The Sontarans are a race of time travelling warriors, who are the original yobs of the Galaxy who like nothing more than a good ruck. In this two-parter the Sontaran is called Styre.
This is the third outing for Tom Baker and the second time round for the Sontarans, and it is written by Bob Baker and Dave Martin. It is set on Earth sometime in the far future, where what was once London, is now a bleak and barren landscape of hills and mountains (this was shot on Dartmoor). The Doctor, Sarah and Harry arrive here, where they come across a small group of humans who are getting captured and then used for sadistic experiments by Styre - the Sontaran. It's enough to put you off fell walking for life! This is a highly enjoyable adventure ... Read More:
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I will confess that this story is not as good as I thought it would be but as time passes it does grow on me.
The cybermen themselves are back on track after their underused performance in 'The Invasion' and are seen to be a lot more cunning and manipulative. E.g. using human greed to aquire the services of a human agent. However I am disapointed that they don't have much involvement in the story until episode 3 but their performance makes up for that.
Tom Baker is excellent as the Doctor, as usual. His banter with the Cyberleader during episode three is a mixture of seriousness and silliness and thats what makes it so good.
Companions Harry and Sarah are seen to have their own mini adventure in this story trying ... Read More:
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This is one of the best episodes from the Gothic Hinchcliffe/Holmes era. It features UNIT, the horrific Zygons and a rather embarrassing Loch Ness Monster (obviously not the idea of it, but how it turned out) which is the only let down in an otherwise faultless episode that should be regarded as a vintage slice of Doctor Who. This is directed by Douglas Camfield who also went on to direct the excellent 'The Seeds of Doom'. It is also worth mentioning that the music score by Dudley Simpson is magnificently eerie, especially when the nurse escapes through the woods.
Finally, aren't the Zygons brilliant? - no disrespect to Russell T Davies, who's new Doctor Who series is fast, thrilling, fun and entertaining to watch, but he ain't quite mastered ... Read More:
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In the mid 1970s Doctor Who had reached it's golden period under the helm of Philip Hinchcliffe's and Barry Lett's stewardship. This is a great example of Doctor Who at its best. A great plot, great acting from Tom Baker and the rest of the cast and a great visualisation of an alien race.
Having watched this story as a child in the 70's I had vivid memories of the Wiryn slug that mutates in the "washing machine" like set! It still is a very scary scene and the producers and directors manage to orchestrate a horror element very successfully. I think the present producers Russell T Davies need to beware of falling into the pitfalls of the John Nathan Turner era and should refrain from sending the show up into a comedy/soap opera. Doctor Who should be taken ... Read More:
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This is a better than usual Tom Baker story, with fun and atmosphere early on and passable androids and aliens. The rocket is a bad jok, same stock footage as Genesis of the Daleks/revenge of the Cybermen again! Considering it hails from the overrated Gothic horror period, which had as many totally boring stories as cool exciting ones, this then is not bad at all. The ending falls rather flat and looks awful (that freeze frame is yuck!) but I have a soft spot for this one. I liked UNIT, sadly this is its last breath. Criminal! And fat comedy guy who stands in for the Brigadier is an insult to the show's past! But, for the eerie village scenes, this is worth a look!
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"Robot" is among my favourite Doctor Who episodes of all time. Below I explain why:
1) "Robot" is an extraordinary showcase of Tom Baker's Doctor's personality and talents. Apart from the expected erratic behaviour during the first 10 minutes, the new Doctor's personality is well-cemented, vivid, witty, and devilishly clever. In fact, the new Doctor carries the story as well as anyone else involved in the story, especially because his clever trickery and scientific know-how in dealing with the robot help to progress the story in the first instance.
2) The story itself is thematically staple sci-fi which could only have been made more interesting by the unique talents of Terrance Dicks, Tom Baker et al. Whilst the theme of a robot servile to megalomaniacs ... Read More:
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