Doctor Who (1963) 14.05.02

The Robots of Death - Part 2

The Doctor is saved by SV7, the command robot, from the room that was filling up with debris. The Doctor tries telling SV7 about the dead body he found but he doesn't get very far before SV7 has him restrained on orders from Commander Uvanov.

Leela watches from a hiding spot as Chubb is wheeled out of the store room by two robots. She goes looking for the doctor and finds Cass, dead. She is approached by D84, a robot, who speaks to her even though she later learns that it shouldn't be able to speak. The robot asks her not to tell the others about it.

The Doctor and Leela are restrained physically and left that way while the remaining crew members discuss what to do. Commander Uvanov is convinced that the Doctor and Leela must be the killers but not everyone agrees with him. Some suspicion is cast on Borg who playfully put one of the corpse markers on Cass, last episode.

Poole has a chat with the Doctor, who points out that the crew is overlooking the possibility that the dead crew members might have been murdered by a robot. Poole thinks that's preposterous until the Doctor pokes a hole in Poole's confidence. 

The crew goes back to work. Zilda takes a break. She breaks into Commander Uvanov's quarters and finds some damning evidence of some sort or another. She contacts the bridge and accuses him without being specific as to what she found. Uvanov rushes to his quarters.

Poole arrives in Uvanov's quarters only to find him standing over Zilda's dead body. He relieves Uvanov of his command and has him locked in his quarters.

The ship's engines start to overheat and threaten to blow the sandminer sky high.

Thoughts

Chubb and Kerel were killed before the first episode was over. Cass, Zilda, and Borg get killed in this episode. That leaves just four crew members (Uvanov, Toos, Dask, Poole), a lot of robots, plus the Doctor and Leela.

If you look closely in the scene where Chubb's dead body is being wheeled away you can see the actor move his head. If you look closely in another scene there is a clue given as to the killer's identity.

I still think this is a superior Doctor Who story. Perfect it ain't but I think there's a lot here to recommend it. The supporting cast are really good and that makes a big difference.