The Tomb of the Cybermen: Episode 1 

The Doctor, Jamie and Victoria arrive on Telos, where an archaeological group are exploring the Tomb of the Cybermen. But are the Cybermen as dormant as they believe?

Director:

Morris Barry

Writers:

Kit Pedler (by), Gerry Davis (by)

Stars:

Patrick Troughton, Frazer Hines, Deborah Watling

Cast

Episode complete credited cast:
Patrick Troughton	...	Dr. Who
Frazer Hines	...	Jamie
Deborah Watling	...	Victoria
Roy Stewart	...	Toberman
Aubrey Richards	...	Professor Parry
Cyril Shaps	...	John Viner
Clive Merrison	...	Jim Callum
Shirley Cooklin	...	Kaftan
George Roubicek	...	Captain Hopper
George Pastell	...	Eric Klieg
Alan Johns	...	Ted Rogers
Bernard Holley	...	Peter Haydon
Ray Grover	...	Crewman

Storyline

The Doctor and his traveling companions, Jamie and Victoria, arrive on a planet where an archaeological expedition led by Professor Parry is searching for the home of the long-extinct Cybermen. Parry believes they have found the Cybermen's home, the city of Telos. The Doctor finds a way to get them inside the complex and the group splits up to explore what they've found. It's clear that at least one member of the party is up to no good. It all leads to death for one of them.

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Plot Keywords:

doctor who | season premiere | second doctor | formerly lost film | cyberman | 

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Genres:

Adventure | Drama | Family | Sci-Fi

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Certificate:

TV-PG

Details

Country:

UK

Language:

English

Release Date:

2 September 1967 (UK)

Company Credits

Technical Specs

Runtime:

24 min

Sound Mix:

Mono

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.33 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Desmond Llewelyn unsuccessfully sought the role of Professor Parry.

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Goofs

When the Doctor and Jamie try to pull open the entrance to the tomb, they both hold the door shut with their feet to give the impression that the door is stuck.

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Quotes

[first lines]
The Doctor: There we are. Well, what do you think?
Victoria: I don't know. I can't believe it. It's so big. Where are we?
The Doctor: Oh, it's the TARDIS. It's my home. At least it has been for a considerable number of years.
Victoria: What are all these knobs?
The Doctor: What, these?
Jamie: Instruments. These are for controlling our flight.
Victoria: Flight?
Jamie: Well, yes. You see, we travel around in here through time and space.
[Victoria laughs]
[...]

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Alternate Versions

Like most Doctor Who serials from the 1960s, only filmed copies survive, the original videotape broadcast versions long ago having been erased. For the 2002 DVD release, as an experiment, a 3-minute segment of this episode went through the vidFIRE process, which restored the original videotape look to the film. It is included as an Easter Egg on the DVD; all subsequent 1960s episode releases (when possible) were released vidFIRE-restored.

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Connections

Featured in The TV That Made Me: Rory McGrath (2015)

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Soundtracks

Palpitations
Written and Performed by John Scott as Johnny Scott and his Orchestra
Courtesy of Associated Production Music

User Reviews

Great entertaining adventure, superb start to a superb season.

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!