The suspense. The music is quiet, eerie and gets the viewer in the right frame of mind for the show ahead. There is a small base of scientists in 2070 controlling Earth weather - and an infection picking off staff one by one. Yes, another base under siege - and I love it. They aren't sent a relief rocket as hoped and left to fend for themselves against this mystery illness. The Doctor has a challenge on his hands - which becomes far more considerable when we realise that the Cybermen are back, and are in control.

The use of the Cyberman’s shadows is frightening and very effective. They are strong and fierce, impossible to reason with and feel like a genuine threat.

Kit Pedler clearly knows our four main characters inside out. Though I was gobsmacked that Polly was once again reduced to making tea for everyone.

I loved the little strand about Jamie's "Phantom Piper" and Polly and The Doctor's varying reactions to it. I was delighted to see Polly discovering a way to defeat the Cybermen using the scientific tools at her disposal. Even more delighted when she headed out with Jamie and Ben to defeat the Cybermen.

It was nice to see a grittier side to the 2nd Doctor in this story, following the silliness of The Underwater Menace.

A story that shines in certain aspects, but is mediocre in other.

Our party lands on the surface of the moon. They discover a small human settlement built to monitor and change the weather on earth. However, such power should never fall into the wrong hands.

To get the obvious out of the way: This episode is half-missing. The other half is animated. The animation was actually shockingly good. Characters looked like themselves and were generally more realistic, which works with the tone this story had. If you want your animations to be as faithful as they can be, this is probably the style to go for. Even though it could probably still be a bit more refined.

As far as the actual story is concerned, this one starts out real solid. People in the base are falling ill to a mysterious disease. Meanwhile the cybermen slowly take the sick under their control. There is a big focus on the scare factor, which meshes well with this new cybermen design.

I know that, in recent times, there has been a new appreciation for the original Mondasian design. And quite right to! I have gushed about that exact design in my Tenth Planet review. But to be honest, I didn’t miss it here. This new design is great in its own right, as it reinforces the sterility and lack of emotion these creatures have. It also has a more advanced look, which fits in with the huge difference in time between the last 2 cybermen stories. This time, there are now human eyes to be seen. No movement in face muscles. A metal face is all that’s left. Unmoving. It has a real creep factor! I also never saw it as just a man in a suit. Even with those floppy pants! The way it is shot/animated always made it feel solid and machine-like.

Outside of the monster, this story offers quite a few interesting tidbits. It teaches us about the Gravitron, a machine used to alter gravity. Changing the tides and weather as a consequence. It also has a small example of such a device being used for evil, when a rescue ship is sent towards the sun. It shows both sides of the device, which I really liked! The machine is not evil, it is how it is used. This kind of detail makes a story interesting!

In the character department we don’t have quite as much to chew on. Ben and Polly are fairly flat. Jamie is mostly knocked out. The exception is a scene with the Doctor, as we get to hear his thought process at one point. Doing so is a bit of a double-edged sword. This Doctor is noticeably internal. You don’t know what he is going to do next. That is a big part of his strength. Giving insight into his thoughts could ruin that. Luckily, it is done well, so no harm done!

However, there is one part of this episode that is not as solid as all these other parts. And sadly, that is the main plot. The Cybermen’s plan makes very little sense. They want to use the base to destroy the earth, because it could be a potential threat. They try to take over the base by infecting its inhabitants with sugar, instead of invading. Their reason for this is unknown as far as I could tell. In the end they try to invade anyway, and they fail. It is noticeably incoherent and illogical, which is a bit ironic.

The story also shies away from the inherent “Body horror” aspect that the cybermen encapsulate. I know this is early days, but we get plenty of reminders that the cybermen used to be like us. They can change us into them. But instead of fully committing to that idea, we get a robomen rip-off, which is a bit disappointing. Just some people with a bit of tinfoil on their head. The story already went for an eerie horror-esque vibe at the start. I wish it went all the way.

But overall, this story is still perfectly fine. It has great moments, but they never really come together into a cohesive whole. It’s details are what really make it shine. If you can enjoy the little things, this is still a perfectly fine watch.

The Moonbase is a very entertaining Story. It is by no means an original one, very much a rehash in some Places towards *The Tenth Planet*, there are some Issues that the former Story does a lot better than this one. The Side Cast here is a bit weaker, while I do like one or two of them, the Rest don't really spring to my Mind. I am also not too fond of the Cybermen Redesign here. While I am happy they changed it just so the Actors could have had a better Time wearing these Costumes, but I do miss the Mondasian ones.
Still, there is a lot to like here, for example it's interesting seeing a Doctor Who Story set on the Moon before the actual Moon Landing happens. There is something to it which I can't articulate but gets it a unique Vibe in the historic Sense. I also really enjoyed the Chemistry between 2, Ben and Polly, not all the Moments are great, but I still feel like those two are getting used quite well here compared to some later Stories. Similarly to the Tenth Planet yet again a Lead gets sidelined with Jamie being basically on Bed for most of it. Admittedly it's amusing to see him get scared by the Cybermen, but it's a shame due to Production Issues he couldn't be a bigger Part here.
I also like the Resolution against the Cybermen, having a Spray against them is very cheeky but at least in a creative 'Adam West'-Way. Not to mention some stellar Cliffhangers and of course the iconic Speech from Throughton. This is easily the Story that basically brings us the second Doctor as we know him to be.
It's by no means perfect, it has plenty of flaws, but I had a great Time with it!

The Tenth Planet... 2! (or should that be the Twentieth Planet?) Base under siege story. The Cybermen are here. We know how this one goes by now.

The Cyberman motivations were somewhat interesting, but I'm not a fan of the new designs. The old ones looked cheap but in a way that got across that They Were Once Humans; the new ones just looked cheap. Polly had a couple of good moments, but mostly got reduced to making the coffee. Jamie got knocked out in a manner that I can only assume was to free the writer from having to deal with putting a historical character in a future sci-fi setting. The Moonbase was fine, I guess?

It's fine. It's not bad by any stretch, but the plot is pretty mediocre. It's a bit more innovative than the Tenth Planet, but it's ultimately kind of a bog-standard Base Under Siege. It's enjoyable enough while watching, and there are some real iconic moments of terror, but not great for repeat viewings.