Attack of the Cybermen (TV story)

Attack of the Cybermen
Doctor:	[[doctor::Sixth Doctor]]
Companion(s):	Peri
Main enemy:	The Cybermen Cyber-Controller
Main setting:	London; 1985 Telos
Key crew
Writer:	Paula Moore
Director:	Matthew Robinson
Producer:	John Nathan-Turner
Release details
Story number:	138
Release number:	Season 22
Premiere broadcast:	5th January - 12th January 1985
Format:	2 45-minute episodes
Production code:	6T

Attack of the Cybermen was the first story of Season 22. This story features the return of Lytton, last seen in "Resurrection of the Daleks," and also introduced the Cryons, the native race of Telos, whose world had been occupied by the Cybermen.

Synopsis

While attempting to fix the TARDIS's chameleon circuit, the Doctor returns to Foreman's Yard on Totter's Lane in 1985, where he meets up with his old enemies the Cybermen, who have come from the future to attempt to change history by sending Halley's Comet crashing into Earth. Lytton, last seen working for the Daleks, is also caught up in the Cybermen's plot. But is Lytton working for the Cybermen, himself, or someone else?

Plot

Part One

to be added

Part Two

to be added

Cast

• The Doctor - Colin Baker
• Peri - Nicola Bryant
• Lytton - Maurice Colbourne
• Griffiths - Brian Glover
• Russell - Terry Molloy
• Payne - James Beckett
• Cyber Leader - David Banks
• Cyber-Controller - Michael Kilgarriff
• Flast - Faith Brown
• Varne - Sarah Greene
• Bates - Michael Attwell
• Stratton - Jonathan David
• Cyber-Lieutenant - Brian Orrell
• Cyberman - John Ainley
• Bill - Stephen Churchett
• David - Stephen Wale
• Rost - Sarah Berger
• Threst - Esther Freud

Crew

• Assistant Floor Manager - Pennie Bloomfield
• Costumes - Anushia Nieradzik
• Designer - Marjorie Pratt
• Film Cameraman - Godfrey Johnson
• Film Editor - M A C Adams
• Incidental Music - Malcolm Clarke
• Make-Up - Linda McInnes
• Producer - John Nathan-Turner
• Production Assistant - Llinos Wyn Jones
• Production Associate - June Collins, Sue Anstruther
• Script Editor - Eric Saward
• Special Sounds - Dick Mills
• Studio Lighting - Henry Barber
• Studio Sound - Andy Stacey
• Theme Arrangement - Peter Howell
• Title Music - Ron Grainer
• Visual Effects - Chris Lawson

References

• This is Peri's first visit to London.
• The TARDIS lands at 76 Totter's Lane, which was where the First Doctor placed his TARDIS prior to the events of the very first episode An Unearthly Child.

Individuals

• Lytton says that he comes from a satellite of Vita 15 (Riften 5) in the star system 690.
• During one of the Doctor's rants he calls Peri the Terrible Zodin.
• The Cyber Controller has met the Doctor before.

Planets

• The Doctor and Peri view Halley's Comet from the TARDIS.
• The Cybermen speak of preventing Mondas' destruction.
• The Cybermen have tombs on Telos.

Races and Species

• Lytton previously worked for the Daleks.
• Cybermen
• Cryons are native to Telos.

Technology

• The Doctor (briefly) fixes the TARDIS Chameleon circuit.

Music

• When the Doctor and Peri observe Halley's Comet the background music is Malcolm Clarke's music for the 1982 BBC documentary, "The Comet is Coming".
• When the TARDIS lands in the junkyard, the music playing is a distorted version of the theme music to "Steptoe and Son", a BBC sitcom about a couple of rag-and-bone men. The original music was written by Ron Grainer, who also wrote the Doctor Who theme.
• The Doctor plays the opening of J. S. Bach's "Toccata and Fugue in B Minor" on the TARDIS/organ. This piece had already been used in the film "Daleks - Invasion Earth 2150 AD".

Story Notes

• There is much contention over who exactly wrote Attack of the Cybermen, it was written under the pseudonym Paula Moore.

• Paula Woolsey and Eric Saward, supposedly together wrote the story.
• However Kit Pedler and Gerry Davis can/could also be credited as the inventors of the Cybermen.
• There is also some argument whether Ian Levine also contributed to the story.

• Attack of the Cybermen was first broadcast in two weekly parts; beginning with this serial and continuing for the remainder of Season 22, episodes were 45 minutes in length (as opposed to previous episodes which were 25 minutes long) for syndication, in some markets, this serial is re-edited into four, 25-minute segments.
• Atypically for the title sequence used from Seasons 18 through 23, the story title is rendered in all capital letters.
• This story had the working title The Cold War.

Ratings

• Part One - 8.9 million viewers
• Part Two - 7.2 million viewers

Myths

• This story replaced one called The Opera of Doom featuring Lightfoot and Jago, Padmasambhava, Omega, the Master, the Rills and the Cybermen. (This was a rumour deliberately started by fans and printed as fact in the news magazine DWB.)

Filming Locations

• Glenthorne Road (UCI House), Hammersmith, London
• Davis Road, London, W3
• Birkbeck Road, Acton
• Becklow Road, London, W12
• Gerrards Cross Sand and Gravel Quarry, Gerrards Cross
• BBC Television Centre (TC6), Shepherd's Bush, London

Discontinuity, Plot Holes, Errors

• The sign for the junkyard at 76 Totter's Lane says "I.M. Forman", a misspelling as the original (in An Unearthly Child) read "I.M. Foreman". Such errors occur all the time in real life; presumably in the 20-or-so years between the two stories, the sign was repainted by someone who couldn't spell. Also, time distortion (seen in DW: Time Crash) may have had a part to play.
• How did the Cybermen get into the Tardis before the Doctor arrived. The Cybermen might be avanced enought to break into the Doctor's Tardis. It's also possible that the Doctor simply forgot to lock it, which he's done in the past.
• Why do the Cybermen let the Doctor tamper with his controlls when they are holding Peri?
• It is etablished that the Cybermen went to Telos after Mondas was destroyed to use the freezing chambers. So why are there Cybermen in the freezing chambers in this story? They haven't come there yet. Yes they have. They have been on Telos for ages. The ones we see in the begining are probably survivors from The Invasion who have somehow got in touch with the rest of their kind.

Continuity

• This story revisits the setting of DW: An Unearthly Child.
• The Cybermen mention Mondas' destruction which occured in DW: The Tenth Planet.
• Dialogue seems to indicate these Cybermen are from a period after DW: The Tomb of the Cybermen, it was also the first appearance of Telos.
• DW: The Invasion featured Cybermen in the sewers as does this story.
• Lytton last appeared in DW: Resurrection of the Daleks.

DVD, Video and Releases

• Attack of the Cybermen was released in a tin boxed set with The Tenth Planet in 2000 on VHS.
• The coming soon trailer for DVD has been confirmed by the BBFC.

Novelisation

Main article: Attack of the Cybermen (novelisation)

• Novelised by Eric Saward in 1989.

See also

to be added

External Links

• BBC Episode Guide for Attack of the Cybermen
• Outpost Gallifrey Episode Guide: Attack of the Cybermen
• Doctor Who Reference Guide: Detailed Synopsis - Attack of the Cybermen
• A Brief History of Time (Travel): Attack of the Cybermen
• The Locations Guide to Doctor Who - Attack of the Cybermen