Doctor Who review: The Robots of Life is a strong start to the latest Big Finish spin-off

Liv Chenka begins her long year away from the Doctor on her home planet of Kaldor, as her own Doctor Who spin-off series The Robots begins. But what’s causing all the deaths at the medical centre…?

Last week saw the release of the first volume of The Robots. Starring Nicola Walker as Liv Chenka and Claire Rushbrook as her sister Tula, the series explores the world of Kaldor, first introduced in the classic Doctor Who serial The Robots of Death. Although we didn’t see Kaldor City itself in that story – with the entire serial taking place on board a sandminer – we were given a clear idea of Kaldor’s whole society.

It’s unsurprising that Big Finish have wanted to explored this society further. In fact, The Robots isn’t even the first audio spin-off to explore this world. That would be Kaldor City from Magic Bullet Productions, which has gained a cult following in its own right. But how is Big Finish’s own spin-off series?

Well, based on just the first episode, it’s shaping up to be an extremely promising new series. The Robots of Life is very focused on establishing the spin-off in different ways. There’s a story involving robots at a medical centre, and the hints of something going wrong. But Roland Moore’s story is more than just The Robots of Death at a hospital, much more. It’s a story that’s very focused on people, particularly the two leads…

Nicola Walker and Claire Rushbrook star as Liv and Tula – two sisters desperately trying to repair their relationship.

(Image credit: The Robots/Doctor Who/Big Finish Productions. Image Courtesy: Big Finish Productions.)

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Liv’s gap year

Regarding Liv’s story, The Robots of Life takes place not long after the Eighth Doctor story Escape from Kaldor. Liv is taking a year break from travelling with the Doctor while she tries to work on her relationship with her sister.

What’s interesting for the audience – at least if they have listened to that particular Eighth Doctor story – is that they know that the Doctor does come back for her, and sticks to his promise. But Liv at this point doesn’t know that. She’s mostly sure that he’ll come back, but she also knows how unreliable the Doctor (and the TARDIS) can be. So it’s interesting to explore that, even briefly.

In the meantime, she tries to do the best she can, aiming to find work as a med-tech. It’s refreshing to hear Liv in her natural environment, and get a glimpse of what living on Kaldor was like before she met the Doctor.

Mixed in with this is a very intriguing story concerning surgical deaths at a medical centre. Are the robots to blame, or is there some other reason? Roland Moore’s story takes a few twists and turns, and I was genuinely surprised during one particular moment, which doesn’t often happen.

Overall, The Robots of Life is a strong start for this new series. While the title is a clear nod to the original Tom Baker classic, this is a very different story altogether – one that both acknowledges and builds on what came before while also heading in a new direction.

Are you a fan of The Robots of Death? Do you think the Voc Robots should return to Doctor Who on television? Have you listened to any of Liv’s previous stories? Let us know in the comments below.