Doctor Who 14x18

Directed by Michael E. Briant

Russell Hunter as Uvanov • Pamela Salem as Toos • David Bailie as Dask • David Collings as Poul • Brian Croucher as Borg

The Doctor and Leela are suspected of murder. But the real foe is using robots to cut down the crew – and even sabotage the sand miner itself!

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1. "Panic aboard the Sandminer as a murderer goes on the rampage. But is the killer human?"

2. This episode was first shown on 5 February 1977.

3. It was seen by 12.4 million viewers.

4. Coming up now is a deeply unpleasant experience at an uncomfortably early stage of the production.

5. The ore is represented by cork chips, which got everywhere and turned the air filthy.

6. Both Tom Baker and Ken Sharp inhaled a lot of cork dust during the day they spent filming this.

7. then he should use the scarf to pull himself out of the ore and swing across to the door.

8. Tom was always keen to find inventive uses for the Doctor's scarf. But this time he didn't get his way...

9. The film has been sped up.

10. V9 takes evasive action.

11. Michael Briant developed the idea that the robots all move at the same tempo.

12. Cass is played by Karachi-born actor Tariq Yunus (1946-94).

13. Some viewers in 1977 somehow got the idea that the Sandminer's pilot is called "Toots".

14. The script calls for "an ambiguously long delay" before SV7 presses the button to empty the hopper.

15. Notice the shadow of an assistant, leaning forward to pull Tom out by his corky arms.

16. The door's reflective inner face is dulled to minimise the risk of our seeing the camera.

17. "I can't take the credit for all the impurity," says the Doctor in the script.

18. The robots are played by a total of eight actors: Two for the substantive roles of SV7 and D84,

19. and six others who played 24 different robots between them.

20. The tabards were designed with hinged number flashes, so that they could easily be switched between scenes.

21. Leela refers to something we didn't hear the Doctor say to her.

22. She's approaching the "sleeping cubicle", scripted as a simple curtained bunk bed.

23. "She gasps as the twisted, leering face of Cass confronts her," says the script.

24. Remember that this episode was running short, and had to take over scenes from Parts 1 and 3?

25. This was written as the cliffhanger ending of the first episode,

26. and this was to have been the first scene of Part 2.

27. It would have been the first cliffhanger to focus on Leela in danger.

28. Part of the Sandminer system is an Archimedes screw, seen at the bottom right.

29. The spiral screw transfers sand up the tube as it turns.

30. Early in pre-production, Michael Briant and Kenneth Sharp paid a research visit to an open-caste mine in Cornwall.

31. The first thing they saw was a giant scoop equipped with an Archimedes screw.

32. Briant suggested that the sand would be pushed into the scoop

33. by high-pressure water jets

34. The script calls for "a stinging back-handed blow across the face" and a retaliatory kick in the stomach.

35. The script calls for Uvanov to raise his hand to slap her again, which is why she warns him off.

36. The script reads "two people" - Uvanov doesn't know about Kerril yet.

37. He had been reading about robotics, and had long wanted to make a definitive Doctor Who robot story.

38. So far this had misfired twice. (as 'The Android Invasion' and 'The Brain of Morbius').

39. and during the early winter months when it didn't make sense to film scenes on location.

40. With that in mind, Robert Holmes recommended setting the action in a self-contained environment.

41. Hinchcliffe didn't want another space station, and suggested some kind of mineral digger.

42. He then contacted effects designer Richard Conway to see whether the modelwork was feasible.

43. Leela's protestations were a late, unscripted addition.

44. The ungracious Borg was originally to have been played by a thicker-set actor, Brian McDermott (1934-2003).

45. He had previously worked with Michael Briant on Dixon of Dock Green (1975),

46. and he later played an airport manager in the 1982 Doctor Who serial, 'Time-Flight'.

47. So we end up with a younger, physically slighter Borg played by Brian Croucher.

48. He was also a long-haired surveillance man in Callan (1972),

49. a policeman in Quatermass (1979), and a manservant in Michael Briant's production of Treasure Island (1977).

50. Later in 1977, he auditioned for the title role in Blake's 7,

51. but ended up playing Travis, Blake's arch-nemesis, in the second series.

52. Uvanov was written as a very masculine, "butch" heroic role, but Michael Briant decided to cast against type.

53. He first offered the part to red-headed Ronald Lacey (1935-91), best known for "slimy" parts

54. In the event, Uvanov went to the diminutive Glaswegian Russell Hunter (1925-2004),

55. who started his working life as an apprentice shipbuilder on Clydebank before becoming an actor.

56. He appeared in the first ever Edinburgh Fringe Festival in 1947 in Sean O'Casey's The Plough and the Stars,

57. and played Shakespearian clowns for the Royal Shakespeare Company in the 1960s.

58. He is best known for his immortal comic performance as the malodorous petty thief Lonely in Callan (1967-72).

59. He reprised the role in 1974 and 1981, and played numerous similar characters

60. in crime series ranging from The Sweeney (1975) to The Inspector Wexford Mysteries (1988).

61. (In the Wexford series, the Inspector came to visit Hunter's character, "Monkey" Matthews, in his cell.

62. "I thought you might be Lonely," he said. Though possibly without the capital "L"... )

63. He also played the supernatural villain Mr Stabs in Ace of Wands (1971) And Shadows (1975).

64. And he had narrowly missed appearing in Doctor Who ten years earlier.

65. He was cast as Willie Mackay, a sailor, smuggler, and potential slave in 'The Highlanders' (1966-7),

66. but had to pull out when he was called in to replace the ailing Duncan Macrae in a Glasgow pantomime.

67. he will never have the elite social status of her family - which means in turn that he will never have her.

68. The foreground is a model.

69. The live action was matted in using CSO.

70. In the script, they are clamped inside storage cylinders.

71. In June 1976, Robert Holmes met with Chris Boucher to discuss the serial.

72. Holmes wanted the core of the drama to lie in an isolated group of people under pressure.

73. The two men kicked about ways of realizing this in narrative terms.

74. Two of the ideas in play were a "haunted manor house" and a "country house whodunnit".

75. The novels of Agatha Christie were mentioned, especially the island setting of Ten Little Indians (1939).

76. He developed the Sandminer on the analogy of a nineteenth-century American whaling ship.

77. In the case of the Sandminer, Boucher imagined the company in terms of the British Petroleum company:

78. A business consortium in which the principal shareholder is the planetary government.

79. A whaler's crew would sign on and accept the ship-master's authority for the duration of the voyage.

80. And that's another reason why the crew wear their own clothes, not a company uniform.

81. It was the ship-master's responsibility to take the ship out into the ocean and catch whales.

82. A skilful or lucky master Would bring his ship home with barrels full of blubber,

83. and the crew would divide the profits between themselves once the company had received its rake-off.

84. On 22 June 1976, Chris Boucher was commissioned to write a storyline for 'Planet of the Robots'.

85. It was due for delivery on the last day of the month, but came in two days later on 2 July.

86. The scripts were commissioned on 20 July with a tight deadline: 9 August.

87. They came in, episode by episode, on 2 and 27 August and 9 and 13 September.

88. By mid-August, the production team had decided that 'Planet of the Robots' wasn't a suitable title,

89. and by mid-September, they'd settled on 'The Robots of Death'.

90. There is no documentary evidence that the serial ever had any other title.

91. Now for a prime instance of the serial's indebtedness to mainstream science fiction.

92. which were propounded by Isaac Asimov in a series of short stories and novels of the 1940s and '50s.

93. The First Law states that a robot cannot, either by action or inaction, cause harm to a human being.

94. The line Poul starts to say is: "Their prime directive is the protection of human life."

95. These two actors became firm friends during the making of this serial.

96. Leela's line was Louise Jameson's unscripted contribution.

97. Look behind Zilda's reflection.

98. Did you see the man in the white shirt?

99. Poul is played by David Collings , who began his career at the Liverpool Playhouse.

100. He and Briant often worked together again, notably in Treasure Island (1977), where Collings was Blind Pew.

101. His best known television roles include the quirky technician Silver in Sapphire and Steel (1981-2)

102. And the headmaster in Steven Moffat's first drama series, Press Gang (1989-93).

103. His notable stage work includes Newman Noggs in Nicholas Nickleby ,

104. Lord Stanley in Richard III ,

105. and the Viceroy of Portugal in The Spanish Tragedy

106. Zilda is played by Tania Rogers, then tipped as a rising young black actress.

107. She had previously worked with Michael Briant on Dixon of Dock Green (1976).

108. She went on to appear in Out (1978), The Professionals (1980) And Minder (1980).

109. This was originally written as the episode's cliffhanger ending.

110. So the draft script for this episode had only fourteen minutes' worth of material.

111. The next few scenes were originally written for early in Part 3.

112. But the episode also needed a new cliffhanger,

113. so roughly the last three minutes of material were newly written on 28 September.

114. The episode was then further rewritten on 19 October.

115. He also co-wrote an episode of the ill-received sitcom Romany Jones (1973).

116. So when Blake's 7 came a-calling, Holmes recommended Boucher for the script editor's chair.

117. In 1987, he put his two areas of genre expertise together and created Star Cops.

118. The newly written scenes are about to begin,

119. and they open with an idea that Robert Holmes proposed in a phone call to Chris Boucher:

120. That Leela has an acute ability to "sense evil", and to detect fractional changes in her environment.

121. Holmes suggested a supernatural power, but this was off-beam for Doctor Who,

122. hence the Doctor's derisive quotation from Shakespeare's Macbeth (1606).

123. Chris Boucher duly rationalised it as a hunter's instinct, or perhaps a form of low-level telepathy.

124. The idea was soon dropped from Leela's characterisation,

125. because "sensing evil" too efficiently made it too easy for her to evade danger.

126. The total budget for this serial was set at £72,546.

127. The third most expensive item, after the actors' and writer's fees, was videotape.

128. Michael Briant was engaged as director on 21 June, the day before the storyline was commissioned,

129. Before then, on 27 July, Briant put in an early request for the camera crew he had recently worked with on Warship.

130. On 19 August, Dudley Simpson was engaged to write the incidental music,

131. and on 16 September the rehearsal room was booked.

132. Slowly but surely, 'The Robots of Death' was gearing up for the start of production on 1 November.

133. The "delta repair pick" was added in rehearsal; in the script Dask just says, "There's nothing I can do."

134. In the script, the limit is only 50% - and they're already at 40%.

135. Uncredited production contributors

136. A. J. Mitchell

137. Andy Stacey, Gordon Phillipson, Neil Sadwick

138. Chris Lawson, Tony Harding

139. David Tilley

140. Richard Ashman

141. Joan Duncan

142. Anne Rickard

143. Margaret Lewty

144. What did you call those robots?

145. Creepy mechanical men.

146. Yes. You know, people never really lose that feeling of unease with robots.

147. The more of them there are, the greater the unease

148. and of course, the greater the dependence.

149. It's a vicious circle.

150. People can neither live with them nor exist without them.

151. So, what happens if the strangler is a robot?

152. Oh, I should think it's the end of this civilisation.

153. Uvanov!

154. Just like the others.

155. Yes, just like the others.

156. SV7 to the Commander's quarters.

157. She really hated me, you know.

158. I did think maybe when this trip was over

159. and I was really rich...

160. I must be getting soft.

161. Now, look, there's more than those two aboard.

162. Get the tin brains to make another search

163. and this time, do it thoroughly.

164. - No, Uvanov. - Get out of my way, Poul.

165. I'm confining you to quarters and relieving you of command.

166. You're what?

167. She was dead when I got here.

168. What were you doing, then? Making doubly sure?

169. Don't be a fool. Get out of my way.

170. Doctor...

171. - Something's wrong. That's true.

172. No. There's something different.

173. Something that could destroy us all.

174. You're letting your imagination run away with you.

175. - Can't you feel it? - No, I can't.

176. By the pricking of my thumbs, something wicked this way comes.

177. No, I can't, and neither can you.

178. Please don't say "I told you so".

179. What happened?

180. Come on.

181. Toos! What's going on?

182. Something's jammed the motives.

183. Well, what does Borg say?

184. Trim auxiliary vents. Nothing. He isn't there. Dask has gone down.

185. V16: All motive units are now on overload.

186. Reverse thrusters. - Well, I'm going down, too.

187. Just try and hold her steady.

188. Oh, thanks. I'd never have thought of that.

189. - Restrain the Commander. - SV7: The Commander is hurt?

190. He'll be all right. Now, just keep him here.

191. V16: All motive units are now on overload.

192. All readings are 10% above safety.

193. Port 60, starboard 300.

194. - What happened? - How did you get out?

195. Never mind about that. What's happening?

196. We're out of control. It's all I can do to keep her upright.

197. - You'll have to cut the power. - If we do that we'll sink.

198. If you don't, she'll blow herself to pieces.

199. And us!

200. Hello, Toos? - Dask, what's happening down there?

201. I have found Borg. He's dead. Strangled.

202. Well, what's happening to the motive units?

203. The drive links appear to have been sabotaged.

204. I'll need a delta repair pick.

205. No, Dask. Come back to Control deck. I need you here.

206. I know what you're thinking, but we had nothing to do with it.

207. - It's strange how you're always around. - It's a gift!

208. May I remind you we'll all go together when she blows

209. if you don't cut the power!

210. V14, stop all motive units.

211. V14: Motive units will not stop. Control failure indicated.

212. Someone's sabotaged the controls!

213. What's the limit before the motive units explode?

214. I don't know, 90%.

215. - Severance kit. - Severance kit, quickly.

216. Doctor, what are you doing?

217. Fighting sabotage with sabotage.

218. - Get out of there! Come on! - What?

219. V16: All readings are 85% above safety.

220. She's going!