Four episodes
Aired between 28th December 1974 and 18th January 1975
Written by Terrence Dicks
Produced by Barry Letts
Directed by Chris Barry
Synopsis
Having recently regenerated from his encounter with the spiders of Metabilis III, the "new" Doctor is quite disoriented.
The Brigadier calls in Harry Sullivan, the medical officer, and has him taken to the sick bay.
That night, something large and mechanical breaks into a Ministry of Defence advanced research station. It's clawed mechanical hand kills a guard and smashes its way into the facility, stealing top secret documents.
The next morning, Sarah Jane finds the Brigadier having to deal with the aftermath of the theft. He tells her whoever it was has stolen the secret plans to a Disintegrator gun.
She asks him for a pass to visit to the National Institute for Advanced Scientific Research a.k.a. "Think Tank". She's heard of a rare opportunity for journalists to get in and see what's happening and wants a scoop on a story. The Brigadier agrees and takes her to get a pass.
Whilst they're gone, the Doctor sneaks out of the sick bay back to the TARDIS. He recovers his key from his shoes, but before he can sneak off, Harry Sullivan catches him and orders him back to the sick bay. The Doctor bamboozles him and gets him to play jump rope with him to prove he's not ill.
By the time Sarah and the Brigadier return, they find Harry trussed up in a cabinet whilst the Doctor is about to run off in the TARDIS. Sarah Jane manages to convince the Doctor to stay and help the Brigadier find the plans for the Disintegrator gun. He isn't inclined to help them until he eventually recognises Sarah Jane.
Sarah leaves for Think Tank, leaving the Doctor and Brigadier to sort out their investigation. The Doctor is prepared to leave in a hospital gown but the Brigadier makes him change. Typically, he tries on a host of outrageous outfits before it's pointed out to him that he might just attract attention unless he wears something reasonably sensible.
The Doctor eventually emerges in a red velvet jacket with an extra long scarf, still eccentric, but it will do.
Elsewhere, the mechanical thief breaks into another compound, this time taking some material components.
The Doctor, Brigadier and Sgt. Benton go in Bessie to the sites of the thefts and look around. They find large square footprints with dandelions crushed to powder under immense weight. The Doctor deduces that whomever it is, will be creating the Disintegrator gun and they should find out the rest of the components needed so that they can lay a trap.
The last component is a focusing generator, and UNIT place it under heavy guard and lie in wait.
Meanwhile, Sarah Jane is shown around Think Tank by Hilda Winters, the Director and her counterpart, Arnold Jellicoe.
They explain that Think Tank's job is to come up with ideas and then hand them out to other agencies with the funds to realise them. It turns out that the initial work on the Disintegrator gun was done by Think Tank.
Sarah is a bit disappointed as she's looking for a scoop. On their way round, she sees a door marked "No Admittence" and barges her way in with a feeble cover story. Ms Winters smiles and allows it. The room beyond is empty. It used to belong to Professor Kettlewell, a remarkable inventor that left Think Tank in the midst of sentient machine research when he turned against it. Ms Winters says it was because he decided that conventional science wasn't for him. He allegedly destroyed his work and is now dedicated to alternative energy research. Sarah looks around and slips on something dark and wet, but is forced to accept that nothing of interest is in there and she leaves under the escort of Ms Winters and Mr Jellicoe.
Back with the Doctor, UNIT are still laying in wait.
The Brigadier is confident that every direction is covered, but the Doctor points that below isn't. Just as he predicted, the mechanical thief burrows into the compound and takes the final component, killing a guard to get it. They search the area and find the exit to the tunnel, but curiously, there's no props in it, meaning that whoever burried through couldn't breathe. The Doctor says that they didn't need to breathe, highlighting another giant, square footprint.
With her interest piqued, Sarah goes to find Professor Kettlewell. He confirms that he destroyed his experimental robot and left there, making it very obvious that he doesn't like Think Tank.
Making the connections between the robot and the recent thefts, Sarah goes back to Think Tank and sneaks back into Professor Kettlewell's lab. She inspects the wet patch in the lab and realises it's oil, just as the doors open and a giant, menacing robot approaches her.
She legs it to the door but is stopped by Ms Winters and Mr Jellicoe. They stop the robot with a command and tell her that since Sarah Jane was so intent to snoop around, they used the robot as a kind of joke to give her a bit of a scare. They relent that they have indeed rebuilt professor Kettlewell's robot and allow her to question the robot.
The robot identifies itself as Experimental Robot K1 but is very compliant with Sarah's questions. When she asks if the robot can be dangerous, Ms Winters says we'll find out and orders the robot to kill Sarah. Again, they robot advances on Sarah, but it begins to squirm as if it's in pain when it tries to kill her. Ms Winters reveals that it cannot harm humans due to the programmed prime directives inside of it. Sarah apologises to the robot for the cruel demonstration and strides off back to the entrance.
When she's gone, Jellicoe tells Winters that it was a risk ordering the robot to kill Sarah, as the directive had only just been reset. Ms Winters sees it as a win / win situation. They change the prime directive again and show the robot a picture of Cabinet Minister Joseph Chambers and tell it that Chambers is a threat to humanity and must be killed. The robot goes off to kill the Minister.
Sarah Jane goes back to UNIT HQ and has a rendezvous with the Doctor and the rest. She tells the Brigadier what's gone off but he can't do anything without some hard evidence. They ponder what to do, ultimately sending Harry Sullivan into the centre, posing as someone from Whitehall.
The Doctor and the rest decide to go to see Professor Kettlewell again.
Once at Kettlewell's, he admits that he did build the robot from living metal, a substance he created, but he reluctantly ordered its destruction when it began to learn. He disputes the fact that Winters and Jelicoe have re-made the robot because they don't have the expertise, but says if they are doing what UNIT accuse them of, then the robot will be driven mad by the orders conflicting with it's prime directive.
Almost in contradiction to Kettlewell's words, the robot enters the home of Joseph Chambers and kills him. It breaks into his safe with the Disintegrator gun and takes some top secret documents.
The Doctor and his companions go back to UNIT, and discover that Ms Winders and Jellicoe are part of a radical group of scientists called the Scientific Reform Society (SRS). Their belief is focused around the word being run by a scientific elite. They look at infiltrating their meetings to see if they are responsible for the robot.
The robot meanwhile seeks out Kettlewell and tells him it's confused after killing Chambers.
The Doctor decides that his next move should be going to Think Tank himself.
He immediately rubs up Ms Winters the wrong way and effectively barges into Kettlewell's old lab. Ms Winters tells the Doctor that the robot has been dismantled, even though she knows that he knows it hasn't. He doesn't get much more sense out of them and leaves just as Harry is arriving undercover.
The Doctor returns to UNIT, only to get a call from Professor Kettlewell who tells him the robot is with him, "alive". The Doctor leaves a note for Sarah and rushes over there, but finds that it's a trap. He's confronted by the robot who's convinced that the Doctor is now an enemy of humanity and must be killed.
The Doctor does everything from dodging to rolling away but ultimately gets knocked to the ground and the robot prepares to kill him. Thankfully, Sarah Jane read the Doctor's note and rushed over to Kettlewell's place. She commands the robot to stop just before it finishes him off. The robot recognises her as someone who's showed it compassion.
She begins to get through to the machine, but Benton and a unit of men turn up and start firing at it. The bullets bounce right off it, but it's forced to flee.
The Doctor passes out but Benton and Sarah help him and Kettlewell in a cupboard, tied up.
Kettlewell confirms back at the HQ that Winters and Jellicoe tied him up and altered the robot's programming. He also confirms that the machine is made from his living metal substance. on a ramble, he does mention that the living metal discovery also led to the development of an enzyme that could dissolve waste metal, aiding the world in recycling and tipping.
Sarah Jane discovers that Kettlewell is still officially a member of the Scientific Reform Society. She asks him to help her infiltrate the SRS meeting. Benton protests, advising that they should wait on the Doctor waking up but Sarah points out that there's nothing he can do to stop them.
When the Doctor wakes up, he realises that the robot was sent to Chambers because of some kind of threat or information he had.
The Brigadier explains that to ensure world peace, Russia, China and the United States gave the launch codes of their nuclear weapons to a neutral country - Great Britain. The idea being that if any of them tried anything, Britain could publish the launch codes. Chambers was the man holding onto the codes. The Doctor supposes that if Think Tank are behind it, they now have the codes and can destroy the world (or blackmail it). The Brigadier says UNIT reckons Think Tank is just a front for SRS, when Benton tells the Doctor that Sarah has just gone to see them at the SRS meeting and they all rush off after them.
At the meeting, Sarah has managed to sneak inside, whilst Kettlewell skulks about in the audience.
Ms Winters is there ranting about how their plans are all about to come to a climax, and she thanks one man responsible for it all - Professor Kettlewell! The nutty Professor steps calmly onto the stage and takes his place by Ms Winter's side, much to Sarah's shock. Ms Winters then reveals the robot to the audience and activates it,
Outside, the Doctor turns up, emptying his prop-filled pockets onto the desk as he pretends to look for his pass. The guard gets fed up and advances menacingly towards the Doctor, but doesn't realise he's stood on the long scarf. The Doctor yanks the scarf up and sends the guard flying, dazing him and allowing the Doctor to rush in.
Back in the room, Ms Winters orders the robot it to seek out the enemies of humanity. The robot homes in on Sarah and breaks her cover. The Doctor bursts onto the stage and offers to entertain the scientists whilst UNIT arrives and begins dancing and shuffling fake cards. Ms Winters yells for them to grab the Doctor, which the freshly recovered guard attempts to do, but ends up toppling over the Doctor as he accidentally drops his cards and tries to pick them up.
The Doctor is eventually apprehended and explains that he knew Kettlewell was the only one capable of re-programming the K1 robot effectively.
He asks him why he did it though. Kettlewell explains that he's tried for years to ask people to stop harming the environment, and with the help of the K1 robot, he can now make people listen to him.
Ms Winters orders the Doctor and Sarah killed. Kettlwell protests but she insists they're too dangerous. The robot prepares to kill them, but UNIT shows up, guns at the ready. Ms Winters, Jellicoe and Kettlewell use the robot as cover, taking Sarah Jane hostage as they edge outside. They get into a lorry and race off as the inept UNIT soldiers rain gunfire down on them, missing with every shot.
The Brigadier and the Doctor get a call from Harry, who tells them that all the scientists at Think Tank are being evacuated to some kind of bunker. He's hit on the head by Jellicoe before he can say any more and taken hostage too.
The Doctor and the Brigadier jump in Bessie and lead the UNIT troops to an atomic bunker, built by Think Tank in the cold war days. They quickly realise that it's guarded by automated guns. As they're held off, Ms Winters contacts them on a loud speaker, telling them she's informed the superpowers of her intent to rule and gives them (and the Brigadier) 30 minutes to surrender, or she will use the destructor codes and lay waste to the world from the comfort of her atomic bunker.
The Brigadier refuses to surrender and uses grenades to take out all the automated guns. After the Doctor uses his sonic screwdriver to blow up all the nearby landmines, he then goes to the door and begins to cut through the lock.
Kettlewell begins to get anxious but Ms Winters, as ruthless as ever, decides to buy time by giving the robot the Disintegrator gun and sending it out to wipe out the Doctor and UNIT. Meanwhile, she demands that Kettlewell arms the nuclear warheads.
The Robot comes out and the Doctor tells the Brigadier to get his men back to safety.
They all obey apart from one guy who gets disintegrated. The Brigadier sends in a tank to take the robot on, but the Disintegrator gun makes short work of it. The robot warns them to leave or it will destroy them all.
Kettlewell for his part convinces himself that Ms Winters is bluffing about carrying out nuclear annihilation, until he asks her what they'll do if the governments won't surrender. He swallows hard and activates the countdown.
Deep inside the base, Sarah and Harry manage to untie themselves and sneak back to the control room where Kettlewell is having second thoughts. He tries to stop the countdown but Jellicoe points a gun at him. Harry manages to knock Jellicoe to the ground and Kettlewell opens the doors, allowing them all to escape. As they rush out, the robot aims the Disintegrator gun at them. Sarah tries to convince it that Think Tank are the bad guys. It writhes in simulated pain as it struggles with the dilemma and instinctively disintegrates Kettlewell as he approaches it to give it comfort. This sends the robot over the edge with grief and it falls to the ground, seemingly de-activated.
Now the way is clear, the Doctor rushes inside the bunker with the UNIT troops, leaving Sarah to comfort the robot. Benton removes the Disintegrator Gun as he steps past.
Once inside, they discover that Ms Winters has resumed the countdown. The Brigadier threatens her with a gun but the insane leader believes he won't shoot her because she's a woman. Sarah grabs a gun from the floor and tells her not to count on it. Ms Winters smiles and steps away from the console, believing it too late for them to stop it. She has underestimated the Doctor's staggering intellect however and he manages to re-programme the computer with seconds to spare. Ms Winters is taken into custody and it looks like the crisis is over.
Nobody however notices the robot re-activating and taking Sarah hostage. It takes her back into the bunker.
When the Doctor sees the robot gone, he works out that the robot is suffering from an Oedipus Complex, meaning it will try to complete it's "father's" last order and ensure the destruction of the human race, The Doctor goes with Harry to find Kettlewell's workshop to find a way of defeating the robot whilst the Brigadier and his troops find and occupy the robot.
The robot manages to get back to the control room and resumes the countdown yet again. The Brigadier has had time to inform all the world governments however, so their fail-safes activate and no warheads are launched. The robot is forced to kill everyone the old fashioned way so it makes its way outside with Sarah as its hostage. The Brigadier uses the Disintegrator Gun on the robot believing that it'll be more than a match for the robots living metal shell.
Instead of disintegrating the robot, the machine feeds off the powerful ray's energy, causing it to grow four or five storey's tall. Enraged, it scoops Sarah up and heads off to a nearby village to stomp it to the ground.
The UNIT Troops give chase and engage it with guns and rocket launchers, but do little more than annoy the robot.
The Doctor eventually turns up with Harry, carrying a bucket full of Kettlewell's metal eating formula that he's managed to re-create.
With Benton driving Bessie, the Doctor carries the bucket into battle like a knight jousting. He splashes the robot as they drive past, causing the thing to shrink and rust at a remarkable rate until it's rusted to atoms.
In the aftermath, UNIT returns to their HQ. In the Doctor's lab, Sarah laments the robot's death, but she knows it was the only thing they could do. After Jelly Babies fail, the Doctor suggests a trip in the TARDIS to cheer her up.
She agrees but questions why right now. The Doctor sheepishly admits that the Brigadier wants him to go to Buckingham Palace to dinner to explain it all to the Queen.
Together, Sarah and the Doctor head to the TARDIS, but are stopped by Harry who looks like he's going to disapprove of the Doctor sneaking off. The Doctor is totally honest with Harry about stepping into the tiny blue box and flying off in time and space. He offers Harry to step inside as proof when he refuses to believe it. Harry gets bull headed and agrees, stepping inside. The doors close as Harry exclaims in wonder and surprise.
The Brigadier arrives to tell the Doctor of the arrangements made with Buckingham Palace, only to see the TARDIS de-materialise. He muses to himself that he'll have to let them know the Doctor will be a little bit late.
Trivia
- Although this story is the first story of Season 12, it was actually filmed at the same time as Planet of the Spiders, using Barry Letts crew.
- Now freelance again, Terrence Dicks decided to give himself a bit of a comfortable barrier by convincing Robert Holmes that there was a tradition for the outgoing Script Editor to write the first story of the new Script Editor's run. It was totally false, but curiously enough, it became true from this point on.
- Although this was made with Barry Letts still at the helm, it would see the first story in a series of what fans would call the "gothic era of Doctor Who". This era would see re-imaginings of classic works in a sci-fi horror style. For any of you who haven't managed to work it out, this is King Kong, but a robot instead of a monkey.
- So, we have a new Doctor. The same head of serials that pointed out Elizabeth Sladen to Barry Letts also pointed out a middle aged actor who was finding life a bit tough. Tom Baker had done some theatre work and played Rasputin in a movie. His latest role was the main bad guy in Ray Harryhousen's Sinbad Movie. Despite this, he was feeling depressed and dejected at the time and was working as a laborer on a building site to make ends meet. Barry Letts took his production team to the movies and watched Sinbad. From that day, they knew Tom Baker would be the next Doctor Who .
- The infamous long scarf came about purely by accident. A woman named Begonia Pope was handed a load of wool and told to make a scarf. Unfortunately, nobody told her when to stop so she used every bit of the wool!
- Other potential candidates for the Doctor would have been Fulton Macay (see Doctor Who and The Silurians), or the priest out of Horns of Nimon. Thank god it wasn't the latter!
- Michael Killgarrif was chosen to be the robot (he also played another "robot" - the Cyber Controller in Tomb of the Cybermen). He was sufficiently tall, but the suit made him up to 8ft tall. It was so heavy that he couldn't get up if he fell over, which is why Jellicoe helps him down the steps in Part 3.
What worked
- Yes, it's very 70's, but the robot suit isn't all that bad
- Patricia Maynard's well cast as Ms Winters. She's very good at being evil!
- The interaction with Tom Baker and Harry in Part 1 is quite entertaining, as is the Brigadiers flustered look as the Doctor tries on all manner of costumes
- Kettlewell is likewise entertaining in a camp, comic book mad scientist way
- The Doctor's final outfit is eccentric and great
What didn't work
- That tank!
- The Doctor stalling for time at the SRS meeting was totally fake and implausible
- The robot looked every bit as clumsy as it really was
- I appreciate the robot's eye view, but it's so restrictive as to be difficult to see anything that's going on
- Sarah getting scooped up by the robot is laughable
Overall Feelings
So far, the show's had a pretty decent run of story's with new Doctors. The Power of the Daleks was slow to get off the ground, with Patrick Troughton acting so eccentric as to be a jolt to the system. Spearhead from Space began very well and went off the boil only slightly. So, should we expect great things from this story, especially as in hindsight we're dealing with many people's (me included) favourite Doctor.
I can honestly say that I did enjoy this story, but not for the story itself. Troughton was weird in his debut, but the dark tones and menace of the Daleks slaughtering everyone in the final episodes really came to the forefront for me. In robot, the plot never quite gets there. Think Tank are overtly evil, so the mystery that's set up doesn't grab you well enough. The UNIT troops are so stupid that you can't root for them, I mean, what do you expect to achieve once your bullets have bounced off it in the first encounter?
The robot does have it's moments, but these are when it's going down an Asimov line of discussing what it means for a robot to have feelings. It never feels threatening, just annoying as it feels obvious that we're just buying time until the Doctor figures out a way to kill it. And when that's the primary feeling, setting up any kind of time-bomb plot is redundant.
So, what did I enjoy? I enjoyed it for the characters, more specifically, the main casts' interactions. It's fascinating to see how Tom Baker approaches the role and just how brilliantly well he plays eccentric. Of course, we know now that he wasn't really acting at all, he's like that anyway, but just to see him command that role from the very first take is great.
Rating
6 out of 10
Meh.
Rewatchability Factor
5 out of 10
Watch it for the debut of Tom Baker, nothing else.
Watch this if you liked....
- King Kong
Consulting the Matrix
The robot suit - a success or not?
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