In and around Kaldor City, Kaldor androids served the people of Kaldor. (AUDIO: Escape from Kaldor) Manufactured by the Kaldor City Company, they were initially used only as servants, and for manual labour, (TV: The Robots of Death) exclusively by the upper classes, though later developments saw a greater and greater diversification in the tasks these androids were programmed for. At most points in Kaldor's history, the android workforce was integral to its economy, providing the backbone for the Founding Families' hegemonic power. (AUDIO: Escape from Kaldor, The Robots of Life, et al.)
At the time the Fourth Doctor first encountered these robots, they made up almost the entire crew of the sandminers on Kaldor. These were called Sandminer robots. Although superficially similar (all were designed to be aesthetically pleasing), the robots were constructed in several varieties which differed in their intelligence, autonomy, and ability to communicate. (TV: The Robots of Death)
At one point, attempts were made to suit Kaldor robots to the task of providing therapy, as bereavement counsellors, but the empathy chips required ultimately conflicted with other circuits, and the project was abandoned. (AUDIO: The Robots of Life) Nonetheless, later prototypes given artificial intelligence were capable of learning, and both understanding and simulating human behaviour. (AUDIO: The Sentient, Love Me Not)
History[]
The robots had become fundamental to Kaldorian society by the time of the Fourth Doctor's first visit there. The society itself was threatened when a disguised Taren Capel began to reprogram the robots on one sandminer to murder the human crew — civilisation would collapse if the citizens lost their faith in the robot workforce. The Doctor subtly altered Capel's voice pattern, and, not recognising him, his own robot followers turned on him and killed him. All the modified robots were destroyed shortly afterwards. (TV: The Robots of Death)
The murders on Storm Mine 4 were covered up and plans were made to introduce a new, more humanoid robot. However, the prototype SASV-1 believed it was Taren Capel and reprogrammed robots as killers. SASV-1 was destroyed by the Doctor and the new class of robots were abandoned. (PROSE: Corpse Marker)
As was eventually discovered, Capel's plan also had a second phase that was activated after his death. It concerned the transmission of a specially designed program to modify the robots' basic operational software in order to turn them into murderers. (AUDIO: Taren Capel)
The practice of putting a human crew on a sandminer was discontinued. Attempts were still made to improve robot design, such as the Ultra-Voc prototype robot. However, on its first assignment the UV disappeared. It had realised its status as a slave and rebelled against human control. It contacted other sandminers and "converted" the Super-Vocs on board to its cause. It was destroyed by a human investigator before its plans proceeded too far — but the investigator did not live to report his findings, being accidentally "disassembled" by Vocs who believed him to be a malfunctioning SV. (COMIC: Crisis on Kaldor)
Alternate timelines[]
In an alternate dimension in which the Doctor's adventures existed as a fictional TV show called Doctor Who, a fan dressed as a Sandminer robot was present at a Doctor Who convention which the Eleventh Doctor visited with Ally in 2013. (COMIC: The Girl Who Loved Doctor Who)
Other references[]
In the video game Happy Deathday, played by Izzy Sinclair on the Time-Space Visualiser, Kaldor android V3 was among a host of "every single enemy" that the Doctor had ever defeated, who were assembled by the Beige Guardian and pitted against the Doctor's first eight incarnations. (COMIC: Happy Deathday)
Technology[]
The robots were physically stronger and more durable than most humans. It was generally assumed that fundamental protocols in the brains of the robots made it impossible for them to knowingly harm humans, although a robotics genius such as Taren Capel could override this precaution. Although they could give massages to humans, there was a story of a robot that twisted the arm out of the socket of a customer - something considered impossible because the robot workforce on the whole had various systems to prevent such an action taking place. The robots recognised their authorised controllers via their voice prints. A change in the controller's vocal pattern could result in apparently rebellious behaviour and non-compliance from a robot. All robots were identified by their class letter and a unique number; for example a Voc might be "named" V7. (TV: The Robots of Death)
Standard robot classes[]
Dum[]
The majority of the robots were D-class Dums, built without the ability to speak and more simplistic mental abilities. On a sandminer, the Dums mostly kept to the engineering decks, away from the human crew, making them appear less common than was the case. Dums wore black tunics. D84, a highly sophisticated Super-Voc class robot, was disguised as a Dum. (TV: The Robots of Death)
Voc[]
More able were the V-class Voc robots, who had the power of speech. In the absence of humans, Vocs performed essential control deck duties on a sandminer and were capable of running the vehicle without supervision. They could give back massages to human crew indicating more sophisticated programming than the Dums. They wore green tunics. (TV: The Robots of Death)
Super-Voc[]
Each sandminer's complement of robots included one SV-class Super-Voc, which had enhanced decision-making and organisational skills. The Super-Voc was effectively the leader of the robots, though still subservient to any of the authorised human crew. The Super-Voc wore a silver tunic. (TV: The Robots of Death)
Unique robots[]
Ultra-Voc[]
Only one UV-class Ultra-Voc was ever manufactured, an even more intelligent and autonomous version of the standard SV. (COMIC: Crisis on Kaldor)
SASV1[]
SASV1 was another unique robot, an attempt to improve on a specialised SV class unit numbered D84. [disputed statement] However, SASV-1 was based on plans drawn up by Taren Capel and proved mentally unstable. (PROSE: Corpse Marker)
