Doctor Who – The Robots Of Death DVD – Louise Jameson , Tom Baker

DVD Special Features Writer&39;s and producer&39;s commentary Photo gallery Scene selection Model sequences Graphical menus Studio floor plans Subtitles — English SDH Dolby Digital Mono DVD9 43DVD Special Features

By Tom Baker’s third season in the role the actor had become firmly established in the minds of many fans as the definitive Doctor. First broadcast in early 1977, “Robots of Death” follows on directly from “Face of Evil”, which was writer Chris Boucher’s debut and also that of Louise Jameson’s Leela, the Doctor’s most shapely companion (a kind of Neanderthal Seven of Nine if you will). Boucher’s second Who story concerns an isolated mining ship on which a series of inexplicable deaths take place–although as the Doctor opines, “nothing is inexplicable, only unexplained”. The Doctor and Leela inevitably become embroiled in events, which soon turn into a sci-fi murder-mystery: imagine Isaac Asimov crossed with Agatha Christie in a Frank Herbert Dune-like setting. Add an undercover robot sent by “the company” and the claustrophobic, not to say deadly setting of the mining ship and there is a fascinating foreshadowing of Alien, too. It is tightly plotted, intelligent Saturday teatime entertainment (something that was possible then but is now an unthinkable oxymoron) with a typically strong cast of redoubtable thesps in supporting roles (not to mention extravagant costumes and garish make-up). There may be no Daleks or Cybermen, but this is vintage Who nevertheless.On the DVD: For a mid-70s TV programme, this looks really fresh on DVD, although the sound is mono. Each of the four episodes are broken down into chapter points for ease of use. There is a full audio commentary with producer Philip Hinchcliffe and writer Chris Boucher which suffers from some very long gaps ibetween the interesting nuggets of information. Also included are a few sundries of interest to die-hard fans: unused model shots, floor plans of the studio layout and some scene comparisons between “raw” footage and the same shots after post-production. –Mark Walker