The Tomb of the Cybermen: Episode 2 

The archaeologists learn they are stranded on Telos and Klieg suggests they use the opportunity to explore the Cybermen's tombs.

Director:

Morris Barry

Writers:

Kit Pedler (by), Gerry Davis (by)

Stars:

Patrick Troughton, Bernard Holley, Deborah Watling

Cast

Episode cast overview, first billed only:
Patrick Troughton	...	Dr. Who
Bernard Holley	...	Peter Haydon
Deborah Watling	...	Victoria
Frazer Hines	...	Jamie
Cyril Shaps	...	John Viner
Aubrey Richards	...	Professor Parry
George Pastell	...	Eric Klieg
Shirley Cooklin	...	Kaftan
Roy Stewart	...	Toberman
George Roubicek	...	Captain Hopper
Michael Kilgarriff	...	Cyberman Controller
Hans De Vries	...	Cyberman
Tony Harwood	...	Cyberman
John Hogan	...	Cyberman
Richard Kerley	...	Cyberman

Storyline

After the deaths, the expedition decide it is best to leave, only to find their ship has been disabled. Encouraged by Klieg the group finally gain access to the under city via the hatch dominating the control room In the city they find the cyber tombs. Klieg fired by ideological zeal begins to revive the cybermen in spite the protest of everyone else. Will the Doctor be able to stop the flood of cybermen pouring out from the now activated tombs, or will he be forced to join the ranks of the cybermen.

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Plot Keywords:

doctor who | second doctor | formerly lost film | cyberman | scottish accent | 

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Genres:

Adventure | Drama | Family | Sci-Fi

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Certificate:

TV-PG

Details

Country:

UK

Language:

English

Release Date:

9 September 1967 (UK)

Company Credits

Technical Specs

Runtime:

25 min

Sound Mix:

Mono

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.33 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

The first ever story to feature The Cyber Controller.

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Quotes

[first lines]
Dr. Who: Oh, Jamie don't touch that control!
Jamie: I already have. What's the matter, Doctor?
Dr. Who: Which one was it?
Jamie: Which one what?
Victoria: Aagh!
Jamie: What exactly happened here, Jamie? What did you do? What sequence did you use?
Jamie: Sequence? How do you mean? Oh, you mean these? I just pressed that button, and pulled this lever...

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Connections

Featured in Doctor Who Confidential: Episode #4.14 (2008)

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Soundtracks

Space Adventure
(uncredited)
Composed by Martin Slavin
Conducted by Norman Ramin

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!