Raston Warrior Robot were the most perfect killing machines ever devised. They were silver androids and one of the deadliest players of the Game of Rassilon in the Death Zone.
Overview
The robots hunted by detecting movement and could move at fast speeds. They would move by jumping in the air and disappearing, then reappearing at its destination - the Doctor remarked it `moved like lightning´, which might mean the robot did not actually teleport, but rather simply moved too fast to be seen. It had built in weapons and could fire disks and arrows from its hands. It enjoyed toying with its prey. The robot was incredibly powerful and could kill a squad of Cybermen in under a minute. The robot´s deadliness was offset in a horrible way by its dance-like movements, which reminded one of an acrobat or even clown. (DW: The Five Doctors)
They were capable of feeding on atomic radiation in the atmosphere, which meant that they never ran down. The loss of their heads did not diminish their efficiency, as they could just simply reattach them. They were also programmed to consider anyone except their makers as their enemy. They attacked by locking onto the electrical activity of the target's brain (with two people possessing the same pattern causing the robot to jam). The javelins they extruded were generated by the Raston warrior robot, whose entire weapon system was built-in. (EDA: The Eight Doctors)
History
A legend states that the Raston warrior robots were the product of a race that was old when the Time Lords were young. This race was devoted to the creation of super weapons and then vanished without a trace. (EDA: The Eight Doctors) It was also believed that the Raston Warrior Robots were created in the Raston factories, which also make dancers. These are considerably less indestructible, particularly against the Krotons. (EDA: Alien Bodies)
When the Death Zone became active again and the Doctor's different incarnations were put in the Zone, the Third Doctor and Sarah Jane Smith encountered the robot by a cave entrance. They were forced to remain still, just as they were tiring of remaining still a patrol of Cyberman appeared and the robot attacked them. It fired a barrage of arrows into their chestplates and killed them all. (DW: The Five Doctors)
Sebastiene once killed a Raston Warrior Robot and added it to his collection of trophies. (NSA: The Doctor Trap)
Behind the scenes
- Autons were originally planned to appear in The Five Doctors instead of the Raston Warrior Robot, but for unknown reasons did not. It is possible that they thought the Autons wouldn't stand up against the Cybermen.
- Russell T Davies mentioned in the March 2008 Doctor Who Magazine expressed some interest in bringing back the Raston Warrior Robot in the new series of Doctor Who citing The Five Doctors as the finest episode in the series.