It's a perfect summation of what Doctor Who is about since it's not really a show for children, as some mistake it for, but rather for anyone who want to experience some child-like wonder.
@Dejias actually Who was always produced by the BBC Drama Department never the Children's Department. Right from 1963 it was designed to attract a Family audience i.e. Adults and Children.
At the end of this story, you can clearly see one of the main differences between the Third and Fourth Doctors. The Third Doctor would have been all over the invite to have dinner with the Queen, whereas the Fourth Doctor would literally do anything else in the universe than sit down with the stuffy royalty and make small talk with them.
The actor who plays Harry, Ian Marter, was one of the sailors on the old ship constantly getting attacked by a sea monster caught in a time loop in Carnival of Monsters
And Mr Jellicoe is played by the same man as Sgt Osgood in the Daemons (the one who gets a sooty face from the heat-barrier machine lash-up). I barely recognised him.
Ian Marter would also write a few episode novelizations, including the ones for the next two stories. And he wrote a very enjoyable spin-off novel, "Harry Sullivan's War".
Third Doctor: “What's wrong with being childish? I like being childish!” Fourth Doctor: “There's no point in being grown up if you can't act a little childish sometimes.”
Yes - Harry joins as a companion. He was cast shortly after Pertwee resigned as they thought they may cast another older chap as the Doctor and wanted someone younger, like Jamie - to do more running round. Then the cast Baker, who was more than young enough to do his own running around!
I read somewhere that Ian Marter (the actor who played Harry) was originally considered for the part of Mike Yates, but that it didn't pan out due to scheduling conflicts. Ian was also the author of some of the Target novelizations of Doctor Who stories (such as "The Enemy of the World" [imho one of the best Doctor Who novelizations hands down], "The Dominators", and "The Invasion") as well as a Target spin-off novel called "Harry Sullivan's War". Sadly he passed at age 42 on October 28, 1986.
Nistrali is not really spoiling anything. It was pretty obvious that he was gonna become a companion after his last scene was him stepping into the TARDIS.
@Brad1980 congrats for proving the whole admins are stupid power hungry bullies cliche, there was no spoiler Harry got on the tardis therefore was a companion, grow up
I love how you reacted to the Doctor's line "there's no point in being grown-up if you can't be childish sometimes". :) Benton is my favourite member of UNIT, so I'm glad you showed him some love in the post-episode thoughts. The Brigadier also has one of my favourite lines in this story; "just once, I'd like to meet an alien menace who wasn't immune to bullets."
Wasn't there another Brigadier line when he's seen again at some point later in the series that book-ends that "just once" line, or perhaps something similar to that effect or perhaps there was something like that earlier in the series which that "just once" line itself book-ended..? (I could be mistaken but I seem to remember something like that or along those lines somewhere, I just can't remember from where I might have remembered or misremembered the Brigadier saying something that either earlier or later on that very much reminded me of that "just once" line at some point, in another story)
You're in for a hell of a ride with the Fourth Doctor, the next few seasons are probably the most consistently excellent in the show's history. Bring on the jelly babies! 'Robot' was also the final story by acclaimed duo Barry Letts and Terrance Dicks who'd overseen the show since near the start of the Third Doctor era. Love the side-characters in this too like the zealous Miss Winters, the cantankerous Prof. Kettlewell and of course the K-1 Robot whose relationship with Sarah tugs at my heartstrings on every watch.
I love how baker Fans try to make it seem like DW was dull and cheap beforehand. Season 10 with Pertwee alone can hold its own against any Baker season Or Throughton season 5-6-ish..
I once read that Robot was originally a 3rd Doctor story that never got made, but the writers decided to rework it into the 4th Doctor's 1st story in order to show how he would be different from the 3rd Doctor.
I don’t know if the idea for the story was already there, but I do know that Terence Dicks commissioned himself to write this story under the pretext that it was a tradition for the outgoing script editor to write the first story for the incoming one. Which he completely made up! A number of stories for this series were commissioned by Letts and Dicks which is why they sometimes felt a bit like Third Doctor stories. Robert Holmes had to tweak a lot of them to try and fit his and Hinchcliffe’s vision for the show.
Two of my Fave Doctor Who quotes are spoken in this story: "There's no point in being grown up if you can't be childish sometimes" "The trouble with computers, of course, is that they're very sophisticated idiots. They do exactly what you tell them at amazing speed, even if you order them to kill you." I use those quotes all the time, specially the first one!
I am a fan of Brigadier: "Naturally enough, the only country that could be trusted with such a role was Great Britain." Doctor: "well, naturally, I mean the rest were all foreigners."
Edward Brnham (Professor Kettlewell) had a 60 year career and died at 98 in 2015. You've seen him before as the scientist in the invasion who found it impossible to kill Tobias Vaughan.
The quote “What’s the point of being grownup if you can’t be childish sometimes?” Is one of the 4th’s Doctors most famous quotes. My British friends also like “You may be A Doctor, but I’m THE Doctor, the original you might say” Of course, the jelly baby line is an iconic favourite, and I suppose you could say the other two are as well. The 4th Doctor has a lot of them. Glad you enjoyed!
I like that you focused on the "humanity" of the robot and the circumstances that forced their actions, means the writer Terrence Dicks achieved what he wanted in it's telling. He based this story on King Kong and wanted to bring up similar talking points.
i do feel that Harry being a companion is a nice addition, fresh talent as well to the show. Ian Marter was considered for Mike but he wasn't able to commit as a regular so joined the cast as Harry when they were looking for an older actor to play the doctor, Harry remained after Tom Baker was cast
'Well of course I'm being childish! There's no point in being grown up if you can't be childish sometimes.' Wise words that will stick with my forever. Another great reaction, looking forward to more.👍
Ah, I LOVE these early days of the Sonic Screwdriver! When it was simply a tool with multiple uses, but ALL those uses were in the same technological "wheelhouse". (transmits a sonic wave to detonate landmines, or a focused sonic beam to CUT through locks, and so on.) Later (like in New Who) it is practically a "Magic Wand" that can do almost ANYTHING! And that sucks. And no, you were not the only one who felt bad for the Robot.
And even when using the screwdriver, it usually took a while rather than being instantaneous (unless detonating mines), and it often still required some manual labor to help the screwdriver along. I understand the new series doesn't have as much time to focus on obstacles, but the screwdriver has become the equivalent of a cheat code.
Ian Marter was lovely as Harry. He actually auditioned for Mike Yates' role and was offered it, but couldn't accept it due to other commitments. He also wrote nine of the classic Who novelisations, as well as one about Harry Sullivan. He sadly died suddenly from a heart attack on his 42nd birthday in 1986.
Ian marter was great as harry for a companion! This story was briefly referenced in ‘planet of the dead’ when the 10th doctor speaks to unit’s scientific adviser malcolm. He says he’s read all the unit files and the doctor asks ‘rele? What was you’re favorite, the giant robot?’
It's not often that an entire catchphrase can be born from one moment, but 'Would you like a Jelly Baby?' is undoubtedly one of those occasions. Sickly sweet and gelatinous, these UK favourites are the safe alternative to Crack, in that they are marginally less addictive.
This still feels like a Third Doctor story, but it's amazing to me how Tom Baker nailed his version of The Doctor in one go. The scarf, the jelly babies, the kooky behavior, the strangely profound moments, it's all there in his first story.
Please be kind to Ian Marter who played Harry Sullivan. He was a talented writer and a kind man who died very young at age 42. He is also 1/3 of my favorite Tardis team.
You can tell from my profile icon that one of my very favourite movies is The Iron Giant. Watching Sarah feel compassion towards the robot, telling everyone she can not to shoot it, and then even seeing the robot grow and pick Sarah up to protect her and then taking on a bit of an army, I can’t help but see some parallels there that make me enjoy this episode a lot! I’ve been on my own journey watching Classic Who on BritBox and just got done with this episode and I already love 4!
Tom's first 3 season are some of the best stories in Doctor Who history! Producer Philip Hinchcliffe was amazing and it breathed a whole new life into the series. You are in for an amazing treat!
It's hardly surprising that King Kong is considered an influence on this serial. A point rammed home in Chris Archileos's legendary cover for the novelization ('Dr Who and The Giant Robot'), which pictures K1 crushing a fighter jet with one robot claw!
"Just once I'd like to fight something that wasn't immune to bullets." This isn't the best way to start the 4th Doctor's era, but it's a fun story nevertheless. Ooh, and the next story is awesome! (I'll be saying that a lot, btw. 😉) Glad you're enjoying Baker so far. Didn't doubt you would, of course.
@@dvader518 I think you may have miscounted. The story after next has an 'x' in its title (not a criticism - just a spoiler-free way of indicating which it is), and is not as highly acclaimed as the one that follows it.
Harry Sullivan is mentioned in the 12th Doctor episode "The Zygon Inversion", as developing Z67 - "Sullivan's Gas" - as a means of stopping the Zygons.
Fun fact, the actor playing Professor Jeremiah P. Kettlewell was Edward Burnham, who also played Professor Watkins in the Second Doctor adventure The Invasion.
Tom Baker once described himself as 'a poor monster who only wanted to make people laugh' and while it explains much about his personality (some of which is thought to have leaked into the 4th Doctor), it betrays a surprisingly serious man with some occasionally morbid obsessions. None of which are necessarily visibly in this story. It's deceptive. 'Robot' is the last story to be made under a production team that had been in place since 1970. The next adventure would see the arrival of a new, younger, Producer; set on taking the show in a different - and darker- direction...
This is a favorite of mine too! The robot was sympathetic, very much like Frankenstein's monster! Harry Sullivan was a companion, and later Ian Marter (the actor who plays him) wrote several Doctor Who novelizations! He was prolific and good!! And yes, that was the first time this Doctor offered anyone jelly babies!! History!!! Hahaha!!
I thought you would enjoy the toy Scorpion tank used in the matt shot. It was fairly obvious to many a small child as it was part of the popular Action Man range.
This story truly feels like the last gasp of the Third Doctor era. Since Barry Letts and Terrance Dick (script editor and producer at the time which are the closest spots to a showrunner in classic who) got this episode as their last job overseeing the show. This means they essentially did a typical Third Doctor story and shoved the Fourth Doctor in without knowing what his actual personality would be. They decided to give him this very funny clownish character, and had the excuse in universe that it was because of the regeneration. While I like this story and think it's a great introduction for the Fourth Doctor (let's Tom Baker show how he's a different performer from Pertwee and helps set up his friendship with Sarah Jane) I still feel it tonally clashes heavily with the rest of his first season and the rest of the era of the new Script Editor and Producer (Philip Hinchcliffe and Robert Holmes).
Even though it's the 4th Doctor's story, in some ways it's also a final wrap up for the 3rd Doctor, because, even though UNIT will return eventually, UNIT was mainly created for the 3rd Doctor and how he was exiled to Earth. The 4th Doctor allowed the show to get back out traveling through time and space.
Great opener story for the 4th doctor and welcome aboard Harry loved this era with Sarah and Harry one of my favourites Harry been the first male companion to join since Jamie was around plus the next story is in my top 5 4th doctor stories
Brigadier: Well, I've brought along something that will deal with it. Doctor: You know, Brigadier, I don't think any amount of forced perspective will help in this case.
It’s funny how they work Harry into the TARDIS. He’s so subtly introduced as just another UNIT staffer who just gets caught up in the adventure, so when he gets invited along, it’s kind of a surprise. But then you rewatch the story and you can see the Doctor bonding with him throughout the story, and it becomes so obvious in hindsight
I just love how your always protective of Benton :) and the redshirt UNIT soldiers no one cares about in 5 seconds. Yes we also not only have a new Doctor but now a new companion Surgeon Lt. Harry Sullivan played by Ian Marter who is also known as an author writing Doctor Who books. Sadly he passed away in 1986.
Brilliant story with a human villain you love to hate and a Robot with a strong character arc. That coupled with a great cast. Best Doctor introduction ever
About characters not being black-or-white.... Doctor Who was a great show in that sense. You have to consider the fourth Doctor was portrayed in the 70's during the top of the hype of the cold war, when everything you saw was us-vs-them. From movies like James Bond, to TV shows like Get Smart, even kid shows like Rocky and Bullwinkle, most entertainment had that vibe, but Doctor Who portrayed a lot of different color characters on every side.
7/10.. I love regeneration episodes/serials that don’t do over complicated and too complex storylines. When Throughton left I was heartbroken and needed some time to get used to Pertwee even though I enjoyed him from the beginning. But with Tom Baker I was hooked immediately. The greedy humans that want power and control and destroy everything in their way with a simple robot is not even that strong of a plot but considering that this was a transition form 3rd Doctor to the 4th and getting everyone involved from Unit and Sarah Jane and introducing Harry Sullivan makes it exciting. I loved how much involvement Sarah Jane had and how confident she was to take on the bad guys. Exciting season serial/Premiere! Tom Baker didn’t even felt new in this role. I never watched any baker episodes before tbh and was surprised. He felt like he has been the Doctor since 1963 lol
I grew up with Jon Pertwee as the Doctor, so upset seeing him replaced. But was not upset for long and love Tom Baker as much as Jon. Also if you like this era another show called Blakes 7 is as good.
"I do share in the brigadier's frustration of like...'why can't we meet an adversary at one point where I can just shoot them and they actually get shot?'" Hold that thought. It's going to become super relevant in about 5 or 6 stories down the road.
IT’S STILL DOCTOR WHO TO ME What's the matter with the reboot series? Don’t you like the Doctors bow tie's? Maybe you don’t like the brand new Autons? Or that the Daleks survive? Where have you been hidin' out lately, honey? Better effects on which they spent a lot more money. Everybody's talkin' 'bout the series Funny, but it's still Doctor Who to me. What's the matter with brand new Tardis? Don’t you like its organic style? Would you like if they brought back the round things? Because we haven’t seen them in a while Nowadays you can't be too sentimental The Box is still blue and the Doctors still Mental. Old Who, New Who, Anyway they do Who It's still Doctor Who to me Oh, it doesn't matter what they say in the Forums 'Cause it's always been the same old scene. There's a new Doctor in town But you can get the spoilers from a story in a magazine... Aimed at your average teen Don’t you like the clothes he’s wearing? would you prefer him in tartan pants? You could really be a New Whovian baby if you just give it half a chance. Don't waste your time on getting all Upset, Go out to the store and buy yourself a box set Next phase, new wave, Cybermen on a rampage It's still Doctor Who to me There’s nothing wrong with classic series Not seen it? You should give it a try? May you think it’s too old fashioned? I like it, and I think you will. Why? Bubble wrap aliens were always kinda funny? And sets might wobble cos they didn’t have much Money but it was the old phase, old wave, But the Cybermen still rampaged and it’s still Doctor Who to me Old Who, New Who, Anyway they do who it’s still Doctor Who to me
@@rnw2739 Last line mate says it all "Old Who, New Who, Anyway they do who it’s still Doctor Who to me" Note that this is a personal opinion not a declaration of fact and to me Any WHO is better than no WHO I thank you though for the feed back and will file it where it belongs * tosses the note in to the bin * 🤣🤣🤣
The 2nd Doctor was fond of them, too. He eats Jelly Babies in The Dominators, and takes a bag of them out of his pocket to offer the Brigadier some in The Three Doctors.
And thus marks both the beginning of the Tom Baker era, and the end of the Barry Letts era as producer. Letts is my favorite producer in show history, running from the second Pertwee story to this one. Much like his predecessor, he goes out establishing a new Doctor's characterization. Next up is Philip Hinchcliffe, who is a master of atmospheric storytelling. I'm not sure there's been a better 1-2 punch in the show's history as Letts-to-Hinchcliffe, so enjoy the ride of 4's early work!
It strikes me that the switch from Davies to Moffat echoed the transition from Letts to Hinchcliffe; the "action-hero" vibe of the one era giving way to the darker, more gothic feel of the next. Also, just as Tom Baker felt more alien than Pertwee, so too did Smith and Capaldi versus the more "human" portrayals of Eccleston and Tennant.
@@ftumschk Capaldi feels more human than Smith though, like an alien who has lived on Earth for decades and adopted it as part of his identity. Or like someone who has spent 300 years defending the people of a small village at Christmas.
@@rtozier2011 True, but both feel more alien than Eccleston and Tennant for me. Indeed, Smith felt alien right off the bat, without my having to wait for the events of The Time of the Doctor :)
A solid start for the Fourth Doctor in a story originally intended for the Third. To be honest though, it was Sarah Jane who was the star of the show from her original investigation to the exchange, "You won't shoot me." "But I will!". While, somewhat at odds with the fandom, Tom Baker is not my favourite Doctor, Sarah Jane does get much stronger in his company and she becomes one of my favourite companions--although not beating out the ever-delightful Jo for first place.
A couple random thoughts: "...where I can just shoot them..." I`m pretty sure the robot was 100% vulnerable to bullets and UNIT are just Stormtrooper level bad shots. 6:20 "...it's all floppy, I mean, it's still doin' it so I can't judge." And the double entendres hit a new level!
Seems like others have written about Ian Marter. He seems to have been too intelligent to be an actor. Elisabeth Sladen told a story of seeing Ian on set one time sort of pacing back and forth off by himself, apparently deep in thought about something. She approached him and asked what was up and Ian said he was trying to work out how many steps it would take to walk from where he was to Peking. As others have said, he was brought on in case the new Doctor turned out to not be an action-y type but when Tom didn't need that he was happy being comic relief - he was quite good at that too. Poor Ian died far too young. He did a lot of writing in his spare time - in addition to all his Target novelizations, which were among the best of the run, he and Tom Baker wrote a "Doctor Who" feature film script to have starred Tom alongside Vincent Price. They thought they had a shot at making it happen but then they went and saw "Star Wars" on its opening weekend and realized they were working on entirely the wrong scale and that the world of movies had no place for something like "Doctor Who" so nothing ever came of it. Tom co-wrote (or maybe consulted on) a novel version of the script a few years ago - it's BLOODY weird and reads like a "Doctor Who" story directed by Luis Buñuel.
I suppose it's only natural for you to compare Harry to Mike. Ian Marter, who plays Harry, was one of the actors considered for the role of Mike before it was given to Richard Franklin. (I feel like I'm in the movie Chicago. "You can like the life you're living, you can live the life you like. You can even marry Harry, but mess around with Mike.") The character of Harry was conceived when they were considering having an older actor replace Pertwee, a younger male companion to handle any fight scenes, ultimately of course, they went with a younger Doctor so it wasn't necessary for Harry to fulfill that function.
Your observation about bullets having no effect made me chuckle as I knew the Brig's immortal line about meeting an alien menace that wasn't immune to them was coming up! Everything has a weak spot. Quite a large red one in this case.
The 4th Doctors first series has two of my favourite stories, the next one coming up and the fourth one which incidently carries through to the 13th Doctor!! Looking forward to those reactions! 🙂
Elizabeth a great actress , you got to check out her , child series , # sarah jane # , classic brilliant serrries , rest in peace Lizze .....she died of cancer x
Harry brought another dynamic, plus being navy rather than army he also was portrayed a little tongue in cheek.. Wait until Tom Baker gets into his monologues - he gives some excellent pro-humanity speeches...
In my opinion this is the start to one of the best seasons Doctor Who ever had, and "Robot" is the worst story of this season, so I'm glad you're enjoying it because that means you're likely to love the rest of the season even more!
"There's no point in being a grown up if you can't be childish sometimes."
One of my favourite Doctor quotes.
It's a perfect summation of what Doctor Who is about since it's not really a show for children, as some mistake it for, but rather for anyone who want to experience some child-like wonder.
@Dejias actually Who was always produced by the BBC Drama Department never the Children's Department. Right from 1963 it was designed to attract a Family audience i.e. Adults and Children.
At the end of this story, you can clearly see one of the main differences between the Third and Fourth Doctors. The Third Doctor would have been all over the invite to have dinner with the Queen, whereas the Fourth Doctor would literally do anything else in the universe than sit down with the stuffy royalty and make small talk with them.
But the third doctor loved to get to know people and to learn everything new. Baker seemed a bit full of himself tbh lol
The actor who plays Harry, Ian Marter, was one of the sailors on the old ship constantly getting attacked by a sea monster caught in a time loop in Carnival of Monsters
And Mr Jellicoe is played by the same man as Sgt Osgood in the Daemons (the one who gets a sooty face from the heat-barrier machine lash-up). I barely recognised him.
Ian Marter would also write a few episode novelizations, including the ones for the next two stories. And he wrote a very enjoyable spin-off novel, "Harry Sullivan's War".
@@greenmonsterprod The modern series referenced him in a Capaldi Zygon story with a line about the 'Sullivan gas'.
Third Doctor: “What's wrong with being childish? I like being childish!”
Fourth Doctor: “There's no point in being grown up if you can't act a little childish sometimes.”
some things never change
I feel like that's when Sarah finally recognized him.
Yes - Harry joins as a companion. He was cast shortly after Pertwee resigned as they thought they may cast another older chap as the Doctor and wanted someone younger, like Jamie - to do more running round. Then the cast Baker, who was more than young enough to do his own running around!
I read somewhere that Ian Marter (the actor who played Harry) was originally considered for the part of Mike Yates, but that it didn't pan out due to scheduling conflicts. Ian was also the author of some of the Target novelizations of Doctor Who stories (such as "The Enemy of the World" [imho one of the best Doctor Who novelizations hands down], "The Dominators", and "The Invasion") as well as a Target spin-off novel called "Harry Sullivan's War". Sadly he passed at age 42 on October 28, 1986.
Thanks for letting her make her own discoveries. It's good that you're keeping that a priority.
@Brad1980 But how will I make my car look cool?
Nistrali is not really spoiling anything. It was pretty obvious that he was gonna become a companion after his last scene was him stepping into the TARDIS.
@Brad1980 congrats for proving the whole admins are stupid power hungry bullies cliche, there was no spoiler Harry got on the tardis therefore was a companion, grow up
I love how you reacted to the Doctor's line "there's no point in being grown-up if you can't be childish sometimes". :) Benton is my favourite member of UNIT, so I'm glad you showed him some love in the post-episode thoughts.
The Brigadier also has one of my favourite lines in this story; "just once, I'd like to meet an alien menace who wasn't immune to bullets."
Wasn't there another Brigadier line when he's seen again at some point later in the series that book-ends that "just once" line, or perhaps something similar to that effect or perhaps there was something like that earlier in the series which that "just once" line itself book-ended..? (I could be mistaken but I seem to remember something like that or along those lines somewhere, I just can't remember from where I might have remembered or misremembered the Brigadier saying something that either earlier or later on that very much reminded me of that "just once" line at some point, in another story)
You're in for a hell of a ride with the Fourth Doctor, the next few seasons are probably the most consistently excellent in the show's history. Bring on the jelly babies!
'Robot' was also the final story by acclaimed duo Barry Letts and Terrance Dicks who'd overseen the show since near the start of the Third Doctor era. Love the side-characters in this too like the zealous Miss Winters, the cantankerous Prof. Kettlewell and of course the K-1 Robot whose relationship with Sarah tugs at my heartstrings on every watch.
I love how baker Fans try to make it seem like DW was dull and cheap beforehand. Season 10 with Pertwee alone can hold its own against any Baker season Or Throughton season 5-6-ish..
I once read that Robot was originally a 3rd Doctor story that never got made, but the writers decided to rework it into the 4th Doctor's 1st story in order to show how he would be different from the 3rd Doctor.
I don’t know if the idea for the story was already there, but I do know that Terence Dicks commissioned himself to write this story under the pretext that it was a tradition for the outgoing script editor to write the first story for the incoming one. Which he completely made up!
A number of stories for this series were commissioned by Letts and Dicks which is why they sometimes felt a bit like Third Doctor stories. Robert Holmes had to tweak a lot of them to try and fit his and Hinchcliffe’s vision for the show.
Two of my Fave Doctor Who quotes are spoken in this story:
"There's no point in being grown up if you can't be childish sometimes"
"The trouble with computers, of course, is that they're very sophisticated idiots. They do exactly what you tell them at amazing speed, even if you order them to kill you."
I use those quotes all the time, specially the first one!
I am a fan of
Brigadier: "Naturally enough, the only country that could be trusted with such a role was Great Britain."
Doctor: "well, naturally, I mean the rest were all foreigners."
Edward Brnham (Professor Kettlewell) had a 60 year career and died at 98 in 2015. You've seen him before as the scientist in the invasion who found it impossible to kill Tobias Vaughan.
The quote “What’s the point of being grownup if you can’t be childish sometimes?” Is one of the 4th’s Doctors most famous quotes. My British friends also like “You may be A Doctor, but I’m THE Doctor, the original you might say” Of course, the jelly baby line is an iconic favourite, and I suppose you could say the other two are as well. The 4th Doctor has a lot of them. Glad you enjoyed!
Definite article
I like that you focused on the "humanity" of the robot and the circumstances that forced their actions, means the writer Terrence Dicks achieved what he wanted in it's telling. He based this story on King Kong and wanted to bring up similar talking points.
Love the scene where everyone is bricking it while he casually chats about computers lol.
i do feel that Harry being a companion is a nice addition, fresh talent as well to the show. Ian Marter was considered for Mike but he wasn't able to commit as a regular so joined the cast as Harry when they were looking for an older actor to play the doctor, Harry remained after Tom Baker was cast
'Well of course I'm being childish! There's no point in being grown up if you can't be childish sometimes.'
Wise words that will stick with my forever. Another great reaction, looking forward to more.👍
Ah, I LOVE these early days of the Sonic Screwdriver!
When it was simply a tool with multiple uses, but ALL those uses were in the same technological "wheelhouse". (transmits a sonic wave to detonate landmines, or a focused sonic beam to CUT through locks, and so on.)
Later (like in New Who) it is practically a "Magic Wand" that can do almost ANYTHING! And that sucks.
And no, you were not the only one who felt bad for the Robot.
And even when using the screwdriver, it usually took a while rather than being instantaneous (unless detonating mines), and it often still required some manual labor to help the screwdriver along. I understand the new series doesn't have as much time to focus on obstacles, but the screwdriver has become the equivalent of a cheat code.
@@ElectroTherapyFTSoul This was the reasoning why they got rid of the sonic screwdriver in the Fifth Doctor era.
Ian Marter was lovely as Harry. He actually auditioned for Mike Yates' role and was offered it, but couldn't accept it due to other commitments. He also wrote nine of the classic Who novelisations, as well as one about Harry Sullivan. He sadly died suddenly from a heart attack on his 42nd birthday in 1986.
Not to forget he co-wrote the I’ll-fated Doctor Who Meets Scratchman movie with Tom Baker.
Lovely to see the new Doctor has picked up the habit of offering jellybabies from his earlier incarnation in The Three Doctors.
As fun as Robot is, the next story is when the Fourth Doctor's Era truly begins. You're gonna be in for quite a ride!
"Homo Sapiens......"
Ian marter was great as harry for a companion! This story was briefly referenced in ‘planet of the dead’ when the 10th doctor speaks to unit’s scientific adviser malcolm. He says he’s read all the unit files and the doctor asks ‘rele? What was you’re favorite, the giant robot?’
Next week... the Golden Age of Classic Who begins: the Philip Hinchcliffe era.
Harry has my favorite response to the TARDIS: OH, I SAY!
Makes me chuckle every time.
It's not often that an entire catchphrase can be born from one moment, but 'Would you like a Jelly Baby?' is undoubtedly one of those occasions. Sickly sweet and gelatinous, these UK favourites are the safe alternative to Crack, in that they are marginally less addictive.
This still feels like a Third Doctor story, but it's amazing to me how Tom Baker nailed his version of The Doctor in one go.
The scarf, the jelly babies, the kooky behavior, the strangely profound moments, it's all there in his first story.
Please be kind to Ian Marter who played Harry Sullivan. He was a talented writer and a kind man who died very young at age 42. He is also 1/3 of my favorite Tardis team.
You can tell from my profile icon that one of my very favourite movies is The Iron Giant.
Watching Sarah feel compassion towards the robot, telling everyone she can not to shoot it, and then even seeing the robot grow and pick Sarah up to protect her and then taking on a bit of an army, I can’t help but see some parallels there that make me enjoy this episode a lot!
I’ve been on my own journey watching Classic Who on BritBox and just got done with this episode and I already love 4!
This is the Doctor I grew up with. Tom is amazing.
same here, like many of a certain age, we came in at the end of 3rd and 4th was ours
Tom's first 3 season are some of the best stories in Doctor Who history! Producer Philip Hinchcliffe was amazing and it breathed a whole new life into the series. You are in for an amazing treat!
It's hardly surprising that King Kong is considered an influence on this serial. A point rammed home in Chris Archileos's legendary cover for the novelization ('Dr Who and The Giant Robot'), which pictures K1 crushing a fighter jet with one robot claw!
"Just once I'd like to fight something that wasn't immune to bullets."
This isn't the best way to start the 4th Doctor's era, but it's a fun story nevertheless. Ooh, and the next story is awesome! (I'll be saying that a lot, btw. 😉)
Glad you're enjoying Baker so far. Didn't doubt you would, of course.
I think people consider this and the last story of the season to be the weakest of the season with the one after the next one being the best.
@@dvader518 I think you may have miscounted. The story after next has an 'x' in its title (not a criticism - just a spoiler-free way of indicating which it is), and is not as highly acclaimed as the one that follows it.
@@edjolley4482 you're right. I forgot about the two parter.
I think you're going to like Harry Sullivan, he was a great companion.
Takes on a whole "King Kong" vibe there at the climax. Tom Baker and Lis Sladen really are the lightning in a bottle pair.
Harry Sullivan is mentioned in the 12th Doctor episode "The Zygon Inversion", as developing Z67 - "Sullivan's Gas" - as a means of stopping the Zygons.
Fun fact, the actor playing Professor Jeremiah P. Kettlewell was Edward Burnham, who also played Professor Watkins in the Second Doctor adventure The Invasion.
The fourth doctor's era REALLY starts in the next story.
The line "There's no point in being grown up if you can't be childish sometimes." is what I put as a quote under my high school yearbook photo. :)
Tom Baker once described himself as 'a poor monster who only wanted to make people laugh' and while it explains much about his personality (some of which is thought to have leaked into the 4th Doctor), it betrays a surprisingly serious man with some occasionally morbid obsessions. None of which are necessarily visibly in this story. It's deceptive. 'Robot' is the last story to be made under a production team that had been in place since 1970. The next adventure would see the arrival of a new, younger, Producer; set on taking the show in a different - and darker- direction...
This is a favorite of mine too! The robot was sympathetic, very much like Frankenstein's monster! Harry Sullivan was a companion, and later Ian Marter (the actor who plays him) wrote several Doctor Who novelizations! He was prolific and good!! And yes, that was the first time this Doctor offered anyone jelly babies!! History!!! Hahaha!!
I thought you would enjoy the toy Scorpion tank used in the matt shot. It was fairly obvious to many a small child as it was part of the popular Action Man range.
I had one and (at the time) I thought it was awesome, and it wasn't cheap it was a big deal.
Can't beat a Classic Who shootout with UNIT unloading clip after clip into a completely bullet-proof enemy :D
I know - futile firefights are quite an endearing running gag, aren’t they?
This story truly feels like the last gasp of the Third Doctor era. Since Barry Letts and Terrance Dick (script editor and producer at the time which are the closest spots to a showrunner in classic who) got this episode as their last job overseeing the show. This means they essentially did a typical Third Doctor story and shoved the Fourth Doctor in without knowing what his actual personality would be. They decided to give him this very funny clownish character, and had the excuse in universe that it was because of the regeneration. While I like this story and think it's a great introduction for the Fourth Doctor (let's Tom Baker show how he's a different performer from Pertwee and helps set up his friendship with Sarah Jane) I still feel it tonally clashes heavily with the rest of his first season and the rest of the era of the new Script Editor and Producer (Philip Hinchcliffe and Robert Holmes).
Even though it's the 4th Doctor's story, in some ways it's also a final wrap up for the 3rd Doctor, because, even though UNIT will return eventually, UNIT was mainly created for the 3rd Doctor and how he was exiled to Earth. The 4th Doctor allowed the show to get back out traveling through time and space.
? Third has already done that in his last 2 seasons, since the power was restored. Only 2 stories of season 10 were UNIT
@@conscienceaginBlackadder yea, but this one really did put UNIT to bed and allow the new Doctor to move on.
Fwiw, "Harry" was among the names Sarah Jane considered giving Luke as an homage to her fellow companion.
If I recall correctly, "Alistair" was another name that she briefly considered before landing on Luke
@@christianwise637 I believe you're right!
10:47 "Brigadier! Brigadier!" 😂 Brilliant!
At 2:39, Petronella Osgood does the same trick w/her scarf & a Zygon in the 50th anniversary special.
Great opener story for the 4th doctor and welcome aboard Harry loved this era with Sarah and Harry one of my favourites Harry been the first male companion to join since Jamie was around plus the next story is in my top 5 4th doctor stories
The Brigadier having a Rita Repulsa moment. "Make my monster grow!"
I do not want to piss you off, Jess, but I think this guy will be your favourite classic Who. Juuuuust saying....
As good as this one was, the next story is even better, one of the all time classics. Indeed, there are several stone cold classics ahead of you!
Brigadier: Well, I've brought along something that will deal with it.
Doctor: You know, Brigadier, I don't think any amount of forced perspective will help in this case.
You will like the next story 'The Ark in Space', widely seen by many as the the 4th Doctor really settling into the role.
It’s funny how they work Harry into the TARDIS. He’s so subtly introduced as just another UNIT staffer who just gets caught up in the adventure, so when he gets invited along, it’s kind of a surprise. But then you rewatch the story and you can see the Doctor bonding with him throughout the story, and it becomes so obvious in hindsight
“There’s no point in being grown up, if you can’t be childish sometimes” - words I live by
As much as I loved Jon growing up, Tom was a badly needed breathe of fresh air for the series.
"What was your favorite-The Giant Robot?" - Tenth Doctor, Planet of the Dead
I just love how your always protective of Benton :) and the redshirt UNIT soldiers no one cares about in 5 seconds. Yes we also not only have a new Doctor but now a new companion Surgeon Lt. Harry Sullivan played by Ian Marter who is also known as an author writing Doctor Who books. Sadly he passed away in 1986.
The Third Doctor era is great, but the Fourth Doctor era is something else!
4/Sarah Jane/Harry is one of my favourite TARDIS teams, excited to see what you make of them!
It got a bit "King Kong" at the end but its a good introductory story for the 4th Dr.
VERY King Kong...
Brilliant story with a human villain you love to hate and a Robot with a strong character arc. That coupled with a great cast. Best Doctor introduction ever
“I’m not worried about the disintegration ray. It is the rubbing styrofoam that has me cringing.”
About characters not being black-or-white....
Doctor Who was a great show in that sense. You have to consider the fourth Doctor was portrayed in the 70's during the top of the hype of the cold war, when everything you saw was us-vs-them. From movies like James Bond, to TV shows like Get Smart, even kid shows like Rocky and Bullwinkle, most entertainment had that vibe, but Doctor Who portrayed a lot of different color characters on every side.
I love how UNIT still use guns even though they never work.
Hilda Winters becomes one of Sarah-Jane’s greatest earth bound enemies in the Official DW books and audiobooks
This story is the best introduction to a Doctor because Tom Baker just knocks it right out of the park.
7/10.. I love regeneration episodes/serials that don’t do over complicated and too complex storylines. When Throughton left I was heartbroken and needed some time to get used to Pertwee even though I enjoyed him from the beginning. But with Tom Baker I was hooked immediately. The greedy humans that want power and control and destroy everything in their way with a simple robot is not even that strong of a plot but considering that this was a transition form 3rd Doctor to the 4th and getting everyone involved from Unit and Sarah Jane and introducing Harry Sullivan makes it exciting. I loved how much involvement Sarah Jane had and how confident she was to take on the bad guys. Exciting season serial/Premiere! Tom Baker didn’t even felt new in this role. I never watched any baker episodes before tbh and was surprised. He felt like he has been the Doctor since 1963 lol
I think I can safely predict by Christmas Sesska will be doing these videos in a floppy hat & unfeasibly long scarf scoffing jelly babies😊
I grew up with Jon Pertwee as the Doctor, so upset seeing him replaced.
But was not upset for long and love Tom Baker as much as Jon.
Also if you like this era another show called Blakes 7 is as good.
"I do share in the brigadier's frustration of like...'why can't we meet an adversary at one point where I can just shoot them and they actually get shot?'" Hold that thought. It's going to become super relevant in about 5 or 6 stories down the road.
7:49 He had a bit of a metal breakdown ;)
IT’S STILL DOCTOR WHO TO ME
What's the matter with the reboot series?
Don’t you like the Doctors bow tie's?
Maybe you don’t like the brand new Autons?
Or that the Daleks survive?
Where have you been hidin' out lately, honey?
Better effects on which they spent a lot more money.
Everybody's talkin' 'bout the series Funny, but it's still Doctor Who to me.
What's the matter with brand new Tardis?
Don’t you like its organic style?
Would you like if they brought back the round things?
Because we haven’t seen them in a while
Nowadays you can't be too sentimental
The Box is still blue and the Doctors still Mental.
Old Who, New Who, Anyway they do Who
It's still Doctor Who to me
Oh, it doesn't matter what they say in the Forums
'Cause it's always been the same old scene.
There's a new Doctor in town
But you can get the spoilers from a story in a magazine...
Aimed at your average teen
Don’t you like the clothes he’s wearing?
would you prefer him in tartan pants?
You could really be a New Whovian baby
if you just give it half a chance.
Don't waste your time on getting all Upset,
Go out to the store and buy yourself a box set
Next phase, new wave, Cybermen on a rampage
It's still Doctor Who to me
There’s nothing wrong with classic series
Not seen it? You should give it a try?
May you think it’s too old fashioned?
I like it, and I think you will. Why?
Bubble wrap aliens were always kinda funny?
And sets might wobble cos they didn’t have much Money
but it was the old phase, old wave, But the Cybermen still rampaged
and it’s still Doctor Who to me
Old Who, New Who, Anyway they do who it’s still Doctor Who to me
Nicely done, singing it in my head in lieu of the normal lyrics
@@waz207 I thank you
*takes a bow *
@@rnw2739 Last line mate says it all "Old Who, New Who, Anyway they do who it’s still Doctor Who to me" Note that this is a personal opinion not a declaration of fact and to me Any WHO is better than no WHO
I thank you though for the feed back and will file it where it belongs * tosses the note in to the bin *
🤣🤣🤣
Hang on to your knickers --- pretty much every story for the next 3-4 seasons are home runs. Welcome to the golden age of the original series.
Your Reactions were Perfect for this story. I thought it was a Great story to get to know the Doctor.
Jelly babies though, the Eighth Doctor also had them as well.
The 2nd Doctor was fond of them, too. He eats Jelly Babies in The Dominators, and takes a bag of them out of his pocket to offer the Brigadier some in The Three Doctors.
Some GREAT episodes coming now with some OLD friends....
Sesska falling in love with Four :D RIP K1 :’(
And thus marks both the beginning of the Tom Baker era, and the end of the Barry Letts era as producer. Letts is my favorite producer in show history, running from the second Pertwee story to this one. Much like his predecessor, he goes out establishing a new Doctor's characterization. Next up is Philip Hinchcliffe, who is a master of atmospheric storytelling. I'm not sure there's been a better 1-2 punch in the show's history as Letts-to-Hinchcliffe, so enjoy the ride of 4's early work!
It strikes me that the switch from Davies to Moffat echoed the transition from Letts to Hinchcliffe; the "action-hero" vibe of the one era giving way to the darker, more gothic feel of the next. Also, just as Tom Baker felt more alien than Pertwee, so too did Smith and Capaldi versus the more "human" portrayals of Eccleston and Tennant.
@@ftumschk Capaldi feels more human than Smith though, like an alien who has lived on Earth for decades and adopted it as part of his identity. Or like someone who has spent 300 years defending the people of a small village at Christmas.
@@rtozier2011 True, but both feel more alien than Eccleston and Tennant for me. Indeed, Smith felt alien right off the bat, without my having to wait for the events of The Time of the Doctor :)
This is a very good season, all things considered. We're getting closer to my first episode of Doctor Who all those years ago.
Definite King Kong vibe there.
I hope you rewatch the 50th anniversary episode in the run up to the 60th. :)
A solid start for the Fourth Doctor in a story originally intended for the Third. To be honest though, it was Sarah Jane who was the star of the show from her original investigation to the exchange, "You won't shoot me." "But I will!".
While, somewhat at odds with the fandom, Tom Baker is not my favourite Doctor, Sarah Jane does get much stronger in his company and she becomes one of my favourite companions--although not beating out the ever-delightful Jo for first place.
great times ahead with a new TARDIS team..loved this reaction and feeling the Harry love
A couple random thoughts:
"...where I can just shoot them..." I`m pretty sure the robot was 100% vulnerable to bullets and UNIT are just Stormtrooper level bad shots.
6:20 "...it's all floppy, I mean, it's still doin' it so I can't judge." And the double entendres hit a new level!
Seems like others have written about Ian Marter. He seems to have been too intelligent to be an actor. Elisabeth Sladen told a story of seeing Ian on set one time sort of pacing back and forth off by himself, apparently deep in thought about something. She approached him and asked what was up and Ian said he was trying to work out how many steps it would take to walk from where he was to Peking. As others have said, he was brought on in case the new Doctor turned out to not be an action-y type but when Tom didn't need that he was happy being comic relief - he was quite good at that too. Poor Ian died far too young.
He did a lot of writing in his spare time - in addition to all his Target novelizations, which were among the best of the run, he and Tom Baker wrote a "Doctor Who" feature film script to have starred Tom alongside Vincent Price. They thought they had a shot at making it happen but then they went and saw "Star Wars" on its opening weekend and realized they were working on entirely the wrong scale and that the world of movies had no place for something like "Doctor Who" so nothing ever came of it. Tom co-wrote (or maybe consulted on) a novel version of the script a few years ago - it's BLOODY weird and reads like a "Doctor Who" story directed by Luis Buñuel.
I suppose it's only natural for you to compare Harry to Mike. Ian Marter, who plays Harry, was one of the actors considered for the role of Mike before it was given to Richard Franklin. (I feel like I'm in the movie Chicago. "You can like the life you're living, you can live the life you like. You can even marry Harry, but mess around with Mike.") The character of Harry was conceived when they were considering having an older actor replace Pertwee, a younger male companion to handle any fight scenes, ultimately of course, they went with a younger Doctor so it wasn't necessary for Harry to fulfill that function.
Your observation about bullets having no effect made me chuckle as I knew the Brig's immortal line about meeting an alien menace that wasn't immune to them was coming up! Everything has a weak spot. Quite a large red one in this case.
I love Harry 😍
‘Would you like a jelly baby’ Better get used to hearing that question 😀
The 4th Doctors first series has two of my favourite stories, the next one coming up and the fourth one which incidently carries through to the 13th Doctor!! Looking forward to those reactions! 🙂
Tom has some of the best and worst episodes of Classic Who, excited for you to see!
...and the best far outnumber the worst so strap on those jelly babies and plug in that scarf, it's gonna be a wild ride 😉😊🥰
Manic Malcolm you've earned a jelly baby for that song 🙂👏👏
harry is a total boy scout, but also hes the mickey of the trio. the fourth doctor sasses him and casts shade his way ALL the time.
4-Sarah-Harry one of my favourite TARIDS teams
in the other doctor who , the daughter of him, is in , and the brigader becomes a cyberman , and saves his daughter ..
Elizabeth a great actress , you got to check out her , child series , # sarah jane # , classic brilliant serrries , rest in peace Lizze .....she died of cancer x
There is an interesting King Kong vibe towards the end of this story.
Beauty killed the beast… so begins the Tom Baker era
Harry brought another dynamic, plus being navy rather than army he also was portrayed a little tongue in cheek..
Wait until Tom Baker gets into his monologues - he gives some excellent pro-humanity speeches...
basically, King Kong
In my opinion this is the start to one of the best seasons Doctor Who ever had, and "Robot" is the worst story of this season, so I'm glad you're enjoying it because that means you're likely to love the rest of the season even more!