The Robots Volume Two

 

Robots of War written by Roland Moore and directed by Ken Bentley

Interestingly, this is exactly what I thought I would be going to get with the first series of The Robots. Our heroes trapped in a claustrophobic setting with Robots trying to kill them. So kudos to the creators for waiting until the fourth story to do an action piece that feels like Robots of Death and by this point less introspection and more excitement feels earned. I'm also getting more of a feeling of Kaldor, which was one of my wishes coming out of series one and this trip to a military installation helps to add another dimension to Liv's home. I'm not at all sure about the hierarchy protocol that is activated and means that everybody on the base is disposable leaving Liv and Tula fighting for their lives. Who on Earth thought that a protocol that insists on the murder of everybody because one person might be a traitor amongst them was a smart idea? The more I learn about The Company, the more eccentric their outlook is. There's hints of this series tying into both the eighth and fourth Doctor ranges too, with previous trips to Kaldor being mentioned and elements of those stories being tied into this narrative. Ultimately this is a big runaround to get the second series started with some particularly great robot voices that continue to terrify me because they so calmly and casually and politely inform people that they are going to be killed. There's something about a murderer with such good manners that terrifies me. Enjoyable, but I'm still waiting for the out and out classic that makes me want to shout from the rooftops about this range: 7/10 

Toos and Poul written by Andrew Smith and directed by Ken Bentley 

Andrew Smith is such an odd writer. I don't think he ever writes anything bad and his intentions are always there to provide entertainment and insight into his chosen characters. But I rarely think his dialogue sparkles, his plots tend to simmer rather than boil and I cannot think of a time where he has surprised despite his prolific Big Finish output. This is one of his better scripts in terms of character and he has the extreme good fortune to be assigned to the story that features the return of Toos and Poul to the fold and not content with relying on the audience being thrilled at the fact he has a great stab at catching us up with their lives and relationship since the Sandminer incident. The best thing here is their relationship, which has continued beyond Robots of Death; Poul dealing with his robophobia in an enforced way in order to help with this investigation and Toos refusing to give up on her friend despite him trying to walk away. It helps that Pamela Salem and David Collings are saying the words, they truly convince  in their reprised roles and you don't for a second miss Nicola Walker or Clare Rushbrook because they are such engaging actors. It's a good thing the character insight is so strong because the murder mystery (with a suspect pool of two) is barely adequate; it lacks suspense and the answers that spill are obvious and a bit underwhelming. More insight into Kaldor though, with a chance to get outside the city and see the view on robots from people who aren't dependant on them. If the mystery had been better structured and the murderer reveal had had some kind of impact this would have really shone. The last scene as good as says this wasn't the main reason Toos called on Poul, it was just side issue before they could get to the important stuff. Bring back Toos & Poul, just give them a more substantial story to lead next time: 7/10

Do No Harm written by Sarah Grochala and directed by Ken Bentley

A terrific end to the volume with a script that has a brilliant idea at its heart and doesn't run out of steam right up until the final moments. If you would have told me that a courtroom drama presided over by a robot judge and with a robot defendant in the dock would be the best story of the entire series to date I probably would have laughed in your face. Because Grochala structures the story with the courtcase and the actual events running concurrently there is huge suspense in listening to the story unfold. Who is doctoring the evidence? Did a robot murder 700 people for the greater good? Was it acting against its programming for a sinister organisation. The episode refuses to end up quite where you think it is going to go (I asked Mark to pause it to give him my theory of why the Company was behind it all and all tied into some marketing scheme of a new kind of AI and of course I was completely wrong) and it ends with both a surprising verdict that made me gasp out loud and a brilliant final speech from the robot about humanity's failings. You get a sense of a city that is tearing itself apart, anti-robot feeling is fuelled by the courtcase and the Sons of Kaldor are stirring the pot. Liv works well in the unlikely role of a makeshift lawyer and the story works brilliantly because despite the fact it is an emotionless automaton you have huge sympathy for the robot being accused of murder. I have been so impressed by all the robot characters so far and just how easy it is for me personify them. The only serious complaint is the use of the last minute witness to throw new light on the case but that is such a well trodden cliché of this type of story it might feel odd if they hadn't shown up. There's loose ends to tie us into the next series (I guess that is always going to be the case) but for now this is a great example of how keep this series engaging. Let's go for volume three: 9/10

The Robots Series One

 

The Robots of Life written by Roland Moore and directed by Ken Bentley

An oddly jazzy theme tune for such an introverted series that focuses on uncanny valley over action - I was half expect a robot army to come marching over the hill when this opened with militaristic drums. It caught on mind, I was humming it to myself by the end of the third episode. This is a competent opener that does everything that it needs to do without making great waves. Liv is back on Kaldor, we're introduced to her sister, she gets a job, embroiled in a mystery and it brings to light some strange goings on with the robots. I haven't explored the Kaldor City audios and so I can't really compare the two but the potential here comes from Nicola Walker and Claire Rushbrook; believable as sisters and actually driving stories because of their jobs as medics and technicians and the stress on the psychology of the robots and how they affect the people around them - which was the scariest aspect of The Robots of Death. The actual investigation here - the elderly medic murdering people by mistake and blaming it on a robot - is serviceable without ever being particularly riveting. Would it entice me to seek out more if I hadn't already bought the set? Doubtful, but it lays plenty of seeds invisibly that will be picked up later which means sticking with the series reaps rewards: 6/10 

The Sentient written by Robert Whitelock and directed by Ken Bentley 

Much better! This is exactly what I thought I would be going to get from a series called The Robots - freaky as fuck facsimile people behaving in an awkwardly naturalistic way. Vissey is a brilliant creation and played to perfection by Venice Van Someren. The early scenes of her role play sessions with Til are the creepiest of the year. She's played like a little girl, but she's capable of learning and adapting, of striking out, of taking control of situations and forcing conversations about class war and genocide. The fact that the voice is so saccharine is what makes her so frightening. There's a disconnect between how she sounds and how she is behaving and it is really uncomfortable to listen to. I loved the realisation of her scenes in the mediaweb too - chatting happily with other artificial lifeforms in the robot equivalent of social media. At first Liv & Tula feel a little surplus to requirements but they take on a very important role towards the end of the episode where they effectively have to save the whole city. That's where this falls apart for me; Vissey is uncomfortable to listen to those early scenes because she is so benign but once she becomes a super villain that wants to poison the entire population all subtlety is lost. A shame, I can see real potential in keeping her around and playing the long game with an sickly sweet AI that can learn and best it's creators. Props to Jaye Griffiths who does stellar work as Vissey's creator. There's an uncomfortable running theme of robots taking the place of human beings in peoples affections that will really come to fruition in the next episode. I was gripped for the first 30 minutes, less so for the climax. More like this please, I enjoy being put on edge like this: 8/10

Love Me Not written by John Dorney and directed by Ken Bentley 

What would you do if you lost your partner and somebody sent a ready made and reprogrammable robot round to help you with the grieving process? I think you know where I am going with this and instead of ending this set on a big, bold noisy Big Finish spectacular, John Dorney instead opts for a touching and intimate look at what you are capable of when you are grieving. I was constantly caught between thinking that Volar was very disturbed in indulging in his make believe home with his fake dead wife and asking myself if I would do anything different if I was in that situation. It's the sort of domestic affair that you can get into with a science fiction angle when you aren't stuck within the rules of Doctor Who and it plays out very convincingly. I really liked how Liv & Tula refused to pity him but instead peel away his layers of deception and try and help him. There's a soapy subplot about a possible affair between Skellen and Jadar that doesn't really go anywhere and it takes a long to get all the characters into Volar's house and exposing his make believe family but when you are there it is butt clenching time again as everybody plays along for a bit and you are waiting for somebody (anybody) to drop the bomb and say 'your dead wife is a robot!' I thought the interaction between the Chenka sisters was much punchier here too, benefitting from Dorney's ear for funny lines. The whole thing rounds off pretty quietly and I was wondering where the series goes from here after three relatively contained character pieces but there is a dangling carrot at the end as a familiar face from Robots of Death turns up to suggest that there is some mileage yet in the idea of sentient robots: 7/10

I went into this set wondering what it would have to offer me. I'm not too keen on Liv Chenka at the best of times - Walker is a great actress but is often given leaden characterisation in her Doctor Who stories - and a series about robots (it's what's on the tin!) rather than people wasn't going to grab my attention. What surprised me were the creepier scenes in this set that left me feeling weirded out because Big Finish is so neutered these days in it's everything through Cardiff that I didn't think it could get under my skin like this anymore. What I would like to see going forward is a better sense of Kaldor itself. Because of the nature of these stories we only really visit a few houses, a hospital and robot facilities and handful of characters. Kaldor was never seen in Robots of Death but it was painted with such vivid detail, far more detail than they manage here in three hours. I'm definitely up for more though. Despite my reservations, the robot characters are fantastic. And Walker is far more palatable divorced from Doctor Who. Go figure.