Voc Robots are a sinister class of robot that have the potential to kill many crew members of a particular ship. Voc Robots are often reprogrammed to kill by a third party, because otherwise murdering humans would conflict with their core programming. The Doctor has encountered Voc Robots a few times during his travels in Doctor Who.

The Robots of Death

★★★★★

TX: 29/01/1977 – 19/02/1977

Written by Chris Boucher    Directed by Michael E Briant

The Fourth Doctor and Leela land on a sand miner in the far future. One of the crew has been killed and the finger of blame is being pointed in all directions. The Doctor tries to solve this Doctor Whodunnit. However, he discovers to his horror that the killer is one of the Voc Robots that service the sand miner. The Voc Robots have been reprogrammed by an insane man called Taren Capel, who was raised by robots. Trapped and surrounded on the bridge, the Doctor, Leela and the other survivors are about to be killed by the Voc Robots. But a hidden Leela secretly uses helium to distort Taren Capel’s voice so that when he orders the Voc Robots to kill the others, they kill him instead. The Doctor and Leela depart in the TARDIS, content that they have saved the sand miner.

Voyage of the Damned

★★★☆☆

TX: 25/12/2007

Written by Russell T Davies      Directed by James Strong

The Tenth Doctor is in his newly repaired TARDIS when suddenly the Titanic crashes into it! However, this is not the famous vessel that sank in 1912. The Titanic is a gigantic space liner replica full of wealthy passengers. The Doctor stows away as one of the guests, where he meets waitress Astrid Peth. However, a meteor storm crashes into the Titanic, killing most of the passengers. The Heavenly Hosts onboard, which are similar to Voc Robots, begin killing the rest of the survivors. The whole disaster is a ruse by Max Capricorn, the cyborg, failed business owner of the Titanic. Max Capricorn intends to take his revenge on the board of his own company by crashing the Titanic into Earth and making it look like an accident. The Doctor, Astrid and a few survivors make their way to the bridge, fighting many Heavenly Hosts along the way. The Doctor confronts Max Capricorn, who reveals his plan to him. Astrid uses a forklift truck to throw herself and Max Capricorn into the ship’s engines. The Doctor makes sure that Astrid’s sacrifice was not in vain, as her data ghost is later scattered into space by him. The Doctor pilots the Titanic and prevents it from crashing into Buckingham Palace. I have met King Charles and I tried to meet his mother, the Queen. However, I now do not support the British Monarchy (because I am opposed to privilege), however I can see the benefit that they bring in terms of tourism. The Monarchy is an anachronism and there are too many embarrassing scandals in the Royal Family. The Queen was the glue that held the Monarchy together, but since she passed away I’ve grown cold over the Royal Family. A survivor called Mr Copper is given a new life on Earth by the Doctor. When I was a kid, I always believed that the Doctor was a god who could “choose who lives and who dies”, as Mr Copper says.