Robot: Part Four

Review of all 4 episodes:

In the first episode of this story we see the regeneration from Jon Pertwee's third Doctor into Tom Baker's fourth Doctor which occurred at the end of the final Pertwee episode. Baker arrives in full exuberant form with no effort to allow viewers time to adjust to the huge change in personality for their hero. There is a lot of humour and mad eccentricity on display and Baker is marvellous right from the start. Throughout the story he displays hilarious wit and energy but also a good dose of brilliant intelligence and grit. He is electrifyingly good right from the start.

The story itself is of secondary importance to the introduction of the new Doctor and the re-drawing of his relationships with Sarah Jane and the UNIT team. All the regulars are great as usual: Lis Sladen is a joy as Sarah Jane, just take for example how she reacts to being confronted by the menacing robot when unlike so many companions she does not scream she, as usual, shows some strength. She is independent, takes action and is both brave and clever. Nicholas Courtney is his usual wonderful support as the Brigadier and Jon Levene is endearing as ever as Benton. The new arrival, Harry Sullivan, is very well acted by Ian marter and is a very good addition.

The Doctor and UNIT have to deal with a powerful robot that is being used by scientists to give them the opportunity to gain control of the world's nuclear weapons so they can take control and run the world the way they believe it should be run. There are some strong guest characters, all very well acted and there is plenty of action and fun. The robot itself while not appearing that special to look at, is actually a quite impressive creation for the day as it moves and acts pretty effectively. The robot is also given a lot of character as it struggles with its orders which contradict its prime directive not to harm humans. Only once or twice does this seem a bit imperfectly done, mostly it is done well and is strangely touching.

There is a lot of very good dialogue, both funny when required and serious the rest of the time. There is a nice element of the villains not intending to be evil but being willing to cause mass death in order to achieve a world they think is better.

From the excellent first episode and the really strong second and third episodes, the fourth episode of the story becomes a little less impressive with the slightly silly and pointless idea of the robot increasing to giant size and a few ambitious attempts at effects which do not look all that good. Character actions and events are also a bit less convincingly done in this final part. It is still a fun and exciting episode but not as great as it could have been.

Overall the debut of Tom Baker with such a dazzling performance from him is a shining highlight and with plenty of other good stuff too this adventure is very strong.

My ratings: Episode 1 - 10/10, Episodes 2 & 3 - 9/10, Episode 3 - 7.5/10. Overall - 8.88/10.

Review of all episodes on Blu-ray. This is a solid start to the fourth doctor. It isn't as memorable as some serials and the tech is very dated, but the regeneration goes well and Tom Baker is quiet good from the first. Liz Sladen is also good and anything she is in is more pleasant for her presence. The commentary, making of, and behind the sofa extras are nice if standard. The bit on Target books and Terrance Dicks is a great 20 minutes if you like the books.

UNIT are attacking the underground bunker, but the Robot fights them off with ease. Hilda initiates the countdown to destruction, Kettlewell has a crisis of conscience which allows a halt in the countdown. A confused Robot kills Kettlewell, and seemingly suffers a mental breakdown. The Doctor averts the countdown, but the Robot takes Sarah, and after an error by the Brig the Robot grows to colossal size. When all else fails it's the Doctor that's needed, q Tom.

OK so some of the effects are a bit on the dodgy side, it does look like a few things were done on the cheap, the King Kong moment especially looks a wee bit dodgy, too many outlines.

An interesting idea about the Robot developing an attachment towards Sarah after killing kettlewell.

I loved the interchange between the Doctor and Sarah at the end, what a fantastic chemistry between them. You can just see they enjoyed working together (talk about glad that Harry went too!)

Tom is so convincing, his first story and I totally bought into it, he plays it with conviction and pizazz he is utterly brilliant. Those mad eyes, the curly hair, it was never going to fail was it!

A really good end to what's been a fantastic debut for Tom. 8/10

A new Doctor and a pretty good start to a new season this one, albeit not a perfect serial by any means. The plot involves someone stealing weapon parts, but then leads into a secret society representing a global threat, with a powerful (if conflicted) robot being utilized to do their bidding – all in four nicely tight and efficient episodes. In a very traditional way, the serial provides cliffhangers of peril, UNIT soldiers ineffectively firing at an advancing "monster", and a terrible plot that can only be stopped by the Doctor. In this way the serial is all fine and well; okay the effects are very dated, but it is enjoyable enough and the 4-episode run means it never feels like it is padded out or stays beyond its ability.

The plot does contain some holes of course, and some moments of silly convenience just to move things along, but mostly it works. It does so because it builds well, playing different cards as it goes; but it also works because it does have a good base of ideas behind it. The idea of a robot fighting Prime Directive logic is pretty well done, and the 'monster' of the serial is far from being just a lumbering beast. This is unfortunately not to say that it is as smart as I would have liked, or really gets the viewer to struggle with moral conflict over its fate and nature, however it is at least interesting compared to how it so easily could have been played out.

The cast are decent and fit the narrative pretty well. Baker makes an immediate impact with a much lighter touch than Pertwee, and a nice sense of the wild edge of childishness. I will be honest and say his flippantness did put me in mind of the recent incarnations, and it worried me a little and did seem silly for the sake of it – although the change of pace was nice. Sladen in support was good, and worked well with the robot (which had decent voicework from Kilgarriff). Courtney and his UNIT usual are solid (although Levene never has much of a character). I was not a fan of Marter, so it did bug me to see him (I assume) become the new companion to make a trio again. Burhham is good in a so-so character, and generally the supporting roles do what they should (including those UNIT soldiers being killed with abandon).

A solid serial then, with good pace, some nice aspects, and generally a lively start to a new season and a (slightly too silly) new Doctor.

... says the robot as he gets progressively annoyed, so they shoot him with the new gun and his stature gains a few ton, can the Doctor find a solution to curtail the evolution, or is extinction on the cards if they can't set off the fail safeguards.

Solar panels, metal recycling and A. I. - just imagine if we had a time machine and could go back and take notice of the science!!!