A saboteur is culling all the ranks, removing fail safes from robot memory banks, now they're out of control, to comply with their new goal, can the Doctor turn them into data blanks.
4 Reviews
Cybernetic Sabotage...
Xstal3 July 2022
Top Doctor Who story.
poolandrews25 May 2008
Warning: Spoilers
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.
The threat is out of hiding.
Sleepin_Dragon15 October 2019
The plot thickens as yet more humans die. The Doctor starts putting the pieces together, and enlists the help of D84. The Doctor suspects Taron Capel has a hand in this, unheard of for many years.
Now the horror element begins to show through, with damaged robots, and a particularly grim Discovery for Poul, that is one dark, grizzly scene. I also love the scene where the cloaked figure works on the robot, changing its prime directive. It is cram packed with amazing scenes, the best perhaps being the attack of Toos.
I love everything about it, the world, the characters, sets, names, everything about this is perfect, no weaknesses at all. It even has touches of humour, but a real creepy, horror vibe.
When I first bought the VHS of this many years ago, I found myself watching this over, and over again. My opinion has not changed. 10/10
Now the horror element begins to show through, with damaged robots, and a particularly grim Discovery for Poul, that is one dark, grizzly scene. I also love the scene where the cloaked figure works on the robot, changing its prime directive. It is cram packed with amazing scenes, the best perhaps being the attack of Toos.
I love everything about it, the world, the characters, sets, names, everything about this is perfect, no weaknesses at all. It even has touches of humour, but a real creepy, horror vibe.
When I first bought the VHS of this many years ago, I found myself watching this over, and over again. My opinion has not changed. 10/10
Sci-Fi/Horror Classic with exceptional Art Deco robots.
A_Kind_Of_CineMagic10 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.
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.
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