Three brand new full cast audio dramas, exploring robot crime and punishment, militarisation of technology and the anxieties created by the rise of artificial intelligence, are released today.
Sisters Liv (Nicola Walker) and Tula Chenka (Claire Rushbrook) return in a new box set, navigating the technological advancement unfolding in Kaldor city and the implications of a growingly intelligent robot population. The Robots: Volume Two is now available to own as a collector’s edition CD box set (£19.99) or as a download (£16.99) from the Big Finish website.
The Robots: Volume Two box set contains three new adventures on Kaldor:
Robots of War by Roland Moore
A visit to an old flame goes badly wrong for Liv and Tula and soon they find themselves locked down in a military training base, surrounded by traitors and robots designed and built for war. As they attempt to get everyone out alive, is there a chance they’ve missed something important?
Toos and Poul by Andrew Smith
When a murder takes place in an isolated outpost, there’s only one man who can look into the crime. Investigator Poul, newly reunited with his Sandminer colleague Toos. But can he over-come his fears and prejudices and solve the case?
Do No Harm by Sarah Grochala
After an incident in a laboratory leads to a tragedy, someone needs to be found accountable. And who better to be prosecuted than a robot? But when complicated ethical questions arise, the outcome of the trial becomes bigger than a single case. What if somebody else is working behind the scenes?
Details
Actor Nicola Walker said: “I’ve always thought that sci-fi is a genre that, very quietly, is asking relevant, pertinent questions disguised as fantasy. There’s that brilliant thing that Stephen Hawking said just before he died that the problem with AI is that [robots] will learn so much faster than humans ever can, and we’ve got to get it right first time.”
Producer David Richardson said: “What we’ve tended to do with this series is to try to steer away from what the The Robots of Death did on television – chasing people down corridors and killing them. We wanted to explore the idea a little bit more the idea of the future, of what technology means for humanity. Having said that, I wanted to do at least one episode where we had a good old ‘robots attacking humans and being threatening’ story.”
Script editor John Dorney added: “There’s an overall plan for where the range is going which should slowly become clearer over the next few sets. It will build into a bigger scale storyline which I think people will get a great kick out of.”
Praise for The Robots: Volume One:
“An excellent collection of original, intelligent SF with a final surprise that already has us eagerly awaiting volume two.” – SFX
“[Made] with a great level of respect and care, from the writers, cast, Ken Bentley’s unfaltering direction, Joe Kraemer and Josh Arakelian’s pitch perfect music and sound design.” – Blogtor Who
“Big Finish always delivers the goods, and this set proves that even the most seemingly random combination can be a great experience in their talented hands.” Big Blue Box Podcast
“The real-life rapport between Nicola Walker and Claire Rushbrook is tangible, and they clearly relish playing sisters.” – The Digital Fix
“If you only try one new Big Finish range this year, you won’t go wrong with The Robots!” – Cultbox
