10 Times Doctor Who Shamelessly Ripped Off Hollywood

The story of King Kong is one of the most iconic in cinema history, with the original black-and-white movie first hitting cinemas in 1933. Since then, it's been sequel-ized, remade, and remade again, while Kong himself has become something of a celebrity, appearing everywhere from Coca-Cola adverts to episodes of The Simpsons.

To put it another way, King Kong is a modern legend, so it really isn't a surprise that the giant ape eventually made his way onto Doctor Who - sort of.

1974's Robot was the debut serial for Tom Baker's Fourth Doctor, and in the story's climax, the Doctor has to deal with an enormous robot called K1, as it rampages through a nearby village. During the making of this serial, King Kong was a major influence on writer Terrance Dicks - to the extent that it isn't really a stretch to say that K1 is essentially a Doctor Who version of Kong.

For one thing, they're both gigantic, misunderstood monsters, but the similarities go even deeper, with Dicks lifting specific elements of the Kong story.

At one point, K1 develops an attachment to Sarah Jane Smith, and starts carrying her around. These scenes are greatly reminiscent of identical moments in King Kong, wherein the giant ape picks up Ann Darrow after becoming infatuated with her. And then, just like Kong, Robot ultimately ends with K1 being killed. Poor fellas.