The Tomb of the Cybermen is the first serial of the fifth season of the British science fiction television series Doctor Who, which was originally broadcast in four weekly parts on BBC1 from 2 to 23 September 1967.
The Tomb of the Cybermen is the earliest serial known to exist in its entirety starring Troughton as the Second Doctor. It is also the only known complete Cyberman story produced in the 1960s, and introduces the concepts of the Cyber Controller and the Cybermats, both of which would be re-used in later Cyberman stories.
Plot
The TARDIS lands on the planet Telos, where the Second Doctor, Jamie, and Victoria meet Parry, the leader of an expedition to find the remains of the Cybermen, who died out five centuries before. With two members dead, Parry decides to call off the expedition, only to be informed by pilot Captain Hopper that someone has sabotaged the rocket ship, meaning they are stranded until repairs are completed. Klieg opens the hatch and the team descend, leaving Kaftan and Victoria behind.
Kaftan drugs Victoria and closes the hatch, trapping the group. As the Cybermen emerge, Klieg reveals that he and Kaftan belong to the Brotherhood of Logicians, a cult with great intelligence but no physical power. He believes the Cybermen will be grateful for their revival and will ally themselves with the Brotherhood to conquer the universe.
When Victoria awakens, she, Hopper and co-pilot Callum mount a rescue, using smoke grenades to distract the Cybermen. After a long battle, the Doctor reseals the tombs and sets up counter measures to ensure the Cybermen will not be revived again.
Production
Writing
Peter Bryant, who had previously been assistant to Gerry Davis and been newly promoted to script editor on the preceding story, was allowed to produce this serial in order to prove that he could take over from Innes Lloyd as producer later on in the season. Bryant's own assistant, Victor Pemberton, acted as script editor on this serial, but left the series after production of the serial was finished, deciding that he didn't want to be a script editor. When Bryant's eventual promotion to producer came, Derrick Sherwin became script editor. The working titles for this story were The Ice Tombs of Telos and The Cybermen Planet.[1]
Toberman was originally intended to be deaf, hence his lack of significant speech; his hearing aid would foreshadow his transformation into a Cyberman.[1]
Recording
It was produced at the end of the fourth recording block but was deliberately held back to season 5, despite the fact a 'Next Week' caption was prepared for the final episode of The Evil of the Daleks, suggesting it was originally intended to end the fourth season.[citation needed]
The exterior scenes for Telos were recorded at Gerrards Cross Sand and Gravel Quarry.[2]
The Cybermats were controlled by various means – by wires, by wind-up clockwork, by radio-control, and some by simply being shoved into the shot.[3] When the team were not filming, it was known for the people controlling the radio-controlled Cybermats to chase Deborah Watling around on set.[4] The scene of the Cybermen breaking out of their tombs was filmed entirely in one take.[5]
In the scene where the group are at the main entrance of the tomb, Patrick Troughton and Frazer Hines worked out in secret the brief sequence where both the Doctor and Jamie go to take Victoria by the hand and end up taking each others. They knew that, with the recording schedule and the likelihood that re-takes would not be possible, it would have to be left in.[6]
On 24 February 2013, the episode aired in the United States on BBC America as part of a year-long celebration and acknowledgement of the 50th anniversary of Doctor Who.[9] Prior to the episode's airing that evening, a short documentary was aired which featured interviews with former, current and original Doctor Who production staff who shared their memories and perspectives of Patrick Troughton.[10] It also appeared on Australian Broadcasting Corporation's iView exclusively, part of their celebration for Doctor Who's 50th anniversary.
Reception
Following the transmission of the first episode, the BBC's Head of Drama Sydney Newman personally congratulated Peter Bryant on what he had seen, which Bryant later recalled: "Coming from the man who created Doctor Who that was the ultimate compliment, even more so seeing as it was my first job as producer." However, the serial also attracted controversy. On 26 September 1967, Kit Pedler appeared on the BBC series Talkback, hosted by David Coleman, to defend the serial against parents who thought it was too violent.[11]
Paul Cornell, Martin Day, and Keith Topping wrote favourably of the serial in The Discontinuity Guide (1995), despite some criticism, "The first two episodes are wonderful, a well directed and expensive looking restating of the series' basics, but once the Cybermen are released from the Tombs, they go back in again."[12] In The Television Companion (1998), David J. Howe and Stephen James Walker stated that it was similar to previous Cybermen stories, but "manages to develop the idea to greater advantage and, as a result, achieves a considerable success" and was "well-paced, gripping and, in places, genuinely frightening". They praised the Cybermen, but said the noise they made while being attacked was "silly", and also criticised some of the direction and Deborah Watling's Victoria, whom they felt was an inconsistent character.[13]
In 2009, Mark Braxton of Radio Times wrote that the story "does deserve its reputation" as a classic.[14]DVD Talk's J. Doyle Wallis, in a review of the original DVD release, gave the serial three and a half out of five stars and called it "a very entertaining story".[15] In a review of the special edition DVD for the same website, John Sinnott gave The Tomb of the Cybermen four stars. Sinnot praised Troughton's performance and the subtlety of the guest acting.[16] Reviewing the serial for The Independent in 2012, Neela Debnath praised the "impressive production values" and faster pace.[17] Christopher Bahn of The A.V. Club was less positive. He said that the story's "flaws are awfully apparent today" due to the "huge gaps in story logic and some really unfortunate racial stereotyping". Bahn was positive towards Troughton and the plot's buildup, but felt that the rest "just kind of peters out" and the villains' motivations were "convoluted".[18]
In 2010, Charlie Jane Anders of io9 listed the cliffhanger to the second episode – in which the Cybermen break out of their tombs – as one of the greatest cliffhangers in the history of Doctor Who.[19]
Archive
When the BBC's film archive was first properly audited in 1978, it was one of many believed missing having been missed in an earlier 1976 listing. It was prepared for release in early 1992 on audio cassette as part of the "Missing Stories" collection, using recordings made by fans at home at the time of transmission, with newly recorded explanatory narration by Jon Pertwee. Then in late 1991, telerecordings of all four episodes were returned to the BBC from the Hong Kong-based Rediffusion company. In May 1992, it was released on VHS with a special introduction from director Morris Barry. The VHS release topped the sales charts throughout the country. This was the only Doctor Who story from the original era to top the UK charts.[citation needed]
Between 1991 and 2013, it was believed to be the only complete story from Season 5 (and the only complete serial to feature Deborah Watling) before the complete run of The Enemy of the World was returned from Nigeria in 2013.
Gerry Davis novelisation was published by Target Books in 1978, entitled Doctor Who and The Tomb of the Cybermen. However, due to a lack of source material, the cover, by Jeff Cummins, featured a Cyberman from the later story The Invasion. A reissue of the book featured a new - and correct - cover by Alister Pearson. An audio reading of the novelisation, read by Michael Kilgarriff, was released in March 2013.
A transcript of the transmitted version of the serial, edited by John McElroy, was published by Titan Books in August 1989. It was the second in that publisher's series of Doctor Who script books, following The Tribe of Gum. There was no video copy of The Tomb of the Cybermen in the BBC archives at the time that the book was prepared.[20]
Home media
UK DVD original release front cover
With the recovery of the film prints, the planned soundtrack release was delayed until 1993, when contractual obligations forced its release. See List of Doctor Who audio releases.
Following the 1993 cassette release, on 1 May 2006 the soundtrack was released on a 2-CD set with linking narration by and a bonus interview with Frazer Hines. This was the first existing story to be released on audio in the same format as the missing story range.
A vinyl release of the soundtrack was released in 2018 exclusively for Record Store Day.[21]
In the UK the DVD was released 13 January 2002. This was the first black and white story to be released on this format.[22] This serial was also released as part of the Doctor Who DVD Files in issue 73 on 19 October 2011. A special edition of the DVD, with new bonus features and the entire story now treated with the VidFIRE process was released in the UK on 13 February 2012 in the third of the Revisitations DVD box sets.
In 2013 it was released on DVD again as part of the "Doctor Who: The Doctors Revisited 1–4" box set, alongside The Aztecs, Spearhead from Space and Pyramids of Mars. Alongside a documentary on the Second Doctor, the disc features the serial put together as a single feature in widescreen format with an introduction from former show runner Steven Moffat, as well as its original version. It was then released again (the same VidFIRE restored version), included in a set paired with Rise of the Cybermen and The Age of Steel (a two-part Tenth DoctorDavid Tennant story from 2006), in 2013's "The Monster Collection" series, specifically "The Cybermen" entry.
Library tracks used in The Tomb of the Cybermen but missing from this CD include Univers Sidéral by Paul Bonneau, assorted Synchro-Stings by Trevor Duncan, Sting Tintabuloid 1 by Desmond Leslie, Eerie Vaults by Steve Race, Suspended Animation, Galaxy and Hypnosis by Eric Siday, Dramatic Brass Chords by Wolf Droysen, and from Frank Talley's Off Center Suite: Dark Pursuit, Off Center and Panic in the Streets.[25]
Although the CD inlay lists only 11 tracks, the actual disc contains 12. This was caused by the Astronautics Suite being divided into two tracks.[26] The table below details the actual tracks as they appear on the CD rather than as listed on the inlay.
^ abcdThis recording does not actually feature in The Tomb of the Cybermen[27]
^Only Parts 2 and 3 appear in The Tomb of the Cybermen[27]
^Only Parts 1 and 2 appear in The Tomb of the Cybermen. Part 3 does, however, appear in The Space Museum.[27]
^None of these tracks appear in any Doctor Who story.[27]
^Only Part 1 of this suite is used in The Tomb of the Cybermen. Parts 2 and 3 do, however, appear in The Web of Fear. Part 4 is not used in any Doctor Who story.[27]
Deleted library CD containing many Doctor Who cues from Eric Siday and Desmond Leslie.
Dramatic Brass Chords
Wolf Droysen
–
This track has never been reissued. However, its companion piece, Brass Chords, Staccato Ending, is available on the photo gallery of the DVD of The Space Museum.
Andrew Beech (Producer), Peter Finklestone (Editor). Tombwatch (Documentary; Special feature on the original 2002 The Tomb of the Cyberman DVD release). London, England: BBC Video. Retrieved 12 January 2008.
