Episode #37 : The Tomb of the Cybermen

"Our lives are different to anybody else's. That's the exciting thing, that nobody in the

universe can do what we're doing."

 

 

Episode 37:   The Tomb of the Cybermen.
Companions: The 2nd Doctor, Jamie McCrimmon and Victoria Waterfield.
Air Date:        Four episodes. 2nd to 23rd September 1967.

The TARDIS arrives on the planet Telos, where an Earth archaeological expedition led by Professor Parry is trying to uncover the lost tombs of the Cybermen. With a lot of help from the Doctor, the archaeologists enter the tombs. There, one of the party, Klieg, reveals himself and his business partner, Kaftan, to be planning to revive the Cybermen.

There are time as I go re-watching these stories, that I realise that I am often overly-critical of some of them. Especially these which are pre-Pertwee. But The Tomb of the Cybermen is a gem among these early stories and a must-watch in my opinion. Very rarely does 1960's Doctor Who get such a well written, well paced and well-acted story, but this one does it.

The story deals with the Cybermen having put themselves into a hibernation state for 500 years. My guess would be because of Mondas' destruction in the mid 20th century though as machine life forms who could live indefinitely it makes me wonder why that would be necessary. Now that they have been found they plan to start assimilating, for lack of a better word, the archaeologists and rebuild their race. The story also introduces the concept of a Cyber-Controller and Cybermats, both of which will last throughout the Cybermen's appearances in the series.

This is the first time that I can say I've seen Victoria Waterfield on screen and I quite like her as a companion. Unlike Jamie, who just seems to leap into the idea of time travel and space, Victoria actually plays the culture shock of being a person out of time, dropped into things she doesn't truly understand.

We get a follow up to the events of this story with the 6th Doctor in the story Attack of the Cybermen, which also ties into the events from The Tenth Planet. Nice to see that the writers were considering previous stories at some point.

For those who want to watch the better classic stories, I heartily recommend this one. A big thumbs up.