S14.E17

The Robots of Death: Part One

Episode aired Jan 29, 1977
PG
24m

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Tom Baker and Louise Jameson in Doctor Who (1963)

The Tardis materializes aboard a mining ship on a desert planet, inhabited by a human crew and their robot servants. While Leela adjusts to life travelling with the Doctor, one of the ship's... Read allThe Tardis materializes aboard a mining ship on a desert planet, inhabited by a human crew and their robot servants. While Leela adjusts to life travelling with the Doctor, one of the ship's robots mysteriously kills a member of the crew.The Tardis materializes aboard a mining ship on a desert planet, inhabited by a human crew and their robot servants. While Leela adjusts to life travelling with the Doctor, one of the ship's robots mysteriously kills a member of the crew.

See production info at IMDbPro

IMDb RATING

8.3/10

842

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See production info at IMDbPro

Trivia
Chris Boucher acknowledged his sources by littering the script with namechecks to well-known science-fiction authors: Uvanov was a corruption of "Asimov", Poul was a reference to Poul Anderson, and Taren Capel was an homage to Karel Capek (who first coined the term "robot" in his play RUR (Rossum's Universal Robots) in 1921).

Goofs
At the time this episode was set, Louise Jameson wore brown contact lenses as Leela. During the scene in the lounge, the right lens slipped out of place, showing her real blue eye.

Quotes
Leela: Sometimes you talk like a Tesh.
Doctor Who: Thank you.
Leela: It was not well meant.

Connections
Featured in The Sandmine Murders (2012)

Soundtracks
None But the Weary Heart
Composed by Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky
Arranged by Dudley Simpson

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Review

Featured review

7/10

Doctor Who: The Robots of Death

The Christmas pantomime was always a firm favourite when I was growing up and it was usual to see accomplished Scots comedian Russell Hunter hamming it up as widow someone or other. He had more to do back then than here, though, as his "Uvanov" character captains a mining vessel churning through the dirt on an asteroid looking for a very valuable mineral. The "Doctor" (Tom Baker) and his companion "Leela" (Louise Jameson) arrive just as his crew start to drop like flies. Naturally, the travellers are the prime suspects but as the body count continues to mount, the Captain, his deputy "Toos" (Pamela Salem) and "Poul" (David Collings) begin to think it's the unthinkable. The humanoid robots who make up most of the crew are on the warpath. The company had the foresight to put a friendly robot "D84" on the ship so it falls to the Time Lord, "Leela" and their new metallic friend to find out just who is overwriting their plumbing and thwart the attempts to destroy the crew and take over the ship. This was always one of my favourite "Dr. Who" adventures with plenty of action, some glowing eyes and even a bit of helium thrown in for added squeak. I will admit that I'm still not quite sure why the ship was a target - stuck, as it was, on a world with no light or water - but I don't suppose that matters in the mind of a megalomaniac.