Robot Part Two

The one where both Sarah and the Doctor are threatened by the giant robot...

I love how Tom Baker inhabits an awkward presence in any scene, but still manages to command it. Just look at our first shot of him, lying on his back on a bench with his hat covering his face. It's unconventional to say the least (I'd love to know whether the Doctor's positions are dictated in the stage directions, but I'd wager they're all Baker's ideas), but gives this new Doctor an instant quirkiness, an unpredictable presence which means you're never sure what he's going to say or do (for instance, he's randomly building a tower of circuit boards at one point!). And this feeling pretty much stays with him for his entire tenure, perhaps only receding in his final season.

We finally get to see the K1 robot full-length when Miss Winters shows him off to a rather rattled Sarah, and what an impressive design it is too! It's huge! The actor inside is Michael Kilgarriff, who was 6ft 5in in his stockinged feet, and although the nature of the robot's design makes movement a little clunky, Kilgarriff makes for an awesome presence, especially when director Christopher Barry emphasises the robot's size in comparison to the human cast.

The robot appears to have a permanent smile on its face, and is also somewhat top-heavy, but there's no getting away from the fact this is a highly impressive design, one of Doctor Who's best ever (the droopy pincers aside). I'm also glad they decided to give the robot a human voice, rather than a robotic, computerised one, as it means we can really start to feel for the monster in the way writer Terrance Dicks undoubtedly intends.

For this is surely a riff on Mary Shelley's Frankenstein, the giant misunderstood beast trying to make sense of the world. Sarah feels sorry for it when Miss Winters forces it to go against its prime directive, and when the robot flees to its creator, Professor Kettlewell, later in the episode, it's like Frankenstein being faced with his monster. "Help me..." pleads the robot.

Robot has a very small cast, but the best by far is Patricia Maynard's Hilda Winters (did Dicks make her a Miss because she's such a frosty-knickers?). Maynard is very matter-of-fact in her cold, icy dealings with Sarah, and displays a cruel streak when she sets the robot onto the journalist.

Something that really bugs me about Robot is that Sarah has absolutely no curiosity about what's happened to the Doctor. His entire physical appearance has changed, and he has adopted what appears to be a completely different personality too. In essence, this is a completely different man to the one she visited Exxilon and Peladon with, a man she felt very attached to and fond of. Yes, she was prepared for regeneration by K'anpo in Planet of the Spiders, but that still doesn't explain the fact she should be full of questions for the new Doctor. When she returns to UNIT from Think Tank seven minutes into part 2, that's the first time she's seen the Doctor since he was in the sick bay, but she barely acknowledges him. I realise Dicks just wants to get on with the story and minimise the disruption viewers might be feeling, but having the companion address the thoughts those watching might have would have been a useful thing to do, even if it lasted one short scene. As it is, it's like Sarah doesn't care that the Third Doctor's gone at all.

But there's no denying that Tom Baker finds his feet as the Doctor without any delay or faltering. The scene where he visits Think Tank and forces his way into the robot lab is wonderful, Baker a whirl of authority and cheek. His tussle with Miss Winters is thunderingly well played, making the Fourth Doctor a man not to be reckoned with. I also love his tendency to stare boggle-eyed off-set, all the while thinking (or marvelling). Baker makes his Doctor an alien presence, the most alien of any Doctor so far.

Other quick observations:

• Nigel Wright's studio lighting is gorgeous. He uses a lunar-like blue which reflects off the robot's silvery, angular body beautifully, and the scene where Jellicoe operates on the robot's head while at the top of a stepladder is spotlighted perfectly, with the rest of the room in pitch black gloom. Kettlewell's place is equally as well lit, creating depth and space by lighting low, and highlighting certain spots. Wright's work is very thoughtful and effective.
• That newspaper cutting Miss Winters shows the robot is a weird amalgam. The photo is of actor Wally Goodman as Cabinet minister for security Joseph Chambers, but the text talks about "Mr Heath" (then Labour leader of the opposition) accusing the Conservative government of not doing enough to further opportunities for women!
• Again, why is Harry Sullivan still there? He really should have returned to his Naval HQ by now, but instead he's employed to go undercover at Think Tank, when surely someone from UNIT should be doing it? Why not give newly promoted Warrant Officer Benton a chance?
• I love Timothy Craven's surly performance as Short, a man who repeatedly insults Sarah and refuses to let her join the Scientific Reform Society (essentially a cover for a fascist fringe group). Craven makes Short a proper shit.
• That bit where the Doctor speed-types a note to Sarah. The awful Benny Hill music. No. Just no (see The Curse of Fenric for how to show the Doctor's otherworldly typing skills).
• It's really, really weird seeing the Fourth Doctor drive Bessie. It feels like someone's stolen it.
• I love the fact Professor Kettlewell has a pad of paper on his wall labelled "Private Notes".

First broadcast: January 4th, 1975

Steve's Scoreboard
The Good: The K1 robot design is impressive, one of the best robots ever to appear in Doctor Who, even to this day.
The Bad: Sarah's total disinterest in the Doctor's regeneration is disappointingly unrealistic.

Overall score for episode: ★★★★★★★☆☆☆

"Would you like a jelly baby?" tally: 00

NEXT TIME: Part Three...

My reviews of this story's other episodes: Part One; Part Three; Part Four

Find out birth/death dates, career information, and facts and trivia about this story's cast and crew at the Doctor Who Cast & Crew site: http://doctorwhocastandcrew.blogspot.com/2014/06/robot.html

Robot is available on BBC DVD. Find it on Amazon - https://www.amazon.co.uk/Doctor-Who-Robot-Tom-Baker/dp/B000NVI2C4