"Doctor Who" Robot: Part 2 (1975)

Director:

Christopher Barry

Writer:

Terrance Dicks (written by)

TV Series:

"Doctor Who" (1963)

Original Air Date:

4 January 1975 (Season 12, Episode 2)

Genre:

Adventure | Drama | Sci-Fi

Plot:

Plot Keywords:

Military Officer | Second Part | Time Lord | Alien | Companion

Cast

Tom Baker	...	Doctor Who
Elisabeth Sladen	...	Sarah Jane Smith
Ian Marter	...	Harry Sullivan
Nicholas Courtney	...	Brigadier Lethbridge Stewart
John Levene	...	Sergeant Benton
Patricia Maynard	...	Miss Winters
Michael Kilgarriff	...	Robot
Edward Burnham	...	Professor Kettlewell
Alec Linstead	...	Jellicoe
Timothy Craven	...	Short

Runtime:

UK:25 min

Country:

UK

Language:

English

Colour:

Colour

Aspect Ratio:

1.33 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono

Trivia:

This episode was watched by 10.7 million viewers on its original transmission.

"Rather a splendid paradox, the only ones who could have done it wouldn't need to." Top Doctor Who story.

*** This comment may contain spoilers ***

Doctor Who: Robot: Part 2 starts as Sarah Jane (Elisabeth Sladen) is relieved to learn that the huge 7 foot tall robot called K-1 is in fact under the control of the sinister Miss Winters (Patricia Maynard) who tries to convince her that's it's harmless & that it's prime directive won't allow it to harm humanity, Sarah Jane is still less than convinced. As more top secret documents are stolen & more people are killed the Doctor (Tom Baker) is sure that the huge robot is responsible but he is unsure of who is controlling & for what purpose so along with Brigadier Lethbridge-Stewart (Nicholas Courtney) pays a visit to the Think Tank & then the robot's original creator Professor Kettlewell (Edward Burnham) to try & get to the bottom of the mystery...

This Doctor Who adventure was episode 2 from season 12 that aired here in the UK during the early part of 1975 & it was also Tom Bakers first story & a cracking one it is so far, directed by Chirstopher Barry I'm really enjoying Robot. The script by Terrance Dicks is moving along revealing more of it's plot & the character's motivations as it goes although the human villains here aren't having much impact, however the real star of Robot is unsurprisingly the robot himself who despite seemingly contradicting himself a few times over his prime directives is a Doctor Who monster with personality. Tom Baker is now now firmly established as the new Doctor & it's like he's been playing him for years, he & Elisabeth Sladen are a great combo. Plus it doesn't forget that despite a new Doctor at heart it's a Doctor Who story first & foremost & as such is bags of fun & provides lots of campy entertainment as most stories from this era do.

Obviously working with a low budget I have to praise the special effects guys as it doesn't happen that often with Doctor Who because I really liked the robot, he's really chunky having been made from bright silver steel with huge shoulder's, a massive body & huge breeze block type feet! I reckon he looks just fine, even quite impressive & he suits the dated 70's look of the production design perfectly well.

Robot is a top Doctor Who story, well worth a watch for fans & those looking for some mildly scary sci-fi fun.