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Post by omega on Jul 22, 2018 1:42:31 GMT
DOCTOR WHO - MAIN RANGE » 149. ROBOPHOBIA Released July 2011SynopsisNothing has ever been officially confirmed, but there is a rumour that on a Sandminer, bound for Kaldor City, the robots somehow turned homicidal and nearly wiped out the entire crew. Can that really be true? The robot transport ship Lorelei has a cargo of over 157,000 robots on board, all deactivated. So even if there were any truth in the rumour of that massacre, there'd still be no danger. Surely, there wouldn't... But then, the Doctor witnesses a murder. Written By: Nicholas Briggs Directed By: Nicholas Briggs CASTSylvester McCoy (The Doctor), Nicola Walker (Liv Chenka), Toby Hadoke (Farel), William Hazell (Bas Pellico), Nicholas Pegg (Selerat), Dan Starkey (Cravnet), Matt Addis (Tal Karus), John Dorney (Leebar/Computer Voice)
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Post by omega on Jul 22, 2018 1:47:08 GMT
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Post by Tim Bradley on Jul 24, 2018 7:09:01 GMT
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Post by mark687 on Jul 31, 2018 10:01:49 GMT
A Great easy access tale that showcases BFs quality and a fine Companion intro.
Regards
mark687
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Post by Kestrel on Nov 12, 2021 1:17:37 GMT
So I'm about halfway through Robophobia right now, but I want to jump in here now to say--before I forget--that whoever it was who told me this story wasn't so good? Yeah, no. This is ****ing awesome. I'm hanging off every word in every scene. Unless it completely fumbles the back-half, this could easily rank among my favorite 7th Doctor stories.
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Post by Deleted on Nov 12, 2021 7:41:09 GMT
So I'm about halfway through Robophobia right now, but I want to jump in here now to say--before I forget--that whoever it was who told me this story wasn't so good? Yeah, no. This is ****ing awesome. I'm hanging off every word in every scene. Unless it completely fumbles the back-half, this could easily rank among my favorite 7th Doctor stories. I always enjoy it it gets a 5 lol i noticed from previous listens and it introduces us to LIV Chenka,who would have guessed how far she would travel 😂 Seven when solo always seems to stand out |
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Post by Kestrel on Nov 12, 2021 20:47:06 GMT
Haha... yeah. I'll post my thoughts in more detail later, but for now this is definitely one of those stories that, for me, exceeds the 5 out of 5 limit: so I rate it as 5 golden TARDISes out of 5.
And I'm definitely gonna be listening to the next Liv story soon--it'll be interesting to see how they fit together.
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Post by Kestrel on Nov 16, 2021 22:01:07 GMT
My scattered thoughts on Robophobia: - The Doctor in the opening scene is pitch-perfect. This is McCoy reveling in quiet sinisterness (which is such a clumsy word, but it fits).
- I am reminded once again of just how incredible the 7th Doctor can be when unencumbered by companions. I think it's down to not having any characters in the story who can vouch for him, or whose companionship implicitly paints him in a less threatening light. The companion character effectively functions to reduce the mystery of the character--and alone, the Doctor isn't answering questions and there's no one else to ask.
- Liv freakin' Chenka!
- So the opening scene is great, posing so many questions--what is the Doctor doing in this man's room? What is he scheming? It puts the Doctor in a position of power that is immediately undercut by the brutal murder, which he clearly wasn't expecting. This interplay between the Doctor's control of the situation/prescience and ignorance/surprise produces some excellent narrative tension.
- And then we move into one of my favorite genres: a sci-fi whodunnit! And the whole set-up is very classically Agatha Christie: a small number of characters, isolated in a remote setting, far from authorities or escape, trapped together.
- And hoo boy, McCoy's performance here is solid gold. The way he just ignores the crews' questions, and they never feel the need to press him... it feels almost Faustian. As though the Doctor is exerting some kind of hypnotic effect on them. Kind of reminiscent of the Master.
- Quote of the story: "Shouldn't you be a bit more nervous? Considering there might be a murderer loose on your ship...." Good lord. McCoy's delivery of this line... spine-tingling. As an actor, I think McCoy has a bit less range than many of his counterparts, but when it comes to what he can do well--these quiet, subdued scenes, brimming over with subtext--he does extremely well.
- And what would a mystery be without a twist? And what twist could possibly be better or more quintessentially Doctor Who than the detective investigating the case having already been murdered. I love it. "We've been talking to a dead man!"
- Also, gotta give extra special praise to the opening scene for simply showing us the murder. Obviously a lot of the tension of a mystery typically comes from, well, the question of "who did it?" in the whodunnit, but Doctor Who can do so much more than that. By opening with the scene of the murder, and not bothering with the crew's POV, we already know who the killer is, and that the Doctor is innocent (which makes his overtly suspicious actions later in the story much more engaging because we know they're not simple misdirection), we get much more interesting questions to sink our teeth into--why is the Doctor here and what is he up to?
- We're immediately thrust into a quintessential 7th Doctor story.
- And let's not forget the ultimate reveal: the murderer was a human disguised as a robot. This is a fantastic twist that plays beautifully into both the "Scooby Doo" mystery cliches as well as the low-budget nature of Classic Who (especially in McCoy's era) -- where regardless of the fictive veneer, we all could see plainly that every robot on screen was just a man inside a cardboard-and-tinfoil suit, where even the real robots are just men playing dress-up.
- I do kinda gotta question the assertion that phobias are similar to psychopathy. I'm no psychologist, but that... does not sound right.
- If you've ever listened to me opine on some of my favorite stories, you may recall that there is one very specific form of resolution that I adore -- the same kind we have here. Where the villain isn't such a terrible person, and can be successfully talked down from their "evil plot." This is the Doctor using his most fearsome and impressive weapon: his words. And given the powerful performances here, I'm confident in saying this is Sylvester McCoy's Doctor at his absolute best. And the music that plays in that scene? It's perfect, and goes a long way to really heighten the emotion of the scene. (This is the kind of emotional grounding I often find lacking in Briggs' scripts.)
- 2nd quote of the story: "I don't know, Liv. What's to stop you? Are you going to become a murderer?" Goddamn, Syl. Chills. Again. What really makes this delivery work is, I think, that most actors would probably read this like a rhetorical question. But McCoy? He's genuinely asking. Probing into Liv's psyche and asking her to do the same: would she kill? Would she really? In the midst of all this action and chaos and tension the Doctor still finds time to pierce right to the heart of what's important, demanding we fully consider everything.
- Just incredible. Absolutely incredible.
- "I'm not sure if Liv Chenka could be a recurring character....". Gee, I dunno, Nicola. Liv sure seems like a one-off to me. Doubt we'll see her again.
And... that's about it. I've gotta say, I'm hugely impressed by this story. It excels in just about every respect. And while I love Liv's tenure as a companion to Paul McGann's Doctor, I can't help but think it's a shame she didn't get more with the 7th Doctor--Nicola Walker just has such fantastic chemistry with McCoy. Maybe, if we're very lucky, she'll wind up in some 7DAs after leaving the TARDIS.
Lastly I've gotta fire off some praise at Nick Briggs for this story. As a writer, Briggs tends to focus on intricately plotted scripts... which are often interesting, I think, but seldom engaging. I think Robophobia does an excellent job paring down some of that trademark complexity and dreading a compelling, emotional foundation for the story. I am very impressed--this is easily among my very favorite Briggs' scripts. Absolute A+ material.
And good god, it is such a good introduction to Liv Chenka. Obviously Nicola Walker is a fantastic, if ubiquitous, actress--but she really hit something special with this character. It's easy to see why they'd bring her back for the 8DAs, and easier still to see why Big Finish thought her character was strong enough to sustain an entirely new range outside of the typical Doctor Who mold. I haven't started the Robots range yet, but I am increasingly excited to begin that journey! Come on, come on... let's get a decent sale... when I have some cash to burn....
Continuing my new rating theme (I'm gonna need to make some special .pngs for this) I award Robophobia with 5 golden TARDISes out of 5. After this I'm thinking I'll jump into my Dark Eyes relisten -- a bit early than I'd planned, but I kinda wanna see more Liv quickly, with Robophobia fresh in my memory. |
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Post by constonks on Nov 17, 2021 16:32:09 GMT
So I'm about halfway through Robophobia right now, but I want to jump in here now to say--before I forget--that whoever it was who told me this story wasn't so good? Yeah, no. This is ****ing awesome. Don't know that I've ever seen anyone say this one's bad! I agree, this is a stellar sequel to Robots of Death, sharing themes and a world but doing totally new things with them. (And, along the way, introducing a character who would still be in regular stories ten years later!) |
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Post by Kestrel on Nov 18, 2021 0:03:07 GMT
I think it was someone on r/Gallifrey. And, well, you know what they say about taste accountancy. Or maybe it was deliberate misdirection? Not everyone gives recommendations on good faith--like whoever recommended Nekromanteia to me. I haven't started the Robots range yet, but I am increasingly excited to begin that journey! Come on, come on... let's get a decent sale... when I have some cash to burn.... You might think it's one hell of a coincidence that Robots 1-4 went on sale within 24 hours of me writing that. But you'd be wrong. The real coincidence is that this is the third time this is happened to me this year. |
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Post by bonehead on Nov 18, 2021 17:09:11 GMT
I think it was someone on r/Gallifrey. And, well, you know what they say about taste accountancy. Or maybe it was deliberate misdirection? Not everyone gives recommendations on good faith--like whoever recommended Nekromanteia to me. I haven't started the Robots range yet, but I am increasingly excited to begin that journey! Come on, come on... let's get a decent sale... when I have some cash to burn.... You might think it's one hell of a coincidence that Robots 1-4 went on sale within 24 hours of me writing that. But you'd be wrong. The real coincidence is that this is the third time this is happened to me this year. I'm really looking forward to hearing your thoughts on The Robots. It's definitely a current favourite of mine at the moment. |
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Post by Kestrel on Nov 19, 2021 6:26:28 GMT
I think it was someone on r/Gallifrey. And, well, you know what they say about taste accountancy. Or maybe it was deliberate misdirection? Not everyone gives recommendations on good faith--like whoever recommended Nekromanteia to me. You might think it's one hell of a coincidence that Robots 1-4 went on sale within 24 hours of me writing that. But you'd be wrong. The real coincidence is that this is the third time this is happened to me this year. I'm really looking forward to hearing your thoughts on The Robots. It's definitely a current favourite of mine at the moment. Haha, thanks, I'm looking forward to listening to it to! Do you remember that one DS9 epsiode where all of the cast was "reimagined" as the staff of a 1960s pulp SF magazine (like a Galaxy or Amazing Stories analog)? I'm a lot like Colm Meaney's character there: I freakin' love robots. Not sure when I'll get to it, though. Gotta lotta stuff I'm excited to dive into soon, and I only have the first set for now. Right now I'm jumping through Dark Eyes for more Liv (and progressing quite quickly due to a week of travel and doctor visits) -- interestingly enough, I don't think anyone -specifically- mentions Kaldor until Dark Eyes 3--which makes me wonder just when, exactly, BF decided to give Walker her own range, |
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