Grimwade's Syndrome

Grimwade's Syndrome, sometimes called Robophobia, was a psychological condition among Humans that have frequent contact with androids and robots, commonly attributed to the androids moving like humans, but without any of the characteristic and subtle movements associated with humans. In the mind of the afflicted, they appear to be "surrounded by walking talking dead men."

On the Sandminer, the undercover agent Poul was uncomfortable with robots and had a breakdown after finding blood spatters on the hands of a smashed robot. (DW: The Robots of Death)

Behind the scenes

• The name "Grimwade's Syndrome" was an in-joke reference to production assistant Peter Grimwade (later to become a director and writer on the series) who had bemoaned the fact that the stories on which he was assigned to work almost always involved robots. However, the description of robophobia given by the Doctor in fact coincides with a real-life phenomenon called the Uncanny Valley.