Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #5065 in DVD
• Released on: 2007-06-04
• Rating: Parental Guidance
• Aspect ratio: 1.33:1
• Formats: Full Screen, PAL
• Original language: English
• Number of discs: 1
• Running time: 100 minutes

Amazon.co.uk Review
Tom Baker's reign as the venerable British science fiction hero Doctor Who began with this four-part serial from 1974-75; it also marked the dawn of what was arguably the most popular period in the program's history. Written by Terrance Dicks, Robot also introduces the late Ian Marter as the Doctor's companion-to-be Harry Sullivan, a UNIT medic who is pulled into the adventure after treating the Doctor, who is recovering from his fourth regeneration (third Doctor Jon Pertwee appears briefly at the beginning of the first episode). Meanwhile, Sarah Jane (Elisabeth Sladen) and the Brigadier (Nicholas Courtney) investigate a series of robberies involving a top secret weapons project that seem to have been carried out not by humans, but a colossal object. Could the mysterious "Think Tank" and its robotics division be involved? Robot is a terrific launching point for "The Baker Years"--the star himself is charming and amusing, and the story itself is brisk, involving, and quite suspenseful at times. In short, it's an excellent point for Who newcomers to introduce themselves to this most well-loved of Doctors.

The single-disc DVD includes commentary by Baker, Sladen, Dicks, and producer Barry Letts, as well as a 40-minute documentary titled "Are Friends Electric?" which recalls the production of Baker's first serial via interviews with the cast and production team, including producer Phillip Hinchcliffe and director Christopher Barry. "The Tunnel Effect" is a 13-minute interview with graphic designer Bernard Lodge on how he created the memorable "infinite tunnel" titles for the Baker stories, and there's a clip from children's program Blue Peter, which was broadcast from the set of Robot. The by-now standard photo gallery, production notes, and a PDF of the Radio Times listings round out the extras. --Paul Gaita

Synopsis
Can Doctor Who save the Earth from an atomic war....? A four-part adventure which heralds the start of the Tom Baker era.

Customer Reviews

"The nose is a definite improvement..."
To appreciate the effect Tom Baker's debut as Doctor number 4 in late December 1974 might have had on a contemporary audience, it's necessary to remember all the qualities that made up his predecessor's Doctor. Pertwee was dignified, aristocratic, smartly (if eccentrically) dressed and although occasionally ill-tempered and patronising was at least someone who would give a straight answer to a straight question. Suddenly, after 5 years of this Doctor (yes odd, but reassuring) from the leftist of left fields comes this scruffy, scarf-wearing, boggle eyed basket case who's apparently subject to massive mood swings and can't even sit or lie down in a conventional manner. At times he's just plain silly. One imagines that many people at the time would have just hated this new spin on a much loved TV hero.

However, it's established fact that Tom Baker became one of the most popular and iconic Doctors within a matter of serials and with hindsight it's easy to overlook the jarring change that had just taken place to the show. The writer of ROBOT, Terrance Dicks attempts to reassure the audience by wrapping up the potentially bitter pill of the change of leading man in the sugar coating of familiarity. A fairly uncomplicated plot heavily reliant on the staple ingredients of the Pertwee shows: UNIT, Sarah Jane's career as an investigative journalist, the Brigadier, a monster that is impervious to light artillery means that the audience is gently cajoled into accepting this bizarre stranger as the nation's favourite Time Lord. In fact, regulars Nicholas Courtney and Elizabeth Sladen do a terrific job here and ROBOT boasts some stalwart performances not only from them but also from Patricia Maynard and Edward Burnham - whose hairdo has to be seen to be believed.

However, call me a cynic, but I don't think ROBOT is a great story. It's more of a guilty pleasure. Not that it's trying to be an all-conquering epic. No, its purpose is functional, and in this regard it is effective. To be fair the design of the titular robot is excellent, even if it does look pretty wobbly out on location (my sympathies go out to poor old Michael Kilgarriff who must have had a tough time stomping around in that huge aluminium suit) and there is some good solid story telling for most of the time. Things go pear-shaped however, around the 3rd episode and especially in part 4 when the robot gets a blast from an unconvincing secret weapon that causes it to grow to gargantuan size. It then goes on a KING KONG style rampage with effects that must have looked fairly ropey even in the mid 1970's. Also, I simply don't buy Baker's first go at playing the Doctor. Granted he's laying the groundwork here and there are some amusing moments, but they are at the expense of the delicious detachment and moodiness that makes his Doctor so magnificent. Newcomers to the old-school DR WHO would be better advised to seek out DVD's of THE ARK IN SPACE, GENESIS OF THE DALEKS, HORROR OF FANG ROCK or THE HAND OF FEAR to see Tom Baker at his best.

The extras are not exactly generous, but are fairly good nonetheless. The feature: "ARE FRIENDS ELECTRIC?" covers the casting of Tom Baker and the memories of cast and crew about the making of ROBOT using some rather lovely contemporary behind the scenes footage. The commentary with producer Barry Letts, Terrance Dicks, Baker and Sladen is good humoured and mostly entertaining, although I can't help feeling that it might have been more tactful of the writer and ex-producer not to have referenced the Pertwee period so often in the presence of his successor.

Okay, but not a classic.
This story is firmly situated in the middle of what I regard as the golden age of Who (1970-1977). However, it has to be said that it is a bit on the weak side. The special effects suffer from the usual 1970s CSO problems, and the model shots are particularly embarrasing (my wife laughed at the Sarah model & the tank). The plot itself is a mixture of King Kong, Beauty & the Beast and Frankenstein. The 'secret' SRS meeting in episode 3 is lifted wholesale from the Dicks/Hulke early Avengers story 'The Mauritius Penny' (Sarah substituting for Cathy Gale). However, there are some good moments, such as the post-regeneration scenes. The new Doctor comes across as being arrogant and self-congratulatory, something which seems to have been changed very soon afterwards.

The extras are entertaining & worth watching.

So overall this is one of the weakest pre-Invasion of Time stories, and not the greatest introduction to a new Doctor, but still well worth buying if you like the fourth incarnation.

Workman-Like Start
This was the first of Tom Baker's stories so obviously, no-one had any knowledge of how Tom would develop the role.

There's little evidence of the eccentricity that he would bring to the role very quickly after this and that had attracted the production staff to him in the first place. Sarah, as always, was in fine fettle as she investigated the mysterious disappearing equipment and we're introduced to Ian Marter as permanent companion Harry Sullivan who actually gets to play the role in a serious fashion - later stories would see him sinking to Mickey like comedic side kick.

There are a number of interesting extras ranging from how the new Doctor was cast and the rest of the cast assembled round him to how the various title sequences were constructed (this *was* interesting - honest!).