Force of Nature

"How will you feel when she abandons you again?"

Writer: Helen Godwin

Format: Audio

Released: April 2023

Series: The Robots 6.03

Featuring: Liv, Tula

Synopsis

A month after Tula's enhancement chip was compromised, she and Liv join a compulsory 'Recovery Training Course' to help rehabilitate those infected. But they soon become embroiled in the tensions between the course participants and a very human-like SuperVoc – seemingly with its own agenda...

Verdict

Force of Nature was a great start to the sixth and final series of The Robots! So the end has come, but we're not quite finished yet. This looks set to be an explosive concluding boxset and I like that the events here have created a bit of tension between Liv and Tula. I think that's good in presenting their relationship because they've grown closer across the last couple of series despite being on somewhat shaky foundations. I've enjoyed them coming together so to have them potentially pulling apart due to Robot influence is a very strong dynamic. The hangover of Toos being involved is really good and I liked how Tula was still suffering from everything that happened in Kaldor Nights with the Studio. The continued effects of talking in binary briefly whenever she said the word one was disturbing and I really liked that. It's so eerie to hear people talk that way as they go instantly from a normal conversation to feeling they're robotically possessed. Artificial intelligence is a very real threat in the current world and even though it was only out a few years ago, this series does feel ahead of its time. Maybe that's because its foundations are rooted decades earlier in The Robots of Death and it was a timely reminder at the start of the episode to hear that this episode was in honour of that serial's writer Christopher Boucher. The legacy he has left here is staggering! I thought Yinka was a deeply disturbed character here and that made her a very strong villain. Although it was the robotic influence of SV113 that enhanced that. The way she was being used as a means of humanising was intriguing but again it was disturbing to hear Robots trying to relate. The discussions surrounding empathy was fascinating because the idea of it being a choice to fit Robots with that capability shows just how much control humans still had. And that was something that SV113 wasn't exactly thrilled about. Her desire to break free from human control was exciting and the plot she devised with Yinka when it came to Lorrelle was incredible. She even dobbed herself in to out Yinka as whilst the Robot had given the idea and the means to eliminate her temporarily and not fatally with the allergic reaction by swapping the food packaging, it was Yinka who went along with it. That almost made her worse. I thought foreshadowing events to come in two episodes time with Tula being influenced by SV113 about Liv was harsh on the med tech because I don't think it's entirely fair to say that she has always abandoned her. I mean, we've already heard her rejoin the Eighth Doctor and Helen during the events of Ravenous so I know she does leave Kaldor again and I'm very intrigued to hear where her relationship with Tula will sit at that point. The way things ended here with Tula thinking some separation would be good was a bit harsh on Liv after everything she's done for her recently and all of her data chip issues. But that's the influence of the Robots and I like how things feel like they're brewing into something big on Kaldor. The Sons of Kaldor seem to be active and I'm excited to hear where things go from here. Overall, a great start to the final series! 

Rating: 8/10