Last time on Doctor Who, in the conclusion of the arc Planet of the Spiders, the Brigadier and Sarah Jane Smith witness the Doctor’s transformation from one face to another, as Jon Pertwee says goodbye and Tom Baker says hello. With the Fourth Doctor comes an eccentrically erratic personality, doubt among the ranks, and a mysterious break-in, where the Doctor, the Brig, and Sarah Jane can solve the case. This is Robot, Tom Baker’s first story on Doctor Who.
After regenerating, the Doctor wakes up in a rambling state, expressing a jumbled sequence of things he’s said in the past. After falling back into unconsciousness, the Brig asks for Lt Harry Sullivan, UNIT’s medical officer, to take care of the Doctor.
The next day, the Brig and Sarah are discussing the break-in at the Ministry of Defence and the stolen plans, because the Brig can’t talk to the Doctor due to his unfit state. As the Brig gives Sarah a visitor’s pass to the National Institute for Advanced Scientific Research, or “Think Tank”, for a rare journalist opportunity, the Doctor sneaks into his own laboratory to gain entry to the TARDIS. Just as he’s about to open the blue doors, Harry Sullivan catches him in the act and attempts to return him to the sickbay. The Doctor throws a bit of a fit and continues rambling (this time about his ears), and when Sarah and the Brig return, they find Harry tied up with a jump rope and stuffed in a locker and the Doctor about to take off in the TARDIS. Sarah bangs on the TARDIS doors just in time, for as the Doctor opens the doors, he recognises Sarah and the Brig after several moments of prompting, and is convinced to stay on Earth because of his needed assistance to solve the mystery of the break-in.
After several ridiculous wardrobe changes and settling into the classic long scarf of radiant colours, velvet jacket, argyle jumper, and floppy hat, the Doctor and the Brig set out to the scene of the crime while Sarah goes off on her journalism experience. Small clues cause the two situations to connect over one similarity: a robot.
The robot in question is called K1. It is a prototype for replacing human beings who work dangerous activities, such as mining and handling radioactive materials. The director, a woman (what a shocker) named Hilda Winters, states that K1’s prime directive is to serve and not harm humanity. This directive becomes clouded when Sarah asks Winters to prove it isn’t dangerous, and Winters orders K1 to kill Sarah. Kind of difficult to serve humanity by harming humanity, is it not? Confused, the robot is forced to stop, and Sarah, seeing the torture inflicted upon it, asks K1 if it is feeling alright. This will obviously prove its purpose later on in this story. Of course, Winters scoffs, bluntly stating that robots have no feelings.
In order to discover more about K1, the Doctor must talk to its inventor, Professor Kettlewell. When the Doctor arrives at Kettlewell’s, he realises it’s a trap, but too late: K1 receives orders to kill the Doctor because it has been told that he is an enemy of humanity. With UNIT forces coming in to back him up, the Doctor tries to find Sarah, only to realise she’s run off with Kettlewell because he can assist her to sneak into the Scientific Reform Society meeting that Think Tank is hosting. Upon arriving at the scene, all is revealed: Winters has acquired the Destructor Codes entrusted to Great Britain, and will be able to use them as nuclear ransom to ensure world domination. It is now up to the Doctor, Sarah, and the Brig to stop the nuclear outbreak before the countdown reaches zero...
This episode is so far the best classic Doctor Who arc I’ve ever seen so far. I know I might’ve said this as well about The Monster of Peladon, but this trumps it a thousand times over. The story is extremely well-written, and there are Earthly problems that the people of this time were fretting about. Nuclear war, for instance, and feminism and “the good of humanity” play vital parts in this story. Hilda Winters, seeing the power of science as an avenue to world power, will resort to the detonation of nuclear devices to get what she wants. But how was she able to come across the Destructor Codes to begin with?
Another history lesson: there were three main countries with nuclear weapons at the time: Russia, China, and America. To ensure peace during this time of cold war, the governments of these countries all decided to give the locations and launch codes of their nuclear weapons to a neutral country, which happened to be Great Britain. If things get heated between the three countries, Britain would feel free to publish said launch codes in order to cool things down. With the assistance of K1, Winters is able to acquire the codes and wreak havoc on humanity.
So, you see how different – and somewhat refreshing – this Doctor Who story is. There are no aliens in this arc. The true villain is humanity itself. We are capable of acting against each other in order to become more powerful than everyone else, even if it is by “evil” means. And to use the reference of a nuclear war to secure world dominance is similar to the times of the Cold War.
Feminism also plays a big role in this story. Sarah Jane is well known for her headstrong attitude towards equal rights, and we also see that feminism is another (mild) contributing factor to Hilda Winters acting out. There is one part of this story where Sarah Jane is trying to get into the Scientific Reform Society meeting, and the guard and Sarah engage in a heated debate over women wearing trousers.
Short: Your own attire, is it really suitable?Sarah: Trousers? Oh, surely that’s a matter for me to decide?Short: As things are at the moment, it is. But in a more rationally ordered society -Sarah: - I would wear what you thought was good for me. I see. And think what you thought was good for me, too?Short: It’d be for your own good.
Honestly, me not being a woman from the seventies, I don’t understand the problem with women wearing trousers, but it was obviously quite an ordeal back then.
Of course, I leave the performance of the new Doctor for last. Tom Baker is outstanding. He is turning out to be a promising Doctor, and is becoming a fast favourite of mine. His silliness and eccentricity lightens up the show at times where it needs to be uplifted, such as when he comforts Sarah Jane by offering her some sweets by starting off with the well-worn catchphrase, “Would you like a jelly baby?” His scene with Harry towards the beginning of the first episode is enough to send me in a fit of laughter, from rambling on about his ears to jump-roping with Harry in time to a song. And that’s not it; just when I can’t get enough, he pulls off the comedic search for a new look, going from Viking to court jester to something that looks as if it jumped off a playing card. From the witty quotes to the wide eyes, I can’t seem to forget him.
Memorable quotes:
Doctor: Don’t worry Brigadier! Everything’s fine I assure you! The brontosaurus is large and deplacid!
Doctor: Can’t? Can’t? There’s no such word as can’t!
Brigadier: Believe me, Doctor, the place is impregnable!
The Doctor: Never cared much for the word 'impregnable.' Sounds a bit too much like 'unsinkable.'
Harry Sullivan: What's wrong with unsinkable?
The Doctor: 'Nothing,' as the iceberg said to the Titanic!
Harry Sullivan: What?
The Doctor: Glub glub glub....
As for where the Doctor and Sarah, and now Harry Sullivan, are going off to next, well, we can be sure that they won’t be back in time for the dinner at Buckingham Palace…
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