“Have you no emotions, sir?” 

Tout le premier acte est un triomphe. 

Les Cybermen ne seront jamais aussi bizarres et magiques qu’ici, et ont carrément de l’air fantômes sans visage qui errent sur la banquise. 

Mais surtout comme ils sont devenus la mort par seule peur du vide, ils pourraient presque être nous. 

Et non seulement ils sont un cauchemar absolu. Mais en plus ils vident de toute sa vie ce vieux Docteur qui se bat une toute dernière fois. 

The Tenth Planet n’est peut-être alors jamais aussi bon que chaque image terrifiante qu’il laisse en tête, il est bizarrement touchant.

Love, pride, hate, fear, this episode is peak sir.

This is a cool episode, not just because it is the first regeneration (although that sequence is quite interesting).  What really stands out here is how well and realized the Cybermen are.  Sure, they come across as a bit goofy, but they are also brought along with a certain sense of dread, and they nicely do the sci-fi thing of exemplifying fears and concerns about humans elective-surgery-ing themselves into monsters.  I found it pretty fascinating overall, even in things did get a little shouty near the end.  It's a bittersweet kind of story in that it is sad so see Hartnell go, but you can tell his health problems were getting to him and you can't help but mourn him a bit while watching these episodes.  An easy story to identify as much-watch in the world of Doctor Who, even if the last episode is tragically missing.

I suppose there should be a weight of expectation on a Doctor's final story, but I've never read a rave review of The Tenth Planet, or heard it referred to as an all-time classic. As a result of this I went into this with measured expectations and was blown away by episode one. We're in 1986, the south pole and there is a cosmopolitan mix of different arctic submarine officials who Ben, Polly and The Doctor get mixed up with. Then, there's the death of submarine officials and the big reveal - Cybermen! They receive the best introduction of any monster in Doctor Who so far, silently slinking on the far end of the screen, ignoring the screams of the helpless man trying to break into the TARDIS for safety; before coldly killing him off. I left episode one with my expectations quadrupled and surprised to see something of a "series finale" element in Hartnell's last story.

These Cybermen are creepy, half-human and all the worse for it, they are people who have adapted themselves to increase their lifespan, they have super-strength, but their adaption has gone out of control, they no longer have feelings. This enables them to control a room full of powerful people and sabotage their attempts to protect the base with only a couple of weapons and a cold outlook on the value of human life.

My main reservation is that the Doctor is not given enough to do, and with this being his last episode you want to saver every moment. Ben and Polly's involvement in the plot is variable. At points Polly is reduced to making tea for the boys. She does get to come up for a plan to stop General Cutler going too far in his efforts to destroy Mondas with a Z bomb, but its Ben that actually gets to carry this out. It is worth noting that we see perhaps the first credible and impressive role written for a black actor in the show though, going a small way to make up for the character of Jamaica in previous story The Smugglers.

As the end of episode three draws near the nerve-wracking countdown to the release of the z-bomb starts. This is a great cliff-hanger. Thankfully for episode four I have the BBC animation. In the final part there is of course one "unexpected" twist, something which has never happened before. The First Doctor's last few moments are astonishing, understated "it is far from being all over; I must get back to the TARDIS - immediately, yes I must go now; I must go at once; ah yes thank you; keep warm."

Ben and Polly bang on the TARDIS door, frightened about being left behind, meanwhile The Doctor is about to endure his first regeneration. He looks at the TARDIS console with his last few breaths, the machine whirring, something is happening! Ben and Polly run in to care for The Doctor who is now on the ground. This scene is some of the best Doctor Who has ever served up. William Hartnell disappears and Patrick Troughton takes his place. The First Doctor has left the building.

The Tenth Planet: 9.4/10 - This story is so good. The Cybermen are already a massive threat and their presence is huge. I love the characters here and the way they interact with Cutler. I think these Mondasian Cybermen are one of my favorite designs of the Cybermen and in this episode I love them. Their speaking patterns and the fact you can see the human eyes in the suits makes them way more creepy which I love. The buildup to the regeneration is also really cool and I think that the story being mostly contained to one building gives it a nice cramped feeling that helps add to the atmosphere of the story.