The Tomb of the Cybermen

“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.

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.

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.

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.

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

The good: Cyber-lore!

The bad: Really racist!

I can't completely dismiss this story; there is some good stuff in there. The Doctor and Victoria have a beautiful and poignant conversation about loss, there are some real moments of levity, and the iconic scene of the Cybermen pushing their way out of the tombs. On the other hand, the depictions of the villains is really bad. Kaftan is named after clothes, and Toberman... oh, there's not enough time in the day to discuss why Toberman's portrayal as a strong, silent black manservant who is literally and figuratively dehumanized by the narrative is messed up. I think it's still worth watching, but it's an extremely mixed bag to say the least.

I kinda don't get the acclaim for this one. The setting's interesting but the character drama is a bit dull, and while I normally try to forgive problematic elements in 60s stories as being products of the time, the sexism and racism in the writing here is just too prominent to ignore.