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The Robots of Deaths Format Reviewed: DVD Review The Robots of Death marks the first trip for new companion Leela in the TARDIS. Leela was often commented to be a companion 'for the Dads', and certainly, her leathers would indicate that. The change in brought about in the interaction between Doctor and companion though was welcome. Leela was really exactly what was needed at the time, someone who required most things to be explained to her, but someone who can hold their own in most situations. The TARDIS lands in a storm mining vehicle, and the Doctor and Leela are soon embroiled in a murder investigation, being accused of the death of a crew member. Murders keep occurring though and it eventually becomes apparant that an evil robotics engineer is on board, giving the service robots instructions to kill the crew one by one. Once this is established, the evil engineer, Taren Capel, instrucst the robots to kill all remaining Humans. Capel is eventually defeated though when The Doctor hides Leela away with a cannister of helium that changes the voice pattern of Capel, and the Robots kill him and are then destroyed themselves. Robots of Death gets off to a relatively poor start as the opening model shots do not really convey the scale of the landscape or mining vessel. In fact, the model shots throughout the story do not work, and the effects in general do let the story down somewhat. This is indicative of the time the story was produced, but also of a lack of time and budget. This did blight the classic series throughout, and with some scenes here reliant on the effects it erodes the mood slightly. Overall though, it is the mood that is the biggest triumph of this story. There is tension in the air throughout, and this does engross the viewer. Not everything on screen is particularly great to watch, but the atmosphere keeps you watching. Regular cast members Tom Baker and Louise Jameson start to explore their relationship here, and the signs are very encouraging as they seem to bounce off each other pretty well. Baker gives a very typical performance for the time, and is imperious as The Doctor. Jameson as the savage Leela does bring a innocent quality to the set, and is very refreshing. In the guest cast, there are some real extremes of performance. Pamela Salem plays Toos and gives a wonderful performance, whereas Tania Rogers performance as Zilda is awful. Russel Hunter as Commander Uvanov probably embodies this disparity in quality the most, as he gives a real mixed bag himself. Some scenes he is powerful, confident and really impresses, other scenes he gives a stuttering performance and looks nervous. This may have been due to time constraints, I don't know, that is just a guess. The disparity in the quality of performance given by the cast is reflected in the overall quality of the story. In essence, it is very similar to many other tales of robots and computers going bad, even if in this case it was because a rogue robotics engineer was the mastermind behind it. There is nothing really new here, or innovative, it is really only propped up by Tom Baker and the atmosphere that wasfantastic throughout, as discussed earlier. Apart from the murderers and the eventual downfall of Capel, not a lot really happens. It is therefore a real credit to the incidental music and direction that this story is so fondly remembered by many Who fans. Overall, Robots of Death is quite a mixed bag of a story. There are some excellent performances, alongside some very poor ones. The story is not original, and relatively uneventful but the atmosphere generated by the direction and incidental music is truly compelling. This story is certainly well worth a look now and again, but not one that you could watch over and over. Rating:  |