The Doctor and Leela encounter some old acquaintances and discover that much has changed in their society.

An enclosed society where changes happen for reasons that aren’t immediately obvious, and a plot that’s concerned on one level with evolution – this might be a story by Full Circle creator Andrew Smith, but this is by no means a retread of the ideas within that late Tom Baker tale. I’ve not ever caught up with the Kaldor City unlicensed series that followed on from Robots of Death (although a long time ago I recall proofing and suggesting a title for Chris Boucher’s follow-up novel, Corpse Marker) so I don’t know if this fits in or wildly contradicts the continuity of that. What is clear is that Smith has looked at the society constructs shown in Boucher’s original TV story The Robots of Death and extrapolated sensibly with regards to both the human and the robot components.

Toby Hadoke and John Dorney evoke the voices from the Voc and SuperVoc robots of 40 years ago but with appropriate alterations for the story, while Martha Cope and Oliver Dimsdale make a good contrast as very different Kaldorans. Jamie Robertson’s sound design and music are well balanced, and director Nick Briggs ensures that the story is suitably evocative of the era without feeling like a pastiche – helped by strong performances from both Tom Baker and Louise Jameson.

Verdict: A very enjoyable start to the new set. 9/10

Paul Simpson