Will Brooks’ 50 Year Diary - watching Doctor Who one episode a day from the very start...
Day 465: The Robots of Death, Episode One
Dear diary,
The last time a writer new to the series penned two stories back-to-back was Ian Stuart-Black with The Savages and The War Machines, two of my favourite William Hartnell stories. Seeing how much Chris Boucher impressed me with The Face of Evil, and knowing how well-regarded this story is, I’ve spent today very much looking forward to this episode.
I was a bit disappointed, then, with the scenes of the Doctor and Leela inside the TARDIS. Although there’s one or two moments of genius (I love that she believes the continued use of the yo-yo to be part of the ‘magic’ which makes the TARDIS move), it doesn’t necessarily feel as though this scene follows directly on from the end of the last story. I had no doubt that the Doctor would find it pretty quick to accept Leela aboard the ship – he loves having someone around to show off to – I thought we might have at least some antagonism before he relented and took her off to see the stars. Instead, it feels as though they could have been here for a while, and there’s no mention of her sudden arrival. To be honest, I’m not sure I’d have noticed this if it wasn’t Boucher writing both episodes, because I’d not have been expecting such a direct continuation of those earlier events. Still, it’s hardly the end of the world, and it’s not long before they’re off getting caught up in a new adventure.
Something that Doctor Who has always been very good at producing is model sequences. We’ve had one or two questionable ones over the years, but on the whole they’ve been one of the stronger aspects of the programme. We seemed to hit a point during the early Pertwee era, where all of the model shots moved up a gear, and became very strong. The parade of locations being blown up meant that the model makers were really able to flex their muscles! Since then, with the odd exception, things have remained at a consistent standard, to the point where you start taking them for granted again.
So it’s lovely to see this episode peppered with some especially good model effects. Right from the opening shot of the planet (which somehow seems to take a setting that could be replicated to some extent in a quarry, and yet make it distant and alien again), it feels like the effects have stepped up another stage. I’m hoping that it’s not just a one-off, and that this will be the standard from now on - because it’s gorgeous!
Coming into this episode, I had a sneaking suspicion that I’d seen it before. This is one of those stories that I’ve owned twice on DVD (in both its original release and the updated version which came as part of the ‘Revisitations’ sets), but I’m certain I’ve never watched the full story before. I had vague recollections of the Doctor and Leela getting caught in a grain store, though, and I wonder if I might have been mis-remembering this cliff hanger? The design of the ‘window’ to the various stores rings a definite bell, although I’m sure I can remember Leela being trapped behind it. Maybe that’s from later in the story, and I’ve seen more than I think I have?
Nothing else here rings a bell, mind. I know the design of the robots, because it’s so famous within Doctor Who history, but everything else is entirely new. The design of the ship, the style of the crew, their mission out on this barren world… none of this seems familiar at all. It’s all rather interesting, though, and certainly a departure from the kind of design you usually see in Who space stories. It’s nice to see a space ship which feels like it’s got a sense of artistic design to it, as opposed to being merely functional. My favourite set has to be the main control room, which manages to encompass ‘Art Deco’, ‘Tudor’, and ‘Futurism’ all at once. It’s very skilfully done, and I can’t wait to see more of this throughout other areas of the ship.
