Tuesday 21 July 2015

Robots and androids in modern Doctor Who

Continuing an overview of robots and androids in British film and TV, here are six memorable robot and android characters from the modern era of Doctor Who with clips from official YouTube channels:


Anne Droid - Bad Wolf / Parting of the Ways (2005)
 On the Game Station in the year 200,100, the Anne Droid was a robot host of a version of quiz show The Weakest Link.  It fired an energy beam at the losing contestants.  This was later revealed to actually be a transmat beam used to transfer people to the Dalek Fleet.

Clockwork DroidsThe Girl in the Fireplace (2006) / Deep Breath (2014)
Repair Droids that served on the SS Madame de Pompadour and its sister ship, the SS Marie Antoinette.  Both sets of robots sought to repair their ships using human body parts.   

Heavenly Hosts - The Voyage of the Damned (2007)
The Hosts were service robots on the Starship Titanic.  Under the command of Max Capricorn, they turned deadly, killing many of the passengers as part of his scheme to destroy his own ship.

Gadget - The Waters of Mars (2009)
 Gadget was a robot used by the crew of the  Mars colony, Bowie Base One, in 2059.   It depended on an operator remotely controlling it by means of a pair of gloves.

Bracewell - Victory of the Daleks (2010)
Dr Edwin Bracewell was an android modelled after a human scientist. He was made by the Daleks and placed as an advisor to Winston Churchill in 1941.   Bracewell was initally unaware he was an android and believed he had invented the Daleks as weapons he called "Ironsides".

Robot Knights - Robot of Sherwood (2014)
A group of futuristic robots who masqueraded as medieval knights after crashing in 12th century England.  They worked with Sheriff of Nottingham, who aspired to take the English throne, collecting gold to use to repair the spaceship.


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