The Moonbase

“There are some corners of the universe which have bred the most terrible things.”

Tout le dernier acte est un triomphe.

Les Cybermen ne seront jamais aussi drôles qu’ici, et ont carrément de l’air de poupées sans vie qui volent dans le ciel.

Mais surtout comme ils sont devenus des robots certes agréablement silencieux mais vides, cette seule fin les rend bizarres à nouveau. (...)

The Moonbase n’est peut-être alors jamais aussi bon que chaque moment grandiose qu'il copie de The Tenth Planet, il y a quand même un peu de magie qui en surgit.

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.

One of the strongest cybermen stories love the effects in this story wish the whole thing survived so we could see what the foaming of the cybermen looked like but the animation is just as good

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.

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.

...I mean yeah it's The Tenth Planet but again? There's a base and they're trying to stop the Cybermen from invading Earth, and near the end they figure out a way to defeat them and save the day, this time by using a bunch of chemicals to melt them, and later by realizing they can use a gravity machine that they've had for the whole story to fling the Cybermen into space.

It's still an entertaining story, certainly, I liked it more than The Highlanders, but I don't have anything specific to say about it. Polly and Ben get another good moment when they figure out how to melt the Cybermen's tech; the setting of a moon base is really cool and allows for it all to feel very clean and distant, something that works well for a Cyberman story.

Oh, I should talk about the reconstruction real quick!! The first and third episode of this serial, along with the final episode of The Tenth Planet, were animated by Planet 55. I really like their work. It feels very close to the original in its rotoscoped animation and black-and-white visual style, as well as the framing, which ensures there's less dissonance when switching between live-action and animation. The animation for this serial also has a slight blue tint which helps sell the cold vibes, which was a nice touch.