Doctor Who: Robot (1974 - 1975)

Date(s) of Broadcast: 28 December 1974 - 18 January 1975
Number of Episodes: 4
Average Episode Running Times: 25 mins
Format: colour
Sound: mono

PRODUCTION
Production Company: BBC
Producer: Barry Letts
Production Unit Manager: George Gallaccio

SCRIPT
Script: Terrance Dicks
Script Editor: Robert Holmes

DIRECTION
Director: Christopher Barry

PHOTOGRAPHY
Studio Lighting: Nigel Wright

MUSIC
Title Music: Ron Grainer and the BBC Radiophonic Workshop
Title Music Arranged By: Delia Derbyshire
Incidental Music: Dudley Simpson

SOUND
Studio Sound: John Holmes, Trevor Webster
Special Sounds: Dick Mills

MAKE UP AND COSTUMES
Make Up: Judy Clay
Costumes: James Acheson

VISUAL EFFECTS
Visual Effects: Clifford Culley
Robot Built By: Allister Bowtell (uncredited)

DESIGN AND SET CONSTRUCTION
Designer: Ian Rawnsley

MISCELLANEOUS
Production Assistant: Peter Grimwade
Assistant Floor Manager: David Tilley

CAST
Part One
Tom Baker (Doctor Who)
Elisabeth Sladen (Sarah Jane Smith)
Ian Marter (Harry Sullivan)
Nicholas Courtney (Brigadier Lethbridge-Stewart)
John Levene (Sergeant Benton)
Patricia Maynard (Miss Winters)
Michael Kilgarriff (robot)
Edward Burnham (Professor Kettlewell)
Alec Linstead (Jellicoe)

Part Two
Tom Baker (Doctor Who)
Elisabeth Sladen (Sarah Jane Smith)
Ian Marter (Harry Sullivan)
Nicholas Courtney (Brigadier Lethbridge-Stewart)
John Levene (Sergeant Benton)
Patricia Maynard (Miss Winters)
Michael Kilgarriff (robot)
Edward Burnham (Professor Kettlewell)
Alec Linstead (Jellicoe)
Timothy Craven (Short)

Part Three
Tom Baker (Doctor Who)
Elisabeth Sladen (Sarah Jane Smith)
Ian Marter (Harry Sullivan)
Nicholas Courtney (Brigadier Lethbridge-Stewart)
John Levene (Sergeant Benton)
Patricia Maynard (Miss Winters)
Michael Kilgarriff (robot)
Edward Burnham (Professor Kettlewell)
Alec Linstead (Jellicoe)

Part Four
Tom Baker (Doctor Who)
Elisabeth Sladen (Sarah Jane Smith)
Ian Marter (Harry Sullivan)
Nicholas Courtney (Brigadier Lethbridge-Stewart)
John Levene (Sergeant Benton)
Patricia Maynard (Miss Winters)
Michael Kilgarriff (robot)
Edward Burnham (Professor Kettlewell)
Alec Linstead (Jellicoe)

PLOT SUMMARY

The newly regenerated Doctor assists UNIT in their investigation of the theft of top-secret plans stolen from a secure facility. Sarah discovers that the thief was a robot designed and built by Professor Kettlewell but which has been reprogrammed by Miss Winters, head of the Scientific Reform Society. The SRS are trying to steal the access codes that will allow them to control the world's nuclear arsenals and are using the robot to help them. But when the robot malfunctions and the Brigadier tries to destroy it with a disintegrator gun built from the stolen plans, the robot grows to immense proportions and goes on the rampage...

A steady, unchallenging introduction to the new Doctor, nothing ground-breaking but a serviceable enough story partly ruined by some dreadful special effects. Baker's take on the Doctor seemed a bit jarring at the time, following hard on the heels of an altogether different Jon Pertwee, but he seemed to settle into the role very quickly and gives a sterling debut performance. It's such a shame that the terrible and unconvincing effects damage it so badly.

UK
Television Distributor: BBC
Video Distributor: BBC Video

1974
December
28: UK - part one television broadcast (on BBC1)

1975
January
4: UK - part two television broadcast (on BBC1)
11: UK - part three television broadcast (on BBC1)
18: UK - part four television broadcast (on BBC1)

The Giant Robot

SEE ALSO
King Kong (1933)

BOOKS

Doctor Who: The Television Companion pp.270-273
credits, synopsis, review (by David J. Howe and Stephen James Walker)

OTHER SOURCES

screen
credits

KEYWORDS

aliens; robots; scientists; military; super-weapons; viruses

Last Updated: 1 January, 2009