The Tomb of the Cybermen
"The best thing about a machine that makes sense is you can very easily make it turn out nonsense."
In this serial, the Doctor, Jamie and Victoria land on the planet Telos where an expedition team has found an ancient Cyberman tomb. Naturally, the Doctor comes along, expecting some problems. Sure enough, two people die and when the crew decides to leave, their ship is revealed to be sabotaged. It turns out some of the expedition members, Klieg and Kaftan (with her manservant Toberman) are part of a cult called the Brotherhood of Logicians and believe they can work with the Cybermen to conquer the universe. Soon it turns out the "tomb" is a trap; the Cybermen are waiting for brilliant people to wake them from a dormant state and turn the geniuses into more Cybermen. Everyone manages to escape and seal the entryway to the "tomb" in the control room. Klieg, using a Cyberman weapon, tries to use it as leverage but the Cybermen trick him by returning Toberman, now secretly converted into a Cyberman. When Kaftan dies, the Doctor is able to convince Toberman to help them and regain his humanity. The Doctor returns to the tomb to put the Cybermen back into a dormant state. Klieg tries one more time to take control of the Cybermen but is killed. The Doctor manages to set the machines to electrify anyone seeking to fall into the Cyberman's trap while Toberman dies closing the door and destroying the lead Cyberman, the Cyber Controller. The Doctor feels mostly convinced the Cybermen are defeated but is unsure and sure enough, one of the Cybermen's smaller machines, a Cybermat, has survived and is free on Telos. Unaware, the Doctor, Jamie and Victoria return to the TARDIS.
The Tomb of the Cybermen is... interesting. Mostly I like it but I feel like it's the platonic ideal of what a Second Doctor story looks like. I don't mean it's the ideal story, just the ideal representation of the show, both it's successes and it's flaws (and it's formulas.) It really does feel like a lot of the stories we've seen. A completely misguided human who thinks they can work with the objectively evil aliens (this time they aren't "collaborating", mostly because the Cybermen don't even have an interest in the ruse. A BIT of a siege story (though it's more like an anti siege, trying to keep the Cybermen from getting out rather than coming in. And a classic alien invading army.
But that's neither specifically good or bad things. Just stuff we've seen before. What is less good is the character of Toberman. The show is really bad with it's representation of non-whites as simple minded muscle dude who die fighting monsters so the white characters can live. Very "noble savage" stuff. It's a shame because I feel like Toberman's actor could have been slightly rewritten so he had agency, was just a mercenary who believed in the Brotherhood before turning good and didn't have to have a childlike mind. God this era is not great at representation. Even the black astronaut in Moonbase is mostly a zombie for most of it. Fact is, actor Roy Stewart is an interesting guy. Me started a gym in London for people of all races and even ran a nightclub where some famous rock legends would patronize. Same with his Caribbean restaurant and bar The Globe, which he ran until his death. Really, they should have given him a chance to act because he couldn't be worse than the actor who played Hopper, who's American accent sounds like it comes from Monty Python. Look, maybe he's done well in other things but this is just unfortunate.
As for the rest... like I said a mix of the show's best and... not worst but making an example of some bad habits. The cheapness is on display (there's not a lot of Cybermen on the screen at a time) and the ending feels like the tension should escalate more and it really doesn't: it sort of plateaus around episode 3 (I feel like the Cybermat attack would have been more effective and they only needed to have more Cybermat props and point the camera at the floor a few times to give a sense that they are surrounded. Until they died, I thought "I guess there's only three or four in the room?" Klieg is a somewhat weak villain. Just another in a long line of these human villains who are completely naive. I think it would have been more interesting if he was turned into a Cyberman but there's no real insight except he's insecure and petty. And that's fine but I feel like I've seen this character too many times by this point.
But onto the good; Jamie and the Doctor's chemistry is on full swing. I like the tension in Evil of the Daleks but here they are much friendlier and it shows. I love Troughton making a dad joke and apologizing to a groaning Jamie. But really, Troughton MAKES this serial. I think it wouldn't work without him. I think early on he played the Doctor is almost unstable and then settled into a more heroic figure, though there's a bit of impishness and unpredictability in Evil of the Daleks. Here he really finds his perfect balance with well put insults and bon mots as well as a shockingly tender and emotional speech (that also helps the chemistry between him and Victoria.
This is such a good, speech, one that speaks to a truth and also tells us a lot about the Doctor (and I think it informs a lot to this day; he's often not thinking about his countless friends and companions but he's never forgotten. He may be bad with catching up with friends but they've all informed his growth and mean a lot).
There are definitely weaknesses in Pedler and Davis' script but the strength is dialogue. And Patrick delivers it with aplomb. It really feels like he's mastered the character. He can still make the character seem comically fearful when things go wrong but still wise and powerful and playful. I also think act three is good in tone. It has that quiet moments and though I have to put up with more Klieg posturing, the slowing down actually isn't a weakness here, at least in this episode. In fact, I don't even mind that we don't get Cybermen until episode 2.
So overall, it is a flawed story but I think enough works in this serial that I really do like it. The Doctor is perfect and despite the problematic nature with which Toberman is treated, it feels like comfort food Who (really, this feels like one to watch on a cold dark winters day. I also appreciate... that four episode is really the optimum number of episodes for a serial in the classic Who era.
Best Cliffhanger: The Cybermen have threatened to turn people into Cybermen before but it's still impactful at the end of episode 2 (I love their modulated voiced. I feel like every story has used a different modulation method but I love them all).
Next Time:
