The Tomb of the Cybermen

Runtime

100 minutes

Time Travel

Future

Tropes (Potential Spoilers!)

Tomb, Base Under Siege, Spiked drink, Traps

Location (Potential Spoilers!)

Telos

Synopsis

The TARDIS arrives on the planet Telos, where an Earth archaeological expedition led by Professor Parry is trying to uncover the lost tombs of the Cybermen. With a lot of help from the Doctor, the archaeologists enter the tombs. There, one of the party, Klieg, reveals himself and his business partner, Kaftan, to be planning to revive the Cybermen.

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4 Episodes

Episode 1

First aired

Saturday, September 2, 1967

Runtime

25 minutes

Written by

Directed by

UK Viewers

6 million

Appreciation Index

Synopsis

The Doctor, Jamie and Victoria arrive on Telos, where an archaeological group are exploring the Tomb of the Cybermen. But are the Cybermen as dormant as they believe?

Episode 2

First aired

Saturday, September 9, 1967

Runtime

25 minutes

Written by

Directed by

UK Viewers

6.4 million

Appreciation Index

Synopsis

The archaeologists learn they are stranded on Telos and Klieg suggests they use the opportunity to explore the Cybermen's tombs.

Episode 3

First aired

Saturday, September 16, 1967

Runtime

25 minutes

Written by

Directed by

UK Viewers

7.2 million

Appreciation Index

Synopsis

The Cybermen have been revived and plan to convert the archeologists into their own kind, prompting Hopper to attempt a rescue.

Episode 4

First aired

Saturday, September 23, 1967

Runtime

25 minutes

Written by

Directed by

UK Viewers

7.4 million

Appreciation Index

Synopsis

Klieg attempts to do a deal with the Cybercontroller while the Doctor tries to find a way to refreeze the Cybermen permanently.

Characters

Second Doctor

Jamie McCrimmon

How to watch The Tomb of the Cybermen:

Watch on iPlayer

The Tomb of the Cybermen

The Cybermen Collection

Revisitations 3 (The Tomb of the Cybermen, The Three Doctors & The Robots of Death)

The Monster Collection: The Cybermen

VHS

The Tomb of the Cybermen (VHS)

Reviews
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7 reviews

This review contains spoilers!

“Are you happy with us, Victoria ?”

Une histoire qui, quand elle n’est pas atrocement bête, aligne quand même les séquences cultes. Mais du coup même quand elle a du charme c’est malgré l’écriture.

Toberman est déjà déshumanisé avant même d’être converti, mais il n’est même pas une exception car dans cette histoire, tout le monde est con.

Au final, si tout tient c’est surtout pour les valeurs de production assez extraordinaires et un trio principal toujours très charismatique.

Mais franchement, ils feront bien mieux.

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Review last edited on 17-11-24

This review contains spoilers!

Victoria: "You probably can't remember your family."
The Doctor: "I can when I want to... and that's the point really. I have to really want to, to bring them back in front of my eyes, the rest of the time they sleep in my mind and I forget. And so will you - you'll find there is so much else to remember. Our lives are different to anybody else's. That's the exciting thing; nobody in the universe can do what we are doing."

And that's my favourite speech in Doctor Who so far. An old and wise Doctor comforting Victoria, who is only just coming to terms with the loss of her father. Victoria is very much a return to classic "vulnerable" female companion who is told not to do anything, with The Doctor becoming a father figure. While I'll miss Polly's strength, it does allow for spine tingling and touching scenes like the one above.

I have always loved Tomb of the Cybermen and on this watch through I still thought it was fantastic. The Cybermen are back and their heartlessness comes across well on screen. They are very well realised monsters. This, coupled with the traps laid throughout the base, means that there is a real sense of peril in this story.

The fact it is a four part story really works in its favour. There are a few 6 part stories I can think of that wouldn't be improved by lopping off a couple of episodes. Episode 2 was the only one to drag at all, other than that the story romped along at a very enjoyable pace.

I was particularly taken by the tomb is discovered by blowing a hole in the side of a mountain; the shooting range Cyberman freaking out our heroes; the initial appearance of the Cybermen breaking the film and coming out of their pods (that set is SO tall!)

If I had a couple of nitpicks it would be that several people very obviously pretended to be asleep or knocked out throughout the story, often in order to deceive the team with what came across as wafer thin or unbelievable motivations. The hatch opened and closed so many times, our heroes deciding to get out of there, and then deciding to jump right back in, and then deciding to get out of there again! The constant appeal to so called "symbolic logic" was also a bit silly.

The cast however are excellent. I liked the multicultural vibe they were trying to establish, but this is partly where another area story starts to fall down a little for me. It is the second story in a row (and not the second in total) where a black man was portrayed as strong and simple, in this case he was also a slave, which is uncomfortable. Women in the far flung future were also portrayed as having very little power.

I hate to criticise this story though. I love it. One of the most engaging in the whole run.

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Review last edited on 19-08-24

Very much a game of two halves. It's one of the best-looking serials of the 60s, and the regulars are on some of their finest form. The scene where the Doctor and Victoria have an honest talk about loss and grief is something that is very rare in the Classic series, but oh so welcome. This is among the most iconic outings for the Cybermen, ever, their sneakiness and villainy following up on The Moonbase. The opening acts are tense and well-paced.

Then along come episodes three and four, and the pacing seems to go haywire. It also goes without saying that there is some seriously racist crap in this story, especially in the way Tobermann is written. It makes it rather hard to enjoy. On balance, I'd still call it a good story, but it could have been great if it had avoided these things.

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Review last edited on 28-07-24

This serial is a little slow to start but, after the first episode, trucks along nicely. The chemistry between Patrick Troughton and Frazer Hines is so much fun. They really are a great pairing. The soundtrack also, as the kids would say, slaps.

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Review last edited on 4-07-24

Tomb I feel is when cybermen really enter the fold of top tier villains there at there best here and new companion Victoria is also a highlight

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Review last edited on 28-05-24