I can’t lie, I’ve been looking forward to this one for a long time. This is not because it’s Hartnell’s final story (what an unworthy thought) but because it’s our first ever Cyberman story. This is one I know I’ve seen (or at least the bits that exist) but I had it on VHS many years ago and I think it falls into the ranks of those that have succumbed to my very leaky garage and as a result there is very little I can remember about it.
We start off at the South Pole and (despite being told “we’re at the South Pole”) Ben and Polly go for a wander. What they expect to see, I’m not quite sure. However what they do see is the hilariously placed periscope attached to the underground military base. I’m genuinely not sure what this periscope was meant to achieve as I suspect the views of the South pole consist of snow and not much else. But hey ho, our heroes find their way into the base and face a rather understandable level of cynicism from the people they find therein.
The first episode doesn’t develop a huge amount but it does have a great cliffhanger as we get our first view of the Cybermen. They are, of course, utterly different to anything we see in nuWho (which are basically just robots) – these are augmented human, right down to the fact they have normal human hands. To me, this is how the Cybermen are supposed to be.
As episode 2 kicks off we see more of the Cybermen and get to find out more about them. The voice is tinny but completely eerie. It does take some getting used to but I adore the way they open their mouths and words come out without looking like actual speech. The backstory is dealt with quickly but well and I can understand why they were always going to be invited back…
For the avoidance of doubt, while I don’t like the treatment of some Cybermen characters over the years, their backstory has to be my favourite. Human beings who gradually augmented themselves with machinery and then extracted emotion from themselves. It has always resonated very strongly with me and I’ve always loved the changes in Cyber appearance over the years. While the Daleks have remained the same, the Cybermen have developed, bit by bit, as is realistic with their background.
As the story develops there are a few Cheddar Gorge sized plot holes - I don’t get how a single military installation has access to such a WMD, for instance – but the story trots along quite nicely.
Ben is basically a genius. Whenever a plan needs to be hatched, Ben is looking to hatch it. He’s hugely proactive and he’s pretty much the hero of this story.
It is a bit disappointing that there isn’t a huge amount of Hartnell in this story but in reality we know he was quite unwell, so it is understandable. That being said, as he stumbles out of the Cyber ship at the end and Ben declares “It’s all over” he does deliver what I think is a lovely line:
“It isn’t all over. It’s far from being all over… “
Then we get the famous first regeneration scene. Audiences at this stage would not have had the first clue what is going on and I quite like the way it is played out. The Doctor – who has been getting more and more doddery as the story progressed – collapses and his concerned friends surround him as his face melts away into that of Patrick Troughton.
I guess with hindsight, this story could have been better but the truth is I really like it. It has that base-under-siege feel to it and the Cybermen are fantastic. Some liberties are taken with the plot itself but all in all I love this and for it’s place in Who mythology I think it deserves an 8/10.
We start off at the South Pole and (despite being told “we’re at the South Pole”) Ben and Polly go for a wander. What they expect to see, I’m not quite sure. However what they do see is the hilariously placed periscope attached to the underground military base. I’m genuinely not sure what this periscope was meant to achieve as I suspect the views of the South pole consist of snow and not much else. But hey ho, our heroes find their way into the base and face a rather understandable level of cynicism from the people they find therein.
The first episode doesn’t develop a huge amount but it does have a great cliffhanger as we get our first view of the Cybermen. They are, of course, utterly different to anything we see in nuWho (which are basically just robots) – these are augmented human, right down to the fact they have normal human hands. To me, this is how the Cybermen are supposed to be.
As episode 2 kicks off we see more of the Cybermen and get to find out more about them. The voice is tinny but completely eerie. It does take some getting used to but I adore the way they open their mouths and words come out without looking like actual speech. The backstory is dealt with quickly but well and I can understand why they were always going to be invited back…
For the avoidance of doubt, while I don’t like the treatment of some Cybermen characters over the years, their backstory has to be my favourite. Human beings who gradually augmented themselves with machinery and then extracted emotion from themselves. It has always resonated very strongly with me and I’ve always loved the changes in Cyber appearance over the years. While the Daleks have remained the same, the Cybermen have developed, bit by bit, as is realistic with their background.
As the story develops there are a few Cheddar Gorge sized plot holes - I don’t get how a single military installation has access to such a WMD, for instance – but the story trots along quite nicely.
Ben is basically a genius. Whenever a plan needs to be hatched, Ben is looking to hatch it. He’s hugely proactive and he’s pretty much the hero of this story.
It is a bit disappointing that there isn’t a huge amount of Hartnell in this story but in reality we know he was quite unwell, so it is understandable. That being said, as he stumbles out of the Cyber ship at the end and Ben declares “It’s all over” he does deliver what I think is a lovely line:
“It isn’t all over. It’s far from being all over… “
Then we get the famous first regeneration scene. Audiences at this stage would not have had the first clue what is going on and I quite like the way it is played out. The Doctor – who has been getting more and more doddery as the story progressed – collapses and his concerned friends surround him as his face melts away into that of Patrick Troughton.
I guess with hindsight, this story could have been better but the truth is I really like it. It has that base-under-siege feel to it and the Cybermen are fantastic. Some liberties are taken with the plot itself but all in all I love this and for it’s place in Who mythology I think it deserves an 8/10.