Doctor Who (1963) 12.01.01

Robot - Part One

The Doctor is taken to sick bay by the medical officer, Lieutenant Harry Sullivan, because he doesn't seem well. He escapes not long after that and makes his way back to the TARDIS. He's getting ready to enter the TARDIS when Harry catches up to him and insists that he return to sick bay.

The Doctor helps the Brigadier, ince he has recovered, to investigate the theft of the top secret plans for a disintegrator gun and some of the gear needed to build it. The Brigadier attempts to prevent the theft of one of the other key items needed for the construction of the gun but that proves fruitless as the thief burrows into the secured location.

The Brigadier procures a pass for Sarah Jane Smith so that she can visit National Institute for Advanced Scientific Research. She is guided around the Institute (also known as Think Tank) by Hilda Winters, the director of Think Tank, and Arnold Jellicoe, her assistant. They don't seem very happy to have Sarah poking around.

Sarah Jane pays a visit to Professor J.P. Kettlewell, a former employee of Think Tank who specialized in robotics. He doesn't have any interest in talking to Ms. Smith and doesn't give her much information about anything. Sarah Jane returns to Think Tank. She sneaks back in to Kettlewell's old laboratory and is confronted by a tall robot that starts lumbering towards her and asks her who she is and what she is doing there.

Thoughts

It has been quite a while since I last watched this story, probably more than 25 years. I am pretty sure this is one that I recorded on VHS back in the 1980s. Its not the best of the Fourth Doctor but as I recall it is a good place to begin.

Barry Letts (producer), Tom Baker (The Doctor), Elisabeth Sladen (Sarah Jane Smith), and Terrance Dicks (writer) are on the commentary track for this story. The commentary track was recorded in 2007. This is the last story that Barry Letts produced. According to Barry Letts, Ian Marter (Harry Sullivan) originally auditioned for the role of Mike Yates but was unable to take the job because of another commitment.

Notes

I bought the Blu Ray set of season 12. It wasn't expensive. I probably couldn't get more than two or three of the DVD sets of stories from this season for what I paid for the Blu Ray.