Doctor Who: The Robots of Death: Part Three starts as the Doctor (Tom Baker) & Dask (David Bailie) manage to stabilize the Storm Mine 4 & avert it's potential destruction. Meanwhile the orchestrator of the sinister goings on on the Storm Mine 4 heads towards the completion of their plan as they convert the last few remaining robots into killers whom are ordered to kill all the remaining human crew-members left...
Episode 19 from season 14 this Doctor Who adventure originally aired here in the UK during February 1977, one can easily see why The Robots of Death is held in such high regard as it mixes a traditional whodunit murder mystery with a sci-fi setting. Unlike the previous two episodes no-one dies here in Part Three & the episode is largely used for exposition purposes & to reveal a bit more about the human villain. Again there are one or two clever red herrings here to mix the plot up a bit but overall it's not that difficult to work out who the main villain is especially because of their trousers & the distorted shot of their face on the monitor screen commanding a robot gives the game away. There is one other plot point that makes zero sense, the end of Part Two & the beginning of Part Three revolves around the Storm Mine 4's motive unit being sabotaged. Right well that in itself is fine but then just ask yourself the question why? Why would Taren Capel sabotage the Storm Mine 4 to an extent which would have definitely resulted in it's destruction had the Doctor not been there on hand to save the day? Capel would have killed himself & destroyed all of his robots, so why do it? It's not something that would benefit him at all is it? Committing suicide isn't a good way to get what you want because you will then be dead & not get it, obviously. Still a very good episode though, well written & generally well thought out if you ignore that tacked on cliffhanger subplot. The character's have been pretty good, there's the single minded Commander, the rest of the crew who all seem to dislike each other for various reasons & Leela in her second story comes across quite well although coming from a primitive tribe she grasp's the use of technology rather well.
The production design has been very impressive on The Robots of Death, those awful Storm Mine 4 model shots grow on you as you watch it & becomes less distracting the more you get used to them. The robots look great & there's lots of menacing scenes in Part Three with them sporting demonic style red eyes. The acting has been of a high standard, one or two scenes are poor like Zilda breaking down & crying towards the end of Part Two for instance but otherwise it's very good. Tom Baker as the Doctor puts in a great performance & was one of his last measured performances from the show.
The Robots of Death: Part Three is another great episode in a great story, one of the very best from the show's original twenty six season run, it's just a shame about that pointless & baffling sabotage subplot which makes no sense.
Episode 19 from season 14 this Doctor Who adventure originally aired here in the UK during February 1977, one can easily see why The Robots of Death is held in such high regard as it mixes a traditional whodunit murder mystery with a sci-fi setting. Unlike the previous two episodes no-one dies here in Part Three & the episode is largely used for exposition purposes & to reveal a bit more about the human villain. Again there are one or two clever red herrings here to mix the plot up a bit but overall it's not that difficult to work out who the main villain is especially because of their trousers & the distorted shot of their face on the monitor screen commanding a robot gives the game away. There is one other plot point that makes zero sense, the end of Part Two & the beginning of Part Three revolves around the Storm Mine 4's motive unit being sabotaged. Right well that in itself is fine but then just ask yourself the question why? Why would Taren Capel sabotage the Storm Mine 4 to an extent which would have definitely resulted in it's destruction had the Doctor not been there on hand to save the day? Capel would have killed himself & destroyed all of his robots, so why do it? It's not something that would benefit him at all is it? Committing suicide isn't a good way to get what you want because you will then be dead & not get it, obviously. Still a very good episode though, well written & generally well thought out if you ignore that tacked on cliffhanger subplot. The character's have been pretty good, there's the single minded Commander, the rest of the crew who all seem to dislike each other for various reasons & Leela in her second story comes across quite well although coming from a primitive tribe she grasp's the use of technology rather well.
The production design has been very impressive on The Robots of Death, those awful Storm Mine 4 model shots grow on you as you watch it & becomes less distracting the more you get used to them. The robots look great & there's lots of menacing scenes in Part Three with them sporting demonic style red eyes. The acting has been of a high standard, one or two scenes are poor like Zilda breaking down & crying towards the end of Part Two for instance but otherwise it's very good. Tom Baker as the Doctor puts in a great performance & was one of his last measured performances from the show.
The Robots of Death: Part Three is another great episode in a great story, one of the very best from the show's original twenty six season run, it's just a shame about that pointless & baffling sabotage subplot which makes no sense.