Doctor Who - Robot Reviews

Rating		Votes
10	1%	1
9	4%	4
8	15%	15
7	44%	44
6	22%	22
5	12%	12
4	3%	3
3	0%	0
2	0%	0
1	0%	0
Average Rating 6.7
Votes 101

Synopsis

From http://www.bbc.co.uk/doctorwho/classic/episodeguide

A newly regenerated Doctor joins UNIT in an investigation into the theft of top secret plans and equipment from supposedly secure premises. Sarah discovers that the raids have been carried out by a robot invented by scientist Professor Kettlewell while he was working for Think Tank, a body involved in developing emerging technologies.

The robot has been reprogrammed on the orders of Miss Winters, the director of Think Tank, and used to obtain the means for constructing a disintegrator gun with which the Scientific Reform Society - of which she is a leading member - can steal the computer codes controlling the nuclear weapons of the world's leading powers. In this way, the SRS hopes to hold the world to ransom unless its demands for a purer way of life are met.

Kettlewell is killed by the robot after he balks at Miss Winters' ruthlessness. The robot then suffers an electronic mental breakdown and tries to activate the nuclear weapons.

The Brigadier attempts to destroy it with the disintegrator gun, but this merely causes it to grow to gigantic proportions, following which it goes on the rampage.

The Doctor, assisted by UNIT medical officer Harry Sullivan, destroys it with a metal virus described in Kettlewell's notes.

Has Prerequisite Story

1 out of 25 (4.0%) raters say this story requires a previous story.

Extended Ratings

Plot

6.5

(35)

Acting

7.7

(35)

Effects

6.4

(35)

Replay

7.1

(34)

4th Doctor

Brigadier Lethbridge-Stewart

Harry Sullivan

Sarah Jane Smith

Sergeant Benton

K1 Robot

Cast

The Doctor - Tom Baker

Sarah Jane Smith - Elisabeth Sladen

Harry Sullivan - Ian Marter

Brigadier Lethbridge-Stewart - Nicholas Courtney

Sergeant Benton - John Levene

Professor Kettlewell - Edward Burnham

Jellicoe - Alec Linstead

Robot - Michael Kilgarriff

Short - Timothy Craven

Miss Winters - Patricia Maynard

Director:

Christopher Barry

Writer:

Terrance Dicks

Reviews

My Rating/Review

Latest Community Reviews

Doctor Who

Classic TV Series

Robot

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Reviewed By: TheBigChurroReview Date: 2/7/17 8:17 pm

0 out of 0 found this review helpful.

Robot is a cracker of a story, I just love the story for some reason, the plot is simple and straightforward, the cast are all on fine form and are a joy to watch. The four episodes fly by and is he perfect length for the introductory story of a new Doctor.
The design of the K-1 Robot I absolutely adore, it just screams Classic Who in a positive way :P
This story is a great entry point into the classic series and was one of the first 4th Doctor stories I watched a few years ago.

The only nitpick I have is the way the relationship between the Doctor and Benton is, it feels as if the Doctor didn't know him and he was a new character; with Pertwee there was a friendly respect and colleague relationship between the two. Even after the regeneration, all of the characters relationships with the Doctor changed, which is fair, but they felt developed and a natural change because of the new, different personality, but with Benton, it feels like the Doctor treats him as bumbly idiot, which is upsetting because I liked that relationship between the two. Hopefully this is changed when we see him again in Terror of the Zygons.

Doctor Who

Classic TV Series

Robot

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Reviewed By: adamelijahReview Date: 3/31/15 9:35 am

1 out of 1 found this review helpful.

This serial's big purpose was to introduce the fourth Doctor and transition into his own stories. For the most part, this serial succeeds admirably on both counts. Tom Baker brings a ton of quirkiness to the role, particularly in Episode 1 with his tying up of Harry Sullivan and how he chooses his iconic outfit. There's plenty of laughs in the first episode. However, the Doctor was equally capable of getting serious as he did in Episode 3 when Warrant Officer Benton allowed Sarah Jane to do something that put her in very serious risk.

The plot was decent with a robot forced to kill contrary to programming, and I have to give the story points for a clever twist in Episode 3 that I didn't see coming. Episode 4 had some silly contrived stuff such as the villains not having bothered to find out how much food they had to survive a nuclear holocaust and how the robot grew to giant size at the end.

Still, the flaws couldn't ruin a very solid beginning for the fourth doctor and an always enjoyable performance by Elizabeth Sladen.

Doctor Who

Classic TV Series

Robot

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Reviewed By: newt5996Review Date: 2/28/15 9:44 pm

0 out of 1 found this review helpful.

This may be the Fourth Doctor's first outing in the role and while Tom Baker and the regular cast do a good job, the rest of the cast bring the story down quite a few points. Add that with the story just being Terrance Dicks' homage to King Kong and not told well I can't say the story is good. However you should give it a watch because it is very unintentionally funny

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