By the Colin Baker years, the wheels had well and truly come off this once great television series and it is difficult to find much to enjoy in this two part stinker, entitled "Attack of the Cybermen". The Producer had lost all sense of how to make a program that could appeal to the child in the adult, and this is not a Doctor Who story to sit down and watch with the kids. The characters are nasty, the violence at times graphic. There is some mild intrigue in the first episode, but it drags in a 45 minute format. Wit is absent, and humour almost so - save for some self-referential nods to programs long passed, including The Doctor's attempt to fix the Tardis chameleon circuit. There is also an under-realised cockney-crook sub plot that never reaches its comic potential.
Fans may enjoy "spotting the references" to previous Doctor Who stories across the multiple sub-plots in "Attack of the Cybermen", nevertheless the writers have missed some fundamental points of character continuity. Colin Baker never seemed to appreciate the essence of the character of the Doctor. His arrogant portrayal is altogether unlikable and unconvincing. In this particular story, he totes guns and talks about wanting to see his enemies dead, as if the writers had never even seen an episode of the series before, and misunderstood the soul of the program. Sangfroid quips and high body counts work for stories about British Agents "licensed to kill" like James Bond, but they fall flat from the mouth of a Galifreyan supposedly possessed of two hearts.
Similarly, the Cybermen in this story are no longer the almost invulnerable super-robots of every other Cyber-tale. In "Attack of the Cybermen", they succumb to everything from bullets to metal bars - even a stiff breeze would seem to threaten them.
The supporting cast is reasonably strong, but can't make up for Producer John Nathan Turner's mistaken casting in the recurring lead roles of Doctor and Companion. The Doctor's companion in this story is Peri Brown, who was by no means the low point of his selections. She looks gorgeous, but her character's potential was suffocated by awful dialogue and an unconvincing (and unnecessary) American accent.
In so far as the plot is coherent at all, "Attack of the Cybermen" is loosely another sci-fi iteration of the "Terminator" story. The villains are seeking to scoot back in time and alter history to save their future, and that sort of thing. The tried and tested template was executed far more successfully in the Jon Pertwee story "The Day of the Daleks" in Series 9 of the program. The formula might have worked here too with a better script and any Doctor bar Colin Baker. Tying it all in with the approach of Halley's Comet to earth in 1986 was no doubt a nice touch when it went to air in 1985.
In short, the Colin Baker years were a salutary lesson in where not to take Doctor Who. This may provide the only motivation for true fans to watch these episodes at all - a sort of morbid curiosity. For a broader and un-initiated audience starting out their Doctor Who viewing journey, I'd leave the Colin Baker years for last.
Fans may enjoy "spotting the references" to previous Doctor Who stories across the multiple sub-plots in "Attack of the Cybermen", nevertheless the writers have missed some fundamental points of character continuity. Colin Baker never seemed to appreciate the essence of the character of the Doctor. His arrogant portrayal is altogether unlikable and unconvincing. In this particular story, he totes guns and talks about wanting to see his enemies dead, as if the writers had never even seen an episode of the series before, and misunderstood the soul of the program. Sangfroid quips and high body counts work for stories about British Agents "licensed to kill" like James Bond, but they fall flat from the mouth of a Galifreyan supposedly possessed of two hearts.
Similarly, the Cybermen in this story are no longer the almost invulnerable super-robots of every other Cyber-tale. In "Attack of the Cybermen", they succumb to everything from bullets to metal bars - even a stiff breeze would seem to threaten them.
The supporting cast is reasonably strong, but can't make up for Producer John Nathan Turner's mistaken casting in the recurring lead roles of Doctor and Companion. The Doctor's companion in this story is Peri Brown, who was by no means the low point of his selections. She looks gorgeous, but her character's potential was suffocated by awful dialogue and an unconvincing (and unnecessary) American accent.
In so far as the plot is coherent at all, "Attack of the Cybermen" is loosely another sci-fi iteration of the "Terminator" story. The villains are seeking to scoot back in time and alter history to save their future, and that sort of thing. The tried and tested template was executed far more successfully in the Jon Pertwee story "The Day of the Daleks" in Series 9 of the program. The formula might have worked here too with a better script and any Doctor bar Colin Baker. Tying it all in with the approach of Halley's Comet to earth in 1986 was no doubt a nice touch when it went to air in 1985.
In short, the Colin Baker years were a salutary lesson in where not to take Doctor Who. This may provide the only motivation for true fans to watch these episodes at all - a sort of morbid curiosity. For a broader and un-initiated audience starting out their Doctor Who viewing journey, I'd leave the Colin Baker years for last.