Doctor Who - Robot (Episode 75)
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DVD Cover Information
Actor: Tom BakerBrand: Warner Brothers
DVD: Region Code 1
Audio: English (Original Language)
Format: Closed-captioned, Color, DVD-Video, Full Screen, NTSC
Picture Format: 1.33:1
Running Time: 98 minutes
DVD Release Date: 2007-08-14
Audience Rating: NR (Not Rated)
Studio: BBC Warner
Movie Reviews of Doctor Who - Robot (Episode 75)
Movie Review: A typical, good, entertaining Doctor Who story
Summary: 4 Stars
This story is a great example of a typical Doctor Who story. It really does feel like it was written for Jon Pertwee, but this makes sense because this is Tom Baker's first appearance. Tom playing Jon's role makes the transition feel smoother, in spite of the fact that through most of the first part of the story the new Doctor seems to be confused by his transition.
One reviewer suggested that this was a homage to "King Kong", but I feel that it was more like "Frankenstein", and "I, Robot". The story is a good one, an artificial life form (the robot) is created with Asimov's limitations put in place. Right after it was activated ("born"), its prime directives are put in direct conflict with its primary orders. The result is confusion, chaos, and, due to the immensity of the robot's intellect, and due to the combined intellects and ambitions of its creators, the world is put into danger.
This idea is amplified when the robot was made to grow larger. I am not sure why this was necessary. It is fun, in a way, but the special effects become bad at this point. The story-line would have been stale if it were not for the actors which includes UNIT, the Brigadier, the evil-scientist, and the robot. I am not sure how they pulled it off, but they did. Tom Baker (Doctor Who) and Elizabeth Sladen (Sarah Jane Smith, his "sidekick") were both very entertaining. The story is loaded with good quips and distractions, some of them very humorous.
I liked this story mostly because it seemed to take Doctor Who out of the past, old-style science fiction, into the present. Everything seems to "wake up", it was like opening the shades on the windows. Doctor Who becomes more colorful, more exciting, more interesting from this point on. I think too that this story might have been a message, from the show to the audience, as to what they should expect things to be like in Doctor Who stories from now on.
Summary of Doctor Who - Robot (Episode 75)
Mortally wounded by the Spider Queen on Metebilis 3 the Doctor is forced to regenerate. His recuperation is cut short as UNIT investigates a spate of robberies involving components for a top-secret disintegrator gun. The culprit is quickly identified as a highly sophisticated robot built by Professor Kettlewell which is being ordered to act against its Prime Directive. (Episodes 1-4 98 mins)Running Time: 153 min.Format: DVD MOVIE Genre: SCI-FI/FANTASY UPC: 794051411228 Manufacturer No: E4112Tom Baker's reign as the venerable British science fiction hero Doctor Who began with this four-part serial from 1974-75; it also marked the dawn of what was arguably the most popular period in the program's history. Written by Terrance Dicks, Robot also introduces the late Ian Marter as the Doctor's companion-to-be Harry Sullivan, a UNIT medic who is pulled into the adventure after treating the Doctor, who is recovering from his fourth regeneration (third Doctor Jon Pertwee appears briefly at the beginning of the first episode). Meanwhile, Sarah Jane (Elisabeth Sladen) and the Brigadier (Nicholas Courtney) investigate a series of robberies involving a top secret weapons project that seem to have been carried out not by humans, but a colossal object. Could the mysterious "Think Tank" and its robotics division be involved? Robot is a terrific launching point for "The Baker Years"--the star himself is charming and amusing, and the story itself is brisk, involving, and quite suspenseful at times. In short, it's an excellent point for Who newcomers to introduce themselves to this most well-loved of Doctors.
The single-disc DVD includes commentary by Baker, Sladen, Dicks, and producer Barry Letts, as well as a 40-minute documentary titled "Are Friends Electric?" which recalls the production of Baker's first serial via interviews with the cast and production team, including producer Phillip Hinchcliffe and director Christopher Barry. "The Tunnel Effect" is a 13-minute interview with graphic designer Bernard Lodge on how he created the memorable "infinite tunnel" titles for the Baker stories, and there's a clip from the U.K. children's program Blue Peter, which was broadcast from the set of Robot. The by-now standard photo gallery, production notes, and a PDF of the Radio Times listings round out the extras. --Paul Gaita
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