Rad Robots

Robot avant la lettre ... Steam Man appears in late Victorian popular story magazine the Frank Reade Library in 1892 Photograph: John Mustain/Stanford Special Collections and University Archive

The term "robot" was introduced to the world by Czech writer Karel Capek in his 1920 play R.U.R (Rossum's Universal Robots), and proved an enduring coinage. This picture was taken of an English language production of the play in 1938, being filmed for the then appropriately futuristic medium of television. Photograph: BBC/Corbis

January 1939 edition of Amazing Stories, featuring I, Robot by Eando Binder (the alias used by brothers Earl and Otto Binder). The title of this story, about a robot named Adam Link, was later used to title a much more famous collection by Isaac Asimov. Photograph: MEPL/Alamy

Capturing a spirit of optimism and technological excitement, the box from Merit Toy's 1950s Magic Robot board game. Photograph: Trevor Smith / Alamy

No genre is safe! A still from Godzilla vs The Cosmic Monster (1964). Photograph: Everett Collection/Rex

In the Sixties, even robots got to swing. Here British Robot Archie graces the cover of Lion and Champion in 1966. Photograph: VinMag Archives

Anthropomorphic, but not cuddly ... Yul Brynner as Gunslinger in 1973's Westworld, the first Michael Crichton movie about a theme park gone berserk. A remake is scheduled this year. Photograph: MGM/BFI

HAL 9000, the malevolent supercomputer in the film of 2001: A Space Odyssey (1968) keeps a close eye on its human charges. Photograph: Copyright Control/Aquarius

About as cuddly as robots ever became, Star Wars' C3PO and R2D2 in 1977. Photograph: Lucasfilm/ 20th Century Fox/ AKG-Images

Lieutenant Commander Data defends pacifist colonists in Star Trek: Insurrection (1998). Photograph: BFI Stills

Returning to a slight less endearing incarnation, a Transformer from 2007. Photograph: Paramount Pictures/ AKG-Images