The Tomb of the Cybermen has an interesting history with fans. Until being found in 1992 in Hong Kong it was
one of the stories that were completely missing and only heard about from the
novelization and the word of mouth surrounding the story. The word of mouth said that this was among
the best of all Doctor Who stories with enormous sets and some of the best
acting ever seen in Doctor Who. The hype
allowed the BBC to immediately release it on VHS to the fan reaction that it
was good, but not nearly as good as some of the other Doctor Who stories and
that the people who said it was a classic were seeing it through rose tinted
spectacles. I’m here today to see if the
story really was as bad as people reacted to it.
The story is the opener
to Season 5 also known as the base under siege season so called for the style
of story produced around the time. The Tomb of the Cybermen is no different
as it sees the Doctor, Jamie and Victoria right after the events of The Evil of the Daleks arriving on the
planet Telos where an archeological expedition is looking into the remains of
the Cybermen which disappeared after a series of wars. The team discovers the entrance to a giant
tomb which is set up with logic puzzles so someone very foolish unleashes the
Cybermen who are sleeping inside the ice of the planet and because this story
takes place on a day ending with a y madman Eric Kleig who had a hand in
sponsoring the expedition wakes them up and wants to use them to take over the
Earth. The rest of the story plays out
like a base under siege as the Doctor, Jamie and Victoria have to get the
Cybermen back into their tombs and escape the planet so the universe can rest
easily. Writing out the plot like this
it sounds like it would be boring, but as the story is only four episodes long
and the writing is so tight, it doesn’t feel like it drags at all except for
Episode 3 which doesn’t have much occurring throughout. The plot is helped by some great sets that
just look and feel metal especially on the monochrome film. If the Cybermen were to build a tomb this is
what it would look like. The honeycomb
tomb itself is a beauty of a creation. It’s
only three stories, but the direction of the story makes it feel bigger as you
have actors going right up next to it and several shots from far away. Mention also has to be made of the music
choices for this story as they were all taken from stock sources and the
selections chosen from other science fiction which sounds great.
The acting is where many
people had a problem with and I have to agree with some of the complaints. Some of the acting in this story can be
really bland with Captain Hopper being a stereotypical American with an actor
who obviously wants more to do with the role he was given, but didn’t have
it. There are also a few obvious red
shirts in this story who are just boring as you wait for the first cliffhanger to
kill them off for good. Allegations have
been made that this story is sexist and racist which I don’t really agree
with. The racist allegations come with
the character of Toberman who is black and a servant, but he is meant to be
hearing impaired so people have to talk to him slowly so I don’t really see a
problem with it except for the unfortunate casting of a black person.
The sexist allegations
come against Victoria who is treated like a scared little flower who can’t fend
for herself which can be refuted as Deborah Watling has several moments where
she is moving the plot along. Also
Victoria is supposed to be a teenager so of course she will be treated like a
child as she is only sixteen in these stories. She also gets a great moment
with the Doctor where they reminisce about their families which is really good
to see as it touches your heartstrings.
Klieg played by George Pastell is one of those over the top character
who is just great to see as he has ambitions but is an idiot being strung along
by Kaftan his partner in crime who dies in Episode 4 leaving Klieg to act on
his own where we get some great scenes of Klieg being an idiot. The main event of the story is Patrick
Troughton and Frazer Hines who are on top form as they are cracking jokes at
each other and just having a good time in their roles. They even integrate Deborah Watling into
their fold as they build up a good relationship with the new member of the
TARDIS crew.
To summarize, The Tomb of the Cybermen may not be a
perfect story as there are some dodgy moments and really dodgy casting choices,
but it is still really good. The plot
and a lot of the stories design and direction and acting comes across really
well and this thing should be in everyone’s collection. 95/100.
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