TV Review: Doctor Who: Revenge of the Cybermen (1975)

Doctor Who: Revenge of the Cybermen (1975) written by Gerry Davis and directed by Michael E. Briant

Fourth Doctor Tom Baker and his companions Sarah Jane Smith (Elisabeth Sladen) and Harry Sullivan (Ian Marter) have returned to the Ark in Space to pick up the TARDIS, only to find themselves thousands of years before their last visit. At this point, the Ark is a space beacon guiding ships through the solar system. But a plague has broken out, leaving a handful of crew and one scientist, Kellerman (Jeremy Wilkin). Kellermen is interested in an asteroid nearby that is really the home of the Voga, a race of beings once at war with the Cybermen. Their asteroid is called the "planet of gold" because it is basically a chunk of gold ore floating in space. Gold is a weakness of the Cybermen--if their suits are contaminated they die quickly. Naturally, the Cyberman want to destroy Voga. The Vogans naturally don't want to die. Plenty of conflict is set up for the Doctor to resolve.

The plot moves along at a good pace with some mystery about who is on whose side among the humans on the space station. The typical cliffhangers abound in this four-episode storyline. The special effects are also typical for the classic Doctor Who (not very good). The story falls apart a bit when the Cybermen go to Voga to plant bombs. The Vogans fight them with rifles rather than using the plentiful gold all around. What the heck? Baker is charming as usual and has good chemistry with Sladen and Marter.

Mildly recommended--this is a typical, not great, story.

TV Review: Doctor Who: The Tenth Planet (1966)

Doctor Who: The Tenth Planet (1966) written by Kit Pedler and Gerry Davis, directed by Derek Martinus

The First Doctor (William Hartnell) has his swan song when the TARDIS lands at the Earth's south pole in 1986 (which was twenty years in the future from the original broadcast date; now it is over thirty years ago!). He and companions Polly (Anneke Wills) and Ben (Michael Craze) arrive at a base directing various space ships. Things go haywire when a new planet shows up, coming toward the Earth. The new planet is absorbing energy from the Earth (and the space ships). If that wasn't bad enough, a ship from the new planet lands by the base and the aliens who come out are Cybermen (in their very first appearance).

The story has a lot of fairly convincing science (writer Kit Pedler was a medical doctor in addition to being a science fiction writer) and impressive looking sets. The "mission control" set has plenty of levels and sciencey equipment. The humans have a hard time getting their space ships back on the Earth; they have a missile that could be used to destroy the other planet, but as usual for Doctor Who, the characters discuss the moral and physical ramifications of using a planet-destroying weapon. Will the earth be in jeopardy too? Can they kill off a whole other race? I found the story quite interesting.

The production did have some challenges. Hartnell collapsed during the second episode, requiring some quick redistribution of his lines while his character recuperated in a different room for a couple of episodes. Hartnell recovered enough to act in the last episode. The end of the episode features the first regeneration of the Doctor (thus the first appearance of Patrick Troughton as the Second Doctor). Unfortunately, the fourth episode was lost in the BBC archives and only bits of it are extant. All the audio was available. This DVD has an animated fourth episode that works to finish the story. It also has a version of the fourth episode that was released on VHS--photos were substituted in for the missing video with subtitles to explain any story details. The reconstruction is less satisfying than the animated version but still interesting.

The Cybermen are great villains--they are basically humans that have taken so many cybernetic attachments that they all they have left are organic brains. Everything else is robotic. In the process, they've shed emotions, living solely by reason (it would be interesting to see a match-up between Cybermen and Vulcans). If the Cybermen are in trouble, it's only logical to take what they need from others, even if that involves the death of others. Their cold-hearted methods makes them unnerving. Their voices have a computer cadence that is also off-putting. Considering other 1960s Doctor Who baddies, the Cybermen costumes are impressive though certainly not as sleek as their 2000s counterparts.

Recommended.