Cyber-Scout (Monsters in Metropolis)
A Cyber-Scout was part of a two-Cyberman scout crew from Mondas, until a time storm tore its Cyber-ship apart and displaced the Cyberman in Berlin on Earth in 1925. This damaged its Cyber-conditioning and caused the Cyberman's original personality to resurface, but also caused it to experience great pain and emotional distress as a result.
Biography[[edit] | [edit source]]
Originating from Mondas, the Cyber-Scout, along with its comrade, Kreel, was tasked with travelling beyond Mondas to identify planets with compatible lifeforms for cyber-conversion. However, they were unable to find any such planets. Eventually, the duo's Cyber-ship was hit by a time storm, tearing the vessel in two, and displacing the Cyber-Scout and Kreel at separate points in time. (AUDIO: Way of the Burryman)
The Cyber-Scout arrived on Earth in 1925, in a sewer underneath the streets of Berlin. In August of the same year, the displaced Cyberman was found by Dieter Jovanovic, an embittered German who believed Germany should seek revenge for the humiliating peace forced upon him after the First World War. He gained control over the Cyberman, which felt unable to resist even though it objected to Jovanovic's actions and intentions.
Jovanovic infiltrated Babelsberg Studio during the filming of Metropolis, intent on stopping production because of the film's message of peace. He presented the Cyberman to the director, Fritz Lang, as an advanced puppet that could play the robot in the film, the "Machine Man". There, it murdered the lead actor, Olaf Richter, on Jovanovic's orders, even though it had no desire to kill anyone itself. The Ninth Doctor pursued it back to the sewers and realised the state it was in, leading him to try to reason with it. Jovanovic had it attack the Doctor and it knocked him out, but it was able to resist killing him.
Returning to the studio, Jovanovic set the Cyberman to kill Lang, Anna Dreyfus and others involved in the production. The Doctor reappeared and convinced it that it could disobey Jovanovic. The Cyberman strangled him to the point of unconsciousness but refused to kill him, allowing for his arrest.
Following the incident, the Doctor treated the Cyberman to a private screening of a completed version of Metropolis, where they felt moved by the film. The Doctor offered it a chance of resettlement but the Cyberman refused. Having no memory of who it once was and knowing its destructive potential, it decided that it no longer wished to continue its existence. The Doctor obliged its request. Without the Cyberman, the Machine Man in Metropolis was instead played by actress Brigitte Helm in full costume. (AUDIO: Monsters in Metropolis) While later confronting Kreel, the Doctor deduced their connection after he remembered the Cyber-Scout warning him about its comrade's activities. (AUDIO: Way of the Burryman)
Behind the scenes[[edit] | [edit source]]
- The Cybermen were not originally planned to feature in the Lost Warriors box set. Their inclusion was suggested by John Dorney, writer of Monsters in Metropolis, as he continued to develop and pitch ideas for his storyline based around Metropolis. He wondered "what would it be like if they had a Cyberman instead of the robot?" (VOR 152)
- Continuing the theme of the stories in Lost Warriors, the Cyber-Scout is a warrior who has been displaced by time. While the Lost Warriors trailer implies that the Cyber-Scout is from the Last Great Time War, Way of the Burryman confirms that it is from Mondas.
- According to David Richardson, producer of The Ninth Doctor Adventures, Christopher Eccleston was especially fond of the scenes in which he interacted with the Cyber-Scout. (VOR 152)
- The Cyber-Scout is among the numerous Cyberman variants featured in Big Finish's visual trailer for Old Friends, the fourth release in The Ninth Doctor Adventures, which also features the Cybermen.
- Chris Thompson shared a full body image of the Cyberman via Twitter.[1]
