2010). "Top 10 Doctor Who producers: Part Two". Den of Geek. London, England, UK: Dennis Publishing. Retrieved 9 January 2013. Letts found casting a new Doctor more difficult, however, until a tip-off from his boss Bill Slater. An unemployed actor, then working on a building site, called Tom Baker had written to Slater asking for work. In, arguably, one of the best decisions ever made on Doctor Who, Letts cast Tom Baker as the fourth Doctor.
  12. ↑ Rawson-Jones, Ben (14 October 2009). "A tribute to 'Doctor Who' legend Barry Letts". Digital Spy. New York City, New York, USA: Hearst Magazines UK. Retrieved 9 January 2013. Having seen unknown hod-carrier Baker in The Golden Voyage Of Sinbad, Letts took the goggle-eyed aspiring actor away from the building site and into the Tardis in 1974.
  13. 1 2 AudioFile staff (July 2009). Whitten, Robin F., ed. "AudioFile audiobook review: DOCTOR WHO By Terrance Dicks, Read by Tom Baker". AudioFile. Portland, Maine, USA: AudioFile Publications. ISSN 1063-0244. OCLC 25844569. Retrieved 14 January 2013.
  14. 1 2 Howe, David J.; Stammers, Mark; Walker, Stephen James (1 November 1992). The Fourth Doctor Handbook: The Tom Baker Years 1974-1981. London, England, UK: Doctor Who Books. p. 214. ISBN 9780426203698. OCLC 31709926.
  15. 1 2 Shaun Lyon; et al. (31 March 2007). "Robot". Outpost Gallifrey. Archived from the original on 31 July 2008. Retrieved 30 July 2008.
  16. 1 2 Mento, Charles (4 September 2002). "Robot, Serial 4A". Doctor Who Reference Guide. Dominique Boies. Retrieved 30 August 2008.
  17. 1 2 Sullivan, Shannon (7 August 2007). "Serial 4A: Robot". A Brief History of Time Travel. Shannon Sullivan. Retrieved 30 August 2008.
  18. ↑ "Doctor Who regeneration was 'modelled on LSD trips'". BBC News. 12 April 2010. Retrieved 19 January 2013.
  19. ↑ Way, Jonathan (December 1988). Leigh, Gary, ed. "A Voyage Through 25 Years of Doctor Who". Doctor Who Bulletin. Brighton, England, UK: Titan Magazines (#61, 25th Anniversary Special). ISSN 1351-2471. OCLC 500077966.
  20. 1 2 Cope, Robert (December 1991). Leigh, Gary, ed. "(unknown)". Doctor Who Bulletin. Brighton, England, UK: Titan Magazines (96). ISSN 1351-2471. OCLC 500077966.
  21. 1 2 Blumberg, Arnold (13 August 2007). "Doctor Who: Robot DVD Review - IGN". IGN Entertainment. San Francisco, California, USA: News Corporation. Retrieved 13 January 2013.
  22. 1 2 3 Lyons, Nick (30 September 2007). "Doctor Who - Robot : DVD Talk Review of the DVD Video". DVD Talk. El Segundo, California, USA: Internet Brands. Retrieved 13 January 2013.
  23. ↑ O'Brian, Steve (November 2010). "Doctor Who's 25 Silliest Moments". SFX. Retrieved 21 March 2013.
  24. 1 2 3 Lofficier, Jean-Marc and Randy (1 May 2003). "Fourth Doctor". The Doctor Who Programme Guide. iUniverse. p. 119. ISBN 0595276180.
  25. ↑ Doctor Who and the Giant Robot (CD). Bath, Somerset, England, UK: BBC Audiobooks. 2007. ISBN 9781405666671. OCLC 212781264.
  26. ↑ Doctor Who: The Giant Robot (CD). North Kingstown, Rhode Island, USA: Chivers Children's Audio Books. 2008. ISBN 9781405657914. OCLC 271893995.
  27. ↑ Doctor Who and the Giant Robot (Digital audio). Bath, Somerset, England, UK: BBC Audiobooks. 2009. ISBN 9781408415313. OCLC 752431922.
  28. ↑ Doctor Who / Robot (VHS). New York City, New York, USA: CBS/Fox Video. 1994. ISBN 9780793981038. OCLC 33954409.
  29. 1 2 Wilkins, Jonathan (15 May 2007). "Doctor Who: Robot Reviews - Total Sci-Fi". Dreamwatch. Brighton, England, UK: Titan Magazines. ISSN 1351-2471. OCLC 500077966. Archived from the original on 7 June 2012. Retrieved 13 January 2013.
  30. ↑ Doctor Who / Robot (DVD). London, England, UK: BBC Video. 2007. ISBN 9781419858604. OCLC 156824505.

Bibliography

External links

Wikiquote has quotations related to: Fourth Doctor

Reviews

Target novelisation

This article is issued from Wikipedia - version of the 11/1/2016. The text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share Alike but additional terms may apply for the media files.