Handbot
Handbots were alien robots designed to aid people with the plague Chen-7.
They administered medicine, which was deadly to anyone non-Apalapucian. The Handbots had no face but a blank head and hands crafted from organic skin. They used these hands as sensors in order to see their enviroment; a feature questioned by The Doctor as he wondered why the robots' creators wouldn't just give them eyes. If their hands touched a person, they would fall into an instant sleep. Touching two hands together would create a feedback loop which would stun the afflicted robot(s) for a short period of time. In times of defence, their heads came apart to reveal a gun which fired an anaesthetic needle. When someone spoke to them, they choose whether the statement would be accepted or rejected, with the green and red buttons on their chest showing the result. The chest would, then, drop down to reveal a syringe that is used to administer the medicine. The robots would also speak in warnings, such as "Do not be alarmed. This is a kindness." perhaps as a means of simulating personality and/or to reassure patients of their benefitiary nature; regardless of their limited means to distinguish different species who did not require their services. They could be reprogrammed to remain docile, as in the case of Rory, but only if they had been previously "disarmed" (i.e. had the hands removed). (DW: The Girl Who Waited)
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 Vervoids 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.
