Most first stories for a particular Doctor are usually atypical of the the era in general. Spearhead From Space looks and feels nothing like the rest of the Pertwee era. Time and the Rani, amongst it’s other sins, certainly doesn’t reflect the McCoy era, and the less said about The Twin Dilemma the better.
The same could be said about Robot. By many measures of tone Robot may be the first Tom Baker story, but it’s also Barry Letts’ and Terrance Dicks’ last story, though it certainly resembles nothing of their other work product. But Tom Baker’s second story, and Philip Hinchlciffe’s first, began one of the true golden ages for the program, and that story is this week’s cap addition The Ark in Space.
Another example of a classic being born not so much from inspiration as desperation, Robert Holmes’ filled the breach when another story fell through during the development process. This was of course very early Tom Baker, but this story established the tone for the three or so years to follow, and in The Ark in Space is Tom at his bug-eyed best.
This new set of caps presents a significant upgrade in both quantity and quality of what previously existed. Who knows what next weeks cap addition will be?
