#9 (13.13 - 13.16): The Android Invasion.

The Doctor is captured by the evil Kraals!

4 episodes. Approx. 96 minutes. Written by: Terry Nation. Directed by: Barry Letts. Produced by: Philip Hinchcliffe.


THE PLOT

The Doctor and Sarah Jane materialize near Devesham, a rural English village located not far from a Space Defence Station. They have only just arrived when they spot a UNIT soldier, who runs erratically over a cliff to his death. When the Doctor searches the man's body, he discovers that his money is all newly minted - which is very improbable.

Mysterious events continue to build up. Strange men in spacesuits fire on them without even a word exchanged. When they reach the village, they find it completely deserted - with the money in the local pub all newly minted, just as the soldier's was. When the people finally arrive, they are dropped off in trucks and shuffle into the pub where they sit or stand like zombies - until the clock strikes twelve, at which point they suddenly behave normally.

The Doctor goes to the Space Defence Station, in hopes of finding UNIT allies to fill him in on the situation. He finds familiar faces: Harry Sullivan, Warrant Officer Benton. But these friends turn on him violently. These are not the real Harry and Benton, but android duplicates - and by the time the Doctor reconnects with Sarah Jane, she has been replaced as well...


CHARACTERS

The Doctor: Though The Android Invasion isn't one of his better stories, Tom Baker is on excellent form. The scene at the end of Part Two, in which he confronts the android Sarah Jane, is a particular highlight. He has a calm, even casual tone as he reveals what he's figured out so far (which is a lot), but there's a dangerous undercurrent as he asks what has happened to the real Sarah. He switches between casual irreverence and deadly seriousness regularly throughout the story, sometimes within the same line delivery, and makes a fairly weak script very watchable in large part through sheer charisma.

Sarah Jane Smith: You know you're in a Terry Nation script when capable Sarah Jane Smith can't help herself from falling over nothing in each of the first two episodes - the second time, even spraining her ankle! To Nation, all companions are Susan Forman. That said, I love the easy screen rapport that had developed by this point between Tom Baker and Elisabeth Sladen. The opening bit, as they leave the TARDIS and walk into the woods, is wonderful as the Doctor's aside about "watch the bramble" is carried on to a full, natural-sounding conversation as they walk away. There are a lot of little bits like that between these two, who just "fit" beautifully together on camera.

Harry Sullivan/Warrant Officer Benton: This serial is the final series appearance of both characters. Not that there's much for either of them to do - We don't even see the real Harry and Benton until the final episode, and the effectiveness of having android doubles of them is undercut by Terror of the Zygons having done something similar just a few stories earlier. They remain welcome presences, though, even if one could have wished for stronger roles for them.


THOUGHTS

With its rural village and UNIT involvement, The Android Invasion feels very much like a leftover from the Pertwee era. One expects the Brigadier to pop up and start shooting at things and for the Doctor to hop into Bessie at any moment. It also is another Season 13 story whose plot involves doppelgangers of familiar faces, which can create a sense of deja vu so soon after Terror of the Zygons.

These factors probably have a lot to do with just how poorly-regarded this serial is. To be sure, this isn't one of the series' better stories. The Kraals are weak villains with a plan so convoluted as to practically be nonsensical.  An ending twist involving the weak-willed Crayford (Milton Johns)'s eyepatch is so ludicrous in its stupidity it about crosses the Event Horizon of idiocy. That's not even mentioning the presence of Colonel Faraday (Patrick Newell), a third-rate Brigadier knockoff who might as well be clad in a sandwich board reading, "Nicholas Courtney wasn't available, so you got me."

For all its faults, though, I find this a passably entertaining runaround. It moves along at a decent pace, and Barry Letts' direction is sturdy. The opening episode is by far the best of the story's four installments. The Village of the Damned trappings are genuinely spooky, and the script artfully piles one mystery on top of another: the strange spacesuited figures, the radiation, the mint condition money, the odd behavior of the locals. It's all effectively presented, and builds quite nicely... albeit, to a very weak cliffhanger.

The Android Invasion is an enjoyable time-filler, and it's given a tremendous boost by the performances of Tom Baker and Elisabeth Sladen. But its plot feels half-formed, and its most effective ingredient - evil doubles of our regulars - was already done earlier in the same season. All of which leaves this a passable runaround, but ill-placed and outclassed by most of the stories surrounding it.

Overall Rating: 5/10.

Previous Story: Pyramids of Mars
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#6 (13.1 - 13.4): Terror of the Zygons

Harry is taken prisoner by the Zygons!

4 episodes. Written by: Robert Banks Stewart. Directed by: Douglas Camfield.  Produced by: Philip Hinchcliffe.


THE PLOT

The Brigadier's call for help brings the Doctor, Sarah Jane, and Harry to Scotland, where several oil rigs have been destroyed by an unknown force. An investigation of the wreckage reveals that the metal bears the unmistakable impression of teeth - with a single tooth being roughly half the size of a man!

The attacks are the work of the Zygons, aliens who crash landed on Earth centuries ago. They have kept a low profile, content to await rescue. The situation has changed, however. Their planet has been destroyed, leaving them with no home to return to. Broton, the Zygon leader, has decided to use their superior technology to make Earth into their new home world... with crushing the human race the first step in their plan of conquest!


CHARACTERS

The Doctor: After my previous viewing, I wrote that Tom Baker's Doctor seemed unengaged in this story. I can only conclude that I was in the wrong mood when I watched it - This time around, I thought he was terrific. He carps at the Brigadier for calling him back over oil rigs, but he gives the investigation his full attention once the Brig points out that lives have been lost. He is singularly unimpressed with the Zygons, treating their ability to change their form as if it was a mere carnival trick. Baker continues to play against the lines, clowning during serious moments - which makes it all the more effective when he actually does take a situation seriously, as when he and Sarah are locked in a pressure chamber.

Sarah Jane Smith: This is a particularly good story for her. When the Brigadier briefs the group on the situation, she seizes on her experience as a journalist and begins interviewing the locals, finding out what they know about strange occurrences. Later, a Zygon attempts to impersonate Harry to steal a device that the Doctor discovered. Sarah has no idea about their shape-changing abilities - but she can sense that he's behaving oddly, and she trusts her instincts enough to stop him from getting away with the device. Elisabeth Sladen's rapport with both Tom Baker and Ian Marter elevates several scenes in the first and final episodes, as well, with both actors' performances improving in their scenes with her.

Harry Sullivan: He gets the smallest slice of the action he has had since Robot. He's put out of action early, injured and then made a prisoner of the Zygons for the bulk of the story. This may well have been a conscious decision. Harry got a lot of focus in Season 12. Minimizing his involvement allows this story to emphasize the bond between the Doctor and Sarah before Harry's departure. He still gets a few good moments, particularly in Part Three when he saves the Doctor by mashing random switches in the Zygon control room.  Ian Marter also is very good as the Zygon Harry in Episode Two, playing him as cold and brusque in his interactions with Sarah, then becoming downright vicious when he attacks her.

Brigadier Lethbridge-Stewart: This would be his last appearance until Season 20. It was probably time for him and UNIT to be given a rest, truthfully, as they had fallen far from the crisp, military competence exhibited in Season Seven. Here, he's perplexed at such a basic and obvious investigative technique as filling a cavity with a plaster of Paris to gain an impression, something the Season Seven Brig would have ordered without needing the Doctor to do it for him.

Nicholas Courtney retains a stiff dignity, and the character gets some decent scenes in the back half of the serial. He executes a well-planned mortar attack on Loch Ness, where the Zygons are hiding, an attack which results in the alien ship surfacing. I also think it's appropriate that, in his final regular story, he gets to meet and deal with an alien menace that is not resistant to bullets.


THOUGHTS

When I reviewed Terror of the Zygons more than a decade ago, I stated that it's a fan favorite but not a favorite of mine. I'd agree with my past self that it's not a "great" story. It is a good one, however, one that gives strong roles to the regulars and to the returning UNIT characters while offering some fine set pieces.

Sarah's encounter with the duplicate Harry is a genuinely memorable moment, made all the better because Ian Marter succeeds in making this Harry different. Gone is the easy affability, with him being cold and even vicious. The Part Two cliffhanger sees the Doctor pursued by the Scarasen (the Loch Ness Monster, under Zygon control), an encounter he only survives because of Harry's fast action on the Zygon ship. The Zygons themselves are particularly well realized. They may be men in rubber suits, but the suits look reasonably convincing and even organic. It helps that we mosty see them on their ship, where the tinted lighting disguises any limitations.

There are some notes from the previous version of my review that I'll stand behind. I stated then that Terror of the Zygons feels a bit like a leftover Pertwee story: The Brigadier and UNIT investigate strange occurrences in a rural area; there's an energy conference that we're assured is important but whose specifics are vague; the Doctor climbs (briefly) on a soapbox to talk about fossil fuels; and locals are portrayed as simple and highly superstitious. Replace Elisabeth Sladen with Katy Manning, and this would fit snugly in the middle of Seasons Nine or Ten.

But I don't think that's a bad thing in any way. Sometimes it's fun to see a new TARDIS team in a familiar story setup. This serial offers the same pleasure as Robot: A chance to see how differently a Third Doctor-type story plays when it stars the Fourth Doctor. As an added benefit, this is a much better story than Robot. 

The 4th Doctor/Sarah/Harry team remains one of my favorites. The first shot of the trio, walking merrily together through the Scottish countryside, is charming: The Doctor decked out in a Tam o'Shanter, his scarf a Tartan palette that loops lazily from him to Harry, while Sarah walks comfortably and happily between them. There's a genuine sense of chemistry and affection, the sort of thing that can't necessarily be planned or made to happen. This, more than anything, makes me regret that Harry was written out so soon. If I were to cite one Philip Hinchcliffe decision that I strongly disagree with, it would be that one - I could have happily watched this trio stay together for another full season, at least.


OVERALL:

My opinion of Terror of the Zygons has risen considerably with this viewing. I still wouldn't class it as a favorite story, but I would rate it as comfortably above the series' average. It benefits from location work, from the sure hand of director Douglas Camfield, and from the Zygons themselves - one of the best-realized humanoid aliens of the Classic series. It's easy to see why the Zygon design was not much changed when the aliens reappeared in the New Series decades later. 


Rating: 8/10.

Previous Story: Revenge of the Cybermen
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#5 (12.17 - 12.20): Revenge of the Cybermen

The Cyberleader (Christopher Robbie) threatens the Doctor.

4 episodes. Written by: Gerry Davis, Robert Holmes (uncredited). Directed by: Michael E. Briant.  Produced by: Philip Hinchcliffe.


THE PLOT

The Time Ring returns the Doctor, Harry, and Sarah Jane to Station Nerva. They arrive centuries early, however, in the time before the solar flares, when the station is being used as a beacon to aid in space travel.

Nerva Beacon has been set up around Voga, a seemingly uninhabited asteroid that has been drawn into Jupiter's orbit to become a new satellite, creating a hazard to space navigation. All is not well. The station has been ravaged by plague, with only a handful of its original staff still alive.

The Doctor suspects that this is no natural disease - and when a metallic worm is caught attacking Sarah Jane, his fears are confirmed. The worm is a Cybermat, injecting the "plague" into its victims. The Cybermen are on their way. Their target: Voga, which is anything but uninhabited, and whose plentiful gold marks them as a threat to the Cybermen!


CHARACTERS

The Doctor: Tom Baker is noticeably more manic here than in most of the stories of this season (Robot excepted). I half-suspect that the actor, now comfortable in the role, recognized this as a weak script and decided to compensate by playing against as many lines as possible. Earlier stories already introduced his tendency to grin while making grave pronouncements. In this story, he does that several times, drawing out words a beat or two past their natural endpoint. This is not a complaint, as Baker's quirks make this vastly more watchable than it might have been otherwise.

His best moment comes in Episode Two. Shady Professor Kellman (Jeremy Wilkin) has been exposed as a traitor, but he is still protesting his innocence. The Doctor responds by using one of Kellman's items, which turns out to be a control device for the Cybermats, to threaten him.  He observes that after the metallic creature strikes, Kellman will have about 10 seconds to give the needed information if he wants to live. It's a standard enough scene, but Baker turns it just enough askew to make it memorable, grinning maniacally and seemingly reveling in the game of threatening the traitor. It's effective, and just the tiniest bit disquieting, just how much he seems to be enjoying himself.

Sarah Jane Smith: She gets thrust into the role of "damsel-in-distress" early on, when she's poisoned by the Cybermat. She then plays companion to Harry, who very much takes the lead on Voga.  Finally, she thrusts herself right back into peril by going back to the Beacon in Episode Four... just so that the Doctor will have to rescue her all over again. Though it's not a great story for Sarah, it is fun to watch the rapport that's developed between Elisabeth Sladen and Tom Baker. Their interplay is positively buoyant, each seeming to feed off the other's energy.

Harry Sullivan: "Harry Sullivan is an imbecile!" Not really a fair summation of the character at any point, but he does spend this story as the inexplicable butt of the Doctor's ire. As early as Episode One, he's earning glares for little real reason (such as when the Doctor is dragged by a sliding door), and he even he seems to get a little fed up, asking, "What have I done now?"

This distracts from Revenge of the Cybermen being quite a strong story for Harry.  He helps to save Sarah after she's attacked. Then he takes the lead on Voga. He observes the significance of the gold shackles, engineering an escape. When the Cybermen arrive on Voga and send their prisoners to the core of the asteroid with Cyber bombs attached to them, he determines that there must be a way to delay the Cyber bombs from being planted. His only substantial misstep is sending Sarah back to the Beacon, but that isn't so much idiocy as simply acting on incomplete information.

The Cybermen: This story marks their return after a five-year absence. Though the submission was by their creator, Gerry Davis, his scripts were heavily rewritten - and with regard to the Cybermen themselves, not for the better. The Cyberleader (Christopher Robbie) has a booming voice rather than the mechanical drone of previous stories, and he spends a lot of time gloating. He gives the Doctor the upper hand at one point by throwing a temper tantrum, literally tossing the Doctor at one of the Cyber bombs. The plan to destroy Voga is needlessly complicated; their backup plan seems both simpler and more likely to actually succeed! All told, it's not hard to see why it was 8 years before the next Cyber story. It's just a shame that, when they did return later, the Revenge Cybermen seemed to be the template, rather than the more effective 1960's versions.


THOUGHTS

Revenge of the Cybermen is a mishmash of barely-connected elements in service of a thin and derivative plot. Kellman's double-agent shenanigans make very little sense. The Vogans' plan depends entirely on there being only four Cybermen left in existence. The story can't seem to keep straight whether Voga is an asteroid or a planet. It's all ludicrous, sub-Buck Rogers nonsense, that by no reasonable critical standard could be labeled as "good."

It is also a heck of a lot of fun to watch.

For all of Revenge's many faults, it is never boring. The story keeps piling on incidents and set pieces, moving along with enough sheer verve that I find it impossible not to enjoy it. The Doctor's investigation of Kellman early in the story leads to an amusing set piece in which he avoids a trap involving an electrified floor ("the floor is lava"). Sarah Jane and Harry dodge Vogan troops, then a few minutes later join forces with them. The Cybermen attack Voga with a relentless force of... um, two. There are cave-ins and bombs and two countdowns to Doomsday. Then, when it's all over, the Doctor still has to avoid a massive collision in what looks like a primitive version of a Disneyland ride.


OVERALL:

It's a silly, ramshackle serial... but it also captures one of the enduring appeals of Doctor Who: even its weaker stories are often quite a lot of fun to watch. Revenge of the Cybermen is about as dumb as a 2-month-old beagle. It's not a patch on Genesis of the Daleks. But there are many times that I'd opt not for the gritty drama of Genesis, but for the amiable idiocy of this.


Rating: 6/10.

Alternate Version: Return of the Cybermen (not yet reviewed)

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#2 (12.5 - 12.8): The Ark in Space

Noah (Kenton Moore), captain of Space Station
Nerva, undergoes a terrible transformation...

...or Dr. Who in an Exciting Adventure with Bubble-Wrap!

4 episodes. Written by: Robert Holmes. Directed by: Rodney Bennett.  Produced by: Philip Hinchcliffe.


THE PLOT

The Doctor's attempt to prove the TARDIS's properties to Harry with a quick trip goes predictably awry. Instead of materializing on the moon, they find themselves in the far future, on a space station orbiting Earth. Space Station Nerva is an ark, carrying the cryogenically frozen survivors of a global catastrophe. The station's systems have been sabotaged, but the Doctor brings the power back on-line, awakening the command crew in the process.

It quickly becomes apparent that something has gotten into the station. The insect-like Wirrn have invaded the station while its crew has slept, laying their eggs inside one of the crew. Now, the larval Wirrn has taken control of the station commander, Noah (Kenneth Moore) - leaving the Doctor and his friends, along with the remaining station crew, in a race against time to prevent this last outpost of humanity from being consumed!


CHARACTERS

The Doctor: Robot introduced the new Doctor in a story that was otherwise indistinguishable from a Pertwee offering. By contrast, this outer space thriller allows Tom Baker and the incoming production team to establish their own tone and style. This story sets the new template that would largely exist through producer Philip Hinchcliffe's tenure, with the Fourth Doctor being not only quirkier than his immediate predecessor, but also more intellectual and more emotionally remote. Tom Baker is marvelous, with several terrific individual moments: trying to use his hat and scarf to deal with station defenses (and giving a perfect nonverbal reaction when both of the aforementioned get zapped); the iconic "homo sapiens" speech when he discovers the frozen bodies; berating Sarah to get her moving, only to grin with pride and affection after she completes her task.

Sarah Jane Smith: Writer/script editor Robert Holmes gives more focus to new companion Harry than to Sarah.  The first episode, in particular, puts all the focus on the Doctor and Harry, reducing Sarah Jane to "woman-in-peril" status and then literally putting her into storage. Even after she is thawed out in Episode Two, she is given less to do than in most of Season 11's entries, with her only memorable moment being an attack of claustrophobia in the air vents. Elisabeth Sladen still invests the character with likability and intelligence, but I hope that the remaining stories of the season don't sideline her to this extent.

Harry Sullivan: Harry's character is given a chance to emerge and stretch a bit, and he's immediately likable. There is something very humorous in his attempts to take everything in stride. In contrast with the character's intermittent reputation as a nincompoop, he never loses his head, nor does he behave recklessly. In fact, he makes a rather good team with the Doctor, keeping up with him just enough so that the Doctor can usefully bounce ideas off of him, without ever being at risk of being at the Doctor's own level. Ian Marter's rapport with his co-stars remains excellent, and I'd argue that the 4th Doc/Sarah Jane/Harry line-up is a strong contender for my favorite 1970s team.


THOUGHTS

Incoming producer Philip Hinchcliffe's first story is a sharp break with Barry Letts' era in both tone and presentation style. Reputation has it that Hinchcliffe was initially weak on production. There isn't much evidence of that here, save for the too-obvious bubble wrap of the Wirrn larval stage - which, admittedly, is seen a bit too clearly, a bit too often, particularly in Part Three.

Bubble wrap aside, I'd rate this as possibly the best-looking Doctor Who story since The Sea Devils. The station sets are superbly realized for their time. White, antiseptic corridors in a circular shape, to match the station models (and to make it easier to convincingly reuse one stretch of curving corridor for different parts of the station), running the circumference of a more dimly-lit central core. The station architecture is effectively established in the early episodes, and there is little to interfere with the illusion of being in a station orbiting Earth, as opposed to a BBC studio set. Even the Wirrn are passably realized, with smart directorial choices keeping their on-camera appearances to a minimum.

I like this story - but I don't love it the way much of fandom seems to. The first two episodes are excellent, building atmosphere and mystery. The second half just doesn't quite hit the same mark. I honestly think the third episode drags a bit, while the final installment is slightly rushed, with a sequence of the Doctor and Sarah besieged in the cryo chamber seeming like a beat that should have been held longer. Wendy Williams' Vira is a strong guest character, just hesitant enough at taking charge to feel human while still being a convincing leader, but the other guest characters are too thinly sketched to get invested in. This includes Noah; his few pre-infection scenes make him seem a little too much like a Pertwee-era pompous bureaucrat for his fate to particularly resonate.

It's still a good story, mind you. Robert Holmes does a fine job of maintaining tension, with the characters dealing with one threat after another. In Part One, the regulars are in jeopardy from the station's automated defense systems. Once the crew start being revived, they become suspicious of the Doctor, with Noah seeming almost eager to summarily execute him and his companions. In Part Three, the characters evade the larval Wirrn, while the Doctor probes for weaknesses. It is only in Part Four that the adult Wirrn emerge, effectively putting the characters under siege. It's a clever structure, well-designed to keep the audience engaged without giving the audience too much to keep track of.


OVERALL:

It's easy to see why this story is a fan favorite. The set design is superb, the alien design is above the series' average, and the script is adeptly structured. Tom Baker is particularly good here, and the 4th Doctor/Sarah Jane/Harry line-up is a strong contender for the best set of 1970s regulars.

All of this makes The Ark in Space a good story. But the third episode feels a bit overstretched, whiel the guest cast are mostly too bland to get invested in. I like the story... but on this viewing, as in previous ones, I find that my reaction just doesn't match the serial's reputation.


Rating: 7/10.

Alternate Version: The Ark (audio)

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#1 (12.1 - 12.4): Robot

The robot menaces the newly regenerated 4th Doctor and Sarah!

4 episodes. Written by: Terrance Dicks. Directed by: Christopher Barry.  Produced by: Barry Letts.


THE PLOT

The Doctor has just regenerated into his fourth persona, and it's his most eccentric yet. Gone is the brittle yet dignified dandy.  In his place is a large, curly-haired, grinning figure who seems to be more than a little childish, and possibly a little insane.

It's a bad time for the Doctor to be unstable. The components of a top-secret disintegrator gun have been stolen by an unknown force. Brigadier Lethbridge-Stewart initially insists that he needs the Doctor's help just to keep him safely around for observation - but as the crisis escalates to the point of a nuclear apocalypse, it becomes apparent that the Doctor truly is needed, possibly more than ever before.

But can this new Doctor be trusted to maintain focus on the task at hand?


CHARACTERS

The Doctor: Cards on the table: Despite being the fan favorite, the Fourth Doctor has never been a particular favorite of mine. That said, most of my issues with him come later, and there's no denying that Tom Baker makes a strong first impression. He's energetic and zany, but he also takes care to keep the Doctor at a certain remove. The Sherlock Holmes-like aspects of the character have always been there, ever since the First Doctor talked a primitive tribe into seeing the significance of a caveman's knife, but they're extremely prominent here.  This is particularly true of scenes in which he appears to be distracted by irrelevancies while actually collecting important observations, such as a crushed dandelion at a crime scene.

Brigadier Lethbridge-Stewart: My first draft review of Robot was written after a run of Season Seven stories, and the jump from Inferno to this really showed the Brigadier's deterioration. In Season Seven, he was brisk, efficient, and intelligent - a man born to lead. That Brigadier wouldn't have needed the Doctor to point out that two components of the same weapon had been stolen, he would have noticed all on his own. Even viewing in strict chronological order, I'd rate this as one of the character's most ineffectual showings, and it's as well that the new production team quickly decided to rest both him and UNIT.

Sarah Jane Smith: A strong story for Sarah Jane. With Barry Letts and Terrance Dicks still in charge, her background as a journalist and an independent-minded woman is still a driving force. For the first episode, and for much of the second, she is actually more proactive than the Doctor and the Brigadier are. After she is subject to a "demonstration" of the robot's inability to override its directive to never harm humans, which causes it considerable distress, she shows compassion for it, setting up (overly obvious) King Kong parallels for the rest of the serial.

Harry Sullivan: Ian Marter, who previously played an unrelated guest role in Carnival of Monsters, makes his debut as new companion Harry, a naval physician assigned to UNIT who starts out as the Doctor's doctor. Marter brings a relaxed and likable presence to the role, and he has an easy rapport with both Baker and Sladen. There isn't actually much for him to do in this story, an early sign of why he was written out after only one year, but I wasn't sorry to see him step into the TARDIS at the story's end.


THOUGHTS

Robot marks the beginning of the end of the UNIT era, and it honestly was about time for the show to move on. By this point, UNIT had become a collection of comic book soldiers, an impression not helped by them being pitted against a league of mad scientists plotting to take over the world - with a giant robot and a Ray Gun, no less. I question how some could complain about Doctor Who cartoons such as The Infinite Quest and Dreamland. Decades before that, this was a cartoon that just happened to be in live action!

For all of that, I mostly like Robot. Some of that is nostalgia. It was not the first Who story I ever saw, but it was the one that made me a regular viewer back in the mid-1980s. From here, I watched every story during PBS' mid-1980's omnibus reruns of the series, going all the way through to Trial of a Time Lord (which, for a long time, I had thought to be the series' finale).

Even without nostalgia goggles, there is much to like. Terrance Dicks understands the importance of story construction and pace. Robot moves along briskly, effectively introducing the situation and the guest characters, establishing the threats, and bringing them all together for the final episode. The plot may feel a bit thin, but there are enough strands to give the Doctor and the Brigadier elements to investigate even as Sarah pursues leads on her own.

The UNIT set-up also ensures that Tom Baker's debut story felt familiar to contemporary viewers. This is a very different Doctor, but he's surrounded by familiar regulars while navigating what's essentially a mid-range Pertwee story. Given Pertwee's five-year tenure and his enduring popularity, this was a canny way to reassure the audience that this was still very much the same show, a bit of comfort food before the new production team took over to steer it in a very different direction.

For its first three episodes, I think it works quite well. Too bad that it falls apart in the final installment. Once the robot grows to giant size to make sure no one misses the King Kong allusions, all internal credibility vanishes. The next several minutes, showing the robot rampaging around toy cars, paper houses, and plastic soldiers is ludicrous and - worse - dull.

After five years of spearheading Who, Letts and Dicks had to know the giant robot was going to look awful. Worse, the script doesn't do anything interesting; in fact, once the robot grows in size, the script stops doing interesting things.


OVERALL:

I would rank Robot as the weakest "new Doctor" story of the first five (though it's still better than the debuts of the Sixth and Seventh Doctors). It's a thin story even during the enjoyable first thee parts, and its final episode is largely poor. Still, it is mostly enjoyable, and Tom Baker makes a good first impression in the role.

It's good that a new production team was coming in - because the series was about to get a major jolt of renewed creative energy...


Rating: 6/10.

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