Doctor Who - The Robots Of Death DVD

Advantages: Good Story
Disadvantages: Poor extras on DVD

...recent success of the new Doctor Who series is an awakened interest in the older episodes. For some time now the BBC have been producing some great DVD collections of the original series featuring episodes from previous doctor's incarnations. Although for me the doctor is always going to be Jon Pertwee (down to may age I'm afraid) Tom Baker is a close second and he certainly had the benefit of some great stories in his tenure. One of these classic ...
...with the arrival of the Doctor and Lela. Since the robot son the station are intrinsically programmed not to harm humans the suspicion for the crime falls on the newly arrived strangers the Doctor and his assistant. Now at this point fans of the classic Sci-fi writer Isaac Asimov will see the strong similarities between this story and the Elijah Blake novels featuring Robot related murder mysteries 'The Caves of Steel', 'The Naked Sun' and the robot ... Read review

Advantages: a great story, Tom Baker
Disadvantages: boring DVD extras

...stars Tom Baker as the Doctor with Louise Jameson in her second story as companion Leela. It was written by Chris Boucher, produced by Philip Hinchcliffe and directed by Michael E. Briant. THE STORY The Doctor and Leela arrive on the planet Storm Mine 4. The TARDIS materialises on the Sandminer, where the mining crew comprises of well-dressed humans and beautiful looking robots that work as their servants. But something is amiss. One of the crew ...
...the brutal act. Can the Doctor and Leela prove their innocence? And who is the real killer after all? The Robots of Death is a murder mystery set in quite a claustrophobic way. Although the design of the set is one of the most lavish ever used in the programme and appears large; the murders create an almost unbearable tension. As the cast begins to die one by one, we are left with fewer suspects and a new angle to the traditional whodunit. There ... Read review

Advantages: Classic Doctor Who ON DVD
Disadvantages: A Little dull perhaps

Not a Doctor Who story I would of chosen to buy if it hadn’t been on DVD, I actually got this as a two for £25 deal with another Doctor Who title, I have seen this before although only once and quite was while ago. Its not a bad story, but it doesn’t leave me with much at the end, a good film, book, song etc. has its memorable bits, the ones that stick out in your head, Doctor Who The Robots Of Death, didn’t leave me with the feeling ...
...few good bits. The Doctor (played by Tom Baker here) and Leela (Louise Jameson) land on the Sandminer, a vehicle that travels across a barren planet looking for minerals, it is crewed by a few humans and a lot of robots of who are graded to their given ability’s, a close nit environment. So when one of the crew is killed of course the Doctor and Leela are suspected, but then a few more murders happen, so who dunnit?. As a piece of sci/fi ... Read review

Advantages: Sciece-fiction murder mystery with great sets, acting, dialogue, robots - what more could you want?!
Disadvantages: 25 years is a long time...

...a clue who or what Doctor Who is, then, firstly - shame on you! Secondly, and more usefully, I have included a brief history in my Spearhead From Space op which I won’t bother repeating here. This story from the BBC sci-fi show, was first broadcast in 1977. I was 9-years-old and I loved it. A quarter of a century later and I still love it! Tom Baker, curly-haired and long-scarfed, still playing with a (mostly) full set of marbles, is the fourth ...
...a woman who trusts the Doctor implicitly but finds it difficult to control her violent survival instincts. At the beginning of the first of four 25-minute episodes, we find our intrepid adventurers trapped aboard a Sandminer - a giant vehicle that traverses desert planets scooping up any precious minerals and storing them in vast vaults. The ship is manned by a small crew, who all share in the profits, and a large number of robots who perform the ... Read review

Advantages: One of the best Doctor Who episodes
Disadvantages: Deserves to be a bit longer

This Doctor Who takes its place among other great episodes like: Inferno, Pyramids of Mars, Earthshock, Planet of Evil and many more. Its storyline is the archetypal clash between man and the machine which it has created, rather like Terminator, etc. Its brilliantly well done with great performances - especially from Tom Baker (of course) who I think is the best Doctor Who, close behind John Pertwee and Patrick Troughton. What distinguishes the ...
...other things. The Doctor and Leela, played by Louise Jameson, land on the Storm Miner. Immediately they are blamed for the murder of one of the crew who has just been bumped off. Gradually more and more members of the crew are mysteriously murdered and gradually the Doctor questions whether the killer is human. It's not complicated to follow and the story turns into a classic struggle between the Doctor and his foe - all set on this remote miner ... Read review

Advantages: Great quality Special Features. Excellent story.
Disadvantages: None that I can think of.

...and there are plenty of them. The BBC seem to have really got their act together in the production of their Doctor Who DVD titles. If you compare this one to The Five Doctors or The Robots of Death you will see how much improved this one is. I would really recommend this for all Dr Who fans; a really worthwhile addition to any Who collection! Any sci-fi fan would be foolish not to get this as it is a good story as well as an excellent DVD. The Special features are really cool and I would recommend that you invest in it, even if you already own it on video. ~~~Useful web-sites include: http://www.restoration-team.co.uk/ http://www.gallifreyone.com/ http://www.islandnet.com/~dascott/intro.htm http://www.bbc.co.uk/cult/doctorwho/... Read review

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