The Tomb of the Cybermen: Episode 1

Between racism against Turkish people in the previous serial, and now Black people, it's tough to forget how racist 1960s England was, despite wearing a progressive front throughout the series. I realize the over-wokeness of the 13th Doctor's run (i.e. Being spoken at as if you were 5 years old about social matters instead of being treated as an adult that mostly agrees with what they have to say) is not the way to go, but jeepers they made this strong black man speak like a tribal stereotype of the 1800s. I really enjoy this serial, but this stands out like a neon sign, and it's just hard to get past it.

The Doctor and his travelling companions Jamie McCrimmon and Victoria Waterfield arrive on the planet Telos at the same time as an archaeological expedition. The explorers have come to find the remains of the Cybermen, who are believed to have died out five hundred years earlier and to be buried in an underground tomb on the planet. This, however, is no ordinary tomb; it is more like a laboratory containing scientific equipment which, despite the lapse of five centuries is still in good working order. The tomb is also well guarded by traps; one of the members of the team is electrocuted when he tries to open the doors. It eventually becomes clear that the Cybermen are not dead but merely frozen, awaiting re-animation by unwary travellers.

Moreover, it also emerges that the financiers of the expedition, Eric Klieg and a woman known as Kaftan, were well aware that the Cybermen could be revived. Indeed, their sole purpose (unknown to the scientific members of the expedition) was to revive them. They are members of the Brotherhood of Logicians, a sort of super-Mensa of brilliant intellectuals, who believe that with their intellect and the Cybermen's physical strength they will be able to dominate the world. Klieg sees himself as the future Dictator of Planet Earth; his logic is that the Cybermen will willingly serve him out of gratitude for their resurrection. The flaw in his logic, of course, is that gratitude is an emotion wholly alien to the Cybermen. (Indeed, they seem incapable of any emotion other than a will to power even more ruthless than Klieg's own). Which only goes to show that it takes a brilliant intellectual to do something really stupid. It falls to the Doctor and his companions to save the day.

"The Tomb of the Cybermen" is not, in my view, the greatest "Doctor Who" serial. It takes its time to get going, and the plot at times seems over-elaborate. (My synopsis above is greatly simplified). Those "Cybermats", robotic creatures looking like a cross between a giant silverfish and a child's toy, look too strange and whimsical to be really frightening. The character of Toberman, the only black member of the expedition- stolid, silent, employed only for his physical strength- can look like a racist stereotype fifty-odd years on.

I was, however, glad to catch the serial on television because it is a reminder of how good Patrick Troughton could be as the Doctor. I was only a young child during his tenure in the late sixties, so I do not have the vivid memories of him that I do of Jon Pertwee and Tom Baker. Watching serials like this, however, remind me that his Second Doctor, however, was a wonderful character- humorous, kindly, rather disorganised and somewhat dishevelled. This serial also featured one of my favourite companions, Frazer Hines's feisty Jamie, whom I, strangely enough, remember better than I do the Second Doctor. (Possibly because he shared by own Christian name).

Unfortunately, most of the serials in which Troughton starred are missing or incomplete due to the short-sighted, penny-pinching policy of the BBC during the seventies, which allowed tapes of old programmes to be erased so they could be reused. At one time it was thought that "The Tomb of the Cybermen" was one of these lost serials; thank goodness it was later rediscovered and restored to the BBC archives.

Review of the Complete Story:

The Cybermen have always been my favourite villains in the DOCTOR WHO franchise and THE TOMB OF THE CYBERMEN, a serial for second Doctor Patrick Troughton, has given me the opportunity to see what they looked like in the 1960s. And they don't disappoint; TOMB OF THE CYBERMEN is an effective and atmospheric outing showcasing this programme at its best.

Troughton is on top form as the impish Doctor, interrupting an archaeological expedition when it transpires that those involved are plotting to resurrect his age-old foe. Inevitably it all goes wrong and the Cybermen are once more brought back to life with thrilling results. Although the old cyber-suits were more clunky back in these days, the episodes are nevertheless good: suspenseful, full of action, twists and danger.

Fans of the era should watch out for Hammer veteran George Pastell playing yet another weaselly character while Roy Stewart makes an impact as an imposing strongman. Frazer Hines and Deborah Watling have a good repartee as the companions, but inevitably it's the Cybermen themselves who are the stars of the show here and who can disagree with that?

Review of all 4 episodes:

This story of an archaeological expedition in the future searching for the remnants of the Cybermen is rightly highly praised. It is great TV with thrills, fun and the Doctor on usual good form. Many people herald this as one of the all time top 10 or 20 greatest classic stories in the history of the series and I think that is only a very tiny exaggeration of its quality. It is a truly great 4 part story with only a few small imperfections. Parts 1, 2 and 4 are 10/10 classic episodes, whilst not necessarily absolutely perfect they are deserving of top marks overall. Part 3 has a few scenes that are less impressive but it is still brilliant and I rate Part 3 as 9/10.

The only real flaw in the production is the American characters Captain Hopper and Jim Callum which are cheesily written and woodenly performed. It is mainly the fact there are more scenes involving them in Part 3 that hold it back slightly from top marks. Thankfully they are not in it very much in the rest of the story.

Season 5 of Doctor Who is one of the most popular and highly regarded and I 100 percent agree with that as it is in my top 5 Doctor Who series of all time. In my opinion this story is mostly magical, memorable, exciting and fun but even then it is not quite as good as some of other stories that followed in series 5 like The Abominable Snowmen, The Ice Warriors or The Web of Fear which are even more magical and near perfect.

The ideas of Cybermen in a tomb and them coming out of their 'cocoons' are thrilling ideas and provide some great moments. The Cybermen themselves are marvelous villains although I am in the minority who feel their voices during this period are inferior to the earlier 'sing song' voices used in The Tenth Planet. The Doctor and Jamie are really entertaining throughout the story (although you as always have to suspend disbelief a bit with Jamie at times as he copes with time travel and science slightly too well for his supposedly simple Scottish Highlander character from the past). There is plenty of good dialogue and action and only a few less well executed scenes along the way.

Overall it is excellent and an all time classic but look forward to a few other stories later in Season 5 which I feel are even better!

The ever unreliable TARDIS dumps the travellers on the planet of "Telos" where they encounter an expedition of humans dynamiting the landscape looking for something. What? Well that's what the "Doctor" (Patrick Troughton) asks and he doesn't much like the answer. They are looking for the tomb of the long extinct "Cybermen". Almost immediately, they discover something abutting the hillside and after a shocking start find themselves inside a control room with some pretty menacing self-defence mechanisms. The leader of the explorers "Parry" (Aubrey Richards) is a little gung-ho and starts pressing buttons, pulling levers and so starts to defrost the "Cybermen" just as two of their number - "Klieg" (George Pastell) and his cohort "Kaftan" (Shirley Cooklin) appear to have an ulterior motive for being on this mission. With the menacing tin men on one side and the treacherous plotters on the other, the "Doctor" with "Jamie" (Frazer Hines) and "Victoria" (Deborah Watling) has to do some good old fashioned evil thwarting. This is probably the best iteration of the "Cybermen" with less awkward rigidity, some fun synthetic voices and plenty of pouncing "Cybermat" to help keep the adventure moving along quickly and entertainingly. Pastell was always good as the duplicitous baddie and Troughton is getting his feet more comfortably under the Time Lord's table now. Plenty of science and action - one of the best.