PROOF - Robots On TV - Plot Summaries: 'R'

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Robots On TV - Plot Summaries: 'R'

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The Ray Bradbury Theatre/The Ray Bradbury Theater/The Bradbury Trilogy/Mystery Theatre/Ray Bradbury Présente (1985-86, 88-90, 92)

A science fiction/fantasy anthology series in which each of the separate episodes is written by master of the genre Ray Bradbury.

Marionettes Inc. (1985)

John Braling has a good job, a loving wife and a nice house, but he seeks his freedom. After answering a mysterious advert which appears on his computer screen, a company representative tells him that they can help him. The rep reveals a robot which looks exactly like Braling, and which, he is told, can be left at home with the wife - who would never suspect anything - while he is off enjoying himself. The plans works until the robot seems to be doing a better job than the real Braling ever could.

Punishment Without Crime (1988)

After finding out about his wife's lover, George visits Facsimiles Ltd. and commissions a robot which looks exactly like her. His plan is to vent his anger by 'killing' the robot. But then George falls in love with the robot...

Downwind From Gettysburg (1992)

At a historical tourist site, an Abraham Lincoln robot delivering the Gettysburg address is 'assassinated'... and the man who did it claims to be a Mister Booth!

Read All About It (1981)

A Canadian children's science fiction/education series. Three children investigate the boat-house belonging to the missing uncle of one of them, and find two robots: Otto and Theta. The robots tell the children about a terrible conspiracy planned against the town by the tyrant of an alien planet, Trialveron. The children - using the boat-house as a centre of operations - investigate, and produce a community newspaper to warn the town's residents about the plot.

Really Weird Tales/Mystery Theatre (1987)

A Canadian trilogy of fantasy stories (aired in the UK as Mystery Theatre).

All's Well That Ends Strange (1987)

Life for Girlie magazine publisher Wade Jeffries seems to be one endless round of partying and womanizing. When Shucky Forme - a low-grade cabaret act - visits Wade's mansion and falls for one of Wade's 'playmates', he's suddenly faced with a dead dame, and a workshop full of robots programmed to act just like humans. What exactly is Wade up to?

Red Dwarf (1988-99)

A long-running (currently up to Season VIII) BBC TV comedy/science fiction series. When the Red Dwarf, a 5-mile long mining ship, suffers a radiation leak, all of the 169 crew are killed... except for technician 3rd class/mega-slob Dave Lister (who is in suspended animation as punishment for smuggling a cat aboard). Revived after 3 million years, Lister's only companions aboard ship are Cat (an ultra-cool lifeform which has evolved from Lister's cat), a hologram of Lister's obnoxious now-dead supervisor Arnold Rimmer, and the ship's eccentric computer Holly.

From Season Two onwards, the android Kryten joins the happy band of Dwarfers, and features in all subsequent episodes. Key robot/android etc.episodes are listed below. Other robots/androids which featured or were referred to are as follows:

Also featured in a number of episodes were the Skutters, Red Dwarf's maintenance robots. Of the many skutters aboard, two are specifically referred to/shown: Bob and his 'wife' Madge.

Future Echoes (1988)

After accelerating constantly for 3 million years, the Red Dwarf breaks the light barrier and overtakes itself. This episode featured Lister's two robot goldfish, Lennon and McCartney; one kept packing up, and Cat tried to eat the other.

Kryten (1988)

Answering a distress call from a marooned spaceship, the Dwarfers hope to rescue three live women (which, after 3 million years, can be quite exciting). Instead they find Kryten (full name: Kryten 2X4B 523P), a demented series 4000 service mechanoid, tending three human skeletons. It seems that Kryten inadvertently crashed the ship and killed the crew when he decided to give the ship's main and back-up computers "a good soapy clean".

This episode also features "Androids" (a soap opera aimed at mechanical domestics), which Kryten regularly watched. "Androids" featured Brooke - an android actor.

Stasis Leak (1988)

The Dwarfers find a doorway back in time caused by a stasis leak. Rimmer goes back to try and warn himself about the future, while Lister goes back to try and get a date with Christine Kochanski. This episode features Luggage: an intelligent mobile suitcase, often seen bemoaning the fact that its owner has been sent to the wrong airport.

The Last Day (1989)

When Kryten discovers that his in-built expiry date is about to be reached, the other Dwarfers try to make what he thinks is the last night of his life the best he's ever had. This episode features a girl android, and the ultrasmart, ultratough, ultrahandsome (and completely mad) mechanoid Hudzen 10, to whom Kryten thinks he's related.

Camille (1991)

Kryten rescues Camille - a female mechanoid - from a crashed ship, and finds himself "falling in advanced mutual compatibility on the basis of a primary initial ident", but soon discovers that "the course of true advanced mutual compatibility never runs in a non-glitch bug-free way". Like Kryten, Camille is a series 4000 droid, but she's the GTi model, with a slide-back sun-roof head and realistic toes! (Unlike Kryten, Camille turns out not to be an mechanoid at all, but a GELF - a genetically engineered liefeform.)

Justice (1991)

On Justice World, anyone who has committed a crime has to suffer its consequences. Which means that Arnold Rimmer is in big trouble. This episode features simulants, which are similar to mechanoids, but designed to look more human.

Meltdown (1991)

A matter transporter takes the Dwarfers to Waxworld, a pleasure world where the waxdroids have run amok, and the forces of darkness are battling against the forces of light.

The forces of darkness waxdroid army was commanded by Hitler and Caligula, and included Goering, Goebbels, Napoleon, the Boston Strangler, Al Capone, Richard III, Rasputin and James Last.

The forces of light waxdroid army was led by Elvis Presley, Stan Laurel and Gandhi, and included Winnie the Pooh, Mother Theresa, Marilyn Monroe, Pythagoras, Albert Einstein, Jean-Paul Satre, Noel Coward, Pope Gregory, the Dalai Lama, Queen Victoria and Santa Claus.

Inquisitor (1992)

The Inquisitor - a simulant which is believed to be immortal - roams through time and space disposing of those who have wasted their lives, and replacing them with those who have never had a chance at life. It was only a matter of time before he got around to meeting the Dwarfers.

Legion (1993)

On a deserted space station, the Dwarfers meet Legion, a robotic entity with a gestalt mind formed from whoever inhabits the station. When the station was populated by scientists, Legion was quite brilliant. When the Dwarfers arrived, Legion suddenly had "a psycho rating of four and a half chainsaws".

Gunmen of the Apocalypse (1993)

When Kryten contracts a computer virus, the other Dwarfers have to 'virtually' enter his electronic mind, where they find themselves facing a wild west gunfight against metaphoric gunslingers. (This episode also features simulants.)

Beyond A Joke (1997)

When Kryten's head explodes during a simulation of Jane Austen's world, the Dwarfers travel to the wreck of the spaceship SS Centauri to find spares, but a simulant on the ship tries to get them to trade Lister for a spare head. Kryten is eventually reactivated by Able (another series 4000 mechanoid, related to Kryten by the same motherboard), who helps the Dwarfers to escape, manages to kill the simulant and destroys the Centauri (and himself).

Nanarchy (1997)

While they're searching for the nanobots so that they can replace Lister's arm (!), the Dwarfers find the remains of Red Dwarf... and Holly. (The nanobots are sub-atomic sized robots which were part of Kryten's self-repair system. However, they get bored after 3 million years inside his body, and decided to leave and go exploring.)

Back In The Red, Part 1 (1999)

The Dwarfers find that the nanobots have recreated Red Dwarf and its crew... including one Arnold Rimmer.

Pete, Part 2 (1999)

The Dwarfers find a device that reverses the evolutionary process... and accidentally turn a dead sparrow into a live Tyrannosaurus Rex. Also in this episode, Kryten - annoyed at being technically classified as a woman due to his unique genitalia (or lack thereof) - creates himself a penis, nicknamed 'Archie', out of an old electron board, a toilet roll, some sticky-backed plastic and an Action Man's polo-neck jumper. Unfortunately, Archie gets loose.

Riptide (1984-86)

An adventure series about two Vietnam veterans who now run a private detective agency from their boat (the Riptide) in southern California. The series featured Roboz - a small, voiceless robot with a face like an ant. Roboz was often used to access information from networks which it had access to, the information being shown on a screen in its chest.

Robin De Robot (1975)

I know nothing about this Belgian series, except the fact that it featured a robot. If anyone out there knows about this series, please email me.

Robocop/Robocop: The Series (1994-95)

A 20-episode television spin-off of the original Robocop film.

Nanno (1994)

An ex-Government official forces a scientific genius to develop microscopic robots (nanobots), to carry out crimes on his behalf.

Rocky Jones, Space Ranger (1954)

In his spaceship The Orbit Jet, Rocky, together with Vena and 10-year old Bobby, defend the Earth from evil. In the episode "The Robot of Regalio", Rocky has to fight an evil robot.

	The Ray Bradbury Theatre/The Ray Bradbury Theater/The Bradbury Trilogy/Mystery Theatre/Ray Bradbury Présente (1985-86, 88-90, 92)
		A science fiction/fantasy anthology series in which each of the separate episodes is written by master of the genre Ray Bradbury.
		Marionettes Inc. (1985)
		John Braling has a good job, a loving wife and a nice house, but he seeks his freedom. After answering a mysterious advert which appears on his computer screen, a company representative tells him that they can help him. The rep reveals a robot which looks exactly like Braling, and which, he is told, can be left at home with the wife - who would never suspect anything - while he is off enjoying himself. The plans works until the robot seems to be doing a better job than the real Braling ever could.
		Punishment Without Crime (1988)
		After finding out about his wife's lover, George visits Facsimiles Ltd. and commissions a robot which looks exactly like her. His plan is to vent his anger by 'killing' the robot. But then George falls in love with the robot...
		Downwind From Gettysburg (1992)
		At a historical tourist site, an Abraham Lincoln robot delivering the Gettysburg address is 'assassinated'... and the man who did it claims to be a Mister Booth!
	Read All About It (1981)
		A Canadian children's science fiction/education series. Three children investigate the boat-house belonging to the missing uncle of one of them, and find two robots: Otto and Theta. The robots tell the children about a terrible conspiracy planned against the town by the tyrant of an alien planet, Trialveron. The children - using the boat-house as a centre of operations - investigate, and produce a community newspaper to warn the town's residents about the plot.
	Really Weird Tales/Mystery Theatre (1987)
		A Canadian trilogy of fantasy stories (aired in the UK as Mystery Theatre).
		All's Well That Ends Strange (1987)
		Life for Girlie magazine publisher Wade Jeffries seems to be one endless round of partying and womanizing. When Shucky Forme - a low-grade cabaret act - visits Wade's mansion and falls for one of Wade's 'playmates', he's suddenly faced with a dead dame, and a workshop full of robots programmed to act just like humans. What exactly is Wade up to?
	Red Dwarf (1988-99)
		A long-running (currently up to Season VIII) BBC TV comedy/science fiction series. When the Red Dwarf, a 5-mile long mining ship, suffers a radiation leak, all of the 169 crew are killed... except for technician 3rd class/mega-slob Dave Lister (who is in suspended animation as punishment for smuggling a cat aboard). Revived after 3 million years, Lister's only companions aboard ship are Cat (an ultra-cool lifeform which has evolved from Lister's cat), a hologram of Lister's obnoxious now-dead supervisor Arnold Rimmer, and the ship's eccentric computer Holly.
		From Season Two onwards, the android Kryten joins the happy band of Dwarfers, and features in all subsequent episodes. Key robot/android etc.episodes are listed below. Other robots/androids which featured or were referred to are as follows:
		Also featured in a number of episodes were the Skutters, Red Dwarf's maintenance robots. Of the many skutters aboard, two are specifically referred to/shown: Bob and his 'wife' Madge.
		Future Echoes (1988)
		After accelerating constantly for 3 million years, the Red Dwarf breaks the light barrier and overtakes itself. This episode featured Lister's two robot goldfish, Lennon and McCartney; one kept packing up, and Cat tried to eat the other.
		Kryten (1988)
		Answering a distress call from a marooned spaceship, the Dwarfers hope to rescue three live women (which, after 3 million years, can be quite exciting). Instead they find Kryten (full name: Kryten 2X4B 523P), a demented series 4000 service mechanoid, tending three human skeletons. It seems that Kryten inadvertently crashed the ship and killed the crew when he decided to give the ship's main and back-up computers "a good soapy clean".
		This episode also features "Androids" (a soap opera aimed at mechanical domestics), which Kryten regularly watched. "Androids" featured Brooke - an android actor.
		Stasis Leak (1988)
		The Dwarfers find a doorway back in time caused by a stasis leak. Rimmer goes back to try and warn himself about the future, while Lister goes back to try and get a date with Christine Kochanski. This episode features Luggage: an intelligent mobile suitcase, often seen bemoaning the fact that its owner has been sent to the wrong airport.
		The Last Day (1989)
		When Kryten discovers that his in-built expiry date is about to be reached, the other Dwarfers try to make what he thinks is the last night of his life the best he's ever had. This episode features a girl android, and the ultrasmart, ultratough, ultrahandsome (and completely mad) mechanoid Hudzen 10, to whom Kryten thinks he's related.
		Camille (1991)
		Kryten rescues Camille - a female mechanoid - from a crashed ship, and finds himself "falling in advanced mutual compatibility on the basis of a primary initial ident", but soon discovers that "the course of true advanced mutual compatibility never runs in a non-glitch bug-free way". Like Kryten, Camille is a series 4000 droid, but she's the GTi model, with a slide-back sun-roof head and realistic toes! (Unlike Kryten, Camille turns out not to be an mechanoid at all, but a GELF - a genetically engineered liefeform.)
		Justice (1991)
		On Justice World, anyone who has committed a crime has to suffer its consequences. Which means that Arnold Rimmer is in big trouble. This episode features simulants, which are similar to mechanoids, but designed to look more human.
		Meltdown (1991)
		A matter transporter takes the Dwarfers to Waxworld, a pleasure world where the waxdroids have run amok, and the forces of darkness are battling against the forces of light.
		The forces of darkness waxdroid army was commanded by Hitler and Caligula, and included Goering, Goebbels, Napoleon, the Boston Strangler, Al Capone, Richard III, Rasputin and James Last.
		The forces of light waxdroid army was led by Elvis Presley, Stan Laurel and Gandhi, and included Winnie the Pooh, Mother Theresa, Marilyn Monroe, Pythagoras, Albert Einstein, Jean-Paul Satre, Noel Coward, Pope Gregory, the Dalai Lama, Queen Victoria and Santa Claus.
		Inquisitor (1992)
		The Inquisitor - a simulant which is believed to be immortal - roams through time and space disposing of those who have wasted their lives, and replacing them with those who have never had a chance at life. It was only a matter of time before he got around to meeting the Dwarfers.
		Legion (1993)
		On a deserted space station, the Dwarfers meet Legion, a robotic entity with a gestalt mind formed from whoever inhabits the station. When the station was populated by scientists, Legion was quite brilliant. When the Dwarfers arrived, Legion suddenly had "a psycho rating of four and a half chainsaws".
		Gunmen of the Apocalypse (1993)
		When Kryten contracts a computer virus, the other Dwarfers have to 'virtually' enter his electronic mind, where they find themselves facing a wild west gunfight against metaphoric gunslingers. (This episode also features simulants.)
		Beyond A Joke (1997)
		When Kryten's head explodes during a simulation of Jane Austen's world, the Dwarfers travel to the wreck of the spaceship SS Centauri to find spares, but a simulant on the ship tries to get them to trade Lister for a spare head. Kryten is eventually reactivated by Able (another series 4000 mechanoid, related to Kryten by the same motherboard), who helps the Dwarfers to escape, manages to kill the simulant and destroys the Centauri (and himself).
		Nanarchy (1997)
		While they're searching for the nanobots so that they can replace Lister's arm (!), the Dwarfers find the remains of Red Dwarf... and Holly. (The nanobots are sub-atomic sized robots which were part of Kryten's self-repair system. However, they get bored after 3 million years inside his body, and decided to leave and go exploring.)
		Back In The Red, Part 1 (1999)
		The Dwarfers find that the nanobots have recreated Red Dwarf and its crew... including one Arnold Rimmer.
		Pete, Part 2 (1999)
		The Dwarfers find a device that reverses the evolutionary process... and accidentally turn a dead sparrow into a live Tyrannosaurus Rex. Also in this episode, Kryten - annoyed at being technically classified as a woman due to his unique genitalia (or lack thereof) - creates himself a penis, nicknamed 'Archie', out of an old electron board, a toilet roll, some sticky-backed plastic and an Action Man's polo-neck jumper. Unfortunately, Archie gets loose.
	Riptide (1984-86)
		An adventure series about two Vietnam veterans who now run a private detective agency from their boat (the Riptide) in southern California. The series featured Roboz - a small, voiceless robot with a face like an ant. Roboz was often used to access information from networks which it had access to, the information being shown on a screen in its chest.
	Robin De Robot (1975)
		I know nothing about this Belgian series, except the fact that it featured a robot. If anyone out there knows about this series, please email me.
	Robocop/Robocop: The Series (1994-95)
		A 20-episode television spin-off of the original Robocop film.
		Nanno (1994)
		An ex-Government official forces a scientific genius to develop microscopic robots (nanobots), to carry out crimes on his behalf.
	Rocky Jones, Space Ranger (1954)
		In his spaceship The Orbit Jet, Rocky, together with Vena and 10-year old Bobby, defend the Earth from evil. In the episode "The Robot of Regalio", Rocky has to fight an evil robot.