The tomb of the Cybermen (1967)
Review
More about Doctor Who
More about this serial
Review
(Note: this was the first story from the Troughton era that I reviewed.)
This is a four-part serial starring the second Doctor Who, Patrick Troughton. It was first broadcast between 2-23 September 1967.
The good news:
- the awakening of the Cybermen, accompanied by an excellent musical score, is impressive even after almost forty years;
- it has symbolic logic in it, possibly due to the involvement of writer Kit Pedler who is decribed in one of the documentaries on the DVD as a 'scientist and computer expert'. Then again, you probably need to be a computer geek to appreciate this;
- the Cybermen are an interesting example of fictional Cyborgs and, more in general, of fiction's response to the advance of technology. (According to Wikipedia the Cybermen were Peddler's and his fellow writer Gerry Davis' response to concerns about technology and its impact on human life);
- I haven't seen anything else with Patrick Troughton in it, but this is generally described as one of his better efforts;
- as usual, the restoration team has done a great job on images and sound.
The not so good news:
- the first three episodes may have plot holes, but the fourth and final episode makes very little sense whatsoever. The episode starts with one of the villains attempting to shoot the Doctor, with a very large gun, from a very short distance, and killing one of the other characters instead for no apparent reason. From then on, the whole thing goes steadily down-hill as far as plot is concerned;
- the two Companions who travel with the Doctor on the Tardis are useless and somewhat annoying, and why he decided to take them on board in the first place is anyone's guess;
- the Cybermats, little creatures that are controlled by the Cybermen and are supposed to be menacing, look positively cute and are obviously harmless.
My verdict:
For an introduction to classic Doctor Who, even 'The Dalek invasion of earth' might be better than this. It is excellent fun, though, and of interest to fans of the show and of science fiction in general.
More about Doctor Who
An introduction:
Doctor Who reviews: introduction
More "interesting" Doctor Who:
Doctor Who reviews: interesting
More from the Patrick Troughton years:
Doctor Who reviews: 1966 - 1969
Similar stories:
Doctor Who reviews: space opera
Original version of this review:
06/06/26
More about this serial
Episode guides:
BBC Cult
Serial reviews:
Behind the sofa
Outpost Gallifrey
DVD reviews:
Outpost Gallifrey
Intro |
Previous |
Next |
Appreciation |
Chronology |
Themes |
DVD releases |
DVD appreciation |
Links |
Menu |
Exit |
Meta |
Talk
On this page Transitional HTML 4.01 and CSS 1 are used. If you're seeing this text you either have CSS switched off in your browser, or you're using a browser that can't handle CSS. If you're using an older browser version, you might want to consider upgrading.