FEATURE BY OLIVER WAKE
“I am Kamelion”, the shape-changing robot tells Peri Brown (Nicola Bryant) in Part Two of Planet of Fire (1984).
Kamelion is unique for starting out, not as a character idea in a script, but as a pre-existing prop that came into being with no Doctor Who connection whatever. This life-sized humanoid robot was built in the early 1980s by engineer Chris Padmore and software designer Mike Power. Their company, CP Cybernetics, had been commissioned by a car manufacturer to create the prototype android for an advertising campaign. However, the car company cancelled further funding when they deemed the initial results unimpressive. In an effort to secure further development money, Padmore and Power turned to Richard Gregory, whose Imagineering company provided a variety of film and television services.