Doctor Who: The Robots – Volume 4: Review

Out of all the possible spin-offs Big Finish could have given us, a return to Kaldor City and the Robots of Death, wasn’t one on many people’s lists. The Robots of Death is such a great story that any follow up hasn’t really been able to stand up and there have been plenty of books and other audio adventures from various publishers that have tried.

That’s why The Robots was such a big surprise to me when Series 1 was released in 2019, and it’s been a strong series ever since. Volume 4 was released this last week and I’m glad that it continued the strong trend of storytelling we’ve become accustomed to!

The set opens with Closed Loop, from Guy Adams and sees the return of Poul and Toos two of the surviving characters from the original 1970s story and who have gradually been drawn into the action surrounding this series over the last year. Adams wastes no time in throwing these characters into the action, and both Pamela Salem and David Collings haven’t lost their touch as these characters, even if this set might be the last time we hear the late Collings, depending on how far in advance this series was recorded.

Not only does Adams bring back these two brilliant characters but also sets the action on the infamous Sandminer where the robots went wild and bring back another favourite character from that story, D84. The story itself might have resulted in just feeling like a little run around had a greater plot thread not come into play and Adams not littered the script with little nods towards the larger series arc at play and it sees Poul’s worst nightmare come to life.

With people being given new robotic bodies, Adams eerily mirrors the evolution of the Cybermen, with people gradually replacing parts of themselves with robotic elements until there is nothing left of the original person.

It could have been easy to continue down this route, and I even worried that they might be trying to tie the Cybermen in with this series, luckily not though, The Robots and the actions in Kaldor City have enough story to keep them going. Adams is clearly having a ball here and Closed Loop was a blast to listen to. It’s such a shame that David Collings sadly passed away, given their partnership here, if Big Finish had ever wanted to do a Poul and Toos spin-off, there was plenty of great material here to justify that.

The second story in the set, Off Grid, written by Sarah Grochala, sees the return of Eighth Doctor companion Liv and her sister Tula, the two main characters from the series return and get stuck into some action. With the Sons of Kaldor escalating their action and explosions being set off around Kaldor City, an EMP hits the city, shutting down everything electronic.

Grochala keeps Liv and Tula apart for much of the story and this really allows Nicola Walker and Claire Rushbrook to really shine, Tula in particular gets a lot to do, with a few characters questioning why she is also so involved in many of the things going wrong around the city.

Of course, this is a typical thing about people who know or travel with the Doctor and it’s nice to hear how Liv’s time with the Doctor is rubbing off on Tula. Her character development from someone who was happier in a lab to someone who really gets stuck into the action has been great to hear, as has hearing Liv reconnect with her sister and Grochala makes sure to explore just how much the two characters have learnt from one another.

It’s also fun to hear Liv a little out of her depth, exploring just how advanced Kaldor has gotten while she’s been away. With robots that look and have the memories of real people, Grochala really sets up some interesting conflicts to come in the future, with two more sets in this series, a battle is imminent and Off Grid does a brilliant job of setting up the inevitable. Hopefully, we’ll get more from Grochala in the near future!

The set concludes with The Janus Deception, from Robert Whitelock, with the past catching up with Tula as the company gets suspicious of her activities since Liv has been back. For people who have to pay attention through the previous two stories of this set, then the real baddie won’t come as a surprise, though it was fun to be validated! And if you haven’t been paying much attention, the ultimate reveal is still a lot of fun.

Whitelock also shows us how great these main characters are, Rushbrook delivering a brilliant performance as Tula is very uncertain what her future will be. And I really liked how this story began to show us how the robots aren’t just being driven by logic and orders anymore. It was fun to hear the robot paired with Tula be worried about its own survival should Tula actually be guilty but choosing to believe and trust her instead.

It’s going to be an interesting rest of the ride and a good evolution for these robotic characters, giving them the chance to evolve without human interference. It’s going to be cool to hear which side the sisters will find themselves on in future sets.

Whitelock also ends the story with the return of Toos and Poul and finally the meeting between them, Liv and Tula. Given how they all know the Doctor, it’ll be really fascinating to hear their different outlooks now.

Volume 4 of The Robots continues to prove that this series might not have been one that many fans thought they wanted but definitely need to check out. From the strong performances from all involved to the brilliant scripts and the great direction from the ever-reliable Ken Bentley, The Robots continues to be very intelligent storytelling.

It could be so easy to just re-tread the same ground as The Robots of Death, instead, all the stories so far have been brilliantly handled, and do something different. And with modern terms and ideas that 1970s technology wouldn’t have stood a chance of creating, I can’t wait to hear more from this range!