Forgive me if there’s already a thread for this, but this series is SO good and as I’ve just finished Escape from Kaldor, that means it’s the perfect time to relisten! And I want somewhere where I can drop my thoughts as I go :)
Who else loved this series?
And bonus Toos. For reasons 
Guess what is on my “To Listen” list, immediately after Peshka? I’ve never heard this audio series and purchased solely on your recommendation. I have very little idea what to expect, but I’m buckled in for the ride (starting Sunday morning - woo hoo!).
Well I hope that my recommendation doesn’t disappoint!
I am not worried. This has been one I’ve been keen to explore for some time now. I love Nicola Walker anyway. Fantastic actor and Liv is a brilliant character. Coupled with the Kaldor setting and all of the richness of that culture (so perfectly set up by the superb Chris Boucher in The Robots of Death), there is clearly potential. You recommending it was merely the final push to get me to act.
The Robots: Series 1, your time has come! 
Oh I must get around to this, especially as I have now fallen for Liv! And of course I already love Toos <3
I did the first set when it came out but I wasn’t keeping up with a lot of BF at that time, I’m gonna revisit this with @maxy0419 very soon! We both have our own copies and text while listening, its really fun - did it for UNIT Nemesis.
From Sunday onwards, I shall certainly be sharing my thoughts on here.
I’ve wanted to listen to this series for a while, and I think I’m going to make it my next spin-off after counter-measures! I really like kaldor as a setting, and I love liv, so I’m excited!
There are statements that immediately reveal the quality of a person’s judgement. Here, I see all the hallmarks of someone with a real sense of taste. We are in complete agreement, my friend! 
I’ve always been really intrigued by this series and have picked up the first two volumes in sales, but I’ve not actually listened to Ravenous, and I know it’s set some time around then
Is there any pre-requisite knowledge I actually need? I know a lot about Liv from other stories but I’m not sure if I should wait to buy and listen to Ravenous first
I wouldn’t say you need to know more than who Liv is to understand the series. The whole concept is that Liv stays behind on Kaldor for a year at the end of Ravenous 2.1 Escape from Kaldor, but the actual events of The Robots the series have little to nothing to do with Ravenous. I’d say you’re better off rewatching The Robots of Death than you are listening to any of Ravenous in terms of what’s actually relevant
Robots series 1 done! MAN this series is good! I am writing reviews (slowly) but my thoughts in summary are these:
Robots of Life: The weakest of this set to me, mostly setting up who Tula is and what her relationship with Liv is, and how they’re getting used to being in each other’s lives again. They have such a believable sibling relationship <3 and the robot stuff here is interesting, but it doesn’t dig quite as deep as it later will
The Sentient: This is more like the stuff I like. Creepy sentient robot child? Yes please!! I think this episode maybe doesn’t dig as deep as it could into what it’s trying to say, but it still says plenty and gives much to think about. I also like that it’s a commentary on surveillance and being overbearing in the name of protecting children while actually suffocating them. And I love that Vissi is insane <3
Love Me Not: Dorney doing what he does best and deliveringggg <3 This one is genuinely heartbreaking. I love a bit of here’s my dead wife and I’ve made a robot of her to pretend to be happy, and I enjoy that their relationship actually sucked and she was cheating on him <3 I love Tula and Liv working together to try and navigate this one, they are so wonderful together. AND TOOS!! at the end it’s TOOOOSSSSS <333333
Robots of War: Maybe my least favourite episode of the series so far - not because it’s bad, it’s just very busy and very shouty and full of army men I didn’t really care about. Tula’s thing with the army man is interesting though, and also I love her. btw. Haven’t much of detail to say about this one.
TOOS NEXT THOUGH YAYYYYYYYY (not a spoiler. the episode is literally called Toos and Poul. and this one is AWESOME)
Toos and Poul: HELL YEAH HELL YEAH HELL YEAH!!! !!! !!! can we get a hooray for manipulative and scheming Toos please!!! (spoilers for the end of the series)and knowing exactly what her scheme is here - knowing she’s a robot and she really is manipulating the hell out of him… beautiful
For real though, this episode is brilliant. I love that the Toos&Poul episodes dig deep into his depression, his paranoia, the lasting effects that being on the sandminer and dealing with all that has on him. It’s really good stuff
Do No Harm: Another banger of a boxset finale. Liv learning how to be a lawyer online overnight is so cute <3 but I like how complicated this episode feels, and how much depth the world feels like it has. I also like that it again highlights the differences between Liv and Tula - for Liv, helping the robots is very much a moral quest. She does it because it’s the right thing to do. But Tula, though she has her heart in the right place, she’s on Liv’s side because it’s what would be most convenient for her life. The robots being in good standing means the Company keeps its power and she keeps her job so she keeps her comfortable life. And the friction that causes between her and Liv is soooo tasty
Mystery of Sector 13: I think this is previously one that has confused me and I didn’t fully understand what was going on, but this time it all made more sense to me. I love that this one gives us a bit of Toos backstory (unsure if this is made up for this or if it comes from her other EU material[1]) and I love that Liv is still roping Tula into her schemes <3
next 100% character to add to my tracker?? i’m p sure we have Corpse Marker on the shelf ↩︎
Circuit Breaker: This is easily my favourite of the Toos&Poul episodes. It’s so chilling. It’s so dark. It continues digging into Poul’s fraught mental state, the misery of his life, the paranoia and the terror. I love that this is the consequences of his life - obviously I don’t wish misery on people[1] but it makes for such an excellent story that his own miserable life leads him to continue the cycle of poverty and misery.
And Carolyn Seymour is fabulous as the twisted Ullmann, pulling the strings and completely complicit in indulging other people’s miseries. She’s not evil as such, but she is totally self centred - the only thing that matters is her own life and wellbeing.
Toos doesn’t have such a big role in this one but knowing where the series is going (end of series spoilers) you can totally see how she’s manipulating and twisting Poul too under the vague guise of being concerned for his wellbeing. This is just a really brilliant episode that’s not afraid to shy away from the commentary it’s making about the reality of the underclass of the city, and has some really sublime character stuff. And Louise Jameson directing is excellent, of course <3
don’t look at my ao3 ↩︎
A Matter of Conscience: Probably one of the reasons I like this series so much is because I adore stories that are about the mind in the sense of ‘what truly connects the mind and body’ and obviously I love a bit of mind control and manipulation. And in this one, it’s all coming to a head as we start to uncover the schemes of Sorkov and how he’s Uvanov transferring his mind into robots to functionally be immortal. It presents so many interesting questions, and when combined with the building social unrest and Liv and Tula’s desperate attempts to try and help, it all moves quickly and thrillingly.
This series is sooo good!!
Going into this as blind as possible. I’ve skipped all of @sircarolyn’s posts re: the episodes so i’m spoiler free. All I know is: Liv Chenka is in it (Yay! We love Liv 
) and that Claire Rushbrook plays her sister (I think).
Really hoping to feel the richness of Kaldor culture as first seen in the majestic Robots of Death and delve into some thought provoking yet character rich sci fi drama… with cool art deco robots.
Tomorrow morning is the time. I am genuinely intrigued and excited!
Closed Loop: Of course I already knew what was going to happen in this episode, but I’d forgotten just quite how brutal Poul’s complete and utter mental breakdown is. I love Toos <3 She’s pretty hard in this one, pretending that she’s got Poul’s best interests at heart but ultimately, of course, he’s a piece in the game she’s playing. And I love that he almost sees through her - he can see she’s on the run and hiding things, but through all their episodes knowing that she is a robot and indeed turned him into one too adds another layer of delicious delicious horror. I just really love the way Poul is having a really bad time, and it doesn’t get better <3
