Mondas

Mondas is the original homeworld of the Cybermen this universe and the twin planet of Earth, which, in ancient times, moved from its old position out into space.

Mondas in space (note continents similar to South and North America (DW: The Tenth Planet)

Geography

Mondas was identical to Earth even down to the size and shapes of its continents. (DW: The Tenth Planet)

Life forms

Originally, the Mondasians resembled the humans of Earth in every respect. (DW: [[The Tenth Planet) One account shows that in the same way that parallels to humans existed on Mondas, Mondasian Silurians and Sea Devils shared the planet with dinosaurs and Cybermen. (DWM: The Cybermen: The Dead Heart) A reptilian god figure, Golgoth, also lived on Mondas at this time. (DWM: The Cybermen: The Dark Flame)

History

Conflicting accounts

One account shows the Voords of the planet Marinus using stolen time technology to "quick-evolve" themselves into the earliest Cybermen, which would make Mondas, in fact, Marinus, under another name. (DWM: The World Shapers)

Another account describes events which took place on Terra Nova, an artificially created duplicate of Earth and its cultures circa the 1st century BCE. Possibly this indicates that Mondas began as Terra Nova. (MA: State of Change)

Separation from Earth orbit

Originally, Earth and Mondas occupied the same orbit in the Sol System. It was stated that "Mondas" is another name for Earth in one of the ancient languages. For unknown reasons, Mondas left that orbit and drifted into space.(DW: The Tenth Planet)

This implies either contact between the two twin planets or else a degree of parallel evolution, with similar languages evolving on both worlds.

Creation of the Cybermen

Origins

According to the Cybermen themselves, the Mondasians were once exactly like human beings, but to remove various weaknesses such as a decreasing lifespan, their scientists designed cybernetic spare parts to replace the organs of the human body. They also considered emotions a weakness, and removed those from their brains as well, becoming extremely powerful and long-lived while at the cost of becoming cold, logical and machine-like in their ruthlessness. (DW: The Tenth Planet

Early history

During a time when parts of Mondas had a tropical climate, Cybermen met and warred with Silurians and Sea Devils. (DWM: The Cybermen: The Dead Heart). The godlike reptilian humanoid Golgoth appeared and destroyed all but one Cyberman and finally destroyed the lone survivor. (DWM: The Cybermen).

Some centuries after, human-appearing Mondasians of roughly 20th century technological development had appeared and Mondas had begun to move out of its orbit. Archeologists had discovered remnants of the Cybermen. (DWM: The Cybermen: The Ugly Underneath)

This last story implied that the discovery of the extinct Cybermen would lead to the Mondasians deciding to use Cybertechnology, beginning the cycle of creation anew and creating a new race of Cybermen.

Fifth Doctor and Nyssa arrived on Mondas prior to the rise of the Cybermen, while it was still drifting through space. There, they discovered the Mondasians living underground in a culture virtually identical to that of England in the 1950s, although with more advanced technology. They witnssed the the slow slide of the Mondasians towards cyber-conversion, conceived by the cybernetic gestalt intelligence controlling Mondas as a solution to the planet's increasingly desperate situation. (BFA: Spare Parts

The gestalt intelligence had similiarities to the Cyber-Planner. This event may have happened after the other account or it may have even happened before

Return of Mondas to the Sol System

By 1986. the Cybermen, had by this time fitted a propulsion system to Mondas itself. This allowed them to pilot the planet through space, returning it to the solar system. The Cybermen invaded the South Pole while Mondas drew closer, draining Earth's energy to replace and supplement its own. However, the energy absorbed was too much, and Mondas disintegrated and the Cybermen on Earth died. (DW: The Tenth Planet)

Notes

• The origins of the Cybermen given in the Doctor Who Magazine comic strip The Cybermen conflicts with that given in Spare Parts, if taken at face value, unless you assume the Cybermen had different separate creations, as the former story implies. The World Shapers gives a very different account to either and one that contradicts The Tenth Planet itself.

Appearances

Television

• DW: The Keys of Marinus (possibly, as Marinus)
• DW: The Tenth Planet (first appearance; destroyed)

Audio

• BFA: Spare Parts

Comics

• DWM: The World Shapers
• DWM: The Cybermen

Novels

• MA: State of Change (possibly, as Terra Nova)

References

Television

• DW: Attack of the Cybermen (Mondas' destruction plays a major role in the story, but it does not appear)