Writer Tom MacRae
Director Graeme Harper
Script Editor Helen Raynor
Producer Phil Collinson
Executive producer(s) Russell T. Davies, Julie Gardner
Cast: David Tennant, Billie Piper.
After the TARDIS makes a crash landing on the Earth of another universe, Rose discovers her father is alive and rich, Mickey encounters his alternative self, and the Tenth Doctor learns one of his oldest and deadliest foes is about to be reborn.
The Tenth Planet
The Moonbase
The Tomb of the Cybermen
The Wheel in Space
The Invasion
Revenge of the Cybermen
Earthshock
The Five Doctors
Attack of the Cybermen
Silver Nemesis
Rise of the Cybermen
Age of Steel (11/3/2006)
I wonder if they've overcome that pesky weakness to gold. The group in Silver Nemesis seemed to explode if they came into contact -- the most vulnerable so far.
The Tenth Planet
The Moonbase
The Tomb of the Cybermen
The Wheel in Space
The Invasion
Revenge of the Cybermen
Earthshock
The Five Doctors
Attack of the Cybermen
Silver Nemesis
I may watch these episodes sometime in the future, just to see what the Cybermen were like in the old series. I just wish the early costumes weren't so lame.
The Whiner Knight said:
I wonder if they've overcome that pesky weakness to gold. The group in Silver Nemesis seemed to explode if they came into contact -- the most vulnerable so far.
On that note, I have SPOILERS below. Read at your own risk:
SPOILERS The Cybermen in the new series are not the ones from the planet Mondas. They're from an alternate Earth that the Doctor and his mates happen upon purely by accident. They're the brainchild of John Lumic, owner of Cybus Industries, which is the leader in technology on this world. Cybus Industries biggest innovation is the earpod, which is the preferred mode of mobile communication for people here rather than cellphones. With the earpod, people can download information straight into their brains, so Lumic takes advantage of this by sending out a signal that hypnotises a large part of the populace. He then directs these people to his factories, where they're converted into Cybermen. These new Cybermen are vicious and terrifying, and as far as I can tell have no weakness to gold whatsoever. SPOILERS
Hope that helps. And I'd just like to say how much I enjoyed this pair of episodes. I've not yet seen any episodes of the Cybermen in the old series, so this two parter was a nice intro to them.
The new directors and writers of Dr. Who have made the Cybermen scary - happy happy day. And they still look retro, like so Art Deco monsters gone wild.
I guess there's no Dr Who Confidential in the US. It's a programme on Dr Who showing past visits of the doctor, writing and making the episode, etc. For the real fans or the ones interested (but hopelessly lost) in the vast history of the show it's a must see. For the Cybermen, they showed quite a lot of footage from the old days as well as how they created the new cybermen.
It's really too bad that Sci Fi is not showing the Confidentials - they're a lot of fun.
I am so looking forward to next week's episode of Torchwood, as it links back to this whole Cybermen plotline and what happens later on in this season of Doctor Who (but that's as spoiler-y as I'm going to get here).
There's a Doctor Who Confidential disc in the Compleat First Series boxed set. I haven't watched it yet (I am ashamed!).
A lot of the early Cybermen episodes are missing. The Tenth Planet is missing the last episode, although they have reconstructed it with the audio track and production stills. The Tomb of the Cybermen showed up in Hong Kong in the early 90s. The Invasion is missing episodes 1 and 4 out of its 8 episodes, although I've got a VHS edition with Nicholas Courtney narrating the missing bits. I don't know about the Moonbase and the Wheel in Space: I haven't seen them, but I suspect one or the other is entirely missing.
The complete episodes start with 1975's Revenge of the Cybermen, in which a mighty army of three* threatens the Doctor, Sarah Jane, and Harry. I prefer the Cybermen in the 80s, starting with Earthshock, in which
the Cybermen crash a freighter into Mesozoic Earth, killing Adric in the process
, and continuing through The Five Doctors, Attack of the Cybermen, and Silver Nemesis -- although I think their performances in The Five Doctors and Nemesis are rather lackluster. As I have said, Lady Peineforte's gold-tipped arrows tend to overload their circuits rather than suffocate them, resulting in a spectacular but improbable explosion.
Incidentally, the line "You will become like us" was also used in Tomb of the Cybermen. I find it infinitely creepier than either "Resistance is futile" or even "Exterminate!" It's also a reason that I find the Cybermen better enemies than the Borg: They get the point across with an economy of words.
I can't wait for this Friday!
TWK
* The BBC was strapped for cash all through the 70s. Thus, they could afford only 4 new Cybermen costumes -- the Leader and 3 others -- and used them over and over for the entire story. Thus, you never see more than 3 Cybermen together. On a related note, I don't think the Beeb actually bought any new Daleks throughout the 70s. One that they used in The Five Doctors has a large chip out of its dome, just above the grillework and behind its right lightbulb. I'm glad they seem to be throwing money at the new series.
I remember the end of this episode being very moving. IIRC they didn't actually play the closing music, just ran the credits over a rather significant still from the episode.
