The Robots of Death

The Robots of Death is a simple story regarding a group of robots who murder their masters and a hunt for the person behind their revolt. This is, of course, a well-worn staple of sci-fi literature and that one line description does not sound immediately appealing. However, as in the Pertwee story, The Curse of Peladon, the story is a triumphant success because practically everything about it is honed to perfection. First and foremost is Chris Boucher’s script. In the field of world-building, Boucher is every bit as accomplished as Robert Holmes; Boucher presents us with a culture where society is so reliant on robots that if that faith was threatened, society would collapse. This is made immediately obvious by the human crew of the sand miner. They are the equivalent of prospectors on a mysterious and dangerous New World- yet we see them idly sipping drinks and taking massages as if they were in an exclusive health resort. Robots are so much part of the society that even people like this can live in luxury. This society produces its own modes of behaviour and neuroses, typified by Robophobia, where humans are unnerved by the robots’ lack of body language. Again, Boucher’s characterisation transcends simple stereotypes, especially welcome as a story such as this usually falls back on simple stereotypes. Even a relatively minor character like Zilda is given an intriguing back-story, where the viewer is left to fill in the gaps themselves. Boucher gives all his characters good dialogue throughout.

This would be praiseworthy enough, but then there is the gorgeous design work. The costuming, set design and, particularly, the beautiful robots themselves are flawlessly realised. The design manages to flawlessly blend Art Nouveau and Art Deco from everything to the design of the Sandminer to the font used for the Laserson logo. Michael E Briant obviously rejoiced in being given such good material to work with and he directs even simple scenes with an unshowy flair- note that the establishing model shot is punctuated by falling rocks. The lighting is wonderful, creating evocative moods and getting just the right effects and reflections off the opulent design.

The performances are wonderful, working well with Boucher’s characterisation. It says a lot that the weakest performance (Tania Rogers as Zilda) would have been seen as well above average in several other stories I could mention. The main robot performers, Gregory de Polnay as D84 and Miles Fothergill as SV7 put in excellent jobs- we never believe that these are just men with masks on. Best of all are Russell Hunter as Uvanov and Pamela Salem as Toos, especially towards the end of the story where they give their own little spin on the Doctor/Companion dynamic. Speaking of which, it is clear that Louise Jameson and Tom Baker clearly had a chemistry as strong as Baker had with Sladen and their performances are simply gorgeous.

This is a wonderful and intelligent story, well worth a look.

Next: The Talons of Weng-Chiang