Doctor Who and the Tomb of the Cybermen (novelisation)

The Cybermen - silver, indestructible monsters whose only goal is power - seem to have disappeared from their planet, Telos. When a party of archaeologists, joined by the Doctor, Jamie, and Victoria, land on the Cybermen's barren, deserted planet, they uncover what appears to be their tomb.

But once inside it becomes clear that the Cybermen are not dead, and some in the group of archaeologists desperately want to re-activate these monsters! How can the Doctor defeat these ruthless, power-seeking humans and the Cybermen?

1992 edition

'The Cyberman went on raising his gun, slowly, slowly...'

The Cybermen - indestructible, unfeeling monsters whose only goal is power - have now disappeared from the planet Telos, and when a group of archaeologists, accompanied by the Doctor and his companions, land on the barren, deserted world, they discover what appears to be their tomb.

But once inside, it becomes clear that the Cybermen are not dead, and some of the scientists are intent on re-activating the monsters. How can the Doctor prevent these ruthless humans from awakening the Cybermen?

The Tomb of the Cybermen was first broadcast in 1967 and was thought lost forever until it was rediscovered in 1992 and released on video. Gerry Davis's novelisation is based on the original story he wrote with Kit Pedler.

Chapter titles

Introduction

Victoria and Jamie
An Expedition into Space
The Entrance to the Tombs
Cyberman Control Room
The Recharging Room
The Target Room
The Finding of the Cybermat
The Secret of the Hatch
The Cyberman Controller
Release the Cybermats
The Controller is Revitalised
Toberman Returns
Closing the Tombs

References

There was no further sign of the Cybermen after their appearance in 2070.

Deviations from televised story

The narration sometimes refers to the Doctor as "Doctor Who".
The introduction provides a brief synopsis of the birth of the Cybermen and the events of TV: The Tenth Planet and TV: The Moonbase. However, the introduction also states that the homeworld of the Cybermen was always Telos, not Mondas.
Toberman is described as either Turkish or Middle Eastern.
The main chamber of the tomb is lined with ornate bas-reliefs of the history of the Cybermen, from their creation to the destruction of Mondas.
The Cyber-Controller is described as having a black helmet, like the Cyber-Leaders seen later in the series.
There are five lieutenant Cybermen to the Cyber-controller.
Klieg states he is President of the Brotherhood of Logicians, rather than being just a major member of the Brotherhood.
The Earth expedition ship is named the Orbiter.
The Cybermats are described as scorpions.

Continuity

Jamie refers to being present at Mondas' destruction. (TV: The Tenth Planet) However, he was not part of the TARDIS crew during that story.

Writing and publishing notes

The cover depicts a version of the Cybermen different from the one in the story. (The photo reference used comes from The Invasion)
Initial designs by an unknown artist featured the Second Doctor and the appropriate Cybermen, but was unused, most likely because of the BBC's tendency to allow only the then-current Doctors likeness on the covers.
This title was delayed from its planned release in July 1977 until May 1978.
Dedication: Dedicated to my daughters, Victoria-Jean and Felicity-Jane.
The cover for the original Target Books edition features the artwork of Jeff Cummins.

Additional cover images

Variant cover by Jeff Cummins

British publication history

First publication:

Hardback

W.H.Allen & Co. Ltd. UK

Paperback

Target

Re-issues:

1992 by Virgin Publishing with a new cover by Alister Pearson priced £2.99 (UK)

Editions published outside Britain

to be added

Audiobook

This Target Book was released complete and unabridged by BBC Audio and read by Michael Kilgarriff, who played the Cyber-Controller in the television story, with Cybermen voices provided by Nicholas Briggs.

The audio set of four CDs was released in March 2013 priced £13.99 (UK)

External links

to be added