Will Brooks’ 50 Year Diary - watching Doctor Who one episode a day from the very start... 

Day 213: The Wheel in Space, Episode Three

Dear diary,

Stupidly, I'd forgotten that the start of today's episode would give us a chance to actually watch the cliffhanger for Episode Two - there I was pouring over the telesnaps! Yesterday, I praised the fact that we'd not had a full Cyberman reveal yet, but having actually watched the cliffhanger now, it's pretty clear just what is inside the eggs before it bursts out. To be honest, though, I think it works even better! It's still not quite a full reveal, but it's still very unusual - both for the series and for the Cybermen, and I think that the sheer oddity of the whole sequence would have kept talk in the playground rife all week long.

Now that the Cybermen have properly hatched (what? it's as good-a term as any!), we get to see plenty of them in today's episode: and don't they look fab? It's not a massive change in design to the one that we've been used to since The Moonbase, but it looks really effective here. We get a couple of shots with a pair of Cybermen sat facing their computer banks, and every time we cut back to it, I seem to find myself smiling. It just looks so good. Admittedly, it's not quite as effective once the shot starts to move in on one of the creatures, but it's not long before we're back to the better angle.

Director Tristan de Vere Cole didn't helm any other Doctor Who stories, so there's nothing else that we can compare him against, but based on his work here, I get the feeling that The Wheel in Space might have looked pretty good throughout. The standout moment in today's episode has to be the Doctor idly musing that while his memory has been lost, there's still something floating around at the back of his mind. 'Some warning,' he mumbles, 'some menace…'. The close up of his face then fades into that of a Cyberman accepting orders at the computer terminal - it's simple but very effective, and not something that we often get in the series.

It's not just a pair of silver giants turning up for the action today, though. They've brought the Cybermats back with them, and I'm still finding myself utterly entranced by them. As I said during The Tomb of the Cybermen, I've always somewhat written off the Cybermats as being a bit rubbish, but they're actually a pretty effective 'monster'. There's a shot late in this episode where four of the creatures surround a man, all advancing on him as their tails wag… and it looks really good! I'd not go so far as to say that it was scary, but it's certainly a great moment in the story, and does help to up the creatures in my estimations.

We've also got the first appearance in the series of the Cyberplanner, although it's not described as such. It looks pretty effective when it appears full-screen against a black background, issuing orders to the more conventional Cybermen. Also - it has a voice I can understand. I don't know if it's just me being out of practice with the Cybermen (it's been a little while since they last turned up - certainly it's the longest stretch we've had without them since they first appeared), but when they started giving out instructions to the two crew members during the episode's cliffhanger, I didn't have a clue what was going on.

The Cybermen aren't the only cold, emotionless, logical creatures to play a big part in this story - we've still got Zoe hanging around on the Wheel. I have to admit that I am warming to her today, but much of that seems to be the rather sweet way that she doesn't realise the Doctor and Jamie gently teasing her. Maybe it's simply that she's got a pretty thick skin: some of the comments made about her earlier in the episode (directly to her face) would certainly be constituted as workplace bullying. Just some of the ways she's described today are 'all brain and no heart', 'just like a robot', and 'a proper little brainchild'. Compared to this, Jamie's tease that she's 'a right wee space detective' seems quite innocent (although it has led to the theme song from Captain Zep, Space Detective playing round in my head on a loop ever since).

While the Doctor seems initially hostile towards Zoe, he soon warms to her. I think he's sizing her up as a possible replacement for Victoria - letting her work out the answers for herself wherever possible and leading her in the right direction by suggesting that there may be more to the solution than simply analysing the facts. This episode is home to another of Troughton's famous lines - his 'logic' speech to Zoe. I think Jamie is starting to come around to the idea of her, too, as he seems to be thawing out a little as the episode goes on.

It's nice to see that - even with the Doctor now awake - Jamie is given plenty to do in this story. He's mistaken as being a saboteur when he vandalises the Wheel's laser (admittedly, it doesn't look great when someone walks in on you purposely putting your only form of defence out of order!), and he's quick to help the Doctor along with his investigations, which are all conducted from his hospital bed. I think we're starting to see the early stages of the team most people declare to be the 'best' of the Troughton line-ups, and it's nice to think that we're headed in the right direction…

a 

Will Brooks’ 50 Year Diary - watching Doctor Who one episode a day from the very start... 

Day 212: The Wheel in Space, Episode Two

Dear diary,

Something that I’ve seen complained about quite a lot in relation to The Wheel in Space is the idea that the Cybermen in the story are ‘hatched from eggs’. Admittedly, it’s a pretty fair description of what happens in the closing moments of this episode, but what the complaints fail to mention is just how effective it is as a cliffhanger.

Over the last two episodes, we’ve seen several of these eggs (the narration calls them ‘spheres’, but ‘egg’ just sounds better) float across the void of space and attach themselves to the side of the Wheel. We’ve watched the crew try to piece together all the various odd things that are happening to their systems, while we know that it’s being caused by the presence of these eggs. Now we find out that they’re not just some odd space phenomena – they’ve got Cybermen inside them!

Even more effective is that the cliffhanger still isn’t your run-of-the-mill ‘Cyberman bursts through a doorway!’, or ‘The Doctor and his companions turn around to see… a Cyberman!’. It’s left to you to recognise the fist of a Cyberman sticking out from the recently powered-up egg (there’s a sentence you don’t write every day), and then we’ll get the full reveal – I’d imagine – in the next episode. It’s nice, because it’s allowing the threat to build, and I’m less concerned about them spending the entire story stood around looking menacing, which is what I’d been expecting.

I think it’s always a good testament to the quality of a particular episode if you can remove the Doctor from the action (Patrick Troughton doesn’t appear at all in today’s instalment, and the unconscious Doctor is played by a stand-in) and still remain just as interested n the events unfolding on screen. Jamie is left to carry much of the action, heading out to explore the Wheel in the company of our new companion, Zoe. It’s interesting how much of a contrast they’re going for with Zoe, swapping out Victorian companion for a girl from the near-future, with an intellect that could square up to that of the Doctor.

What’s odd is that I don’t especially like Zoe, yet, and I’m not all that sure that you’re supposed to. She’s presented as treating things in a cool, logical manner and not really showing a great deal of personality. When asked to covertly keep an eye on Jamie as she gives him the grand tour, she declares that it could be ‘interesting’ as a project, and when another crew-member expresses fascination at the fact that some of the plant on the Wheel have travelled all the way from Venus, she chimes in to give the exact distance in several different measurements. I think Jamie sums it up best when he dryly responds: ‘Oh. I was dying to know that…’

The entire location of the Wheel feels very fleshed out – certainly more so than that of some other bases we’ve seen throughout this season. Yesterday i complained that none of the crew really stood out of the crowd for me, but today you get the impression of a history to these characters and a string of previous interactions in both their professional and private lives. This feels like a very real world, and I think that’s what’s drawing me in and keeping me interested. There’s discussion of people back on Earth who feel that the space programme should be suspended (although no further context is given) and they spot something is amiss with Jamie because he leaves his water – something that’s in short supply out in space. It all helps to make it feel like the TARDIS has landed our heroes into a place that’s been going for some time, and you get the impression that it’ll keep on going, long after they’ve left (assuming the Cybermen don’t totally wipe them out, that is).

Today’s entry can’t go by without mentioning two new naming additions to the series. Firstly, Jamie is given a middle name – Robert – when he identifies himself to Gemma. Secondly, and probably more importantly from the point of view of the series as whole, we get the first instance of the Doctor being given the alias ‘John Smith’. It’s a name Jamie takes from the side of some medical equipment, and it’s not fooling anyone from the start, but it’s a name that’s going to stick, and is still in use right up to the current series.

I’m almost sorry that we’re likely to move into a regular ‘base-under-siege’ tale from now on, in which the Cybermen attack the Wheel, as I’m enjoying all the build up. I’m hoping that the rich background that’s being painted here is going to hold firm throughout the rest of the story, as it would be lovely to see Season Five (and the format of Season Five) going out on a high. It’s certainly a good strong start…

a 

Will Brooks’ 50 Year Diary - watching Doctor Who one episode a day from the very start... 

Day 211: The Wheel in Space, Episode One

Dear diary,

I’ve always thought that had I been both a fan of Doctor Who and working in a high position on the programme during the original run, I’d have spent half my time renting out viewing rooms in TV Centre and watching all the old episodes on a loop. Well, until they destroy them all, anyway. It seems I’m not the only one to have such a mindset, though, because David Whittaker has obviously written today’s episode fresh from a viewing of The Dead Planet, Episode One of The Daleks.

The whole episode is filled with elements that make up the first 25 minutes of that Dalek tale – there’s something wrong with the TARDIS’ fluid link (though, this time, there really is something wrong – the Doctor’s not just making it up), and the ship is unable to leave this strange, seemingly dead location until they can find some more mercury to get things working again. When the ship first starts to go wrong, the Doctor instructs Jamie to check the ‘fault indicator’, which is clearly a component of the earlier fault locator, if not the same device entirely. He describes it as being ‘over there on the left’, which you could interpret as Jamie being sent off to the same room that featured in several of the early Hartnell adventures.

We’ve even got a scene in which Jamie is bamboozled by a ‘futuristic’ food machine, which splits out his desired meal in the form of a small cube. The scene plays almost identically to the one in The Dead Planet, and I’d not be surprised to hear Ian make the same ‘I’ve heard of a square meal’ joke as Jamie does here (though he didn’t at the time).

Perhaps the biggest thing that makes this feel like the earlier adventure, though, is just how long we spend in the company of just the Doctor and Jamie. Oh, sure, there’s a Servo Robot waddling around in the background, but really our only focus for at least the first fifteen minutes of the story is our two regulars. We get a recap of Victoria’s departure, and on this occasion they mention the TARDIS’ unusual take off at the end of the previous story – it was omitted from the end of the Fury From the Deep narration (possibly to let the story go out with the emotion of Victoria’s departure) – and then we’re into that old classic of the Doctor and his companion exploring their new surroundings without encountering any of the guest cast.

It’s almost becoming a tradition now that the Doctor and Jamie get an episode to themselves before they encounter their next companion, but it’s another one of those great opportunities to see the pair shine together on screen. It gives the pair a chance to breathe, and makes Victoria’s departure from the programme all the more poignant. It’s not simply a case of one out, one in, but rather a bit of a break before they meet someone else that they’d enjoy spending their time with. The only problem this gives me is that I’d love a full story of just the Doctor and Jamie from start to finish, and you’d think that this would be the time to have one – fresh from their loss but not quite ready yet to make a new friend.

When the guest cast does finally arrive on the scene, the narration gives us a full run down of every member we see, and I have to confess that I rather lost track of them all by the end. I’m sure they’ll each develop their own distinct personalities before the end of the story, but for now I’m just labelling them ‘generic base crew’. It’s a slow start to the new story, but I’m cautiously optimistic. If nothing else, it’s nice to see that the Cybermen haven’t been introduced as the end-of-episode cliffhanger, but we’re left guessing for that little bit longer. In contrast to Fury From the Deep, this feels fresh and different, and that can only be a good thing.

a 

Will Brooks’ 50 Year Diary - watching Doctor Who one episode a day from the very start... 

Day 180: The Tomb of the Cybermen, Episode Four

Dear diary,

It seems strange, standing at this end of the story and looking back, that I ever considered it may not hold up. I’d worried that having found a fondness for other stories which I’d never really considered before, The Tomb of the Cybermen - ostensibly my ‘favourite’ Doctor Who tale - and suddenly find it underwhelming. Almost ten years of it being my favourite could be washed away in these four days.

What’s actually happened is quite the opposite – I’ve completely rediscovered my love for the story as though seeing it again for the very first time. It possibly helps that this is the first time since The War Machines, way back at the end of Season Three, that I’ve actually had a full story to watch. It could help that I’m already looking more favourably on this one than some of the stories I’ve never seen but haven’t heard great things about. Or it could be that, quite simply, The Tomb of the Cybermen is one of the all-time greats. Certainly, I’ve met a number of people over the years who have either cited it as their favourite, too, or at least considered that it’s a good contender for a favourite story to have.

Right the way through, I’ve been pleasantly surprised by just how much I’ve been loving this one – by the time Episode One had finished, any worries I had were gone, and I was left just enjoying things. Each episode has given me something new to love, and the fourth is no exception to this – I’d always thought of Toberman’s partial-conversion into Cyberman as having no real merit, but it works really well and is key to the story. His fight with the Cybercontroller here is much better than any of the fights in the last episode, and the final shot of him, staring down against the Controller as they each push on opposite sides of the door is fantastic. Are they just planning to leave the body there, though? I realise it must be a pretty long trip back to Earth, but surely they must be able to take him home? At least throw a sheet over the corpse or something!

I’ve focussed so much in this story on the developing relationship between the Doctor and Victoria (though it feels like they’ve been travelling for a while now. The About Time series speculates that there could be unseen adventures between her entrance to the TARDIS in Episode One and the arrival on Telos – and there’s plenty in the story which I think can support that), but I’ve barely mentioned Jamie’s role in events.

It’s far from being a secret that I love the pairing of the Doctor and his Highland friend, and there’s so much of a spark between them in this story that I can’t let it pass without mention. The ‘hand holding’ in Episode One is always singled out for praise, but brilliant as it is, there’s a number of other moments in The Tomb of the Cybermen that I think showcase the pair better. Episode Three sees the Doctor making a pun about the Cybermat’s metal brains being overloaded (‘You could say they’ve had a total metal breakdown’) and Jamie's reaction to his terrible pun. Today we get Jamie tying the door of the revitaliser machine, before the Cybercontroller breaks through the door (‘Jamie, remind me to give you a lesson in tying knots sometimes…’), and his realisation of what’s happened to Toberman: the boy is learning from his travels.

Something that often gets talked about in this story is the death of a Cyberman here, where the chest unit bubbles as foam rises up and overflows. It’s cited as an example of Doctor Who going too far and being too violent, and I can almost see that. It’s certainly more horrific than we might usually get at this time. For me, though, what made it scary was the way the Cyberman grabs at his chest throughout, almost as though trying to force his circuitry back inside. That’s the really gruesome part, but it works. Equally, there’s a scene where Jamie fires a gun point blank into a Cyberman’s face as it climbs from the hatch. Smoke comes pouring out of the mouth as it stumbles back down into the tomb. It’s a striking image.

For a long, long time, The Tomb of the Cybermen was the fabled ‘Holy Grail’ of missing Doctor Who tales, and the general consensus is that when it showed up in 1992, it wasn’t as good as everyone hoped it might be. For me, though, it’s damn near perfect, and I’m pleased to say that it’s still coming out top for me.

I’m hoping that it might be a good sign – I’ve been slightly dreading Season Five. It’s mostly missing, and it relies heavily on the Base-Under-Siege and Monster-of-the-Week formats, I’d been fearing that I might find it repetitive. Hopefully, though, if things continue to live up to the quality of The Tomb of the Cybermen, we could be on to a real winner…

a 

Will Brooks’ 50 Year Diary - watching Doctor Who one episode a day from the very start... 

Day 179: The Tomb of the Cybermen, Episode Three

Dear diary,

Simply because The Tomb of the Cybermen was my first exposure to the creatures, I’ve always thought of these as being the ‘default’ model. It’s this design that I think of when people talk about Cybermen, and the style of speaking here is the one I most readily associate with them, too. It’s pleasing, then, to be enjoying them so much again now. There’s something about the voices especially that really is creepier than we’ve had before (as much as I loved the ones in The Tenth Planet), and it helps that some of their dialogue is so blunt.

Yesterday’s episode ends with the Cybercontroller telling the archaeological party ‘You belong to us. You will be like us’, and there’s a moment here when Jamie tells a Cyberman that he’s a human – he’s not the same as them, and the reply is simply ‘You will be’. The idea of being converted into a Cyberman has been present ever since their first appearance, but this is the first time it’s really being played as a threat. In The Tenth Planet, it’s almost an offer, but here it’s a terrifying experience, and something that you really don’t want to happen. In promoting Nightmare in Silver, Neil Gaiman commented that he’d been watching the 1960s stories and wanted to make the Cybermen scary again – it’s hard not to see what he means about the terror.

This episode, perhaps more than any we’ve had for a while, relies on a number of big special effects. I remember back during The Ark, I commented that the effects were just being dropped in easily, wheres before they’d have been the showpiece for the entire 25 minutes. Here, they’re just part of the routine, and the programme thinks nothing of showing the effect of a Cyber-gun against a wall (the awesome power of which lends weight to the cliff-hanger, when the same gun is fired in the Doctor’s direction).

Perhaps the biggest effects surprise for me, though, is the Cybermats. I have to admit, as much as I love The Tomb of the Cybermen, I’ve never been all that fond of the Cybermen’s pets. I’ve seen this story several times over the years, but in mind mind the Cybermats didn’t work and looked rubbish… but they’re great! I’d not remembered that the tails wag, which really helps to sell the effect, and I was surprised just how similar this version is to the ones who appear in Closing Time - I’d not seen this story since that one aired.

Just because I love the story doesn’t mean I’m completely blind to some of its faults, though. While there’s plenty of great effects in here, and the Cybermen get used in a way that makes them look great (there’s a show of one trying to hold the hatch to their tomb open, and you really get a sense of the strength involved), I’m willing to admit that it doesn’t all work. Just like the previous two episode of this story, I’ve written absolutely loads of notes, but this time around there are several about things that aren’t great.

There’s a fight early on between the archaeologists and the Cybermen which becomes a bit of a muddle, and it’s home to the shot of Toberman being hurled through the air by a Cyberman. It’s a lovely idea, but sadly the kirby wires are just far too visible, which somewhat lessens the effect. Similarly, a later shot of the Cybermen stumbling around in the aftermath of some smoke bombs doesn’t look all that spectacular.

All of that can be forgotten, though, because this episode is home to one of my favourite scenes in all of Doctor Who, when the Doctor and Victoria share a conversation in the dead of night, as everyone sleeps huddled in corners of the tomb’s lobby. I think it’s fair to say that I’ve not been all that impressed with Victoria so far on the whole, but these few minutes, shot in close-ups of Patrick Troughton and Deborah Watling as they just get the chance to act together really sells me on her. It’s a beautiful moment, and another one of those scenes that shows emotion didn’t creep in with the advent of 21st century Doctor Who.

I hate quoting long passages from the episode when I’m writing about them, but the Doctor’s words about remembering his lost family are so emotive, that I just have to post them again here;

Oh yes, I can when I want to. And that's the point, really.
I have to really want to, to bring them back in front of my eyes. The
rest of the time they… they sleep in my mind and I forget. And so will
you. Oh yes, you will. You'll find there's so much else to think about.
To remember. Our lives are different to anybody else's. That's the
exciting thing, that nobody in the universe can do what we're doing.

I’d not be surprised if that’s another one of those moments that really sold me on the idea of Patrick Troughton as being the Doctor – it’s simply wonderful

a 

Will Brooks’ 50 Year Diary - watching Doctor Who one episode a day from the very start... 

Day 178: The Tomb of the Cybermen, Episode Two

Dear diary,

I can distinctly recall purchasing The Tomb of the Cybermen on DVD for the very first time. I'd been something of a Doctor Who fan since the autumn of 2003, but only dipping in and out, picking up one or two titles on VHS from the library as and when I felt compelled to. Then, one day in the summer of 2004, in what was then the BBC Shop in Norwich, I purchased my first two Doctor Who DVDs. There was this one, and Resurrection of the Daleks. None of the stories I'd rented had featured either of the programme's top two monsters, so I thought that it would be a pretty good place to start.

And you know what? I loved them. I'm sure I'll talk more about Resurrection next year sometime, when we reach the right placement for the tale, but I can recall just being blown away by Tomb, right from the off.

Looking at this episode today, and viewing it for the first time in the context of all the stories that have gone before it, I don't think it's impossible to see just why this one is so loved by fans. In several ways, it's the perfect representation of the Second Doctor's era, and I think it's fair to say that Troughton is on the absolute top of his game. Everything his Doctor does so well is showcased in these 24 minutes, from letting slip that he knows more than people realise ('Your colleague has very strong hands,' he tells Kaftan, shortly after they discover that the fuel pumps on the rocket have been tampered with. He continues: 'Enough to do a great deal of damage if let loose in the wrong place…'), to subtly controlling the room (switching levers to make sure that the hatch to the tomb will open), and making quips when the bad guys get it wrong.

There's something about his look here, too - the way his hair sits, and the way his costume looks underneath his recently-added cape - that just screams 'Second Doctor' to me. The Tomb of the Cybermen was recorded at the very end of Doctor Who's fourth production block, and it's clear that by this stage, both Troughton and the programme makers have settled on exactly what this new version of the character should be. Placed in the surroundings of such a fantastic story, it's no wonder that I took the Second Doctor to heart and made him my favourite.

That said, you do have to wonder why the Doctor does some of the things that he does in this story. During The Evil of the Daleks, I mentioned that we were seeing the first real attempts of the Doctor to manipulate the people around him (the First Doctor did this too, especially in the early days, but this is the first time we see him doing it with just the right word or action here or there, as opposed to actively misleading people into doing what he wants, as we see in stories like The Daleks), and he seems to be doing the same kind of thing here… but then almost instantly wishing that he hadn't.

In yesterday's episode, he discovers that the Cybermen are buried somewhere inside this cliff-face, and that the archaeological team can't get the door open… so he shows them how to get in. They then can't figure out how to get the machinery working… so he gives them the answer, before adding that they really shouldn't. Today, he helps them open the hatch, before spending plenty of time talking about it being a bad idea, and hoping that nothing will go wrong. Is he just a bit confused? Maybe it's the low temperatures?

It's good to see Victoria being given a bit more of a personality here, too. There's a moment early on when the Cybermen's gun trap fires and she lets out a little scream, but after that she's a much more assertive person than we've seen before. When the professor advises the women to stay behind, she actively tells him that she's coming along wether he likes it or not, and she's not afraid to step in and deal with Kaftan once the Doctor has highlighted her as a threat, even going as far as to hold the woman at gunpoint. This is much more like it, and I think I can go along with a version of Victoria that behaves more like this.

Elsewhere, I feel as though I need to praise the set design a little bit more today. The design of the tombs is simply stunning, and one of my favourite sets from Doctor Who's long history. You should have heard my cry of joy when the design cropped up again for Nightmare in Silver a couple of months ago. Everything about the tomb itself, especially the scale - which I think is best captured by an on-set photograph of director Morris Barry stood in front of the construction - is simply gorgeous, and I love it.

Back in 2005, with the programme back on TV and my friends suddenly deciding to take an interest, they asked to watch one of the old ones so they could see what it was like. Of course I plumped for showing them this! It’s my favourite story. Having sat through half the first episode with one friend complaining about the lack of colour (I shouldn't have been surprised - a few years earlier he'd walked out of a cinema screening of Van Helsing, because the first few minutes are black and white) and the other about the slow pace, I skipped ahead to show them the final few scenes of this episode, with the Cybermen being unfrozen from their winter sleep.

And they couldn't stop laughing. They thought it was hilarious. I was mortified - one of my favourite moments of Doctor Who and my friends couldn't stop talking about how rubbish it looked. I've always secretly thought that they were wrong (I say secretly, I tell them they're wrong, every time I visit home), but you know what? Watching it again now in the context of all these other episodes? I know they're wrong! Because it does look bloody fantastic!

The ice 'melting' from the tomb, the blurry shapes moving around inside before splitting open the casing and climbing down the ladders at the sides… it is a great moment, and it's an example of the show pulling off an effect pretty well. I'll admit, I don't like the way they start to break out of the tomb, and then are instantly frozen again (complete with a thick layer of ice - get your money's worth from the visual effects department) only to re-emerge, but everything else here is great. There's not all that many Cybermen, but when they're swarming around the cave it looks like masses of them. It's a great bit of directing from Barry.

Although, I will concede that the About Time book for this era is right - it would seem that the Cybercontroller has spent the last five centuries squatting in a cupboard. Ah.

Will Brooks’ 50 Year Diary - watching Doctor Who one episode a day from the very start... 

Day 177: The Tomb of the Cybermen, Episode One

Dear diary,

This is it! This is the big one! For the best part of the last decade, I've always cited The Tomb of the Cybermen as being my absolute favourite TV Doctor Who story. I credit this serial with making the Cybermen my favourite monsters, and Patrick Troughton my favourite Doctor. It's almost the template I have in mind for what Doctor Who is supposed to be. The bad thing about all this is that I've been dreading hitting it in The 50 Year Diary. It's always been my favourite when I'm comparing it to odd stories here and there, but how's it going to stand up in context? What am I going to make of it, now that I've discovered other gems like The War Machines and The Macra Terror? Essentially, is The Tomb of the Cybermen going to turn out to be really a little bit rubbish?

Thankfully, the answer to that question is no. Of course it's not going to all fall apart now that I've watched 160-something other episodes that immediately preceded it. The Tomb of the Cybermen is my favourite story for a reason, and it's holding its own very nicely here. You'll forgive me if I'm a little more forgiving of the story than I might otherwise be, but there's not an awful lot that needs to be overlooked - the full-body versions of the Cyberman image don't look half as good as the head-and-shoulders version that we're all far more familiar with, it's true, and it seems silly that there's a table and chairs waiting handily in the lobby to their tomb, yes. But you know what? Everything else here is fantastic, so I don't care!

I think it's probably telling that I've written more notes about this episode than I think I have about any other in the marathon so far. I usually get about six episodes on a single sheet of paper, but I've used a side and a half for this one. There's just so much that I wanted to note down, and so much that I could talk about that it felt silly not to. It probably helps that this is the first full Troughton story that I'll be able to watch (indeed, it's the only full Troughton story from his first two seasons in the role), which means that there's little visual things I can pick up on more than I've been able to lately.

So where to start? The introduction of a new companion has often been used as a way to reintroduce the concept of Doctor Who to an audience who may be joining for the first time, and it's strange to note that this is the first time that the re-establishment happens in the first story of the season - we pan into the image of the Police Box, and then cut to inside (the first time we've seen it since The Moonbase, which feels like an absolute age ago), where the Doctor explains that it's his home, and has been for some time. Victoria is then introduced to the concept of time travel, and the idea that they can travel anywhere in time and space. The aspect of not being able to control where they go gets glossed over on this occasion, though Jamie does ask the Doctor for a smooth landing.

It's another one of those moments that shows how much the Doctor and Jamie have become best friends since they first met, and even aside from the argument they had during the last story, they really are becoming inseparable. There's little wonder that they travel together until someone else forces them apart - I imagine the pair would still be out there somewhere if they could be. Troughton and Hines simply bounce from each other, from the way the hold hands (and then quickly stop) as they enter the tomb, to the Doctor's tease that the Highlander's skirt is a bit short. It makes this phase of the programme so much fun, and I really can't get enough of the pair.

Victoria, it has to be said, still isn't really giving me much to love, though. Deborah Watling is doing a good job, and again it has to be said how beautiful she looks as she stands in the TARDIS at the beginning, but the character is a bit of a generic Doctor Who girl. She wanders into the Cybermen's 'revitalising' machine, where the bad guy locks her in, and then she's flustered when she gets out. There's a moan to the Doctor about wanting to just leave, and a constant feeling of unease. I get that it's her very first TARDIS trip, but this is the side of the character we saw plenty of in The Evil of the Daleks, and the fact that I can't remember much about what else she does in my favourite story probably speaks absolute volumes.

Although I've only got tele-snaps to compare it to for the most part of the last season, this story seems to be set on a far vaster scale than I'm used to from the series. I seem to find myself saying this a lot every time we get to a surviving episode (it was true of The War Machines, and The Faceless Ones, and the tele-snaps for The Smugglers made it look pretty large scale, too), but we really are on a new level here. There's a shot early on as we look down past Toberman's legs to the rest of the archeological expedition below, and it makes the place look so grand that it almost throws you. It does have to be said that I'm not sure it always works as an alien world (there's another shot which makes it look like a group of people inappropriately dressed for a day that the beach), but it sets the story apart and really gives the start of the new season a glossy feel.

I could just go on and on about this episode and all the things that are right with it, but I'd start to bore you before too long, and there's another three episodes to fill with praise yet, so I think I'll call it a day here. Suffice to say that my favourite story hasn't let me down, and I'm tremendously pleased by that.

They’re back! Actor David Banks, known for his portrayal of the CyberLeader in the Classic Series of Doctor Who, presents The ArcHive Tapes: Cybermen - an audio book series originally released in 4 parts in 1989.

This new 4 CD set is a high definition re-mastering of that audiobook series, the hypothesised history of the Cyber Race, written, narrated and entirely reconstructed by the CyberLeader himself.

A gripping retelling of their origins and history, fully dramatised with vivid effects, and original music heard here for the first time, it includes exclusive video interviews with Andrew Skilleter and David Banks.

Just when you thought the Cybermen would never return, here they are again – large as life and ten times as scary! The ArcHive Tapes: Cybermen. This is one small purchase for a human, one huge cyber leap for humankind.

View the YouTube Trailer below:

[youtube:dB_rAFf4JT8]

+  Available on CD at: www.thearchivetapescybermen.com

+  Available on iTunes here.

[Sources: Explore Multimedia]

Will Brooks’ 50 Year Diary - watching Doctor Who one episode a day from the very start... 

Day 159: The Moonbase, Episode Four

Dear diary,

I didn't notice it during Episode Two (possibly because we spent a lot more time in the medical wing), but the set of the Moonbase itself is huge! There's a shot early on, where the Doctor and Hobson walk from a telescope across to a section of controls, and they're walking for ages. Several other shots focus on people in the foreground, with others getting on with work elsewhere (it's usually the Doctor, watching through the telescope) in the back of the shot. It's not often in Doctor Who at this stage that you get sets on a scale like this, so it adds something really different to the story.

It's also nice to see close ups being used here to great effect, much as they were in Episode Two. Once again, we get a great close up of Pat Troughton as he delivers the end of a speech, and it really does help to sell the danger that they're all in. Again, it's an unusual look to a Who story, so it's fantastic to see. Hopefully, when the story sees its release on DVD later in the year, with the two missing episodes animated, they'll be keeping to this style - it really is better than average.

The close ups are also used brilliantly when we're with the Cybermen in their ship - which has a great design, by the way! The hexagons are beautiful, and the weird light-effect pattern being used as a screen is psychedelic. Very 1960s! - and they're framed at slightly odd angles, not usually face-on to one of the creatures. I think it makes the Cybermen costumes look better than they otherwise might, as it has to be said that the more this story goes on, the less keen I am on this design. It's very nice and all, it just looks a bit… tatty.

They're at their best in the first few minutes, and the recap from yesterday's episode as they slowly advance across the surface of the Moon. The shot of their feet marching along is stunning - one of the best we've ever had - and having the title come up over it looks fab, too. It helps that there's loads of Cybermen, so it seems like those feet are coming towards you for ages.

It has to be said that they also look pretty good when being lifted off into space. I mused during Episode One that it was perhaps thankful that it was missing from the archives, so we could imagine the shots of the Doctor, Ben, Polly, and Jamie larking about in zero-gravity looking as good as we wanted… but actually, it's pulled off really well here, with the Cybermen! It does help that the black sky gives more of a chance to hide the wires, but it looks great all the same. It's also a nice touch that they're not just whisked off into the air, but they start to lift a little first, before being swept away. A little thing, but it really helps the moment.

And then, as soon as the Cyber-menace is defeated, the Doctor and his friends slip away before too many questions can be asked. It's something that's become a staple of the series by now, even though it's crept in as a relatively recent thing. Hobsons' comment that it's probably for the best, since there's enough madmen in the base anyway is great, and sums up Troughton's Doctor perfectly. He really is the first 'madman with a box'.

I'm tempted to turn on my own Time Scanner now, and see if I'll enjoy tomorrow's episode or not, but I don't know, since The Macra Terror is another of those stories from this era that I know little about. It’s got giant crabs in it. That's about all I can tell you. I do know, however, that the idea of the Time Scanner is a bizarre one - something that perhaps feels more at home in the TV Comic stories than it does on screen. I don't dislike it, per say, but it does feel a bit out of place…

8/10 

Will Brooks’ 50 Year Diary - watching Doctor Who one episode a day from the very start... 

Day 158: The Moonbase, Episode Three

Dear diary,

There's a moment in this episode, when Hobson comments that if they can't get the Gravitron back under control quickly, then the weather on Earth will be all over the place. I couldn't help but sympathise with that, as I listened to this episode on a walk home in the pouring rain. Does anyone know who I need to email if I want them to change the settings on their weather plans a little, and bring back the sunnier weather?

On the plus side, the darkening sky and downpour of rain really did help to amp up the atmosphere in this episode. Instantly, I realised why I'd always thought of myself as being such a fan of these Cybermen (and the ones in the next couple of Cyber-stories): they have such creepy voices! There's a real metallic drone to everything they say, and it really works. Even when they Cyberman is mocking the crew of the Moonbase ('Clever. Clever. Clever…'), there's something quite unnerving about the tone.

And these Cybermen are cruel. The ones in The Tenth Planet were pretty heartless, to be fair, wanting to suck Earth's power and then convert its inhabitants to Cybermen to ensure their survival, but the ones we're presented with here are really cruel. I'm thinking, specifically, of the moment when a Cyberman is told that humans can't be sent into the chamber, because they'll lose their minds. They Cyberman assertions how long they'd have before going insane, and then declares that it's longer than they're needed for, so it's no matter.

People often ask me why I prefer the Cybermen to the Daleks, and I think that just about sums it up. Daleks have no care for your life, they'll just kill you. Cybermen will get what they need from you first, and then if they don't kill you, they'll remove all your humanity and then shove you in a tin shell. Lovely.

It has to be said that the Doctor doesn't really do a whole lot in this episode. For the first fifteen minutes or so, he mostly sneaks around, playing with the various sonic controls When you take this and also think of his attempt to break a sonic lock with his recorder during The Power of the Daleks, you have to wonder if he's started to think about creating a Sonic Screwdriver yet. It turns up at the tail end of next season, and this almost feels like the early stages of its invention. I know it's not - they didn't plan things like that so far in advance in 1967 - but it's a nice little happenstance.

The benefit of the Doctor being taken out of the action a little is that it gives his companions a chance to shine. With the room to breathe, Jamie is allowed to wake up and take some screen time alongside Ben and Polly. It's great to see more being made of his 'companion from the past' status here again (Ben and Polly discuss the idea of using radiation to beat the Cybermen, before Jamie chimes in and announces that in his day, they used to throw Holy Water on witches… and that's what leads them to a solution!), and being given more of a chance to stand out.

Perhaps most interesting is the slight rivalry between Jamie and Ben when it comes to their fellow TARDIS traveller. It's very different to see two companions falling out like this, almost puffing out their chest to state their superiority, and I'm hoping that we see a bit more of it as we move forward. Certainly, it helps to remind us that Ben is a 1960s Cockney lad, and Michael Craze plays the scene beautifully. It also gives Jamie a great chance to show us that he's capable of standing up for himself, too.

Even Polly gets a chance to be important again, today. Following on from Jamie's suggestion of using Holy Water, it's Polly who comes up with the solution of disintegrating the Cybermen's chest units, with a number of different cleaning fluids. Ben even christens the concoction 'Polly Cocktail'!

This is more The Moonbase that I remember from my first viewing years and years ago. Full of suspense, with the Cybermen being devious and harsh, and the Doctor accompanied by a brilliant group of companions. The more I watch, the more I come to the conclusion that Season Four really is my season of Doctor Who - I'm loving it!

8/10 

Will Brooks’ 50 Year Diary - watching Doctor Who one episode a day from the very start... 

Day 157: The Moonbase, Episode Two

Dear diary,

Because I listened to the soundtrack for yesterday’s episode, I didn’t get to see the cliffhanger in any way. It gets repeated at the start of this episode, and I couldn’t help but wonder… how obvious was it to kids watching at the time that these were Cybermen? I mean, there are similarities between this and The Tenth Planet’s design - the handlebar motif, mainly, and the eyes are similar enough, but was it a case of them being instantly recognisable?

I always used to think of the Cyber-designs from The Moonbase as being one of my favourites, but actually, I’m not so sure of that now. Having fallen so in love with the design on display a few weeks back, these just don’t pack the same punch. The moment that really convinced me of that was a shot of a Cyberman stood at the foot of Jamie’s bed.

The entire moment is played to shock you, as Polly turns around to see it, the camera pulling round to show us what she’s looking at. It works very well, but just imagine the shock of the reveal being one of the Tenth Planet models stood there, with a blank cotton-covered face! That would have a real impact.

I don’t think the design is helped by having them do things hat really aren’t flattering. There’s a great scene of the Cyberman breaking into the base via a hole in the store-room wall, as it pushes its way through, sending bags of food tumbling… and then we get to watch for a few seconds as the Cyberman stops and starts piling them back up again. It’s not exactly the most thrilling thing they’ve ever had to do. Or there’s the cliffhanger, which revolves around the Doctor finding another of the Cybermen taking a little nap under a blanket in the medical wing. That’s not their greatest moment, either.

It’s a shame, in some ways, because when they are being used well, they’re being used really well. The shot of them killing two of the crew on the surface of the Moon (and the subsequent shot of the two empty suits laying on the ground) is fantastic, and they do look quite imposing when they take the crew members from the medical ward. Hopefully, now that they’re on display to Hobson, we’ll be getting more Cyber-action that shows them in the best light.

All that said… I love their plan. Poisoning the sugar supply. I really wish that I didn’t know that was coming, since it’s a great reveal and a very clever idea. After all these years, that’s the one plot point that I’ve always remembered from The Moonbase. It helped by a fantastic special effect of the infection taking hold, spreading black lines across a hand. It’s an example of the programme trying a special effect and getting it so, so, right.

This is where, lately, I’ve been telling you that I’m not going to bother praising Troughton. Today, though, I think I need to make an exception. His ‘some corners of the universe’ speech is one of the best known moments of his entire era (it’s Troughton’s equivalent of the ‘one day, I shall come back’ moment), and it really is brilliant. It’s possibly the bit of Troughton that I find myself quoting the most (with the right initiation of ‘they must be fought!’), but even I’d forgotten just how great it was.

It also marks another key point in that journey that I was tracing for the First Doctor, in regards to becoming the man that we know and love today. With occasional backtracks, the Hartnell incarnation was pretty much at this point by the time we reached the end of Season Two. This is a great example of the Doctor really laying out the way that he views the universe. Ben suggests that they take Hobson’s orders and simply retreat to the TARDIS, but the Doctor argues that, no, they have to stay because there is evil to be fought in the base.

It’s a real high point for Troughton, and he seems to really relish playing the moment. He’s equally as fantastic during the cliffhanger, when he has to question Hobson about his men searching the medical bay. The camera pulls in really tight to Troughton, who switches to ‘serious’ for one of the very first times. We saw a bit of the serious side to this Doctor in The Power of the Daleks, but this is our first proper exposure to it.

And it really helps to sell the threat. When the Doctor is worried, we should be worried. I’ve grown so used to this incarnation playing everything as a game, it feels genuinely unusual for him to be in this kind of mood. That’s not to say that there aren’t plenty of chances for Troughton’s clowning around to creep into the story, too, though. The entire scene of him sneaking around in the main control room taking samples from the crew members is brilliant, as he stretches himself up and crouches down in the pursuit of data. Brilliant stuff.

And lets have a hand, please, for Space Adventure, the default Cyberman theme in this era. We heard bits of it yesterday as a cue that something was about to happen, but this is the first time that we’ve had it for any kind of sustained period, during the cliffhanger. I love Space Adventure. It’s quite possibly my favourite of all the music ever used in the series. I hum it when Ellie and me watch any Cyberman episode (It really got on her nerves during Nightmare in Silver a few weeks ago). For a while, it was even my ringtone. These days, I can’t even figure out how to change my ringtone, so it couldn’t be even if I wanted it to.

And now, I’m going to have it spinning in my head until tomorrow’s episode. Sing along with me, now…

8/10 

Will Brooks’ 50 Year Diary - watching Doctor Who one episode a day from the very start... 

Day 156: The Moonbase, Episode One

Dear diary,

Ah, The Moonbase. Before starting on The 50 Year Diary, The Moonbase was one of the few missing stories that I’d watched in any form. Put simply. It’s because the soundtrack is available on the Lost in Time collection, so I think I went through them in the space of a day. It’s recently been confirmed for release with Episodes One and Three animated, but it’s not going to be available until long after I need to watch it, sadly. It’s been a few years since I last saw the story (I bought the Lost in Time DVDs on release, and that was about nine years ago, now), but I seem to recall liking it.

The thing I think I recall the most about this story is that Jamie doesn’t make much of an impact to the plot. I remember at the time thinking that this must be because he was added last-minute as a companion, but then watching The Underwater Menace, where he didn’t feel especially out of place (even if he did feel like he was simply filling a role), I wondered if I’d find myself pleasantly surprised.

Things start well enough, with a continuation of the TARDIS scene from yesterday’s episode, but it’s not long before Jamie has been knocked out and we’re left with him just waking up to mumble from time to time. It’s nice, at least, that what he’s mumbling seems to be tied in well with his Scottish heritage - with a family legend about the ‘Phantom Piper’.
With the members of the crew Who are left awake for the rest of the episode, there’s quite a lot to enjoy. Being another in the mold of the ‘Base Under Siege’ story, there’s a number of similarities to The Tenth Planet, quite apart from the presence of the Cybermen. We’ve got the international crew (this time, our ‘comedy European’ is from France), A leader Who’s not overly keen on the Doctor (though Hobson is friendlier than General Cutler was), and a number of confined areas that could create good drama. Outside our base of choice, there’s an open expanse that cuts us off from the rest of humanity, with only a radio to keep us in contact (I can’t remember, but I’d not be surprised if the radios get damaged at some point before the story is over).

It sounds like I’m complaining about all these similarities, when the truth is that they work just as well here as they did in The Tenth Planet. The ‘Base Under Siege’ is something Doctor Who can do very well, especially in this era of the programme.

If anything, I think I’m more drawn to this story’s ‘hook’ than I was to the one in Hartnell’s swan song. Mysterious power-drain from a spaceship and the approach of a tenth planet was all very well, but I’m really enjoying the idea of the crew falling ill, seemingly at random, and the idea that there’s someone - or something - listening in to all the base’s radio communications.

I think this episode, much like the last of The Underwater Menace, is helped simply by being missing from the archives. While the Doctor, Ben, Polly, and Jamie all exit the TARDIS and bounce around on the surface of the Moon, I’m free to imagine it looking as good as I want. Were the episode to exist for me to actually watch, I fear that the result may end up looking not all that different to the swimming scene from Episode Three of our previous story.

It may help here that it would be against the black background of space, perhaps hiding the kirby wires a little better than the rocks of Atlantis did, but there’s a danger of it looking not quite as good as I’d like. As things go, it’s a strong start, but we’re about to enter a week or so of episodes existing seemingly at random, as I alternate between soundtracks and the Lost in Time DVDs on pretty much a daily basis…

7/10 

Will Brooks’ 50 Year Diary - watching Doctor Who one episode a day from the very start... 

Day 141: The Tenth Planet, Episode Four

Dear diary,

Of all the Doctor Who episodes missing from the BBC's archive, The Tenth Planet Episode Four probably has the most mythical status. It's the one in which William Hartnell changes into Patrick Troughton, of course, but it's also one of those odd ones where we can't very easily trace when the tape went missing. There's no definitive record of its destruction, just the fact that it stopped being around after a certain point.

As I've said, I've never watched The Tenth Planet, so I've never known how justified the status of this episode was. It has to be said that - regeneration aside - there's not a lot in here to make it really stand out from any other episode of the programme around this time. It's quite good, don't get me wrong, but there's nothing all that amazing about it until the final few minutes.

I've always been aware of the resolution to the story - that Mondas ultimately absorbs too much of Earth's power and blows itself up. That's really not the important thing about the story, though. This is often talked about as the very first 'Base Under Siege' tale (something that will be cropping up a lot more in the next four months of this blog!), and that really is the best way to describe it. The appearance of Mondas in the skies, the absorption of power, the Cybermen landing globally, all of that takes second place to the crew of the Snowcap base, and watching them fight off wave after wave of attackers.

It's nice that the Z-Bomb which has been so important since around Episode Two is used as a vital part of keeping our Mondasian friends at bay in this final episode, and I'm sure that the sight of a Cyberman creasing up in pain as he enters the radiation room would have been fantastic. The tele snaps unfortunately miss the shot of his demise (though we do get a great close up of the creature's face), but everything around it looks great.

I really have been won over to the design of the Cybermen throughout this tale, and the shots of them that we do have hear continue to make them look fantastic. There's the one moment when a Cyberman on the radio from Geneva seems to be singing all his lines, but I think I can just about overlook that. Finally, I understand why everyone is always so full of praise for them! On the one had, I'm now quite sorry that they only appear in this one story, but on the other, it gives them a certain charm. They're what William Hartnell's Cybermen looked like.

Now obviously, the thing that gets the most attention in this episode is always going to be the transformation between the First and Second Doctors. I've seen the actual change hundreds of times over the years, but this is the first time that I've ever watched the events leading up to it. The whole thing is played as being very sinister - the Doctor's cryptic mumbling is especially unnerving. 'It's all over,' he slurs, 'that's what you said. But it isn't. It's far from being all over!'. It really is an odd sequence, and no attempt is made to have this as a comforting change over between the two actors. The entire thing is played as a new kind of threat, and worthy of a cliffhanger because it's scary, not simply because it's what we'd now call a 'regeneration'.

I'm really pleased that the change is filtered in right from the start of this story, with the Doctor commenting early on that his body seems to be wearing a bit thin. It makes it all the more rewarding when you know what's coming, and saves it from just being something bolted on to the end of the story. I'll be offering up more general thoughts about William Hartnell's tenure in my 'overview' post (which you should find just above this one in the Doctor Who Online news feed), but I'll say here that I genuinely am sorry to see him go.

7/10 

Will Brooks’ 50 Year Diary - watching Doctor Who one episode a day from the very start... 

Day 140: The Tenth Planet, Episode Three

Dear diary,

Regular readers will know that it’s not just 1960s Doctor Who that I’ve got an interest in, but television from that period in general. Anything from the resumption of broadcasts after the Second World War up to about the end of the 60s is the era of television that takes up the most space on my DVD shelves. Either side of the pond will do me: I’m just as happy to sit down in front of an episode of I Love Lucy or The Honeymooners as I am anything made on these shores.

But the best thing about British TV in this era – for a Doctor Who fan, at least – is spotting those actors that you know from the TARDIS turning up in other things. The Avengers is great for this. Nicholas Courtney turns up in the episode Propellant 23, broadcast just over a year before the start of Doctor Who. While the Doctor, Ian, Barbara and Susan were busy convincing the Thals to take a stand and invade the Dalek city, current companion Anneke Wills was playing the part of Jane Wentworth, dressed as a pussy cat, in the episode Dressed to Kill.

Just a few episodes later and, oh look, it’s Barry Letts’ turn to take a role in the programme. We’ll be hearing more about Letts cropping up in this diary a few months from now. Letts’ Doctor, Jon Pertwee, turns up in the programme in 1967, and the final season in 1969 contains an episode starring both Roger Delgado and Kate O’Mara. It’s a Rani and Master team-up, 16 years early! Even Peter Cushing stars in the episode Return of the Cybernauts! In some parallel world, that’s the title of a Doctor Who episode starring Cushing as human inventor Dr. Who, after his series of movies transferred to TV.

It’s not just Doctor Who actors that turn up in the programme, of course, and it’s just as great when the likes of John Le Mesurier or Penelope Keith are a part of the cast, but there’s a special kind of thrill in seeing these actors you know so well from the world of Doctor Who appearing in something else, usually long before they arrive in our favourite sci-fi show.

Occasionally, as I’ve been watching through this marathon, I’ve taken a bit of a detour in my own time, to watch other programmes from the same week. I’ve dipped in to all-sorts as I’ve gone along, but I don’t tend to mention them here on the blog because, well, you’re here on Doctor Who Online to read about Doctor Who. You’re probably not all that interested in my thoughts on an episode of Coronation Street from mid-1964.

Today, though, I’ve got to mention my detour. A couple of nights ago, having finished up my entry for The Tenth Planet, Episode One, I sat and watched an episode of Adam Adamant Lives! broadcast 8th October 1966 (the Thursday between Tenth Planet One and Two). It’s important because in a small role at the start of the episode, we’ve got TV character actor Patrick Troughton. It’s interesting to see him here, so close to taking on the part of the Doctor. The filming dates aren’t as close together as the broadcast ones are (the episode, D For Destruction, was filmed early September, so about six weeks or so before work began for him on Who), but I think I’m right in saying that this will have been one of the last things broadcast starring him before the regeneration occurred.

I’ve been holding off on watching this episode for a while, now, because I was keen to see it in context of my Doctor Who marathon, and I was hoping I’d have a lot of interesting stuff to say about his performance, and the way it ties in with his time in the TARDIS. As it is, though, he only appears for the first five minutes or so, before disappearing from the rest of the story (though a main character for the remainder is played by Ian Cuthbertson, another alumni of The Avengers, and who will be turning up in Doctor Who about a year from now in my marathon for a role in The Ribos Operation).

The other problem comes from the fact that, having spent the last five months making my way through the First Doctor era of the programme, trying to pin-point the way Troughton plays the part seems impossible! I’m going to be keeping it in mind, though, and hopefully I’ll be able to raise some interesting points about the performances in a few days time, once Troughton has actually taken over.

What was more startling to me, though, watching this episode last night, is how similar Polly Wright is to the character of Georgina Jones in Adam Adamant Lives!. Georgina is the equivalent of the companion in that series, and can only be describes as being ‘fab’. Visually, there’s a striking resemblance between the pair, and she even wears a similar hat in this episode to the one Polly was sporting at the end of The War Machines.

Polly’s first appearance in Doctor Who came just two days after the first episode of Adam Adamant Lives! had appeared on screen back in June – I think it certainly says something about the feel of 1966. Polly and Georgina are both trendy young girls, who find excitement getting caught up in adventure. At this point, Polly (and Ben) are just along for the ride, though they're both growing to enjoy life with the Doctor.

I did wonder what this episode would feel like, being without the Doctor and the first story to really feature the 'Base Under Siege' format, I thought it may end up just being a bit of a runaround, with little actually happening. That's why I've saved my thoughts on the Adam Adamant Lives! episode for today - I figurers there was plenty to talk about for yesterday's episode without chucking all that in.

As it happens, though, there's lots and lots I could talk about from today anyway! I'll skim over much of it quickly, to focus on just one point. So, in brief: The Cybermen look fantastic as they move slowly through the blizzard. The 'massacre' of them by their own weapons is also quite effective. I'm absolutely converted to these Cybermen, now. They're lovely. It's nice to see the first use of a ventilation shaft in the series as a way of transporting a companion from 'A' to 'B', even though it's massive! At one point, Barclay announces that he'd never be able to fit through the ventilation shaft. You'd fit a fully-grown Krynoid down that!

The thing that really strikes me, though, is the addition of General Cutler's son to the story. He was introduced late in yesterday's episode, and to begin with I was a little weary of it. In some ways, it felt like the story was trying to have its cake and eat it - you get the shock of 'Zues IV' being blown up, but then they can carry on with the 'we have to get the spaceship back down to Earth' story, because they've sent another one up. As it happens, though, this part of the story becomes one of the most interesting now. It's not often in Doctor Who, at least at this stage in its life, that we see something like this happen. A justification for the base's commander to be behaving so ruthlessly. Here, though, it adds a whole other layer to the idea, and when Cutler throws Ben over the railings, having found him tampering with the rocket, it's all the more believable, because of his personal stake in the situation. It's really great to see this being added, and I'm hoping that there's more like it to come in the future.

7/10 

Will Brooks’ 50 Year Diary - watching Doctor Who one episode a day from the very start... 

Day 139: The Tenth Planet, Episode Two

Dear diary,

When people talk about the Cybermen - and, more specifically, about the designs of the Cybermen - the versions seen here in The Tenth Planet always seem to crop up. They appear quite high on the list of 'favourite designs' among many of my friends who are fans of the show. When this design cropped up on the cover of The Silver Turk (one of the Big Finish Eighth Doctor audios) a few years ago, people were falling over themselves with excitement.

Maybe it's because I'm used to everyone banging on about how great this version is that I've never really been able to see it myself. They look pretty good, I guess, but I've just never had that kind of love that other fans seem to hold for these ones. It's perhaps telling that in my Cardiff flat, the Cyberman action figure I keep on display is one from Earthshock (for some reason, beside a Cybermat from Revenge…), and I've got a version from Tomb in a box here somewhere, too. The Tenth Planet figure is in a box way back home in Norwich. That toy, much like this design of Cyberman, is considered 'one of the best', but again, I've never really got it.

It probably didn't help, then, that while I was watching this episode, I had Ellie with me. She wasn't actually paying all that much attention to Doctor Who - to tell the truth, she was the other side of the flat, doing a puzzle - but she was in the room all the same. I'd banged on while we had dinner about why the episode I was watching tonight was a very important one, but I think she was trying to block out most of it. She wasn't able to ignore it, though, when the first Cyberman began to speak. I won't repeat what was said (this is a well-mannered website!), but suffice to say she wasn't impressed with either the design or the voice.

As I watched on, wondering why people always pointed to these as their favourite Cyber-design, I started to really be swayed by the tone of the voices, and the way that the eyes look actually dead when the Cybermen have their mouths open. I found myself starting to find them quite menacing, and the way that they're shot as the enter the base (the way Hartnell follows their legs as they move along a platform is gorgeous) started to really stoke a chord with me. Just as I was starting to realise all the things people love about them, Ellie piped up again. 'Actually,' she announced, 'they sound better like this. It's more enjoyable to listen to'. Hah! Didn't want to watch Doctor Who, but can't help listening along anyway. I must be doing something right.

By the end of the episode, I was completely sold. The reason people love the Tenth Planet Cybermen so much is that, in the actual episodes, they really are fantastic. I'm really hoping that tomorrow I'll find myself falling even further in love with them, but yeah, suffice to say that they've won me over pretty darn quick.

The first (proper) appearance of the Cybermen isn't the most important thing about today's episode, though. At least not by the standards of this marathon. William Hartnell doesn't appear in tomorrow's edition, because he was too unwell to take part. Episode Four of the story doesn't exist in the archives (save for a few brief clips and - mercifully - the actual regeneration itself), which means that I'll be listening to the narrated soundtrack of that one to round out the story… and the First Doctor's era. That means that today is the last time that I get to see William Hartnell take part in a full episode.

(He'll turn up as a cameo in The Three Doctors later in the year, but this is his last proper appearance for me. I'll discuss more about his time in full after Episode Four, in a special 'First Doctor Overview' post, so I'm not going to be getting all nostalgic for his time here and now. All the same, I couldn't let this moment pass without saying something.)

It's a good job, then, that he gets a pretty good part to sink his teeth into here. The Doctor is on fine form, ordering around members of the base, taking quiet satisfaction when he's proved right and no one has believed him, and giving one of the more famous speeches from his era. 'The emotions! Love! Pride! Hate! Fear! Have you no emotions, sir?' is one of those First Doctor moments that fans just know. It's up there with the whole 'One day, I shall come back' speech, and quite rightly so.

8/10 

Will Brooks’ 50 Year Diary - watching Doctor Who one episode a day from the very start... 

Day 138: The Tenth Planet, Episode One

Dear diary,

RIght then! Here we are! The Tenth Planet! Arguably one of the most important stories in the entire, 50-year history of Doctor Who. Not only is it responsible for the introduction of the Cybermen - who, I'd argue, are one of the most recognisable monsters from the programme, up there with the Daleks - but also the first story to change from one incarnation of the Doctor into another. Without this story, the history of the show could have gone very differently.

And you know what? I've never seen it. Thinking about it now, I'm not quite sure why I've never seen it. I've owned the VHS for almost a decade now, but when I came to watch it today, I had to actually unwrap the tape. That felt novel. It's been a good few years since I've had to unwrap the plastic on a VHS tape. Im sure there's been several occasions over the years where I've sat down with the intention to watch it, but for one reason or another, I've simply never made it through to even starting on the story.

Still, for me here and now on the 138th day of this marathon, it's a good thing that I've never seen the story before. It feels strange to be so far through that I'm almost out of William Hartnell-era Doctor Who, and I'm glad that the last Hartnell story I'll see is the last Hartnell story. It would have been a shame to go out on The Smugglers or something.

So, another story and another new way of doing the titles. Here, they appear on screen following a jumble of letters. It's another attempt to be futuristic and represent computers, as in The War Machines, but here the title and the letters are overlaid to shots of technical equipment, and follow on from a shot of a rocket taking off. It's a different setting to open in, but it works.

More and more lately (since the early part of Season Three) tracking shots that end with the TARDIS materialising have become fairly common. That's not a complaint - they're always done well, and it looks fantastic appearing into the snow-swept landscape on show here. It's also nicely led in following discussion of looking out through the periscope of the base. It's a shame that the inside of the TARDIS isn't really looking up to much at the moment. The doors are the most noticeably damaged bit, with the backs of the top roundels sitting lower than they should, leaving a very obvious gap on the set. It's very noticeable in some shots from The Smugglers of the Doctor and his companions in the ship, and it's a shame to see the same is true of the actual episodes themselves.

Stepping outside, the snow effect really works for the most part. It's at its best during some close-up shots of the regulars, where the thickness of it really does help to sell the effect. It probably helps that because I'm watching on a VHS, with less of a polish that the DVD will have later this year, things are looking a bit rough round the edges - some of the less-well-realised parts of the snow are probably covered up a little.

Elsewhere, many of the effects on show come across as looking a bit like a 1950s B-movie. When the Doctor and friends crowd round a screen and watch as the mysterious Tenth Planet approaches (and just how fast is it spinning? Malaysia comes around twice in about a minute!) it looks pretty hokey. A shame, because I'd have loved this to be the stand-out shot from the episode. In many ways, it feels like a step backward, and I imagine I'd be more forgiving of the effect had it occurred back in Season One. Coming now, though, after stories like The Ark have pulled off better effects as if they were child's play, it's disappointing.

I'll discuss the Cybermen properly tomorrow, once they've fully arrived in the story, but I can't go by without mentioning today's cliffhanger. It's one of those moments that most fans of the series have seen in one shape or another, as the silver giant turns around, pulls off the cloak and kills a couple of guards. It's a striking moment, and easily becomes the best part of the episode. There's a great, lingering close-up on the Cyberman's face, really making sure that the image has bled into your brain for the next week, while you wait to find out what on Earth it is…

6/10 

DWO’s spoiler-free preview of episode 7.12 Nightmare in Silver:

When The Doctor takes Clara, Artie, and Angie to Hedgewick’s World of Wonders, the greatest theme park in the galaxy, they find themselves in a run-down world, where a group of soldiers stand guard, and the only attraction is a shabby collection of ‘wonders’ from across the stars. But the time travellers aren’t the only visitors to this world. Unusual insects climb the walls, relaying data to ensure the re-emergence of the Cyberiad… 

It may seem like an odd decision to pit The Doctor against The Cybermen in the penultimate episodes of both the Sixth and Seventh series, but the role they play in events are wildly different between the two stories. Whereas 2011’s Closing Time features a group of tin soldiers who were on their last legs, Nightmare in Silver is very much about looking to the future, and creating the next phase of The Cybermen. 

Writer Neil Gaiman recently commented that he was asked to write the episode with a brief to make The Cybermen scary again:

"I thought, 'Let me see what I can do when I take the 1960s Cybermen and [incorporate] everything that's happened since'. So that's what I'm trying to do. I don't know if it will work."

We're pleased to report that not only does it work, but it works brilliantly. The episode is littered with references to the Cybermen’s past - with design elements from The Tomb of the Cybermen bleeding through into the new design of a Cyber-ship, to references concerning the creatures’ previous allergies and leaders. For a fan of the 20th century version of Doctor Who, this episode is a real treasure trove. 

The Cybermen themselves have had a complete design overhaul, too, which makes them more streamlined that the version the programme has used since 2006. This new design takes in elements from the earliest versions of the creatures, while fully updating them to look sleek and modern. The design also brings with it some new forms of attack, and takes the opportunity to re-appropriate the idea of a Cyberman ‘upgrade’.

But the new-look Cybermen aren’t Nightmare in Silver’s only big draw. The episode boasts a fantastic cast, including Jason Watkins (best known for his role as vampire leader Herrick in Being Human), and a long-overdue appearance in the series for Warwick Davis, Who shines in the role of ‘Porridge’. 

As ever, the episode allows plenty of time to showcase its two lead stars, even giving Matt Smith plenty of time to share the screen with himself, as he battles with the impending threat of a cyber-war. Jenna-Louise Coleman gets to show us what Clara is really made of, when The Doctor leaves her in charge of a platoon of soldiers with two simple instructions - stay alive, and don’t let anyone blow up the planet.

Stephen Woolfenden makes his directorial debut for Doctor Who with this episode, having worked as a second unit director on four of the Harry Potter films, and as a First Assistant Director on Gaiman’s Neverwhere in the 1990s. He brings a bold new look to the series with this episode, and it’s hard not to get swept up in the epic style of the episode. 

Speaking of Nightmare in Silver at the MCM Expo Comic Con in London last year, Matt Smith predicted that the episode would be a ‘fan’s favourite’, and we don’t think he’s going to be wrong!

Five things to look out for...

1) It’s not the Moon.

2) “We all know there are no more living Cybermen…”

3) The Doctor encounters the 699th Wonder of the World.

4) Time Lords invented chess.

5) Nobody needs rescuing from anything. 

[Sources: DWO; Will Brooks]

The BBC Press Office has confirmed the synopsis for Neil Gaiman's Doctor Who episode; '7.12: Nightmare In Silver'.

712: Nightmare in Silver
By Neil Gaiman

Hedgewick’s World of Wonders was once the greatest theme park in the galaxy, but it’s now the dilapidated home to a shabby showman, a chess-playing dwarf and a dysfunctional army platoon.

When the Doctor, Clara, Artie and Angie arrive, the last thing they expect is the re-emergence of one of the Doctor’s oldest foes. The Cybermen are back!

[Source: BBC Press Office]

The First Doctor’s final adventure The Tenth Planet is to have its lost fourth episode animated for DVD release, the BBC's official doctorwho.tv site has confirmed.

Teased yesterday at the Gallifrey One convention by Dan Hall, commissioning editor of the classic Doctor Who DVD range, The Tenth Planet sees both the introduction of the menacing, dead-eyed Cybermen, and the departure of The First Doctor, William Hartnell. The final episode has been missing from the BBC Archives since the mid-1970s, and will be reconstructed using the same Thetamation process used to recreate The Reign of Terror episodes 4 and 5.

Dan Hall said:

"It’s a real thrill to be bringing such an iconic Doctor Who episode back to life. Without the events established in The Tenth Planet episode 4, there would be no Doctor Who as we know it!"

The release date is currently scheduled for Late 2013.

View a clip of Episode One, below:

[Source: doctorwho.tv]

The title of Neil Gaiman's Series 7 Doctor Who episode has now been confirmed.

Speaking in an interview to TheMusic.com.au, Gaiman himself revealed the title of his Cyberman epsiode:

“I’ve written [one] that broadcasts in May. It guest stars Warwick Davis, Tamzin Outhwaite and Jason Watkins. The episode is called The Last Cyberman. It’s about identity, it’s about responsibility and it’s about porridge.”

[Source: TheMusic.com.au]

BBC Books have sent DWO the cover and details for the forthcoming 11th Doctor, Doctor Who Book release of Plague Of The Cybermen.

Plague Of The Cybermen:
By Justin Richards 

‘They like the Shadows. You know them as Plague Warriors…’

When the Doctor arrives in the 19th-century village of Klimtenburg, he discovers the residents suffering from some kind of plague – a ‘wasting disease’. The victims face a horrible death – but what’s worse, the dead seem to be leaving their graves. The Plague Warriors have returned…

The Doctor is confident he knows what’s really happening; he understands where the dead go, and he’s sure the Plague Warriors are just a myth. But as some of the Doctor’s oldest and most terrible enemies start to awaken he realises that maybe – just maybe – he’s misjudged the situation.

A thrilling all-new adventure featuring The Doctor as played by Matt Smith in the spectacular BBC TV series.

+  Plague Of The Cybermen is released on 11th April 2013, priced £6.99.

+  Compare Prices for this product on CompareTheDalek.com!

+  Check Out the DWO Release Guide entry for this product! 

[Source: BBC Books]

AudioGO have sent DWO the cover and details for the forthcoming Doctor Who CD release of Doctor Who And The Tomb Of The Cybermen.

Product Synopsis: 

The Cybermen – silver, indestructible monsters whose only goal is power – seem to have disappeared from their planet, Telos. When a party of archaeologists, joined by the Doctor, Jamie and Victoria, land on the Cybermen’s barren, deserted planet, they uncover what appears to be their tomb. 

But once inside it becomes clear that the Cybermen are not dead, and some in the group of archaeologists desperately want to re-activate these monsters! How can the Doctor defeat these ruthless, power-seeking humans and the Cybermen? 

Michael Kilgarriff, who played the Cyber Controller in the original BBC TV serial, reads Gerry Davis’ complete and unabridged novelisation, first published by Target Books in 1978.

+  Doctor Who And The Tomb Of The Cybermen is released on 7th March 2013, priced £13.25 (CD) / £10.99 (Download).

+  Compare Prices for this product on CompareTheDalek.com!

+  Check Out the DWO Release Guide entry for this product! 

[Source: AudioGO]

The BBC Doctor Who site have confirmed the rumours that The Cybermen will return in 2013, for the story written by Neil Gaiman.

The episode (7.12), will also guest star Warwick Davis (Star Wars, Willow, Harry Potter), Tamzin Outhwaite (Eastenders, Hotel Babylon) and Jason Watkins (Being Human, Lark Rise to Candleford), as 'a band of misfits on a mysterious planet'.

Stephen Woolfenden has been confirmed as the Director of the episode.

Writing on his blog, Neil Gaiman teased the title of the episode:

"Oh, and for the curious, the episode will be called . Only with letters instead of Ascii Blocks. Unless we change the title again before it's broadcast. Which might well happen, actually. I mean, it was originally called ."

Why not put your guesses below in the comment box, or tweet your guesses to the @DrWhoOnline Twitter account using the button to the right.

[Source: BBC Doctor Who site]

The BBC Doctor Who website has confirmed the return of The Cybermen in Series 6 of Doctor Who.

The metal meanines will be back for the second half of the season, which will air in the Autumn, and it is believed they will return in Episdoe Twelve.

Those of you who pay extra special attention to the new image released today, will notice the omission of the Cybus logo on the chestplate of the Cybermen - not to mention an Auton-caped Rory.

[Source: BBC Doctor Who website]

The guys from London's new Doctor Who Exhibition, The Doctor Who Experience, have been in touch with some new images from the event.

Image 1 – A team of technicians at the Doctor Who Experience showcase five generations of Cybermen heads. The evolution of the Cybermen forms part of The Doctor Who Experience – a fully interactive themed adventure and exhibition which opens at London’s Olympia Two venue on 20th February 2011.

Featured Cybermen models: (from left to right)1966 Cyberman from ’The Tenth Planet’, the 1967 Cyberman from ‘The Moonbase’, the 1975 Cyberleader from the ‘Revenge of the Cybermen’, the 1985 Cybercontroller from ‘Attack of the Cybermen’, and the 1988 Cyberman from ‘Silver Nemesis’ .

Image 2 – Technicians Steve Richley and Shane Winterbourne put the finishing touches to a 2005 model Dalek which forms part of a display at The Doctor Who Experience – a fully interactive themed adventure and exhibition which opens at London’s Olympia Two venue on 20th February 2011.

Image 3 - MacLaine Marshall, aged 6, encounters four generations of the Daleks during a sneak preview of The Doctor Who Experience – a fully interactive themed adventure and exhibition which opens at London’s Olympia Two venue on 20th February 2011.

Featured Daleks: (from left to right) the1984 Dalek from Resurrection of the Daleks, the 1988 Special Weapons Dalek, the 2005 lone Dalek encountered by ninth Doctor , and the new Dalek paradigm from 2010.

Image 4 - Exhibition worker, Samantha Crawford puts the finishing touches to the iconic 1974 Doctor Who Monster K1 which forms part of Doctor Who Experience – a fully interactive themed adventure and exhibition which opens at London’s Olympia Two venue on 20th February 2011.

Image 5 - Exhibition worker, Samantha Crawford puts the finishing touches to a 2005 model Dalek which forms part of a display at The Doctor Who Experience – a fully interactive themed adventure and exhibition which opens at London’s Olympia Two venue on 20th February 2011.

Image 6 - Evolution of the Cybermen exhibit taken from the The Doctor Who Experience – a fully interactive themed adventure and exhibition which opens at London’s Olympia Two venue on 20th February 2011.

Featured Cybermen models: (from left to right) 1966 Cyberman from ’The Tenth Planet’, the 1967 Cyberman from ‘The Moonbase’, the 1975 Cyberleader from the ‘Revenge of the Cybermen’, the 1985 Cybercontroller from ‘Attack of the Cybermen’, and the 1988 Cyberman from ‘Silver Nemesis’.

[Source: Taylor Herring PR]

London workers got a bit of a shock on their way into the office this morning...

A group of intimidating Cybermen from cult show Doctor Who invaded the city, marching through St Paul's and the London Undergound.

The stunt was to celebrate the launch of the Doctor Who Experience - a fully interactive themed adventure and exhibition opening in the capital in February.

The cyborgs recreated a very familiar scene from the famous 1968 episode The Invasion, posing on the steps in front of St Paul's Cathedral.

Visitors to the Experience will be invited to step inside the Tardis to become The Doctor's companion in fighting his other enemy, the Daleks.

The Doctor Who Experience, which will open at London's Olympia Two on February 20, 2011, will include special effects and newly-filmed scenes with current Doctor Matt Smith recreating the Time Lord's adventures.

It includes an exhibition charting the history of the programme from its first series in 1963 to the latest episodes. Original costumes, a Tom Baker-era Tardis and Cybermen, Silurians and a Zygon will also be on display.

Executive producer Steven Moffat said: 'The Doctor Who Experience is a fan's dream come true - a fully interactive adventure that will allow viewers of the show to get as close as possible to some of the scariest monsters from the series.

'It will also be the first time that Doctor Who artefacts from all the show's 47-year history - classic and new - will be on display together, many of them being seen for the first time. 

'And never mind that, this is the day the Doctor teaches you how to fly the Tardis through time and space, and takes you into battle with all his deadliest enemies in a brand new adventure.'

Tickets for the show are on sale now through www.doctorwhoexperience.com.

[Source: The Daily Mail]