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Pamela Salem, David Collings, and Gregory de Poulnay Return for The Robots

Big Finish’s The Robots series has added three original stars of The Robots of Death – Pamela Salem, David Collings, and Gregory de Poulnay will reprise their respective roles as Lish Toos, Ander Poul, and D84!

Available from December 2019, The Robots is a brand new 12-part audio mini-series based on the characters and the world of Kaldor created by Chris Boucher. Four box sets of three adventures each will follow the rise of these intelligent machines:

During the events of Doctor Who – Ravenous 2, Liv Chenka leaves the Doctor and the TARDIS behind. Just for one year. A year during which she will live on Kaldor and get to know her sister Tula all over again.  

But Kaldor is going through a period of tumultuous change. Technology is changing at an advanced rate – the robots are evolving, artificial intelligence is adapting, and with these changes so politics is altering too. Dangerously. 

Can Liv and Tula make a difference during the most turbulent time in the world’s history? 

Starring Nicola Walker as Liv Chenka and Claire Rushbrook as Tula, The Robots encompasses many different locations in a story arc that progresses throughout the four box sets.

In Volume Two, we find out what happened to Toos and Poul following the events on the sandminer.

Pamela says:

“I’m so much a part of this character now I don’t feel like I’m coming back! It’s like doing a wonderful serial that goes on for a long time, you have the opportunity to expand the character and it’s so much more fun to do it over many episodes rather than just in a one off. There are facets to this character I never knew I had, and there are several sides in this series that are surprising – I hope the audience will be as surprised as I am!”

David adds:

“I’ve played the character on TV, and in a novel and another spin off – they are certainly popular!”

Also reprising his role later in the series, as robot D84, is Gregory de Poulnay. He says:

“It’s been really interesting coming back to play D84; the script is so different this time. I think D84 has much more to say – he’s a character in himself now rather than a sidekick to the Doctor.”

Producer David Richardson goes on:

“Just three days into recording and we were all buzzing about The Robots. It feels like one of the most perfect things I’ve ever worked on. We get to play in this wonderful world created by Chris Boucher, and bring back his majestic robots and some fondly remembered characters. We also get to make a spin-off from our The Eighth Doctor Adventures range, taking time out from the TARDIS with the brilliant Liv Chenka. And, significantly, we get to make a very different type of Doctor Who story. All of these adventures feel very true to our real world today – the stories could be set the day after tomorrow. It’s certainly had us all debating in the green room!”

The Robots Volume One contains three thrilling adventures:

1.1 The Robots of Life by Roland Moore  

Settling into life back on Kaldor, Liv investigates a medical centre where the patients are dying.  

1.2 The Sentient by Robert Whitelock  

Vissey is a young child – the sort of perfect young girl any parents would want to adopt. She is also artificial, and she sees the world in a very different way to humans.  

1.3 Love Me Not by John Dorney  

A widower goes to extreme lengths to keep the memories of his dead wife alive. 

The Robots Volume One will be released in December 2019 and is available now at the special pre-order price of £19.99 on collector’s edition CD or £16.99 on download. The Robots Volume Two is scheduled for release in June 2020, Volume Three in December 2020, and Volume Four in June 2021.

Philip Bates

Editor and co-founder of the Doctor Who Companion. When he’s not watching television, reading books ‘n’ Marvel comics, listening to The Killers, and obsessing over script ideas, Philip Bates pretends to be a freelance writer. He enjoys collecting everything. Writer of The Black Archive: The Pandorica Opens/ The Big Bang, The Silver Archive: The Stone Tape, and 100 Objects of Doctor Who.

Pamela Salem, David Collings, and Gregory de Poulnay Return for The Robots

by Philip Bates time to read: 3 min
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