Robot (1974/1975) Review

Welcome to the Tom Baker Zone, Brigadier...

Robot is a load of nonsense. It's not bad, per se, but it's just really, really ludicrous.

PLOT

As the Doctor is recovering from his regeneration at UNIT HQ, an experimental prototype robot is misused by a fascistic group plotting to blow up ze world(yes, we're at Zaroff levels here).

There's very little making sense. It's as if Terrance wanted to make the craziest story for what he perceived the craziest Doctor. All the characters are shameless caricatures, the robot is preposterously wobbly and it just feels... well, stupid.

CHARACTERS

Before I talk about my opinion of the Fourth Doctor, I'd like to say that I was really shocked at how similar he was to the new series Doctors. His post-regeneration scene, where he examines his face and comments on how a new body is like a new house could've easily been written by either Davies or Moffat. Throughout the story, he exhibits a similar kind of flippancy that defines the 11th and 12th Doctors. Truly, Tom Baker was the first madman in a box.

Which is also largely why he's such a mixed bag with me. The thing is, I don't really like the flippancy, at all. I get alien and out-of-sync, but the effect is that he comes off as a jerk all the time. That's not funny. Besides, it doesn't even make sense considering how long he's already lived with humans, even only in his fourth incarnation. Pat Troughton nailed the role by never adhering to the rules and yet still understanding and respecting them.

On the other side, Tom Baker is a genius. His manic energy is a great asset for the show and his combination of supreme dignity and utter childishness is legendary. No wonder everybody saw him as a role model.
 
While I prefer the Third Doctor and Sarah, I will admit that she works pretty good(I just reread this and heard Eric Roberts in my head. Anyone else?) with the new Doctor too. She's pretty much the 1970s Rose(she even looks a bit like her) and the relationship between her and her Doctors is comparable to Rose's relationship with the Ninth and Tenth Doctors.

BENTON GOT PROMOTED!!!! I have no idea what a "Warrant Officer" means, but I'm too happy to care. He deserves it. He's such a sweetheart(no, I'm not gay). When I'm the Doctor and should John Levene still be around, I won't stop clamouring until I get him into an episode. I'd have him keep Bessie as a reward.

I kind of like Harry Sullivan. He's a bit of an airhead, but I think he's a really decent guy. He reminds me of Jamie.

Leaving aside my hatred for the K1 design, I will say that Michael Kilgariff did a really good job with his voice. Also, the purple head and beeping sound effects were really good.

Of the other characters, miss Winters stands out since she looks like a pissed off teacher trying to take over/blow up the world. It's funny and scary at the same time. And Kettlewell was a charming, quirky antihero. I also found the SRS spokesman who talked to Sarah really memorably creepy because of how obviously corrupt he was, like Walker in The Sea Devils.

NOTES

*UNIT ought to hire a barber. I bet they're constantly plucking their hair out of paperwork.

*Tom Baker in Bessie = a load of plus points for this story. Although I wonder what he did with the Whomobile... I mean, wouldn't it be the more efficient car for him to drive around at this point?

*That scene where the Doctor and Harry hop around is creepy. And hilarious.

*I love how the Doctor shouts out "and stupid!" the moment Harry walks into the lab.

*You can tell the Doctor really wanted Harry in his TARDIS - people have called it a lot worse than "an old police box".

*How did the Doctor pick up a metal object with his scarf?

*After all the really weird costumes he picked, how'd he end up choosing the mismatched one he eventually went with? I mean, none of the other costumes looked like they were thrown together the way the last one did.

*Why does the disintegrator gun make the robot grow bigger? And why does the virus reverse the process?

*The toy tank didn't really bother me much... it was certainly better than those dinosaurs we had in the previous season.

*I know humans have a tendency to ignore scientific data in favour of their own delusions, but there's no way Kettlewell's living metal and cure to pollution would be ignored just like that.

*Kettlewell's hair LOL.

*That conversation about Great Britain being chosen to control all the nuclear weapons in the world feels like it belongs in season 7.

*The Brigadier's terrified order to miss Winters to stop the countdown was very reminiscent of the Brigade Leader's similarly futile orders to the Doctor.

BEST QUOTE

"Just once I'd like to meet an alien menace that wasn't immune to bullets!"

CONCLUSION

An unfortunately silly opening, but it's bound to get much, much better. I don't really hate it at all.