Things I've Learnt from Watching My Favourite Doctor Who Stories: Part 50 - The Tomb of the Cybermen

 50: The Tomb of the Cybermen

The Memory Does Cheat (well maybe just a little bit!) 

1992 was a landmark event in Doctor Who history. No, not a new series, but the first "Out of Doctor" repeats in a decade. (Although technically as the BBC had stopped making the show two years before, every repeat was an out of Doctor repeat!) The Time Meddler began the series in January and it was in the weeks it was on that an even bigger piece of news hit the headlines. 

That fabled lost story, the Holy Grail of Who stories, The Tomb of the Cybermen had been found! All four episodes! In Hong Kong! (well it's a change from the basement of a Mormon church I guess!) And fandom exploded with delight. Then booed with disappointment when the BBC repeated the already released on video Mind Robber, and announced we'd have to buy Tomb of the Cybermen when they brought it out a couple of months later! 

Which, of course we all did, making it one of the best selling Doctor Who videos to that point, topping the charts and all. But did it live up to the hype? 

Possibly not... 

Don't get me wrong, I love Tomb of the Cybermen, I wouldn't have put it in this list if I didn't. But in the cold light of the 1990s, it looked a little bit creaky, and dated with its pulpy sci-fi plot and the acting of the guest cast was hampered by some dodgy American accents. It's unfortunate the Cybermen sounded like Mr Punch when they attacked but more unfortunate were the dodgy racial stereotypes. That's not the way to do it! 

And yet, there's magic in it too. For my generation, Patrick Troughton had been the Chaplinesque Hobo, the comic relief Doctor in the Three Doctors and the Five Doctors, where he's all "shallimegallimezoop" and setting off fireworks to scare Yetis! Apart from the War Games, the stories that existed at the time (all 4 of them!) showed Troughton's Doctor as a bit of an "Oh my word" bumbler who got himself out of scrapes mainly by luck or thanks to his companions rescuing him. 

But here is a subtly different version. Yes, the comedy is still there, as demonstrated by the wonderful holding hands joke, he and Fraser Hines probably concocted in rehearsal. But this Doctor is decidedly more shady than the one we'd seen gallivanting around the moonbase avoiding Ice Warriors or bungling intelligence tests for the Krotons. 

He's deadly earnest about how dangerous the Cybermen are but doesn't exactly rush to stop the party entering the tombs. In fact he assures them it's all safe now there's no electrical charge in the doors, thanks to the hapless crewmember who tried to open them to get his fifty quid! 

For my generation, this version of the second Doctor was a revelation. He's manipulative and secretive, which we would know already if we'd been around to see the Evil of the Daleks a few months before. But he's kind hearted too and the scene in episode three where he comforts Victoria after the death of her father is rightly regarded as one of the best in the series ever. The moment of tenderness is there to reassure you this is a Doctor who can be trusted. 

The Cybermen look impressive and the scene where they break out of the tombs is rightfully the stuff of legend and of nightmares too where they threaten "You shall be like us!" . The idea of losing your humanity isn't always sufficiently explored in many Cybermen adventures where they tend to be used as rent-a-robot baddies. Here, they tower over the cast and even today would possibly cause a nightmare or two. 

So, maybe the Tomb of the Cybermen isn't perfect, but it does deserve it's legendary status, if only to show it's second lead actor and second best monster at their very best! 

Next Time : Sometimes even the best people can be wrong!