The Robots of Death

090 – The Robots of Death
Doctor Who serial
A scene from part four, where the Voc Robots are attempting to kill the Doctor.
Cast
Doctor Tom Baker (Fourth Doctor)
Companion Louise Jameson (Leela)
Others Russell Hunter — Uvanov Pamela Salem — Toos David Bailie — Dask David Collings — Poul Brian Croucher — Borg Tania Rogers — Zilda Rob Edwards — Chub Tariq Yunus — Cass Gregory de Polnay — D.84 Miles Fothergill — S.V.7 Mark Blackwell Baker, John Bleasdale, Mark Cooper, Peter Langtry, Jeremy Ranchev, Richard Seager — Robots
Production
Directed by	Michael E. Briant
Written by	Chris Boucher
Script editor	Robert Holmes
Produced by	Philip Hinchcliffe
Executive producer(s)	None
Incidental music composer	Dudley Simpson
Production code	4R
Series	Season 14
Length	4 episodes, 25 minutes each
Originally broadcast	29 January – 19 February 1977
Chronology
← Preceded by Followed by → The Face of Evil The Talons of Weng-Chiang
List of Doctor Who serials

Doctor Who and the Robots of Death

Author	Terrance Dicks
Cover artist	John Geary
Series	Doctor Who book: Target novelisations
Release number	53
Publisher	Target Books
Publication date	24 May 1979
ISBN

The Robots of Death is the fifth serial of the 14th season of the British science fiction television series Doctor Who, which was first broadcast in four weekly parts from 29 January to 19 February 1977.

Influenced by the works of Agatha Christie, Isaac Asimov and Frank Herbert, The Robots of Death was Chris Boucher's second contribution to Doctor Who as a writer, Michael E. Briant's final contribution to the series as a director and Philip Hinchcliffe's penultimate story as producer. It has been described by Radio Times as a "fan favourite", "suspenseful" and "beautifully designed" serial featuring Tom Baker "in his prime". It was chosen to represent the era of the Fourth Doctor at the British Film Institute's 50th anniversary celebration of Doctor Who.

On a distant planet, a huge sandminer vehicle, Storm Mine 4, is slowly scraping the surface of a vast, barren desert in search of precious minerals. The sandminer is manned by nine humans and numerous robots - black 'Dums' that cannot speak, pale green 'Vocs', and a silver 'Super Voc' which controls all the 'Dums' and 'Vocs'. The robots conduct a routine scan of the area and locate a large sandstorm, which the humans decide to pursue, as the storm will bring heavier minerals to the surface. One of the humans, a meteorologist called Chub, goes to collect an instrument package to place into his weather balloon to study the storm. However, he is later found strangled.

At about this time, the TARDIS materialises in one of the scoops. After the Doctor and Leela emerge from the TARDIS, it is removed by a large mechanical arm as it is blocking the scoop. Later, the Doctor and Leela are brought out of the scoop by two robots and locked in a room. The Doctor uses his sonic screwdriver to unlock the door, and goes in search of the TARDIS, while Leela finds Chub's body being taken away by some robots.