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{{Infobox Species
{{Infobox Species
|image        = [[File:6118321172_e845587916_o-1-.jpg|250px]]
|alias=
|Species name = Handbot
|image= Handbot main.jpg
|type         =  
|type= [[Robot]]ic [[humanoid]]
|aka          =  
|origin= [[Apalapucia]]
|affiliation  =  
|individuals= [[Rory (Handbot)|Rory]]
|origin      =  
|first = The Girl Who Waited (TV story)
|appearances = [[DW]]: ''[[The Girl Who Waited]]''
|appearances = [[COMIC]]: ''[[The Arts in Space (comic story)|The Arts in Space]]''
|individuals  = [[Rory (Handbot)|Rory]]
}}The '''17th Generation Handroid Handbot 8001 ''', also known as a '''Handbot''', was an [[alien]] medical [[robot]] designed to assist residents of the [[Two Streams Facility]] on [[Apalapucia]], providing guidance and — if necessary — [[medicine]] (known as "kindnesses") to the patients.
}}
== Features ==
'''Handbots''' were [[alien]] [[robot]]s designed to aid people with the plague [[Chen-7]].
The Handbots were approximately six feet tall, white and humanoid. Their hands were their most prominent features, serving many strange and mundane purposes. They use them to manipulate objects such as hypodermic needles, which they carried in their chests and heads. With the aid of synthetic, organic skin grafted onto their hands, they were used for sensory perception, "seeing" with their fingers. This form of sight was so potent that Handbots could see the types of bacteria on a person. The eponymous hands also held anaesthetic transfer: one touch was all it took to send someone to sleep in moments.


They administered medicine, which was deadly to anyone non-[[Apalapucian]]. The Handbots had no faces. They had blank head and hands crafted from organic skin. Their hands were sensors to see their enviroment. This was a feature questioned by [[The Eleventh Doctor|The Doctor]], who wondered why the robots' creators wouldn't just give them eyes. Any living creature touched by a Handbot's hand would fall asleep instantly. Touching two hands together would create a feedback loop which would stun the robot(s) for a short time. Their heads came apart to reveal a gun which fired anaesthetic needles. When someone spoke to them, they chose whether to accept a statement as true; the green and red buttons on their chest showing the result. The chest could then drop down to reveal a syringe used to administer the medicine.
Handbots communicated to a degree with the patients but lacked any kind of intelligence. If a person's reply to a Handbot did not match an "acceptable" reply, the statement would be rejected and the handbot would continue any course of action it deemed appropriate.
[[File:Handbot_inside.jpg|left|thumb|The inside of a handbot's head. ([[TV]]: ''[[The Girl Who Waited (TV story)|The Girl Who Waited]]'')]]
The Handbots were equipped with hypodermic needles and darts, which they used to administer their "kindnesses". The syringes were held in a chest compartment and given by hand. The darts were held inside the head for feistier residents and were shot at patients in what was known as the "secondary delivery system". Administration of medicine would usually be accompanied by a set dialogue: "Do not be alarmed. This is a kindness." They could be reprogrammed to be docile (as in the case of [[Rory (Handbot)|Rory]]); however Amy literally "disarmed" the robot, suggesting that even docile it could still be dangerous.


The handbots spoke in warnings, such as "Do not be alarmed. This is a kindness." perhaps as a means of simulating personality or to reassure patients of their beneficent nature, regardless of their limited ability to distinguish different species who did not require their services. They could be reprogrammed to be docile, as in the case of [[Rory (Handbot)|Rory]]. ([[DW]]: ''[[The Girl Who Waited]]'')
Inside the chest cavity, Handbots also held a "black box recorder", which would record any cause of termination. The Handbots could walk from place to place and jump between [[time stream]]s, though they didn't [[teleport]] (despite the appearance of the [[time jump]]).
 
Despite their many features, Handbots were less than formidable. Their sensors malfunctioned in the presence of [[temporal engine]]s, they were slow-moving and they were easily knocked out by blunt or sharp force. Furthermore, if the hands of Handbots touched it created a feedback loop that would knock them out. Only in great numbers did the Handbots pose a real threat to people.
 
Handbots were not intended to be deadly, but the drugs inside them were not safe for all species to handle. For [[human]]s, some were lethal, which the Handbots had no way of discerning, being equipped to handle [[Apalapucian]]s and other patients with [[binary vascular system]]s. ([[TV]]: ''[[The Girl Who Waited (TV story)|The Girl Who Waited]]'')
 
== History ==
Historians concluded that incidents with the Handbots, as well as the [[Heavenly Host]], [[Kerblam! Men]], and [[Voc Robot]]s, gave electronic robots a [[reputation]] for being dangerously unreliable, causing [[engineer]]s to revert to earlier, classic technologies leading to the [[Clockwork Droid]]s of the [[51st century]]. ([[PROSE]]: ''[[The Monster Vault (novel)|The Monster Vault]]'')
 
== Behind the scenes ==
===Conception===
* Writer [[Tom MacRae]] has said that one of the scariest Doctor Who moments for him personally was a scene in ''[[Terror of the Vervoids (TV story)|Terror of the Vervoids]]'' where [[Vervoid]]s attacked a man using deadly seed pods delivered from their hands. He speculated that the idea of hands being frightening may have subconsciously inclined him to create the Handbots.
** He also stated there was a deleted scene where one of the Handbot's hands would be sliced off the robot but still crawl towards Amy and Rory, commenting he would bring back such a feature if the Handbots ever returned.
 
===''Doctor Who: Legacy''===
In the story of ''[[Legacy (video game)|Doctor Who: Legacy]]'', [[the Doctor]]s and their [[companion]]s face the Handbots at the [[Two Streams Facility]] on [[Apalapucia]].
 
== External links ==
{{Dwlx}}
 
{{NameSort}}
<!-- _OrigRobot_ -->


==Behind the scenes==
*Writer [[Tom MacRae]] has said that one of the scariest Doctor Who moments for him personally, was a scene in ''[[Terror of the Vervoids]]'' where [[Vervoid]]s attack a man using deadly seed pods delivered from their hands. He speculated that the idea of hands being frightening may have subconsciously inclined him to create the Handbots.
*There are mentions of the possible return of the Handbots, as questions have been raised on 'Where did they get the hands from?' and the term 'Handbots' is just a knickname.
{{Series 6 aliens}}
[[Category:Robots]]
[[Category:Robots]]
[[Category:Eleventh Doctor enemies]]
[[Category:Androids]]
[[Category:Medical technology]]
[[Category:Medical personnel]]
[[Category:End-of-life care]]
[[Category:Administration of medicine]]

Latest revision as of 07:20, 11 January 2024

The 17th Generation Handroid Handbot 8001 , also known as a Handbot, was an alien medical robot designed to assist residents of the Two Streams Facility on Apalapucia, providing guidance and — if necessary — medicine (known as "kindnesses") to the patients.

Features[[edit] | [edit source]]

The Handbots were approximately six feet tall, white and humanoid. Their hands were their most prominent features, serving many strange and mundane purposes. They use them to manipulate objects such as hypodermic needles, which they carried in their chests and heads. With the aid of synthetic, organic skin grafted onto their hands, they were used for sensory perception, "seeing" with their fingers. This form of sight was so potent that Handbots could see the types of bacteria on a person. The eponymous hands also held anaesthetic transfer: one touch was all it took to send someone to sleep in moments.

Handbots communicated to a degree with the patients but lacked any kind of intelligence. If a person's reply to a Handbot did not match an "acceptable" reply, the statement would be rejected and the handbot would continue any course of action it deemed appropriate.

The inside of a handbot's head. (TV: The Girl Who Waited)

The Handbots were equipped with hypodermic needles and darts, which they used to administer their "kindnesses". The syringes were held in a chest compartment and given by hand. The darts were held inside the head for feistier residents and were shot at patients in what was known as the "secondary delivery system". Administration of medicine would usually be accompanied by a set dialogue: "Do not be alarmed. This is a kindness." They could be reprogrammed to be docile (as in the case of Rory); however Amy literally "disarmed" the robot, suggesting that even docile it could still be dangerous.

Inside the chest cavity, Handbots also held a "black box recorder", which would record any cause of termination. The Handbots could walk from place to place and jump between time streams, though they didn't teleport (despite the appearance of the time jump).

Despite their many features, Handbots were less than formidable. Their sensors malfunctioned in the presence of temporal engines, they were slow-moving and they were easily knocked out by blunt or sharp force. Furthermore, if the hands of Handbots touched it created a feedback loop that would knock them out. Only in great numbers did the Handbots pose a real threat to people.

Handbots were not intended to be deadly, but the drugs inside them were not safe for all species to handle. For humans, some were lethal, which the Handbots had no way of discerning, being equipped to handle Apalapucians and other patients with binary vascular systems. (TV: The Girl Who Waited)

History[[edit] | [edit source]]

Historians concluded that incidents with the Handbots, as well as the Heavenly Host, Kerblam! Men, and Voc Robots, gave electronic robots a reputation for being dangerously unreliable, causing engineers to revert to earlier, classic technologies leading to the Clockwork Droids of the 51st century. (PROSE: The Monster Vault)

Behind the scenes[[edit] | [edit source]]

Conception[[edit] | [edit source]]

  • Writer Tom MacRae has said that one of the scariest Doctor Who moments for him personally was a scene in Terror of the Vervoids where Vervoids attacked a man using deadly seed pods delivered from their hands. He speculated that the idea of hands being frightening may have subconsciously inclined him to create the Handbots.
    • He also stated there was a deleted scene where one of the Handbot's hands would be sliced off the robot but still crawl towards Amy and Rory, commenting he would bring back such a feature if the Handbots ever returned.

Doctor Who: Legacy[[edit] | [edit source]]

In the story of Doctor Who: Legacy, the Doctors and their companions face the Handbots at the Two Streams Facility on Apalapucia.

External links[[edit] | [edit source]]