Will Brooks’ 50 Year Diary - watching Doctor Who one episode a day from the very start...
Day 403: Robot, Episode Three
Dear diary,
It’s odd that as I write this, the actual K1 robot is stood less than a mile away in the Doctor Who Experience. I visit far more often than I should – it’s the stockist of Doctor Who Magazine and the new DVD releases closest to my front door – but I love seeing so many of the original props and costumes up close. The K1 robot has always been something of a highlight, because it’s such a fantastic design. The prop has been through a number of hands in the last 40 years, and it’s not always looked as good as it does in the original story (I believe for a while, it had been painted a horrible matt grey over the reflective silver!), but the restoration work that’s gone into it for display in its current home is flawless.
A few years back, when they released the first wave of ‘classic’ figures, they each came with a part of the robot, which could be clicked together to build up the full model, which would tower over the other figures. I loved it – bought the entire wave on day of release, and snapped together the large figure as soon as I got home. For ages, it remained the only figure out on the shelf which wasn’t one of the Doctors. Since moving a few months ago, all my figures have been up in the loft, but I do miss having it out on display.
There’s so much to love about it, but for me the best bit is the shoulders and the head. There’s something about the chunky design which really appeals, and the sudden flash of red across the creature’s ‘face’ is a lovely touch. When it lights up, it really does look great. The only thing that really lets the design down is the wrists. You’ve got those big, chunky shoulders, which lead down to thick metal arms, at the end of which are these strong vice-like claws… connected by a tiny, thin little bar, which wobbles around quite a bit when they’re required to move. The problem is really highlighted during a sequence in Episode One when we follow the shadow of the robot across a wall, in full on Nosferatu mode… and those tiny wrists really look a bit pathetic in amongst the rest of the body. They also have a tendency to bend a bit when he’s forced to hold anything - like the disintegrator gun at the end of today’s episode. It somewhat lessens the effect, but it’s a minor flaw in an otherwise great design, so it’s easy enough to ignore, I guess!
There’s something really quite great about the creature in this episode - it’s the first chance we’ve had to really see it in action. First fighting the Doctor at Kettewell’s place (and what a great opportunity for Baker to show us just how nimble he can be! All those worries about needing to bring Harry in as the ‘action man’ were unfounded!), and then against UNIT out in the open. Things are slightly let down by the moment the robot is seen being helped down a few steps, in case he goes toppling over, but aside from that, it’s all pretty good.
I’d forgotten just how like the Nazi’s the Scientific Reform Society were made out to be in this tale. I’ve always known that there’s a general resemblance in the style of the uniforms and the way that their rally is held, but I’d never before realised that it was so overt. There’s not much room left for ambiguity - these are the bad guys, because they’re designed to resemble a - relatively recent, at the time - political party that was widely feared. It’s great, though, because ti shifts the story into a whole new direction. Up to now, things have all been rather cosy, with the Doctor settling in and UNIT running around trying to work out what’s happening, but now things are getting serious.
You’ve got a full-scale battle, the likes of which we’ve never really seen UNIT get in to. Sure, there’s only a few soldiers involved which lessens the scope, but the Brig has even layed on a tank for the occasion…! Ah, yes. The toy tank which trundles onto screen for a few seconds at the end of this episode is somewhat infamous within Doctor Who history. Admittedly, it’s not the best effect they’ve ever achieved, and I don’t think the forced perspective of the shot works, either, but thankfully it gets disintegrated before we can take much of a look at things!
