Mechonoid

Mechonoids (sometimes spelled "Mechanoids") are fictional robots who appear in the British science fiction television series ''Doctor Who'', in episodes 5 and 6 of the 1965 serial " The Chase". They were conceived by writer Terry Nation, designed by Raymond Cusick, and built by Shawcraft Engineering.

In the story, the Mechonoids are robots sent to the planet Mechanus to prepare for an Earth colony. The colonists never arrived, but the self-repairing robots built and maintained a city. When the First Doctor and his companions arrive on Mechanus, they struggle to communicate with the robots. A team of time-travelling Daleks appears, pursuing the Doctor and his friends, and the Mechonoids defend their city in a ferocious battle. Both the Daleks and the Mechonoids are destroyed in the fight, allowing the Doctor and his companions to escape.

Intended as an enemy of the series' most popular monsters, the Daleks, it was hoped that the Mechonoids would prove equally crowd-pleasing, appearing in further stories and selling merchandise, as the Daleks had. Unfortunately, the bulky Mechonoid props proved burdensome in the studio, and the producers quickly decided that there would be no return for the creatures. Several toy Mechonoids were offered for sale, but could not compete with the best-selling Daleks. The Mechonoids were included in comic book stories as enemies of the Daleks in 1965 and 1966, and they have appeared sparingly in later spin-off ''Doctor Who'' material.

Creation

Scriptwriter Terry Nation introduced the robots in ''The Chase'' Episode 5, "The Death of Doctor Who". He originally called the creatures Mechons (pronounced Meck-ons), and the first draft of his script described them:

"It is a mechanical robot that moves on the same principle as the Daleks... legless. tis shaped like a large spinning top. Slightly convex at the top... Imagine a capstan with a pronounced top. Sprouting... antennae... there are a number of flashing discs built into the surface of the Mechon... voice might be produced in the same way as the voice in the recording of Sparky's Magic Piano."

In Episode 6, "The Planet of Decision", Nation envisioned the Mechons keeping the travellers in a human zoo, along with a stranded astronaut who arrived five years earlier and was captured by the robots. The cell is described as being furnished as an Earth dwelling from four hundred years ago.

After receiving Nation's draft, producer Verity Lambert wrote to Nation asking for a change to the Mechons' backstory, as the current draft was too similar to an unproduced story, " The Masters of Luxor", and may have presented copyright problems. She suggested that instead of the Mechons establishing a human zoo, "they could be programmed to imprison any new arrivals who lack knowledge of the decoding system used by the expected colonists."

The robots' name was changed from Mechon to Mechonoid during the production period, so that they would not be confused with a villain named the Mekon, who appears in ''Dan Dare'' comics. However, there is a reference to "Mechons" in the finished program, because the name was changed after the pre-recorded Dalek dialogue was taped.

While the original scripts called the characters Mechonoids, the name is often misspelled as "Mechanoid", including in the credits for episode 5. (The error was corrected in the episode 6 credits.) The misspelled "Mechanoid" was also used extensively in merchandising and in print, including the 1965-66 ''TV Century 21'' comics and the 1965 annual ''The Dalek World''.

Design

Since the producers hoped that the Mechonoids would catch on as a new fad, they decided to invest a considerable percentage of the story's budget in the Mechonoids' construction. Designer Raymond Cusick was inspired by American architect Richard Buckminster Fuller's geodesic designs, with the surface of the props decorated with a pattern of interlocking triangles. The roughly spherical casings were made primarily of fiberglass, in two parts. Three Mechonoid props were produced by Shawcraft Engineering, the company that also produced the Dalek props, costing the production £812. They took two weeks to build.

The Mechonoids have no recognizable faces, just a complex of antennae at the top. They have two long pincer arms that extend from the middle of the geodesic structure. They are equipped with gun discs, and one of the three props had a working flame-thrower, for their battle with the Daleks.

Each Mechonoid was large enough to fit two people inside during filming: an operator and a special-effects technician. The operator could move the prop around with their feet, extend an aerial, and move the arms and the gun disc. The technician would operate the flame-thrower. Lights on the prop lit up when the robot spoke. According to ''Doctor Who: The Complete History'', "For one shot, of a Mechonoid destroyed by a Dalek, a special pre-cut upper dome was rigged to collapse on cue, with smoke emitted from dummy mechanics inside the casting."

The operators hired by director Richard Martin had previously worked with him on serials featuring the Daleks or the Zarbi (from the 1965 story ''The Web Planet''). Murphy Grumbar operated Mechonoids seen in episodes 5 and 6, joined by Jack Pitt and John Scott Martin in episode 6.

The electronically-treated Mechonoid voice performed by David Graham was grating and difficult to understand. The robots' dialogue was written in a pastiche of computer code; for example, the Mechonoid's first line of dialogue in episode 5 is, "Eight hundred - Thirty - Mechonoid - English - Input - Enter".

Filming

The Mechonoids' climactic battle with the Daleks was shot on film at Ealing Studios, on stage 3A/B on Wednesday 14 and Thursday 15 April, 1965. Those days were also used to shoot film inserts of Shawcraft's model Mechonoid city, designed by Cusick.

According to ''Doctor Who: The Complete History'', "Although the script required the Mechonoid city to burn and collapse into the jungle below, it was decided to avoid destroying the model in case it should be needed in a further Mechonoid story. The effect was achieved by crossfading between a shot of the model to stock film of a volcanic eruption and explosions. The battle scene, cut in on telecine, now incorporated cross faded images, and several animated explosions superimposed on the action. Although shot silently, in addition to sound effects, new Mechonoid dialogue was overlayed whilst the bulk of the Dalek dialogue was lifted from earlier episodes, notably ''The Executioners'' pisode 1 of ''The Chase''"

The taping of episode 5 took place on Friday 28 May at Riverside Studios. Episode 6 was taped at Riverside on Friday 4 June.

Problems experienced during the recordings with moving the bulky props brought a swift end to the production's plans for a return match between the Daleks and Mechonoids. The robot casings were 5'6" wide, plus an extra foot and a half for their extendable weapons, and they were difficult to move around. Only two of the three constructed were used in the taping at Riverside. In a 1986 interview, script editor Dennis Spooner recalled, "No one could have stood the problems if they had caught on. They were just physically impossible to move in and out of the studios."

Publicity and broadcast

On 14 April, 1965, the production held a press call at Ealing Studios to show off the show's newest stars. Producer Verity Lambert was playfully photographed lighting her cigarette from a Mechonoid's flame-thrower.

The photocall was successful in generating positive press attention the next day. The ''Daily Mirror'' published a report called "Mechanoids Challenge the Daleks", asserting, "The next mechanical monsters to invade BBC-TV's Dr Who series are enough to make even the Daleks break out in a rust rash." The ''Daily Express'' printed the photo of Lambert with the headline "Me? I'm a Mechanoid," and there was also mention in the ''Daily Mail'' and ''The Daily Telegraph''.

The two episodes in which the Mechonoids appear are episode 5, "The Death of Doctor Who" (broadcast 19 June 1965), and episode 6, "The Planet of Decision" (26 June 1965).

Merchandise

It was hoped that the Mechonoids would prove popular enough to support an extensive line of merchandise, as the Daleks had. The day after the 14 April press call, the production office was already receiving enquiries from potential licensees asking about the Mechonoids.

Herts Plastic Moulders issued a Dalek and a "Mechanoid" model in 1965, as an exclusive to Woolworths stores. The sales of the Dalek figure were much higher than the Mechanoid, and the line was discontinued.

Cherilea Toys, who had success with their Swappit Dalek kits, also tried to capitalize on the Mechonoids, producing two-inch plastic models in black, light blue and silver, which could be broken into detachable pieces and put back together in different colour combinations. The toys didn't sell well, but Cherilea was able to repurpose the Mechonoid molds with some modifications to create plastic "Space Pods" for their "Astronauts" toy line.

Mechonoid models have also been produced by Fine Art Castings in 1986, Media Collectables in 2001, Character Options in 2011 and Eaglemoss in 2016.

Comics

The "Mechanoids" appeared in Souvenir Press' 1965 annual ''The Dalek World'', in a comics story called "The World That Waits". In the story, the Daleks return to Mechanus for another battle. While the Mechanoids gain the upper hand, the Black Dalek deploys the powerful atom divider, which destroys the Mechanoid City.

The "Mechanoids" also battled the Daleks in the pages of the comic ''TV Century 21'' in 1965 and 1966. The publication featured a weekly one-page series, ''The Daleks'', which depicted the metal monsters in full color as galactic conquerors. The Mechanoids were introduced to the series in issue 47 (11 December 1965), beginning a five-issue story about a Dalek/Mechanoid standoff in outer space. They returned in issue 62 (26 March 1966) for a story about the Daleks aiming a runaway planet at the Mechanoids' homeworld. They last appeared in issue 69 (14 May 1966).

Reception

A contemporary review in ''The Stage and Television Today'' praised the final episode of ''The Chase'', with Marjorie Norris writing, "The battle scene between the two opposing robot armies — the Daleks and the Mechanoids (sic) — was handled with imagination and ingenuity to provide a spectacle as exciting as many that have been achieved at far greater cost in feature films."

Tat Wood and Lawrence Miles took a dimmer view of the Mechonoids in their book ''About Time, volume 1'', writing, "And that's humanity's idea of a servo-robot, is it? An impractically large and clumsy ball of metal that shuffles along very, very slowly and has no obvious functions except for building corridors that are flagrantly too small for it. Wouldn't something smaller / nippier / more versatile have been preferable?" Elizabeth Sandifer agreed in ''Tardis Eruditorum, volume 1'': "The thing is, in the sixth episode, it's quickly clear that the Mechanoids are rubbish and everyone knows it. (Well, except Nation.)... The Mechanoids, in fact, are among the most incoherently speaking monsters we've ever seen." Piers Britton also reflected, "Imposing as the props were in repose, the fact that they had no expressive elements, except their waggling wire arms and moving 'topknots', made them much less interesting to watch than the Daleks, whose bouts of excitement and frustration could be telegraphed by the dynamic elements of their movable manipulator arms and gunstick, head and eyestalk."

Legacy

''War of the Daleks'' (1997), an Eighth Doctor BBC Books novel written by John Peel, features a Mechonoid identified as Mechon 179. It works as a gardener on the planet Hesperus and is destroyed helping to defend the planet against a Dalek invasion.

The Mechonoids appear in the 2005 Big Finish Productions audio drama ''The Juggernauts'' by Scott Alan Woodard, which features the Sixth Doctor and Melanie Bush. In this story, Davros adds human nervous tissue to robotic Mechanoid shells to create the titular Juggernauts.

The third issue of '' Doctor Who - Battles in Time ''magazine (2006) featured a two-page ''Dalek Wars'' image and accompanying text entitled ''The Battle for the Planet Mechanus'', depicting a battle inside a Mechonoid city.

In the 2010 graphic novel ''The Only Good Dalek,'' the Mechonoids are depicted as having been destroyed by the Daleks, with some of their remains making their way to a human space station, where research is being conducted on the Daleks in the hopes of finding a way to defeat them.

The 2020 ''Daleks!'' animation series included Mechonoids in three chapters: the third installment, ''Planet of the Mechanoids'', the fourth, ''The Deadly Ally'', and the fifth and final chapter, ''Day of Reckoning''.

In the 2021 Big Finish audio drama ''Queen of the Mechonoids'', River Song is seen ruling a city of Mechonoids. The robots are also seen in another 2021 Big Finish story, ''The Dalek Universe: The House of Kingdom''.

References

Bibliography

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{{Doctor Who characters, selected=Villains
Doctor Who aliens
Fictional robots