Toos and Poul

"Kaldor has become lazy."

Writer: Andrew Smith

Format: Audio

Released: July 2020

Series: The Robots 2.02

Featuring: Toos, Poul

Synopsis

When a murder takes place in an isolated outpost, there's only one man who can look into the come. Investigator Poul, newly reunited with his Sandminer colleague Toos. But can he over-come his fears and prejudices and solve the case?

Verdict

Toos and Poul was another great episode to continue my way through the second series of The Robots! This very much took a sideways step from being a Liv Chenka spinoff series and that's absolutely fine because Kaldor is rife with potential and this showed us a different side of society on the planet. This took us away from Kaldor City and venturing to an outpost was really good in exploring normal life for Kaldorans. In doing that, we also had the returns of two memorable characters from The Robots of Death which is excellent in the form of Lish Toos and Andor Poul. It's testament to Big Finish that characters from over forty years ago can be brought back to life with their original actors and it also shows what an impression they made, as well as the status of the serial in which they appeared. It's so easy to forget that these Robots only featured once on screen but they made such a huge impression it's no wonder they now have an entire spinoff series set on the planet. I liked how we heard a bit of the rough and tumble of the Dums with them very much not being shiny and not representative of the Robots replacing everyday tasks and slowly becoming a major part of society. I liked how Poul continued with his robophobia and whilst he did appreciate V11 saving him from his fall and patching him up, he was very much still against Robots in general. He didn't believe in them taking over everyday aspects of life which is really intriguing stuff. I thought after the cliffhanger finish at the end of the first series regarding the name of Lish Toos that her return was going to be a little more impactful and maybe a surprise, but this was still a fun way to reintroduce her and reunited her with Poul very nicely. Their dynamic was strong and I'm looking forward to hearing that continue as I think we are far from hearing the last of these two characters in this series. All signs lead towards them encountering Liv and Tula in the finale which is exciting stuff. I enjoyed the way they played the old heads in this episode and they were clearly experienced. The events of the Sandminer still remain strong in their thoughts although their positions now are vastly different. Poul's history as an investigator was utilised well and I like that it was these skills that Toos was after and wanted to see how he was doing because she could use him. And here he was right in the action with the murder mystery and whilst the role of Jaybel in that was predictable, I did like the continued threat and mentions of the Sons of Kaldor. I feel like they're going to have an increasingly large role and presence as this spinoff range continues and it's a very exciting element. I thought the sacrifice of V11 was impressive and certainly gave Poul a new perspective on the Robots, but I get the feeling with the light and that role in their malfunctioning that he was perhaps thinking another way already. I thought Tayna was a good character and her insistence at not carrying weapons was great. She was very much on the side of the republic but in a more subtle and arguably reasonable way. Overall, a really strong switch in direction for the series and a good way to explore more of Kaldor. I'm looking forward to all of the elements meeting in the finale! A great listen.

Rating: 8/10