1. "Robot rebellion. Can the Doctor stop
the machines taking over?" (Radio Times)Copy !req
2. This episode was first shown
on 19 February 1977.Copy !req
3. It was seen by 12.6 million viewers.Copy !req
4. During rehearsals,
Russell Hunter was having difficulties
with one of his scenes.Copy !req
5. Tom Baker offered him a helpful hint:
"Stop trying to act it. Just be it."Copy !req
6. As written,
we don't see Uvanov put the probe in.Copy !req
7. This was to obviate a fiddly move
for the actor. But Effects supplied
a prop with a self-retracting needle.Copy !req
8. The probe seen here was screwed
into Robot Ranchev's head
during a recording break.Copy !req
9. (In contrast, there's no edit when we
next see it penetrate a robot cranium,
in sixteen minutes' time,Copy !req
10. so the actor concerned has to hold it
in place as he collapses to the floor.)Copy !req
11. Note the blue cut-outs in SV7's eyes.Copy !req
12. This was written as the cliffhanger
ending to Episode 3,Copy !req
13. and the scripted Episode 4 began here.Copy !req
14. There were two small visitors
to one of the studio recording sessions:Copy !req
15. Russell Hunter's children, aged 7 and 4,
came to see their daddy at work,
and Tom Baker spent an hour talking
to them.Copy !req
16. He impressed Hunter by treating them
as equals, all the while staying
in character as Doctor Who.Copy !req
17. Three years into the role,
Tom had perfected his relationship
with children:Copy !req
18. During his many public appearances,
he had found himself rather bored
by adult responses to him and his show,Copy !req
19. but he relished the unspoiled engagement
and peculiar world-views
of the younger viewers he met.Copy !req
20. In the script, Uvanov tells the Doctor
to go on while he deals with SV7.Copy !req
21. "Save the noble gestures for later,"
says the Doctor.
"We'll probably need them."Copy !req
22. Leela lost her knife to V5
in the last episode.Copy !req
23. The script refers
to not throwing "things". "Hands"
was Gregory de Polnay's inspired idea.Copy !req
24. He and Pamela Salem knew one another
They had worked together
in rep early in their careers.Copy !req
25. He achieved the particular timbre
of D84's voice by speaking
into a plastic cup.Copy !req
26. The robots had to say their lines
in the studio for the benefit
of the other actors,
but they were muffled inside the masks,Copy !req
27. so the robot voices were
separately recorded in two sessions,
and dubbed on in post-production.Copy !req
28. For the first two episodes,
they were taped on 24 November,
the day after the studio recording,Copy !req
29. but for the second half,
they were pre-recorded on 3 December.Copy !req
30. The plan was to modulate
the voices electronically so that they
would periodically change pitch,Copy !req
31. but the required equipment broke down
and could not be repaired in time, so
the voices ended up more of a monotone.Copy !req
32. The miscellaneous robots were all played
by young actors not long
out of drama school.Copy !req
33. V4 (along with three other robots)
Was originally to have been
William Marsh (born 1956).Copy !req
34. He had recently appeared as a footman
in The Secret Garden (1975),Copy !req
35. but he had to pull out at a late stage
of pre-production,
and his robots were recast.Copy !req
36. "V4 is left derelict," says the script.Copy !req
37. Replacing William Marsh as derelict V4
was former child actor Jeremy Ranchev,Copy !req
38. whose credits included Danger Man
and the original television version
of Unman, Wittering,
and Zigo (both 1965).Copy !req
39. Mark Cooper (here minus a hand)
Later moved behind the camera,
working as an assistant director
on Time Bandits (1981),Copy !req
40. and a producer
on The Madness of ing George (1994),
Shakespeare in Love (1998),
and The Other Boleyn Girl (2008).Copy !req
41. Richard Seager (on the right)
Later played two different airmen
in two different episodes
of Secret Army (1978-9).Copy !req
42. Among the rest of the robots
was Mark Blackwell Baker,
who went on to appear
in The Duchess of Duke Street (1977),Copy !req
43. and John Bleasdale (died 2003), whose
later roles included many policemenCopy !req
44. in Rockliffe's Babies (1987),
Inspector Morse (1989 and 1993),
Anna Lee (1994),
and Harbour Lights (1999).Copy !req
45. A passage of exposition
by Toos was cut from this scene.Copy !req
46. "Robots recognise the authority
of other robots by their voice patterns.Copy !req
47. "We don't have special voice patterns
to show what we are,Copy !req
48. "so a voice print is put into the robot
command programme for each crew member."Copy !req
49. The deactivated robots are, of course,
young actors keeping very still.Copy !req
50. See if you can spot
any involuntary movements...Copy !req
51. Commander Uvanov
gets his name from Bill Uvarov,Copy !req
52. a minor character in Bob Shaw's
short story, 'The Cosmic Cocktail Party'
from Tomorrow Lies in Ambush (1975).Copy !req
53. The collection also contributed a name
to 'The Face of Evil'
and a rather big idea
to 'The Deadly Assassin'.Copy !req
54. Marie Antoinette (1755-93),
the last Queen of France,
ignored the possibility of a revolution,
and died on the guillotine.Copy !req
55. The background to Poul and D84's
mission, as conceived by Chris Boucher,
is that Sandminers
have been disappearing.Copy !req
56. Because these vast machines represent
an enormous capital investment,
the company has put agents
aboard this one.Copy !req
57. Poul was teamed with a robot because,
unusually, it's not only the human crew
of the mine who need watching.Copy !req
58. Boucher drew general inspiration
for the characters from the topical
interest in spies and spying
in the 1960s and '70s.Copy !req
59. An additional scripted reason:
"He knew too much
to be an ordinary crew member."Copy !req
60. The Loyeed name for robophobia
was Grimwol's syndrome,Copy !req
61. but Tom Baker renamed it
after Peter Grimwade,
the serial's production assistant.Copy !req
62. The scripted name just slipped
Tom's mind on the take, so he plumped
for the closest available approximation.Copy !req
63. Uvanov was scripted to say
that he himself nearly got killed
trying to save the boy.Copy !req
64. "He was one of those kids
everybody liked," he adds.Copy !req
65. Boucher's interest in body language,
like everyone else's at the time,Copy !req
66. was stimulated by the work
of the popular anthropologist
Desmond Morris.Copy !req
67. Morris first described the non-verbal
elements of human interaction
in his book, The Naked Ape (1967).Copy !req
68. At the time of the serial's production,
he was about to publish a more extensive
account of such phenomena:Copy !req
69. Manwatching. ;
A Field Guide to Human Behaviour (1977).Copy !req
70. The director Michael E. Briant
(born 1942) trained as a child actor
at the Italia Conti Stage School.Copy !req
71. He had directed 26 episodes
of Doctor Who before
'The Robots of Death',
his final contribution to the series.Copy !req
72. He was a keen sailor,
and had recently directed three episodes
of Warship (a fourth followed in 1977).Copy !req
73. In 1978 he directed five episodes
in the first series of Blake's 7,Copy !req
74. and his other notable work included
A Tale of Two Cities (1980),
Blood Money (1981), and essler (1981)Copy !req
75. In 1974, he adopted a middle initial
(E for Edwin) to avoid confusion
with the actor Michael Bryant.Copy !req
76. They'd been getting
one another's fan mail by mistake,Copy !req
77. which fascinated director Briant - but
actor Bryant found it rather tiresome.Copy !req
78. The next shot was scripted
for only four robots,Copy !req
79. but here are all six minor robot actors,
plus SV7.Copy !req
80. After a pause to reset the shot,
here are five of them again.Copy !req
81. The edit was necessary
because there were only
seven robots available
(or eight if you count D84).Copy !req
82. They were scripted
to hide behind a ventilation grille.Copy !req
83. Camera rehearsals
for this studio session were disrupted
by severe banging
as the scenery was repaired.Copy !req
84. "The noise of scenic operations
was louder than the artists,"
wrote the lighting supervisor.Copy !req
85. "I was surprised that the director
was prepared to work
under these conditions."Copy !req
86. "There's been too much - pain!'
Says the "helplessly indecisive"
Uvanov in the script.Copy !req
87. The script specifies that he is also
wearing part of a robot helmet.
"He looks grotesque.Copy !req
88. "He also looks quite mad."Copy !req
89. The deactivated robot has no crew number
because Vocs and Dums are given
a different one for each tour.Copy !req
90. SuperVocs, however,
have a permanent number assigned
when they are built -
so there's only one SV7!Copy !req
91. Michael Briant felt that the character
of Leela worked well in this serial,
in apposition to the elegance
of her surroundings.Copy !req
92. Watch as Tom has difficulty
getting the tape off his fingers.Copy !req
93. Poul is especially prone to robophobia
because he is a spy:Copy !req
94. He is trained to observe suspects
and be acutely sensitive
to their body language,Copy !req
95. so he is the one who is most severely
affected by the absence of those
subliminal signals in the robots.Copy !req
96. The Doctor is looking for the brain
modification in V2 because it was the
first robot to be subverted.Copy !req
97. The last line of the scene, from Toos,
was cut:Copy !req
98. "They're robots. They won't give up."Copy !req
99. The original saying was Adolf Hitler's,
in 1939: "Today Poland.
Tomorrow the world."Copy !req
100. One sarcastic early reviewer commented
that the most disturbing thing
about the robotsCopy !req
101. was their facial resemblance
to Raymond Baxter (1922-2006).Copy !req
102. The screen was scripted
as another ventilator grille.Copy !req
103. Unlike many television sets,
this corridor has a ceiling.Copy !req
104. This made it impossible
to use overhead microphones
to record dialogue in the set.Copy !req
105. Instead, a directional microphone
was positioned at the end of the set,
near where the camera is now.Copy !req
106. Poul's line was scripted as: "I'm sorry,
please forgive me, etc. Etc."Copy !req
107. In other words, the actor was to ad lib.Copy !req
108. The bombs were made from plastic stands
for model planes supplied
with Airfix kits.Copy !req
109. Several of the actors were uncomfortable
in costumes they found rather flimsy
and diaphanous.Copy !req
110. Note the damage to the set at the top
of the screen.Copy !req
111. During camera rehearsals,
David Bailie wore his SuperVoc tunic
over his Dask costume.Copy !req
112. He developed his performance as a
downward progression through
three distinct levels of the character.Copy !req
113. The top layer is the persona of Dask,
the man whose identity Capel stole
in order to join the Sandminer crew.Copy !req
114. Next is the person Capel believes
himself to be, characterised
by precision and control.Copy !req
115. And finally there is the person
he truly is: An unbalanced sadist.Copy !req
116. "This gas is helium," he explains
in the script. "Chub used it
for his weather balloons."Copy !req
117. The speed of sound is faster in helium
than in ordinary air,
so the pitch of the human voice rises
by a factor of three.Copy !req
118. Can you see Gregory de Polnay's ear?Copy !req
119. "D84 is momentarily confused by Dask's
hybrid appearance," says the script.Copy !req
120. "The Doctor dives for the communicator,
but V6 chops him down."Copy !req
121. The wall picture was scripted
as "a large alienscape".Copy !req
122. At first, Russell Hunter inferred
from Uvanov's name that he might have
a Russian accent.Copy !req
123. When that suggestion was declined,
he wondered about making the character
a Scotsman.Copy !req
124. Post-production was scheduled to last
until mid-January 1977,
about a fortnight
before the serial began transmission.Copy !req
125. However, planning problems meant
that Michael Briant was needed
for a further three weeks after that.Copy !req
126. The first dubbing session,
for sound effects and robot voices,
took place on 7 December, which was also
the last day in the studio.Copy !req
127. It took forty hours and three videotape
machines to edit the four episodes,Copy !req
128. in five eight-hour sessions between 11
and 24 December.Copy !req
129. The first two episodes
were edited twice over.Copy !req
130. The music recording sessions
were postponed, and ended up
taking place on 17 and 26 January.Copy !req
131. Dudley Simpson conducted his own score,
and six musicians played it.Copy !req
132. He composed just over 34 minutes
of music for the serial,
with the heaviest concentration
in Part 3.Copy !req
133. The final sound dub was laid down
in four long sessions between 22 January
and 3 February.Copy !req
134. So when Part 1 was shown on 29 January,
the later episodes still
weren't quite finished.Copy !req
135. A BBC publicity document for the serial
identified three selling points,
the first of which was Leela.Copy !req
136. The second was four cast members:
Pamela Salem (Toos), Tania Rogers
(Zilda), Russell Hunter (Uvanov),
and David Collings (Poul).Copy !req
137. And thirdly: "This serial features some
of the most lavish sets and costumes
ever seen on the programme."Copy !req
138. Luckily for Mark Cooper,
V6 is now played by a dummy.Copy !req
139. This serial was later re-edited
into two double-length episodes
and repeated the following New Year.Copy !req
140. The 31 December 1977 episode was seen
by ten million viewers,Copy !req
141. but only seven million tuned in on
1 January 1978 to watch the second half.Copy !req
142. In the script, Capel begs on:
"Keep back - please!"Copy !req
143. Production wrapped
on Tuesday 7 December,
45 minutes later than scheduled.Copy !req
144. Russell Hunter then travelled north
for his next job: Playing an ugly sister
in Cinderella at Manchester Opera House.Copy !req
145. Meanwhile, Tom Baker and Louise Jameson
had five days off before the first day
of filming
for 'The Talons of Weng-Chiang'.Copy !req
146. On 22 December, after completing
his filming commitments,
Tom also headed northCopy !req
147. to pay a pre-Christmas visit
to the Royal Hospital for Sick Children
in Edinburgh.Copy !req
148. He judged a best dressed doll
competition and distributed presents,
making the kids promise not
to open them before Christmas Day.Copy !req
149. While in Scotland, he did Russell Hunter
a favour and popped over
to the equivalent hospital in Glasgow,Copy !req
150. where Hunter usually did the Christmas
toy distribution, when he wasn't
unavoidably detained in Manchester.Copy !req
151. This line was a last-minute
improvisation by Tom Baker.Copy !req
152. In the script he says nothing to Leela,
but the line they rehearsed was a bland,
"Ah, there you are - are you alright?"Copy !req
153. "You don't think I'd have used that
stuff if it made me sound ridiculous,
do you?" he says in the script.Copy !req
154. "Two hearts, three lungs, and a larynx
that will stand up to anything."Copy !req
155. Tom Baker added the reference to the
Doctor's respiratory bypass system,Copy !req
156. which had saved him before
in 'Pyramids of Mars' (1975).Copy !req
157. Uncredited production contributorsCopy !req
158. Tony vanden Ende (Floor Assistant)Copy !req
159. R. Partridge, Adrian Bishop-Laggett
(Post-Production Sound Supervisors)Copy !req
160. Chris Dixon, L. Goodson, B. Hiles
(Post-Production Sound Supervisors)Copy !req
161. Text commentary written
by Martin Wiggins
u.Copy !req
162. - Get down, Toos!
- That is the order.Copy !req
163. You have to die. All of you.Copy !req
164. (DISTORTED) That is the order.Copy !req
165. Here. Do you know what I think, Toos?Copy !req
166. I think it's high time
we went on the offensive.Copy !req
167. We may not be so lucky a second time.Copy !req
168. The Doctor is going to need some help.Copy !req
169. Come on.Copy !req
170. V5 is no longer registering, Controller.Copy !req
171. - What?
- There is no operational signal.Copy !req
172. 5 has been deactivated.Copy !req
173. How could mere humans destroy a robot?Copy !req
174. They're unarmed.
Weak creatures of flesh and blood.Copy !req
175. SV7: What are your orders, Controller?Copy !req
176. Destroy them, 7! Kill all the humans!Copy !req
177. V6, come with me.Copy !req
178. I will release more of
our brothers from bondage.Copy !req
179. We will be irresistible.Copy !req
180. Come on.Copy !req
181. Hold this, D84,
and don't press anything.Copy !req
182. What is your intention?Copy !req
183. To make life a little difficult
for our crazy friend.Copy !req
184. He's bound to come back here to convert
more robots, and when he does...Copy !req
185. Do you think
you could fit in there, Leela?Copy !req
186. - Why? What's it for?
- Come on, try it for size.Copy !req
187. Never mind.Copy !req
188. - Comfortable?
- No.Copy !req
189. Now, this is a cylinder of gas.Copy !req
190. When Dask comes in,Copy !req
191. - I want you to turn the valve, so.
- So?Copy !req
192. No, when Dask comes in.Copy !req
193. - What will it do?
- Hmm?Copy !req
194. I said, what will it do?Copy !req
195. Change his voice.Copy !req
196. When a mixture of air
and helium is breathed,Copy !req
197. it alters the resonance in the larynx.Copy !req
198. Didn't they teach you that
in the jungle?Copy !req
199. So the robots won't recognise
Dask's voice. They won't obey him.Copy !req
200. That's it. Come on, D84.Copy !req
201. Where are you going?
- Shh! Robot hunting.Copy !req
202. D84!Copy !req
203. Do not kill him. Not yet.
Bring him to the bench.Copy !req
204. Oh, we're lucky they've no eye for art.Copy !req
205. Or much imagination. Come on.Copy !req
206. - Where are we going?
- We're going to follow it.Copy !req
207. We might get a chance
to use one of these.Copy !req
208. Hello, Dask, nee Taren Capel.Copy !req
209. I'm glad you have recovered, Doctor.Copy !req
210. Oh? Why?Copy !req
211. You came close to ruining my plans.Copy !req
212. It's fitting I should make you
suffer for that.Copy !req
213. I see.Copy !req
214. You're one of those boring maniacs
who's going to gloat, hmm?Copy !req
215. Are you going to tell me
your plan for running the universe?Copy !req
216. Oh, no, Doctor.
I'm going to burn out your brain.Copy !req
217. (PITCH RISING) Very, very slowly.Copy !req
218. Dask. Dask!Copy !req
219. You look ridiculous in that outfit.Copy !req
220. Not half the robot your father was.Copy !req
221. You insolent animal!Copy !req
222. Losing your calm, Dask, hmm?Copy !req
223. That's not the robot way.Copy !req
224. It was your verbal and physical
precision that made me spot you.Copy !req
225. - Robot upbringing?
Yes, Doctor.Copy !req
226. I was brought up a superior being.Copy !req
227. Brought up to realise that my brothers
should live as free beingsCopy !req
228. and not as slaves to human dross.Copy !req
229. Robots would have
no existence without humans.Copy !req
230. - Don't you see that, Dask?
- No! I shall free them.Copy !req
231. I shall programme them
with the ambition to rule the worldCopy !req
232. and then...Copy !req
233. D84: Goodbye, my friend.Copy !req
234. SV7: ill the humans.Copy !req
235. Help me, 7!
- Ill the humans.Copy !req
236. I'll the humans.Copy !req
237. Not me, you fool. Him!Copy !req
238. (HIGH-PITCHED) I'm your master,
Taren Capel.Copy !req
239. What are you doing?Copy !req
240. I'll the humans.Copy !req
241. I'll the humans.Copy !req
242. - Ill the humans.
- (UVANOV GRUNTING)Copy !req
243. I'll the humans.Copy !req
244. - Ill the humans. Ill the...
- You'll be all right, Toos.Copy !req
245. I'll the... ill the... ill the...Copy !req
246. ill the... ill the...Copy !req
247. ill the... ill the...Copy !req
248. (DISTORTS AND FADES) ill the humans.Copy !req
249. Well, all good things come to an end.Copy !req
250. (HIGH-PITCHED) Will somebody let me out?Copy !req
251. Ah! A mouse in the wainscoting.Copy !req
252. Well squeaked, mouse.Copy !req
253. Shouldn't we stay and see that
Uvanov and Toos are all right?Copy !req
254. No, no, there's a rescue ship on the way
and it's time we were on ours.Copy !req
255. Doctor, why didn't the helium
make your voice go squeaky?Copy !req
256. Because I'm a Time Lord.
I've been around, you know.Copy !req
257. Two hearts, respiratory bypass system.Copy !req
258. I haven't lived 750 years
without learning something.Copy !req
259. After you. Little mouse.Copy !req