Monday, 1 October 2018

Robot


Robot

This is the first regeneration I can remember, although at the time I certainly wasn't aware that this was the first time it was even called a regeneration. It's interesting that this is the version of the process that will stick, but between 'Robot' and 'Logopolis' you have the significant rise of fandom in the form of the Doctor Who Appreciation Society.

If fandom had not existed (and given that Tom Baker has as many changes of production team as William Hartnell) could the Fourth Doctor have changed into the Fifth without a reference to the R-word?



I honestly cannot remember having a problem with the transition from Pertwee to Baker, apart from the odd concern that the new one wasn't taking it seriously enough. Given that I was the grand old age of 6 when Season 12 was shown, you could probably have predicted that I was doomed to become a fan.


Whether 'Blue Peter' had already prepared me for this I couldn't honestly say, but the phrase "actors come and actors go, but Doctor Who appears to live forever" did seem to ring a faint bell when I saw the clip in The Doctor Who Years video at Panopticon circa the Space Year 2000.


With 'Spearhead From Space' being an all-film production, there's a nice symmetry that 'Robot' is solely brought to the screen via the magic of videotape, though for once 'Doctor Who' is rather behind the times, with all sorts of ITV shows having experimented with this sort of thing. Even 'On The Buses' had dabbled with OB video, which might come as a surpise to some.


The new Doctor is contrasted with the old team, but the sheer pace of 'Robot' shines though, getting the Doctor involved in the plot well before the end of Part One. Jon Pertwee's introduction spends twice the time reaching that point, but I don't recall anyone complaining that this new version of the show was going at too breakneck a speed.


Although this was not quite my jumping-on point with 'Doctor Who', I wonder how many kids tuned in for the first time during the Christmas holidays of 1974.

They certainly were about to take the trip of a lifetime!


Our video about 'Robot' can be seen here.

(Written by Andrew Trowbridge)

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