Review of Doctor Who: The Robots Of Death

Introduction

Before I start I’ll just mention that I am not a huge Doctor Who fan, I enjoy allot of the stories being a science fiction fan in general however my interest was never more than watching for enjoyment and certainly never progressed to fan status. So after reading that you might be surprised to read that one of my most vivid childhood memories is Saturday afternoons watching Doctor Who.

It was so popular at the time that there are probably more than a few people like myself who look back at the BBC sc-fi series with warm affection. The special effects might have been a touch on the dodgy side, as might most of the supporting cast, but with Doctor Who you were usually guaranteed an involving storyline centred around an endlessly interesting and amusing character of the Doctor.

Of all the actors to play Doctor Who it was Tom Baker who made the biggest mark, playing the role for 7 years and bringing a very distinct style to the character. Of all the Doctors he was genuinely amusing and his hat and long scarf soon become a trademark of his era.

Doctor Who and the Robots of Death is the latest effort of the Dr.Who Restoration Team and sees Tom Baker (accompanied by Leela) up against some Robots oddly enough :).

Video

TV broadcasts are rarely a match for feature films in quality when it comes to DVD releases and this disc is no exception. That said if you bare in mind that this is a 23 year old BBC television series you will most probably be amazed at the picture quality. Of course we’re not talking a widescreen anamorphic transfer here but the fullscreen 4:3 picture has been cleaned up very well indeed, with only a few of the model shots looking a little worse for wear.

It looks as fresh and detailed as any of the other TV series releases on DVD with the possible exception of the excellent remastering of the original Star Trek on region 1.

Audio

Nothing to get excited about here as we are served a very flat mono soundtrack. Although it has been cleaned up nicely I can’t get at all excited by a mono soundtrack, being the shallow person that I am :).

Features

When it comes to features I didn’t expect any to be honest but I am glad to say that I was surprised to find a very healthy bunch of extras. The downside is that they may not appeal to everyone’s taste.

Starting with some very nice animated menu screens you can access 10 minutes of model sequences (some used, some not but most involving the Mining vessel looking like it was made on Blue Peter). There is also a complete set of studio floor plans which are scalable so you can zoom in on specific areas. A handful of photos are on offer along with a commentary track by the writer and producer.

I watched the model footage and looked at the floor plans and I have to say these rate as the dullest extras I have ever seen on a DVD. It’s a real anorak overdoes and was enough to turn me off of even trying to listen to the commentary track.

It’s nice to see a DVD such as this get the full extras treatment but perhpas try to appeal to a wider audience next time?

Conclusion

The actual story itself is surprisingly entertaining and is the sort of story that wouldn’t be out of place in any one of the current sci-fi series doing the rounds. This story deals with the relationship between a group of humans and the servile robots who carry out all the mundane tasks of daily life. After several members of the crew are murdered suspicion starts to fall on the robots; a revelation that, if true, could unravel the foundation of their whole society.

This is one of the age old sci-fi themes that has appeared in numerous books and movies over the years and is dealt with reasonably well here although, for in my mind, takes too much of a lightweight approach to it and never explores it deep enough. What’s there is enough to at least get you thinking though.

Tom Baker is great as usual but let’s just say that the rest of the cast live up to the earlier established rule that Doctor Who manages to succeed despite it’s supporting cast. The effects, what few there are, are passable but I must confess to finding the actual look of the robots very well done indeed, and most eerie.

Undoubtedly one of the series major strengths has always been its villains, most notably the Daleks and the Cybermen, so I was somewhat surprised at the choice of many of the first batch of releases for DVD as the main protagonists are largely absent. Don’t let that put you off of this disc though as the Robots of Death is an example of some of the better Doctor Who story telling.

The disc shows off a great restoration effort and is a must buy for fans and an interesting viewing for the more casual observer. The problem with Doctor Who is that it pretty much rides on the clouds of nostalgia and the fond memories of times past. As such it’s extremely unlikely to impress or entertain anyone who wasn’t around or interested in the whole Doctor Who scene first time around.