Doctor Who (TV Series) The Robots of Death: Part One (1977) User Reviews

Very handsome robots indeed -- a fine entry.

[Ospidillo · 7/10 · 27 January 2008]

I am reviewing all four parts here as that is the way that it comes on DVD.

This is one of the better Tom Baker entries. It ran in 1977 (January 29th - February 19th), and is 95 minutes in length (broken down into 4 episodes). It's full-screen and in color. The story was written by Chris Boucher (story No. 090) and this copy is nice and clear with no film scratch lines or other distortions. There are a few special features (photo gallery, commentary, and some really weird unused footage).

The story here is that The Doctor and Leela (she's very hot-looking as usual) land the Tardis on a desolate mining planet where a few humans (men and women) oversee lots of busy robots who do all the work, including running the huge Juggernaut of a machine that does the mining. In fact, almost all the sequences are filmed "inside" the big mining-ship.

Right after the two show up, one of the miners is coincidentally murdered and The Doctor and Leela get blamed because the robots are programmed never to harm humans. There seems to be no motive for one human miner to have killed another. But it soon becomes apparent that the robots' programming may have been altered by some subversive.... (well, THAT would be a SPOILER!) In any event, it ends up being pretty much the robots versus the humans before it's all over... with a couple of exceptions. And, I should reiterate, the robots look pretty spiffy, with metallic humanoid faces.

Tom Baker is at his best in this one and it doesn't drag anywhere. The story is interesting and the sets are pretty darn good. Overall, this is a top Doctor Who entry and I would recommend it to all sci-fi fans.

The start to one of the best Doctor Who stories ever.

[poolandrews · 8/10 · 25 May 2008]

Doctor Who: The Robots of Death: Part One starts as the TARDIS arrives on-board a huge Sandminer, called Storm Mine 4, which is mining the surface of an alien planet looking for precious minerals & ores. Upon exiting the TARDIS the Doctor (Tom Baker) & Leela (Louise Jameson) find themselves in a huge sand scoop with a sandstorm fast approaching. Meanwhile in the Storm Mine 4's crew areas a scientist named Chub (Rob Edwards) is found dead having been murdered by strangulation. The Doctor & Leela are soon discovered & Commander Uvanov (Russell Hunter) feels certain they were responsible for Chub's death as the Doctor & Leela find themselves accused of murder...

Episode 17 from season 14 this Doctor Who adventure originally aired here in the UK during January 1977, the fifth & penultimate story from Tom Baker's third season playing the Doctor & following on directly from the previous story The Face Of Evil (1976) as Leela still has a Sevateem gun & the Doctor tries to explain the principal of how the TARDIS works to her The Robots of Death is considered one of the finest stories in the entire twenty six season run of classic Doctor Who & it's easy to see why. After Leela was chosen to be a regular companion the production team asked Chris Boucher to provide the scripts for The Robots of Death after he had created her for the previous story The Face of Evil, originally worked on under the titles Planet of the Robots & The Storm-Mine Murders there are lots of different influences here including the Clifford D. Simak short 1950's science fiction story Bathe Your Bearings in Blood! for the orchestrated robot rebellion, the Laws of Robotics by Isaac Asimov (the character of Commander Uvanov is an obvious play on his name) feature heavily, the Sandminer location is right out of the 1960's Dune novels by Frank Herbert while the murder mystery whodunit element is strongly reminiscent of the works of Agatha Christie especially Murder on the Orient Express with a murder mystery set on an isolated form of transport. The sci-fi elements work brilliantly with the tried & trusted murder mystery plot, Part One has a strong mystery element & one of the show's best cliffhanger endings which really makes you really want to see Part Two & how it is resolved.

While the plot for The Robots of Death is the stand out feature the production design is mixed. The model shots of the Storm Mine 4 are truly terrible, in fact I think they really hurt the overall effectiveness of the episode. The corpse markers look odd & very cheap because they are so obviously just bicycle reflectors! However the art deco style sets & the art deco design of the robots in particular are excellent, the shots of the Doctor & Leela looking out through the scoop slats onto the alien planet with the sandstorm coming is also quite good. The costumes of the human crew aboard the Storm Mine 4 are less effective, in fact they look downright daft at times & what's with that silly eye make-up & ridiculous looking head gear? There's a continuity error here in Part One, the Doctor exits the TARDIS wearing his trademark scarf & the robot V84 takes both him & Leela to a crew quarter & when inside his scarf has disappeared yet when seen again walking around the Strom Mine 4's corridors straight after escaping the room it's magically reappeared around his neck again. the very last appearance of the redesigned wooden TARDIS console room that debuted in The Masque of Mandragora (1976) & was only seen during this season, it was not needed for the following story The Talons of Weng-Chiang (1977) & was damaged in storage which meant a new more traditional looking TARDIS interior console room was built for season fifteen.

The Robots of Death: Part One is a terrific start to a terrific story, it has become considered as one of the finest stories from the classic series & I don't disagree with that sentiment.

Traditional Horror Fare Helped By A Good Cast

[Theo Robertson · 7/10 · 30 October 2013]

Immediately after materialising upon a sandminer vehicle the Doctor and Leela find themselves suspected of a motiveless murder . After another murder is committed the Doctor tries to solve the mystery but will he live long enough to do so ?

Yet another story that frequently appears in the top ten of classic Who fan surveys one has to answer the question of its validity as an undisputed classic . It's very much n the tradition of what the classic show was remembered for - a quasi horror show broadcast at tea time that sent a generation of children hiding behind the sofa but there's not a lot here to differentiate amongst its horror peers . There's an element of an Agatha Christie style whodunit but nothing that makes it standout and I wonder how well regarded it would have been if it'd appeared a year earlier ? Certainly several of the stories of season 13 developed bone chilling terror and imagery to much better effect

Not to be too negative the story is engaging enough and the cast of well known television faces namely Hunter , Salem , Croucher and Collings make the most of the material , more so when you see them perform in some laughably eccentric costume design , but the robots themselves are well realised on screen helped greatly by the always efficient directing from Michael E Briant . The voices especially are well done as the robots commit murder against a rapidly dwindling band of humans

Sci-Fi/Horror Classic with exceptional Art Deco robots.

[A_Kind_Of_CineMagic · 10/10 · 10 December 2014]

Review of all 4 episodes:

In the fabulous series 14 this is another very impressive story. Basically a murder mystery in a futuristic setting with horror elements. The Doctor and his new companion Leela arrive on a sandmining vessel manned by a human crew along with robot workers. There has been a murder and The Doctor is immediately assumed to be the killer. As more murders take place The Doctor has to discover the true killer before he himself becomes a victim. The robots are involved and when you hear their gentle, passionless voices and see them turn from servants to red eyed attackers it is chilling and effective. This is clearly an influence (mixed with First Doctor aliens The Sensorites) on Russell T. Davies creations 'The Ood' which first appear in 2006.

The 'Art Deco' style design of the robots is absolutely beautiful and impressive and their calm, butler like voices are wonderful. The brilliant realisation of these impeccably designed robots is one of the highlights of this production. Some of the other effects and the sets are equally impressive. There is also yet another exceptional, intelligent script and thrilling story with great scares and terrific performances from Tom Baker and his new sidekick Louise Jameson who establishes Leela as an excellent companion straight away. This Hinchcliffe/Holmes era just has the best standards and writer Chris Boucher has provided more great material.

The cool science fiction idea of robots having their programming overruled and attacking humans continues to be used in many films and TV shows and at the time this was made it had been used before but far less than it has now. It is a very strong idea, hence it gets used so much, and it is presented really well in this adventure creating fear and menace.

The human characters are good but it is The Doctor and Leela who really are the wonderful characters while the robots, the premise and the dialogue is all very high quality stuff. The tension and mystery is worked really well with some exciting cliffhangers and powerful horror elements.

This maintains the super high standards of the series in this period and is another must see for fans. All 4 episodes 10/10.

A superb start to a classic story.

[Sleepin_Dragon · 10/10 · 15 October 2019]

The Doctor and new companion Leela land on board a mining ship, where a crew chase lucrative minerals, aided by an on board team of robots. When a member of crew is murdered, The Doctor and Leela are accused.

It is a superb start to what is ultimately an all time classic. It is no surprise that this had huge viewing figures. As a lover of Agatha Christie and Dr Who, I find this story utterly wonderful. It's a real sci fi whodunnit.

I adore Leela, Jameson played the role with total and utter sincerity, her lack of understanding makes her so engaging as a character.

It is one of the best looking stories of all time, production values are off the scale, with beautiful large sets, stunning costumes and to those truly exquisite robots, why on Earth did they never make a reappearance? Did this season have a big budget, or did they just make better use of it? It boasted Masque of Mandragora, Deadly Assassin and of course Talons of Weng Chiang, some glorious looking episodes.

I have to give huge credit to Philip Hinchcliffe, the producer, he understood the show better then anyone, you can't really compare the offerings from Season 14 to what followed in Season 15. Season 14 perhaps being the final golden season.

A lavish, fabulous start. 10/10

This was one of my favorite old who episodes.

[ianweech · 10/10 · 25 March 2020]

I've watched this episode 7 times, and i watched it an 8th time to review it. This was an amazing episode, with great characters and a great cliffhanger. It's a shame that the robots in these episodes were not used more often! Just use them as cyberman replacements!

Rise of the Machines...

[Xstal · 8/10 · 3 July 2022]

There's a good chance if you're locked inside a hopper, that you'll end up being struck, and come a cropper, no override control, might leave you feeling like a mole, as cascades of stones expel from silo's dropper.

Robot rebellion, model spaceships and tacky fashions - yep, it's Baker-era Who

[Leofwine_draca · 6/10 · 20 September 2012]

Review of the Complete Story:

A surprisingly entertaining and enjoyable slice of classic DOCTOR WHO, here in the midst of the Tom Baker years. The story is sharp and effective, and although as usual the costumes and special effects are hugely dated, it remains upbeat and worthwhile at all points. The basic plot is little more than an updating of the classic TEN LITTLE INDIANS tale, as the skeleton crew of a sand-mining spaceship are bumped off one by one by an unknown assailant and each have strange little markers left on their personage, which are used to signify scrap-metal robots.

Yes, robots are the order of the day here, acting as slave workers to the humans before they eventually revolt having been reprogrammed. It's no surprise to say that the robots are the murderers, considering the title and subject matter, but they ARE acting under a human influence who is gradually unmasked as the story progresses.

There is plenty to enjoy in this story. Tom Baker is very good as the Doctor, although this time around his script is a little over-wordy. Nevertheless he puts in a sterling performance and is surprisingly well supported by Leela, in her second adventure and another strong performance. The supporting cast of characters are okay and rather interesting, although most are bumped off too soon for us to get to know them. It's a rather multi-racial group including a young Jeremy Irons lookalike and a rather buxom damsel-in-distress who rests easy on the eye.

The plot has its fair share of twists and turns, with plenty of shoehorned in elements-of-danger including Baker nearly being suffocated in a sand silo and plenty of other low-rent adventures. The robots are not the most intimidating of creations – and their quilted attire leaves them looking sadly dated, it has to be said – but the blue screen effect which turns their eyes a glowing red is surprisingly effective.

Further footage of the model spaceship prowling the surface of the planet was excised, which is a plus, because what footage we do see is tacky and appalling, to be truthful. Mystery, adventure, man vs. machine and a cool "good guy" robot add up to make this one of the better Tom Baker adventures, one of the first to get a welcome DVD release which shows a mark of its popularity.

If Doctor Who is so clever, why can't he control his TARDIS?

[JamesHitchcock · 19 August 2014]

If Doctor Who is so clever, and if the Timelords are so technically advanced, why does he have such trouble controlling his spaceship? A number of serials, including this one, start with the TARDIS landing on some unknown planet and the Doctor being forced to admit to his companion that he has no idea where, or in which period of history, they currently are.

I think that the reason is that this is essentially a useful plot device to introduce a new adventure. Most serials involve the Doctor and his companion finding themselves in some dangerous situation, and if he had deliberately navigated the TARDIS into such a situation, people might start asking "If Doctor Who is so clever, why does he keep going to places where someone, or something, is trying to kill him?"

The series has long contained an element of self-plagiarism, with situations and concepts from earlier episodes being recycled in later ones. (The similarities between the Second Doctor adventure "The Seeds of Death" and the Fourth Doctor's "The Seeds of Doom", for example, go well beyond the titles). "The Robots of Death" borrows heavily from an earlier Fourth Doctor serial, "Planet of Evil". Both involve the TARDIS materialising on board some vehicle, and in both cases the Doctor's arrival coincides with a mysterious series of killings among the crew. In both cases the Doctor and his companion come under suspicion of the murders, but of course there has to be an alternative explanation.

Here the action takes place aboard a huge sand-mining vehicle exploring the surface of an alien desert planet for precious minerals. The ship is manned by a mixed crew of humans and robots. The Doctor quickly deduces that the robots are responsible for the unexplained killings, but the humans, with one exception, will not believe him because everyone knows that all robots have been programmed so as to be incapable of harming humans. The Doctor is therefore confronted with a second mystery; who has reprogrammed the robots?

Besides self-plagiarism, "Doctor Who" could also borrow from other literary sources. ("Planet" of Evil", for example, is heavily indebted to "Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde"). Here the idea of prospecting for minerals on a barren desert planet seems to be drawn from Frank Herbert's "Dune". The idea of robots being unable to kill humans is taken from the work of Isaac Asimov; there is an implied reference to his "First Law of Robotics". The murder plot line owes a great deal to Agatha Christie, with the Doctor cast as an intergalactic Miss Marple or Hercule Poirot. The scene in which Commander Uvanov, the captain of the vehicle, announces to his crew "someone among us is a murderer" is pure Christie.

There are even Christie-style "red herrings". It emerges that one of the crew has a grudge against Uvanov and therefore a possible motive; this person, of course, is the next to be killed, which gives rise to another red herring, as it is suggested that Uvanov himself might have killed her. (Indeed, given all the talk of a "robot revolution", his name may be a red herring in itself. Anyone with a knowledge of Russian history will have recognised the similarity to Lenin's real surname of Ulyanov).

Like any good fictional detective, the Doctor has to have his little eccentricities; Sherlock Holmes had his deerstalker, pipe and violin; Tom Baker has his fondness for long scarves, bad jokes and jelly babies. This is also the serial in which he reveals a fondness for bumblebees, insects which manage to fly even though, scientifically, it should be impossible for them to do so. Like all good fictional detectives, he also needs an assistant; Holmes had Watson, Poirot had Hastings and the Doctor has Leela.

Louise Jameson was by no means the first attractive woman to star in "Doctor Who". Indeed, a beautiful young female companion had been a feature of the series ever since Carole Ann Ford's Susan in "An Unearthly Child". Most of these, however, tended to be sweetly innocent girl-next-door types, like Wendy Padbury's Zoe or Elisabeth Sladen's Sarah, possibly in order to head off any criticism that there might be something inappropriate, in a programme intended for family viewing, about an elderly or middle-aged man travelling through space and time accompanied by a girl young enough to be his daughter.

There was nothing, however, innocent about Leela, a warrior maiden scantily dressed in a leather outfit owing something to Raquel Welch's fur bikini in "One Million Years BC". She seems to have been introduce to extend the programme's appeal to the teenage and twenty-something male audience. (I was a teenager myself in 1977). She was intelligent, but headstrong and fiercely independent, and far less in awe of the Doctor than her predecessors had been.

Visually, with its Art Deco-inspired sets and those strange, quasi- mediaeval costumes worn by the crew of the sandminer, "The Robots of Death" is one of the more stylish of the Fourth Doctor's adventures. (The point of the costumes may have been to suggest a society which, although technologically advanced, it also politically conservative and elitist, something also implied in the dialogue). At the level of the script, however, all those self-conscious literary references and borrowings mean that it can seem unoriginal and derivative.