Episode #29 : The Tenth Planet

"We are called Cybermen. We were exactly like you once, but our race was getting weak. Our life spans were getting shorter, so our doctors and scientists devised spare parts for our bodies until we could be completely replaced."

Episode 29:    The Tenth Planet.
Companions:  The 1st Doctor, Polly Wright and Ben Jackson.
Air Date:         Four episodes. 8th to 29th October 1966.

The Doctor's TARDIS lands at the Snowcap space tracking station in Antarctica in December 1986. A routine space mission starts going wrong. When the base personnel's suspicions are roused, the Doctor informs them that the space capsule is being affected by the gravitational pull of another planet - a tenth planet in the solar system.

The Tenth Planet is missing the fourth part but it exists as a stills and audio fan made piece online. I believe that the same company that animated the 2nd Doctor story The Invasion have also made an animated episode to finish it off.

The Tenth Planet is a very well done story that although it feels lengthy doesn't come across as boring or distracting. This is the story that introduces the Cybermen to the Whoniverse though they are somewhat different to what they would ultimately become. In this story they come from Mondas, Earth's twin planet lost in the depths of space for millions of years, and now have come back to raid our world for energy. These Cybermen need that energy to live and ultimately is their downfall. They are also less armoured or machine-like than when we see them in the future and it leaves me with the impression that these were the early Cybermen, the original survivours of Mondas and the later Cybermen are more "evolved".

This really is the perhaps the first time that we get a real sense that the Whoniverse is not our universe, not counting the events of The War Machines which could have been partly covered up. In this story it is 1986 and everyone around the world sees Mondas. Not to mention that Cybermen do land around the world. Where was U.N.I.T. for that? By this time they would have dealt with Cybermen before... but that is for another time.

This is the final story for William Hartnell. The Doctor's body has grown tired and regeneration sets in. This was the first use of regeneration, though it won't be refered to as such for some time, and it allowed the BBC to keep the show going by replacing actors when they wanted to move on.