The Tomb of the Cybermen
The Tomb of the Cybermen is the first serial of the fifth season of the British science fiction television series Doctor Who, which was originally broadcast in four weekly parts on BBC1 from 2 to 23 September 1967.
In the serial, the time traveller the Second Doctor and his travelling companions Jamie McCrimmon and Victoria Waterfield get caught up in an expedition to the planet Telos, where the financiers of the expedition, Eric Klieg and Kaftan intend to revitalise the Cybermen that are buried in the underground tombs there in exchange for the Cybermen sharing their power.
It is the earliest serial starring Troughton as the Second Doctor, as well as the earliest Cyberman story, known to exist in its entirety. It also introduces the Cyber Controller and the Cybermats.
Plot
On the planet Telos, an archeological expedition uncovers a hidden entrance in a mountainside. Whilst one of the members tries to open the doors, he is electrocuted. Moments later, the TARDIS lands nearby and the expedition is met by the Second Doctor, Jamie and Victoria. Parry, the expedition's leader, explains that they are here to find the remains of the Cybermen, who apparently died out five centuries before. The expedition is funded by Kaftan, who is accompanied by her manservant Toberman and her colleague Klieg. Deciding to accompany them, the Doctor helps open the doors and, whilst he, Parry and Klieg stay to open the hatch leading to the tombs, the others explore the building.Victoria, Kaftan and Viner, Parry's assistant, discover a chamber with a sarcophagus-like wall inset facing a projection device that was apparently used to revitalise the Cybermen. After Victoria is locked inside, the Doctor is called to help her escape, though he suspects Kaftan is to blame. Meanwhile, Jamie and Haydon, another member of the expedition, experiment with the control panel in another room. After activating a certain combination, a Cyberman emerges and a gun fires, killing Haydon. The Doctor investigates and deduces that the room is a testing range for weapons; the Cyberman being a dummy to be used for such purposes. With two members dead, Parry decides to call off the expedition, only to be informed by pilot Captain Hopper that someone has sabotaged the rocket ship, meaning they are left stranded until repairs are completed. Klieg finally opens the hatch and the team descend, leaving Kaftan and Victoria behind.
Beneath, the group find a vast chamber beneath with a multistorey structure, containing a small army of frozen Cybermen. Back in the control room, Kaftan drugs Victoria and reseals the hatch. Using the controls Klieg revives the Cybermen and betrays the group, killing Viner when he tries to stop the process. As the Cybermen emerge, Klieg reveals that he and Kaftan belong to the Brotherhood of Logicians, a cult that possess great intelligence but no physical power. He believes the Cybermen will be grateful for their revival and will ally themselves with the Brotherhood to conquer the universe. After they awaken, the Cybermen revive their leader, the Cyber-Controller, and take the group as prisoners. The Doctor realizes that the tombs are actually an elaborate trap, with the Cybermen keeping themselves frozen until they were revived and rebuild their invasion force to conquer Earth.
When Victoria awakens, she confronts Kaftan, who holds her at gunpoint to prevent her from interfering. However, she is attacked and rendered unconscious by a Cybermat, which Victoria destroys. Retrieving Hopper and co-pilot Callum, who have stayed to repair the rocket, they open the hatch to mount a rescue, using smoke grenades to distract the Cybermen. Though they are able to rescue most the party, Toberman is recaptured and taken to be converted. Disarming and placing Klieg and Kaftan in the weapon testing room whilst they wait for the rocket to be repaired, the group is attacked by a swarm of Cybermats, which the Doctor incapacitates with electrical currents. After repairing a cybergun on the dummy, the Logicians return and open the hatch, believing that they can still forge their alliance with the Cybermen.
With their energy levels running low, the Cybermen return to their tombs whilst the Cyber-Controller and a partially converted Toberman meet with the group. Taking him to the revitalizing chamber, the Doctor attempts to sabotage the process, only for the Controller to escape and turn on the group. After it murders Kaftan, Toberman breaks free of the Cybermen's conditioning and apparently disables it. Whilst he, the Doctor and Jamie return to once again freeze the tombs, Klieg, unable to accept the Cybermen will not forge his alliance, tries to stop them, only to be murdered by a remaining Cyberman. After Toberman destroys it, the Doctor activates the tombs, hoping that the Cybermen will stay there for good.
The Doctor reseals the tombs and sets up counter measures to ensure the Cybermen will not be revived again. After resetting the defenses, he discovers the Controller is still functional and flees, working with the survivors to close it into the tombs. Whilst the others struggle to do so and keep the Controller inside, Toberman sacrifices himself to close the doors, completing the circuit, and electrocuting both him and the Controller. With the rocket repaired, the expedition leaves, the Doctor and his companions bidding them goodbye. As they return to the TARDIS, Jamie wonders whether they have seen the last of the Cybermen, which the Doctor doubts. As they leave, they fail to spot a surviving Cybermat, which approaches Toberman's body.
Production
Writing
, who had previously been assistant to Gerry Davis and been newly promoted to script editor on the preceding story, was allowed to produce this serial in order to prove that he could take over from Innes Lloyd as producer later on in the season. Bryant's own assistant, Victor Pemberton, acted as script editor on this serial, but left the series after production of the serial was finished, deciding that he didn't want to be a script editor. When Bryant's eventual promotion to producer came, Derrick Sherwin would become script editor. The working titles for this story were The Ice Tombs of Telos and The Cybermen Planet.Toberman was originally intended to be deaf, hence his lack of significant speech; his hearing aid would foreshadow his transformation into a Cyberman.
Recording
The serial was produced at the end of the fourth recording block but it was deliberately held back to season 5, despite the fact a 'Next Week' caption was prepared for the final episode of The Evil of the Daleks, suggesting it was originally intended to end the fourth season.The Cybermats were controlled by various means – some by wires, some by wind-up clockwork, some by radio-control, and some by simply being shoved into the shot. When the team were not filming, it was known for the people controlling the radio-controlled Cybermats to chase Deborah Watling around on set. The scene of the Cybermen breaking out of their tombs was filmed entirely in one take.
In the scene where the group are at the main entrance of the tomb, Patrick Troughton and Frazer Hines worked out in secret, without the knowledge of director Morris Barry, the brief sequence where both the Doctor and Jamie go to take Victoria by the hand and end up taking each others. This was in the knowledge that, with the recording schedule and the likelihood that re-takes would not be possible, it would have to be left in.
Broadcast, archive and reception
On 24 February 2013, the episode aired in the United States on BBC America as part of a year-long celebration and acknowledgement of the 50th anniversary of Doctor Who. Prior to the episode's airing that evening, a short documentary was aired which featured interviews with former, current and original Doctor Who production staff who shared their memories and perspectives of Patrick Troughton. It also appeared on Australian Broadcasting Corporation's iView exclusively, part of their celebration for Doctor Who's 50th anniversary.Reception
Following the transmission of the first episode, the BBC's Head of Drama Sydney Newman personally congratulated Peter Bryant on what he had seen, which Bryant later recalled: "Coming from the man who created Doctor Who that was the ultimate compliment, even more so seeing as it was my first job as producer." However, the serial also attracted controversy. On 26 September 1967, Kit Pedler appeared on the BBC series Talkback, hosted by David Coleman, to defend the serial against parents who thought it was too violent.Paul Cornell, Martin Day, and Keith Topping wrote favourably of the serial in The Discontinuity Guide, despite some criticism, "The first two episodes are wonderful, a well directed and expensive looking restating of the series' basics, but once the Cybermen are released from the Tombs, they go back in again." In The Television Companion, David J. Howe and Stephen James Walker stated that the serial was similar to the previous Cybermen stories, but it "manages to develop the idea to greater advantage and, as a result, achieves a considerable success" and was "well-paced, gripping and, in places, genuinely frightening". They praised the Cybermen, but said the noise they made while being attacked was "silly", and also criticised some of the direction and Deborah Watling's Victoria, whom they felt was an inconsistent character.
In 2009, Mark Braxton of Radio Times wrote that the story "does deserve its reputation" as a classic. DVD Talk's J. Doyle Wallis, in a review of the original DVD release, gave the serial three and a half out of five stars and called it "a very entertaining story". In a review of the special edition DVD for the same website, John Sinnott gave The Tomb of the Cybermen four stars. Sinnot praised Troughton's performance and the subtlety of the guest acting. Reviewing the serial for The Independent in 2012, Neela Debnath praised the "impressive production values" and faster pace. Christopher Bahn of The A.V. Club was less positive. He said that the story's "flaws are awfully apparent today" due to the "huge gaps in story logic and some really unfortunate racial stereotyping". Bahn was positive towards Troughton and the plot's buildup, but felt that the rest "just kind of peters out" and the villains' motivations were "convoluted".
In 2010, Charlie Jane Anders of io9 listed the cliffhanger to the second episode – in which the Cybermen break out of their tombs – as one of the greatest cliffhangers in the history of Doctor Who.
Archive
When the BBC's film archive was first properly audited in 1978, this serial was one of many believed missing. This story was prepared for release in early 1992 on audio cassette as part of the "Missing Stories" collection, using recordings made by fans at home at the time of transmission, with newly-recorded explanatory narration by Jon Pertwee. Then in late 1991, telerecordings of all four episodes were returned to the BBC from the Hong Kong-based Rediffusion company. In May 1992, the serial was released on VHS with a special introduction from director Morris Barry. The VHS release topped the sales charts throughout the country. This was the only original Doctor Who episode from the original era to top the UK charts.Between 1991 and 2013, the serial was believed to be the only complete story from Season 5 before the complete run of The Enemy of the World was returned from Nigeria in 2013.
Commercial releases
In print
A novelisation of this serial, written by Gerry Davis, was published by Target Books in 1978, entitled Doctor Who and The Tomb of the Cybermen; an audio reading of the novelisation, read by Michael Kilgarriff, was released in March 2013.A transcript of the transmitted version of the serial, edited by John McElroy, was published by Titan Books in August 1989. It was the second in that publisher's series of Doctor Who script books, following The Tribe of Gum. There was no video copy of The Tomb of the Cybermen in the BBC archives at the time that the book was prepared.
Home media
With the recovery of the film prints, the planned soundtrack release was delayed until 1993, when contractual obligations forced its release. See List of Doctor Who audio releases.Following the 1993 cassette release, on 1 May 2006 the soundtrack was released on a 2-CD set with linking narration by and a bonus interview with Frazer Hines. This was the first existing story to be released on audio in the same format as the missing story range.
A vinyl release of the soundtrack was released in 2018 exclusively for Record Store Day.
In the UK the DVD was released 13 January 2002. This serial was also released as part of the Doctor Who DVD Files in issue 73 on 19 October 2011. A special edition of the DVD, with new bonus features and the entire story now treated with the VidFIRE process was released in the UK on 13 February 2012 in the third of the Revisitations DVD box sets.
In 2013 it was released on DVD again as part of the "Doctor Who: The Doctors Revisited 1–4" box set, alongside The Aztecs, Spearhead from Space and Pyramids of Mars. Alongside a documentary on the Second Doctor, the disc features the serial put together as a single feature in widescreen format with an introduction from former show runner Steven Moffat, as well as its original version. It was then released again, included in a set paired with Rise of the Cybermen and The Age of Steel, in 2013's "The Monster Collection" series, specifically "The Cybermen" entry.
Music release
and sound effects from this story was released on a "mini-album" by Via Satellite in 1997. It is composed of 2 versions of the Doctor Who theme music, sound effects from and an incomplete selection of stock music used in the story. It was planned to be the first in a series of mini-albums, with The Faceless Ones and Inside the Spaceship being mooted as future albums. Neither was produced.Library tracks used in Tomb of the Cybermen but missing from this CD include Univers Sidéral by Paul Bonneau, assorted Synchro-Stings by Trevor Duncan, Sting Tintabuloid 1 by Desmond Leslie, Eerie Vaults by Steve Race, Suspended Animation, Galaxy and Hypnosis by Eric Siday, Dramatic Brass Chords by Wolf Droysen, and from Frank Talley's Off Center Suite: Dark Pursuit, Off Center and Panic in the Streets.
Although the CD inlay lists only 11 tracks, the actual disc contains 12. This was caused by the Astronautics Suite being divided into two tracks. The table below details the actual tracks as they appear on the CD rather than as listed on the inlay.
Track listing
Other Music Releases
Music cues from this story have been made available on other releases over the years. Several can be found on the Space Adventures – Music from 'Doctor Who' 1963–1968 CD. Other sources are listed below.| Track Titles | Composer | Release | Notes |
| Univers Sidéral | Paul Bonneau | ' | Remastered by Mark Ayres. |
| Univers Sidéral | Paul Bonneau | The Prisoner: The Complete Chappell Recorded Music Library Cues. | Sourced from mono vinyl, with stereo processing. |
| Synchro-Stings | Trevor Duncan | Vintage Drama | This deleted library CD contains 17 tracks of the Synchro-Stings, many of which were used in Doctor Who. |
| Eerie Vaults | Steve Race | Night At The B Movies | Deleted library CD. |
| Suspended Animation | Eric Siday | The Ultra Sonic Perception | Sourced from vinyl, these tracks were reissued on CD and LP by Dual Planet in 2014. |
| Galaxy | Eric Siday | The Ultra Sonic Perception | Sourced from vinyl, these tracks were reissued on CD and LP by Dual Planet in 2014. |
| Hypnosis | Eric Siday | Vintage Sci-Fi | Deleted library CD containing many Doctor Who cues from Eric Siday and Desmond Leslie. |
| Dramatic Brass Chords | Wolf Droysen | – | This track has never been reissued. However, its companion piece, Brass Chords, Staccato Ending, is available on the photo gallery of the DVD of The Space Museum. |
| Dark Pursuit | Frank Talley | Drama / Links & Bridges | These tracks are not available on CD but are most easily available on this library LP. |
| Off Center | Frank Talley | Drama / Links & Bridges | These tracks are not available on CD but are most easily available on this library LP. |
| Panic in the Streets | Frank Talley | Drama / Links & Bridges | These tracks are not available on CD but are most easily available on this library LP. |
| Space-Time Music Pt. 1 | Wilfred Josephs | ' | Remastered by Mark Ayres. |
| Space Adventure Pt. 2 | Martin Slavin | Remastered by Mark Ayres. |