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The Robot Revolution
Synopsis:
On leave, Dart and Husky visit Jim Barratt at the Atlantic Sea Farm. While there, an undersea explosion introduces a corrosive element into the water. On returning to Space Headquarters with the head of a damaged robot, Dart is told by Haggarty that the element has eaten into the part of the electronic brains that respond to human orders. Before long, the undersea robots rebel and 5000 of them march on New York. Dart, Husky and Haggarty escape in Galasphere 347 and can only watch helplessly as the robots take over Space Headquarters with Raeburn, Marla and Gabbler left behind...
Cast
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Captain Larry Dart
Husky
Slim
Colonel Raeburn
Marla
Professor Haggarty
Gabbler
Jim Barratt
Charlie/Robot Voices
General Smith
Coastguard Station 3
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Dick Vosburgh
Ronnie Stevens
Ronnie Stevens
Murray Kash
Libby Morris
Ronnie Stevens
Libby Morris
Ronnie Stevens
Dick Vosburgh
Dick Vosburgh
Ronnie Stevens
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And The Moral Is:
• Advance And Be Mechanised.
Today I Will Be Mostly Learning... :
• Seaweed is edible.
• Acids affect different metals in different ways.
Slimantics:
• “Masticate while you can, Husky.” & “That is indeed felicitous.”
Gabblings:
• "I hope D-D-Dart is right. If that r-r-robot kills me, I'll be v-very annoyed."
Raeburnt:
• “This is the first day for a month that I’ve been able to take it easy... uh, I spoke too soon.”
A Venusian Has...:
• The ability to scream well. Well that’s what happens when you refuse to desert your post.
Is This A Joke ?:
• Dart: "All you’ll get on this farm is fresh seaweed.”
Riding Along In My Monobile... ‘:
• A monobile fest! Dart and Husky, then Slim and Marla, Raeburn, Gabbler, the robots - one a piece and both in one - then the latter pair meet their ultrasonic demise in one. Wow...
‘I’m An Alien!‘:
• Gabbler can use a monobile!
• The young Uranian plant can apparently laugh. Wait 'til you hear the adults...
Ooh, Bitch... :
• Dart, finding a tactful excuse for not taking Gabbler to the sea farm: “No, he talks too much!”
• Slim: “Women are the same all over the galaxy. They always believe that men cannot manage without them.”
Continuity:
• The small Uranian plant is still being tended to by Professor Haggarty.
• Slim is on vacation on Venus for the majority of the episode.
Plot Device:
• The ultrasonic sound the Uranian plants use to communicate makes its first of several convenient solutions in the series.
Harmony For Strings:
• A rather bizarre, almost slow motion chase as a robot pursues Larry Dart.
2100 ?:
• Haggarty, curiously, calls the radio room ‘the wireless room’.
Haven’t I Seen... ?:
• Jim Barratt is Doctor Smith from The Shrinking Spaceman with bushier eyebrows and a moustache.
• The sound of the slowed down plant ultrasonics is untranslated Jovian speech.
Take A Break:
• Leaving Raeburn's office, Dart is chased by a robot only to shake him off as the doors to the Galasphere close behind him.
"I tell you Colonel,
those 5,000 robots will never obey anyone again!"
Professor Haggarty
Astro Viewer Working:
• Semi-regular Jim Barratt of the Underwater Sea Farm makes his first appearance, as does a Type 2 robot. We also see General Smith for the first time.
• We see Marla off duty and out of uniform.
• Close examination of the two miniature hoverjets seen heading for the Underwater Sea Farm reveal them to be joined together!
Hoorah!:
• For a kids show, the sight of the robot creeping up behind the radio operator with a spanner in claw must have been chilling at the time.
• There’s a nicely framed shot of a silhouetted robot as it discovers Gabbler.
• On their visit to the sea farm, Dart and Husky look very nifty in their black diving suits - they should adopt those as the uniform of Space Patrol.
Boo!:
• It is all too apparent that Space Headquarters is being menaced by only two robots.
• When Dart is trying to get Gabbler to be 'the bravest bird on Earth', his speech isn't synchronised with his lip movements on the monitor.
• Why don’t Raeburn or Smith use unaffected robots to counter those who are rebelling? Presumably it was only the 5000 from the sea farm that advanced on New York City?
Computer Central:
• As a blinker version of Raeburn was never made, in this episode (as with most others where he is seen unconscious) he slumps forward over his desk to hide the fact the eyes are still open.
• The type two robot would appear to be an undressed, standard puppet body, painted silver with robot claws and feet added, and a simplified cylindrical head. This would have saved the production a considerable amount, as the type one reputedly cost about £300 to make.
• This was one of four episodes released as an 8mm home movie, edited down to approximately 15 minutes in length.
• This was one of the few episodes known to exist prior to the entire series being found in 1997. A clip from the episode featured on Telly Addicts in the 1990s, leading to a complete 16mm print being recovered in 1996.
• This is also one of two episodes that survive as a 35mm print, found with the 16mm version in the possession of Roberta Leigh. Interestingly, a section of the 35mm version (in Haggarty's lab, when Larry Dart brings the damaged robot head) was replaced on the 'Best Of' DVD with a 16mm version. The version on the Complete Series Set is a complete, undamaged and unedited 35mm transfer.
• First screened: May 12th 1963 (ABC Midlands)
• Running time: 24 minutes 40 seconds
• BFCC Classified - 24th February 1998
• VHS - Volume 2
• DVD - 'The Best of', Vol. 1
• DVD - Complete Series Box Set, Disk 2
Listings
• London, August 8th 1963:
In the depths of the Atlantic are underwater farms, manned by robot workers which obey the commands of men at all times - at least they do until a disaster occurs.
Brahms & List
• Several listings give the title as just Robot Revolution
Ready To Lift ?:
One of the best episodes, with a real sense of threat as the robots are seen in control of Space Headquarters, and proof that Space Patrol could produce dramatic and exciting stories without the pace and pyrotechnics of the Gerry Anderson series. There is quite a leap from the robots just not taking new orders to them rebelling, but overall the build up of events and resolution make this a standout story.
 
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