The Doctor and Leela arrive aboard a huge Sandminer, a mobile factory which mines metal ores from the surface of a deserted planet. The Sandminer has only a token force of Humans, the rest of the crew being robots divided into three classes: Dums, Vocs and one supervising Super Voc, SV7. Mysteriously, a member of the crew is murdered and when the Doctor and Leela are discovered they become suspects. Leela discovers that a crew member and a robot, D84, are in reality investigators despatched by the company which chartered the Sandminer. There is a sabotage attempt on the ship but the craft is saved by the Doctor. Dask, a member of the crew, is found to be the killer: he is actually Taren Capel, a scientist who has been raised by robots and thinks of them as his brothers. He wants the robots to take control over Mankind and has programmed them to kill. The Doctor, Leela, Commander Uvanov and his aide Toos escape. The Time Lord releases helium into, the atmosphere, changing Dask's voice. The robots, now unable to identify him, destroy him.
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The Doctor:  Tom Baker
Leela: Lousie Jameson

Guest Appearances:
Commander Uvanov: Russell Hunter
Toos: Pamela Salem
Dask/Taren Capel: David Bailie
Chub: Rob Edwards
Borg: Brian Croucher
Cass: Tariq Yunus
Poul: David Collings
Zilda: Tania Rogers
SV7: Miles Fothergill
D84: Gregory de Polnay
Robots: Mark Blackwell Baker, John Bleasdale, Mark Cooper, Peter Langtry, Jeremy Rachev, Richard Seager (Robots

Producer: Phillip Hinchcliffe
Script Editor: Robert Holmes
Writer: Chris Boucher
Director: Michael E Briant, Peter Grimwade
Designer: Kenneth Sharp
Costume: Elizabeth Walker
Make up: Ann Briggs
Visual Effects: Richard Conway
Music: Dudley Simpson (including "None But The Weary Heart" by Tchaikovsky and "Girl With The Flaxen Hair" by Debussy")
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Novelized as "Doctor Who The Robots of Death" by Terrance Dicks (0 426 20061 6) first published by W H Allen (now Virgin Publishing Ltd) in 1979 with cover by John Geary. New edition in 1994 as "Doctor Who and the Robots of Death" with cover by Alister Pearson. Target library number 53.

"The Robots of Death" was united with two other season fourteen stories, "The Deadly Assassin" and "The Face of Evil" and was released in the USA as "The Further Adventures of Doctor Who". The book was only available through book clubs and only as a hardback. The publishers were Nelson Doubleday, Inc. and the artist's signature (Daniel Horne) on the cover is dated 1985.

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Released as "The Robots of Death" in episodic format, UK - (BBC DVD 1033). Released in US & Canada by Warner (E1163 DVD)
DVD Features:
• Commentary by Philip Hinchcliffe and Chris Boucher
• Model tests
• Photo gallery
• Studio plans
• Who's Who

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Released as "The Robots Of Death" in omnibus format, April 1986, (BBCV 4108).
Released in US and Canada by Warner (E1120) and by CBS/FOX video (3776) with photomontage cover.
Re-released in episodic format in 1995, in UK (BBCV 5521).

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"The Robots Of Death" saw the final appearance of the TARDIS' secondary console room introduced in "The Masque Of Mandragora". This set was not required in the last Season's last story, "The Talons Of Weng-Chiang", and unfortunately was stored in a poor location, subsequently the wood become damp and warped. Consequently, a new set had to be constructed for the following season.
Brian Croucher, who plays 'Borg', is better known for his portrayal of 'Travis' in "Blake's 7".

All four episodes exist in color on videotape.

Studio recording in unknown studio. (22-23 November; 5-7 December 1976)

Episode 1 - When the Doctor & Leela are escorted by V9 to Uvanov's cabin to await questioning, after they were rescued from the miner's scoop. V9 leaves them and then listens at the door. As he does so you can clearly see the actor's neck between the mask and his rollneck sweater!
Episode 1 - When the Doctor leaves the TARDIS, he is wearing his scarf. As he is escorted to Uvanov's cabin, it has vanished. It re-appears when he leaves the cabin.
Episode 2 - Uvanov flubs his line just after Leela is caught: "If we could have got her to tell her what those corpse markers were, we'd be halfway to a confession!" I think he meant "us".
Episode 3 - When Taren Capel is modifying a Voc robot, there is a shot of the robot's agitated hands as he reassures it. On the silver gloves, the "Marigold" logo is obvious.
Episode 3 - After the newly reprogrammed SV7 leaves Toos' quarters, the next shot shows Leela hammering on the locked door to the crew room, yelling for help. Now, keep an eye on the gold statue visible near the centre of the room. As the scene comes up, a studio light comes on a little late - a bright light suddenly illuminates the gold statue about a second after the cameras start rolling.
Episode 3 - Watch the scene where Uvanov sticks a Laserson probe into the head of one of the Vocs as it is strangling the Doctor. After he shoves the probe in, you can quite clearly see the suit's helmet come away from the rest of the suit.
Episode 3 - Watch really closely when Leela throws the knife at one of the robots. You can see the knife fall to the floor about a second after she throws it. Then, of course, the next shot shows the knife sticking out of the robot's chest.
Episode 4 - Immediately after the Doctor stabs SV7 in the back of the head and the robot crashes to the floor, the next scene shows the fallen figure of SV7 in the background - breathing heavily, with his chest moving.
Episode 4 - At the story's climax, Leela is hiding in a cupboard with a canister of helium which alters the voices of everyone in the room except the Doctor (supposedly because of his biology). Taren Capel and Leela had their voices filtered in post- production while the Doctor's was left unchanged. The technicians made an error, however: when Leela finally squeaks, "Will somebody let me out?", the Doctor quickly rejoinders with "Ha!" His short exclamation is on a much higher octave than the rest of his following line.
Episode ? - While the Doctor is patching the communicator into the android's head, he takes off the communicators top, yet magically it is back on a few seconds later.
Episode ? - When Toos is being hunted by a robot, she shuts the door on its hand. When you see it from the inside of the room the hand is trapped at a different place to the next shot, from outside.
Episode ? - The Doctor mispronounces "Terran" (Earthling) as "Tehran" (capital of Iran).