In the days before the internet there was this quaint old waste of time called television. If you wanted to get into an argument with strangers at the library or local pub you watched television and then went to the local hangout and argued about it.
The themes we argue about today are in no way, shape or form new. These concepts have been explored, discussed or occasionally just accepted as a form of escapist entertainment for the weary laborer waiting for Fox News to be created and cat memes. Star Trek is famous for allegedly groundbreaking territory with putting things on the screen that you weren’t supposed to talk about. Did Uhura just kiss Kirk?!? Hold my beer honey, I’m off to the pool hall to argue about this.
Doctor Who, considering its time travel theme, has metaphorically been around forever. And in reality has been close to forever with being on air since the 60’s, starting back when color TV wasn’t even a given thing.
Within the framework of ongoing motifs, jokes and recurring villains they stumbled upon a reason for the series longevity that other series don’t get. Out of necessity the Doctor regenerates as an ongoing plot device The first Doctor was portrayed by actor William Hartnell, who was not healthy enough to continue the role. Instead of the unexplained replacement a la Bewitched switching Dicks they made the Doctor a new Doctor who is really the old Doctor but some new quirks to the personality.
As television is rooted in making money, the BBC was keen on marketing techniques, and ROBOT was a Christmas special, introducing the world to Tom Baker, many of which (including myself) consider to be the best. Lists often place the rebooted version actors David Tennant and Matt Smith up there as well. Regardless of which you prefer there’s no excuses made for how the character doesn’t behave 100% the way they used to. Tom was able to dive in head first into being the Tom version without any excuses for how he wasn’t Hartnell or the other predecessors.
But what’s the point?
The plot of Robot. Old Who can never be rightfully accused of being driven by powerful special effects. There’s low budget special effects, and below that is bargain basement BBC Dr. Who special effects. Which if you don’t insist on placing your entertainment on a pedestal as claiming it’s “predictive programming” like your average conspiracy grifter is quite charming.
The survival of the series depended on the scripts. And it’s kind of odd that what they chose isn’t ever mentioned by modern day conspiracists. These great researchers that are always quick to point out that the gematria of Matthew Perry equals some mind bogglingly stupid Illuminati number never picked up on the rich old source of material from decades ago. You know, actual research instead of just waiting for a current celebrity to suffer a tragedy and capitalizing on the grief left behind.
Though maybe, the plot of ROBOT takes enough stabs at conspiracy nuts to make them uncomfortable. There’s an organization of evil scientists in control of the robot called the Scientific Reform Society. Instead of going with a “our science is better than yours” plot, (Who has aliens and other killer robots for that) these scientists embrace the antiscience movement. The robot is to be used to launch a nuclear WWIII if their demands aren’t met.
The SRS is decidedly fascist. Closer to WWII this isn’t as cool and trendy as it is now. The horrors of actual war hitting closer to home in the 70’s. The aesthetic is definitely fashwave. Their clothing is rigid single dark color, they have bunker rallies where they chant in unison. They make no secret of what they think about the sheeple outside their little group. I might goes as far as to suggest the name of the group is a purposeful one to include SS in SRS.
The robot itself is created with the mind of a child, and restricted by a prime directive to not harm humanity. Yet, it’s given instructions that certain people are enemies of humanity - less than human, which must be destroyed. Naturally, this logical conflict makes the robot go insane. Although the intent is to view it as a sympathetic victim, it must be destroyed.
Along the way, there’s a nice little scene where our plucky heroine (Sarah Jane Smith - a nosy investigative journalist that’s the Doctor’s companion) gets to quip about how the SRS is a fringe society right up there with the flying saucer nuts and the flat earthers. Niiiiiccceee.
All these things and more, if you’re really paying attention and really researching instead of parroting current rhetoric show that these concepts are old. Misinformation is old. Conspirators doing actual conspiracies to gain money and power accusing (projecting) other people of being conspirators. The dangers of full blown fascism. And how the ordinary person just wishes these problems would go away, a nonexistent superhero takes charge to make that so.
A lot of Dr. Who content is lighter fare than this. I find it odd that they dove right into this instead of waiting a bit more into Tom’s run as the Doctor. If you want to catch the episode and do some real research, all four 25 minute episodes are available on Tubi and there are a bunch of clips on YouTube. But be warned you might actually learn something instead of how to argue with people at the pub.
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