Stories Television Doctor Who (1963-1996) Classic Who S14 Serial: 1 2 3 4 5 6 The Robots of Death 1 image Overview Episodes Characters How to Watch Reviews 2 Statistics Related Stories Quotes 6 Transcript Overview First aired Saturday, January 29, 1977 Production Code 4R Written by Chris Boucher Directed by Michael E. Briant Runtime 100 minutes Time Travel Future Tropes (Potential Spoilers!) AI gone wrong, Mining, Murder Mystery, Robots Inventory (Potential Spoilers!) Sonic Screwdriver Location (Potential Spoilers!) Kaldor, Storm Mine Four Synopsis The Fourth Doctor and Leela land aboard a sandminer, whose crew believe them to be responsible for a murder. As the crew continue to be picked off, the Doctor begins to suspect that the sandminer's robots may be responsible for the murders... Watch Watched Favourite Favourited Add Review Edit Review Log a repeat Skip Skipped Unowned Owned Owned Save to my list Saved 4 Episodes Part One First aired Saturday, January 29, 1977 Runtime 25 minutes Written by Chris Boucher Directed by Michael E. Briant UK Viewers 12.8 million Appreciation Index 62 Synopsis An unnamed world, an unknown time. A vast mining vessel trawls a sea of mineral sand for valuable ores, the tiny human crew served by an army of humanoid robots. But as the Doctor and Leela arrive, one of the crew is found murdered... and if they didn't do it, who did? Part Two First aired Saturday, February 5, 1977 Runtime 25 minutes Written by Chris Boucher Directed by Michael E. Briant UK Viewers 12.4 million Synopsis The Doctor and Leela are suspected of murder. But the real foe is using robots to cut down the crew – and even sabotage the sand miner itself! Part Three First aired Saturday, February 12, 1977 Runtime 25 minutes Written by Chris Boucher Directed by Michael E. Briant UK Viewers 13.1 million Synopsis One of the crew is the insane Taren Capel, who is using robots to carry out the murders. The Doctor discovers that there are also others who aren't what they appear to be either. Part Four First aired Saturday, February 19, 1977 Runtime 25 minutes Written by Chris Boucher Directed by Michael E. Briant UK Viewers 12.6 million Appreciation Index 57 Synopsis The Doctor and the surviving humans fight for their lives against Taren Capel and his growing army of deadly robots. Show All Episodes Characters Fourth Doctor Tom Baker Leela Louise Jameson D84 First Appearance Kaldor android First Appearance Super-Voc First Appearance Kiy Uvanov First Appearance Lish Toos First Appearance Ander Poul First Appearance Show All Characters (8) How to watch The Robots of Death: Watch on iPlayer Blu-Ray The Collection – Season 14 DVD Revisitations 3 (The Tomb of the Cybermen, The Three Doctors & The Robots of Death) DVD The Robots of Death VHS The Robots of Death (VHS) (1st edition) VHS The Robots of Death (VHS) (2nd edition) VHS The Robots of Death (VHS) (3rd edition) Reviews Add Review Edit Review Sort: Newest First Oldest First Most Likes Highest Rating Lowest Rating Username (A-Z) Username (Z-A) Spoilers First Spoilers Last 2 reviews 23 September 2024 · 57 words Review by AndyUK 1 An Agatha Christie murder mystery and killer robots, a perfect combination. Great story with one of the best production designs from the classic series. The robots are superly creepy and the sets and exterior shots of the sandmine look great. The Doctor and Leela are great together too, Louise Jameson was a great addition to the cast Like Liked 1 8 May 2024 · 261 words Review by 15thDoctor Spoilers 2 This review contains spoilers! The consistent run of quality stories continues. Based on the last 8 episodes I’ve seen I am at as loss as to why Chris Boucher is not a widely celebrating figure in the Doctor Who universe. The Robots of Death is Agatha Christie in space, on a stylish spaceship with a varied and interesting array of inhabitants - including iconic looking robots. The world building and work out into the interpersonal relationships between characters is what makes this story special. You never feel like you are watching a run of the mill, sterile vision of space - rather it is messy and exciting. The visuals are particularly strong in this story in all aspects - including the detailed model shots, that gives the setting a grand sense of scale. Also the rudimentary CGI which turns the robots eyes red is very effective. If there is one thing that stops it from being quite as good as The Ark in Space or The Seeds of Doom it’s that Dask’s reveal as the main villain is a bit perfunctory. It should have been a grand climax with a look of shock on Leela and The Doctor’s face, but instead it’s just a shot of Dask in shiny makeup, which didn’t honour the complexity and detail of the overall story. After the resolution The Doctor and Leela leave without any kind of debrief from the team - some final words would have been nice. Regardless, this is still one of the best we’ve seen. Like Liked 2 Open in new window Statistics AVG. Rating316 members 4.03 / 5 Trakt.tv AVG. Rating345 votes 3.89 / 5 The Time Scales AVG. Rating208 votes 4.45 / 5 Member Statistics Watched 584 Favourited 71 Reviewed 2 Saved 3 Skipped 0 Owned 5 Related Stories Main Range • Episode 149 Robophobia Rating: 3.76 Story Skipped Audio Drama More Actions View Sets Close Related Sets Set of Stories: Big Finish Main Range Set of Stories: Main Range: Seventh Doctor Add Review Edit Review Skip Skipped Unowned Owned Save to my list Saved Ravenous 2 • Episode 1 Escape from Kaldor Rating: 3.45 Story Skipped Audio Drama Reviews(1) More Actions View Sets Close Related Sets Set of Stories: Ravenous Add Review Edit Review Skip Skipped Unowned Owned Save to my list Saved BBC Books Corpse Marker Rating: 3.34 Story Skipped Book More Actions View Sets Close Related Sets Set of Stories: Past Doctor Adventures Add Review Edit Review Skip Skipped Unowned Owned Save to my list Saved The Blogs of Doom Poul Rating: ??? Story Skipped Short Story More Actions View Sets Close Related Sets Set of Stories: The Blogs of Doom Add Review Edit Review Skip Skipped Unowned Owned Save to my list Saved Other adaptations of this story: We define an adaptation as a recreation of a similar story but on a different medium or with different characters. Target Collection Doctor Who and the Robots of Death Rating: 3.71 Story Skipped Book More Actions View Sets Close Related Sets Set of Stories: Target Collection Add Review Edit Review Skip Skipped Unowned Owned Save to my list Saved Quotes Add Quote Link to Quote Favourite DOCTOR: To the rational mind, nothing is inexplicable; only unexplained. — Fourth Doctor, The Robots of Death Show All Quotes (6) Open in new window Transcript Needs checking Part One (On a dull and dusty planet, rocks tumble down steep jagged cliffs, disturbed by the action of a giant Sandmining machine travelling along through the area. At the highest point of the machine, we look through a large window into - ) [Control deck] (There are many humanoid robots walking around, all identical except for their designation plates in the middle of their Chinese style padded tunics.) V32: Turbulence centre, vector seven. Scan commencing now. Show Full Transcript Open in new window
