invented by scientist Professor Kettlewell while he was working for Think Tank, a body involved in developing emerging technologies. The robot has been reprogrammed to obey the orders of Miss Winters, the director of Think Tank, and used to obtain the means for constructing a disintegrator gun with which the Scientific Reform Society - of which she is a leading member - can steal the computer codes controlling the nuclear weapons of the world's leading powers.
In this way, the SRS hopes to hold the world to ransom unless its demands for a purer way of life are met. Kettlewell is killed by the robot after he rejects Miss Winter's ruthless behaviour. The robot suffers an electronic mental breakdown and tries to activate the nuclear weapons. The Brigadier attempts to destroy it with the disintegrator gun, but this merley causes it to grow to gigantic size, following which it goes on the rampage. the Doctor, assisted by UNIT medical officer Harry Sullivan, destroys the robot using a metal virus described in Kettlewell's notes.
CAST:
The Doctor (Tom Baker), Sarah-Jane Smith (Elisabeth Sladen), Harry Sullivan (Ian Marter), Brigadier Lethbridge-Stewart (Nicholas Courtney), Sergeant Benton (John Levene), Miss Winters (Patricia Maynard), Robot (Michael Kilgarriff), Professor Kettlewell (Edward Burnham), Jellicoe (Alec Linstead), Short (Timothy Craven).
FACTS:
Benton reveals in Part Two that he has been promoted to Warrant Officer (about time too!), but this is not reflected in the closing credits, which continue to give his rank as Sergeant.
This was the first Doctor Who story to have all of its location scenes recorded on outside broadcast (OB) video rather than film.
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