Plot summary
Archaeologists determined to discover why the Cybermen disappeared centuries ago get exactly what they wish for.
Notable for:
First appearance of the Cyber-Controller and the Cybermats
The earliest Second Doctor serial to survive in its entirety, and the only complete Season 5 story until The Enemy of the World was recovered in 2013
Believed lost after the BBC’s 1978 film archive audit until 16mm telerecordings of all four episodes were returned by Hong Kong broadcaster ATV in late 1991
The rush-released May 1992 VHS outsold The Silence of the Lambs in its first week on sale
The only Season 5 story not made up of six episodes, and the only 1960s Cybermen story with Cybermen in the title
Working titles were The Ice Tombs of Telos and The Cybermen Planet
Peter Bryant produced it as a trial run to see whether he could take over from Innes Lloyd later in the season, with his assistant Victor Pemberton acting as script editor
Shirley Cooklin, who plays Kaftan, was married to producer Peter Bryant, and Gerry Davis wrote the part specifically for her
Patrick Troughton ad-libbed the Doctor pointing to a book to explain what a Cybermat is after forgetting his line, and he and Frazer Hines devised the Doctor and Jamie hand-holding moment without telling the director
The Doctor gives his age as 450 in Earth terms, and this is Victoria’s only televised story with no scenes set on Earth
The quarry where the Telos exteriors were shot was re-used in Attack of the Cybermen
Toberman was originally supposed to be deaf; that was written out, but his lack of dialogue remained
The violence of this story was infamous at the time. The story was initially rejected by ABC in Australia. Kit Pedler went on a talkshow to defend the story when there was the Cyberman “death” scene was criticized as being too violent
Pete commentary:
The Tomb of the Cybermen is rightly thought of as a classic. It’s dark and claustrophobic, with a returning fan-favorite monster that’s signature of the era. The plot is tight and easy to follow. The sets, costumes, and effects are all top-notch for the era. It introduces a lot of lore. The cast delivers. And there’s more here than just a cool Cybermen episode—the character moments between the Doctor and Victoria are some of the best in the whole series.
Kinda dumb that everybody tries to open to doors on their own. Sure, Toberman’s strong, but how about a few people combining their strength? No one thought of that?
Victoria is the first new companion since Jamie. Every time there’s someone new, it’s an opportunity to explore a little bit more about who the Doctor is, and for the first time we learn the Doctor’s age (about 450), that he sees the TARDIS as his home, and the strong implication that he has family beyond Susan.
The scene between the Doctor and Victoria talking about family is quite beautiful. Troughton is superb here, and his wisdom about family and memories is heartfelt without becoming saccharine. It’s no wonder it’s often quoted:
“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. Oh yes, you will. You’ll find there’s so much else to think about. So remember, our lives are different to anybody else’s. That’s the exciting thing. There’s nobody in the universe can do what we’re doing.”
I like how the Doctor explains to Jamie and Victoria that they need to stay now that he’s heard the word “Cybermen.” It’s clear he feels the need to stay and help, but you know he’s just as curious as Klieg about what the state of the Cybermen are, and what their plans are. On some level, you believe he’s letting them be freed because he has confidence he’ll defeat them.
The Cybermen recognized the Doctor in The Moonbase (possibly from The Invasion) and here it’s given a little more depth: the Cyber-Controller mentions the “history computer” and that they know of the Doctor’s intelligence specifically. They also give some background for their continued hostility: “You had destroyed our first planet and we were becoming extinct.”
There’s also a clear history here. The Cybermen are known to the people, but they believe they’ve been “extinct” for centuries (Parry later says 500 years). That puts this story well into the future. It also implies the Cybermen have not had any “empire” to speak of (at least none known to humans) so far.
The cliffhanger to episode 2 is one of the all-time greats. The suspense has been built for two entire episodes—more than even The Moonbase, which revealed the Cybermen in episode 2. Then there’s the added lore of the Cyber-Controller, larger than the others and of a different design. Then the perfect line to underscore the nature of the threat: “You-belong-to-us. You shall-be-like-us.”
I think the Cybermen’s overall plan is actually very smart. It’s a great example of “flip the script” problem solving. Think about their situation centuries ago: They’re greatly reduced in numbers, low on resources and power, and they’re starting to get a reputation as troublemakers. So instead of spending the resources to build the forces they’d need to travel and conquer (which would likely be pathetic and fail), instead they simply let their targets come to them. Since time is meaningless once they’re frozen, they sleep as long as they need to for someone to show up, then they use them to get resources and conquer again. Genius!
Of course, you can quibble with all the details: why booby-trap the doors with just one charge? Why not make the hatch openable from the tomb? Why not have the recharge room (or a second one) down there as well? Why leave real weapons on the upper floor?
Some things are explainable. Like, the Cyber “branding” everywhere. It’s a logical way to appeal to the explorers’ greed: signaling that, yep, you’re in the right place; Cyber-technology is here, so keep working to get it, people!
It’s a bit of a cheat that the Cyber-Controller doesn’t have a chest unit. I suppose his life support is built in, but if that’s the case, why not do it for all the Cybermen?
Speaking of, the smashed chest unit that leaks tremendous amounts of goo is by far the best Cyber-death ever on camera. The feel of it, and the way the Cybermen writhes is perfection and makes it extremely visceral. Definitely a behind-the-sofa moment. Mary Whitehouse was not correct in her campaign, but I see this and I get it.
The Cyber-commotion noises are a little much.
Still not a fan of the 3-finger Cyberman design. I believe they dropped it after this episode.
Kind of hilarious that the Cyberman make a big deal out of the puzzle to open the hatch, then the rocket guys just use the wiring underneath the console.
One thing that always bothered me: It makes ZERO sense for the Doctor to assist the Cyber-Controller in recharging himself. The logic of being safer with the Controller “in there,” charged, instead of “out here,” uncharged, is, uh, in error. This could have been rewritten pretty easily, with the Controller holding someone (presumably Victoria) hostage until they hook him up to the recharger.
Klieg is a memorable maniac. I don’t think he’s that believable at times, unless you remember he’s narcissistic to the point of insanity. He has a high opinion of his knowledge, though it’s not really justified—the Doctor needs to guide him in the mathematics.
Besides, what exactly does he think he—and by extension, the so-called logicians—have to offer the Cybermen? Why would they see them as anything other than raw material?
When Klieg gets the weapon later, I like the calm that creates in him. He thinks he has the power now, which is… kinda logical? My question: do you think you and Kaftan can hold the Cyber-Controller at gunpoint forever?
Plot hole: When it’s apparent they’re in extreme danger and the Cybermen are active, why do they stay in the base? Even if you don’t believe they’d make a beeline for the Doctor’s TARDIS, you’d think they’d be safer anywhere on the planet. They should have had some other obstacle, like a storm outside, or a hostile night (creatures, radiation, etc.) to make clear why they had to stay.
I like that they worked in some real math into the story: The use of a power series vs. an ordinary numerical series. Doctor Who as education keeps on trucking.
The music is great, though it’s actually a hodgepodge of off-the-shelf sci-fi music from the time.
The guest cast is a bit overloaded, with some interesting accent choices, but most of them are memorable:
Viner: a little on the nose since the name rhymes with “whiner.” Clearly the “let’s get out of here” voice who you want to shut up, but necessary.
Kaftan: The Lady Macbeth to Klieg. Helps to ensure Victoria isn’t the only woman, give more numbers to the troublemakers, and has some good moments to show her evil and manipulation (in particular, turning the opening of the doors into a manhood contest). Her death is pure “suicide by Cyberman” though.
Parry: The ineffective leader who thinks he’s doing his best but is just manipulated, mostly by Klieg.
Hopper: Comic relief, exposition, the competent pilot with an American accent.
Let’s talk Toberman: There weren’t that many black actors in Doctor Who at this point, so it’s unfortunate that the role is a servile muscle man, which leans into racist stereotypes. That said, Toberman ends up being the hero, resisting the Cybermen’s control, throwing the Controller around, smashing a couple of Cybermen, and ultimately defeating him by closing the tomb doors on him.
Toberman is also the first time we see Cyber-conversion onscreen. It’s only a partial conversion—he only gets an arm (and presumably some implants to control his mind)—but it does the trick: emphasize the power and the horror of the Cybermen, and hints at what they have planned for everyone.
Cybermats! They’re creepy for a minute or two (though the beep-beep-beep noise is overdone), but it might be the aspect of the production that’s aged the worst. It’s hard to take them seriously as a threat, especially when you never really see them kill. I wish they’d had a chance to do some real damage.
Everybody leaves, with the Tomb sealed. But the Doctor is a Time Lord—surely he knows this will eventually lead to another group, and more suffering, in the future, even if it’s the far future?
And they’re really just going to leave Toberman lying there?
What did Pete’s family think?
Grace enjoyed it, though she did criticize many of the characters for not just running away more often. She thought Kaftan’s outfit gave “art teacher or nurse” vibes. She said the Doctor’s pun (“You might almost say they’ve had a complete metal breakdown”) reminded her of Hannah Montana.
Four Questions to Doomsday - Pete
Why did the Randomizer take us here? Because I asked! Lots of lore in Underworld, lots of lore here. Also, the Cybermen use electricity as a weapon, just like Nikola Tesla! The Ark and Tomb of the Cybermen both include one of the best cliffhangers of all time, both at episode 2.
What if the evil plot had succeeded? The Controller remembers he has two cyber-arms to Toberman’s one, pushes harder, and busts out. He kills Toberman, then takes control of the rocket, kills who he needs to and takes the rest back to be converted. The Doctor is rendered unconscious, but they’re interested in his intelligence. Ultimately, the Doctor becomes the first CyberMaster, because, once they have his knowledge, their ambition and capabilities grow immensely. The Cyber-Empire begins here, and it results in a reality similar to the comic, Supremacy of the Cybermen, where they dominate the entire cosmos thanks to their pairing with Time Lord science.
Where’s the Clara splinter? She was the Cyberman in charge of Cybermat design, making sure to emphasize cuteness over effectiveness.
Dalek, Ogron, Professor Hayter, Viscount Banger, Fixed Point in Time, Lady Cassandra, or Zarbi? Viscount Banger. There’s a reason it’s considered a classic. This one delivers on it all: vibes, plot, dialogue, music, design. Nailed it on every level.
Chris commentary:
I don’t want to yuck anyone’s yum on Tomb of the Cybermen. I had a fun time watching it, and was very open to loving it. But I do speak for the substantial portion of fandom that is mystified as to why this should still be considered a classic now we’ve all seen it, and wonders if we’re not letting love of the Cybermen blind us to some major problems with Tomb. Namely, that its spare parts don’t add up.
(Consider that it plummeted from 8th to 25th in the DWM poll from ‘98 to ‘09 … stayed flat in 2014 … not the worst dip, but it’s fair to say a lot of those flaws are not aging well.)
Stylish, yes, like crazy. So very 60s. The Ealing studio look of it all is amazing. Quarries rarely look this good. And Patrick Troughton turns in a masterful performance of nonstop reassurance; no wonder Matt Smith was inspired by the way he’s always on the edge of a scene, making things happen one character at a time. He’s very generous to Deborah Watling in that famous scene.
Sonically very interesting; the Cybermen have never sounded more like Daft Punk.
But … the script. Yeah, there’s always a “but” to everything in this script that stopped me from suspending disbelief throughout. Every reveal just led to more questions.
The Doctor is warning the archeologists not to go further, but he’s showing them how, but it’s just to see how far Kleig will go? Huh? Kleig would have gotten nowhere if the Doctor hadn’t explained higher-level maths to him? It feels like there’s some Greatest Show in the Galaxy sub-plot here about a secret plan of the Doctor’s, but without the payoff.
The expedition has been years in the making, yet seems utterly hapless on so many fronts (and doesn’t even have a camera, just notebooks)? They didn’t know they were being funded by the Brotherhood of Logicians? There are repeated warnings about not touching levers and buttons unless you know what you’re doing, and yet Jamie and his new pal are mashing on buttons and levers like they’re in a games arcade. But they’re actually in … a combination hypnosis room and firing range? Huh?
The Cybermen went to sleep for 500 years on Telos because their equipment stopped working in The Moonbase? Seems a drastic step … and how did they get there if their machinery wasn’t working?
The Cybermen’s plan was to lure in the smartest and the brightest, so they’re looking for brains, yes? So why do they suddenly take a shine to converting Toberman because of his strength? Why not make the challenges of Telos all about strength, then?
They’re all hyped up about being revived, they put Klieg in his place, and then in the last 2 episodes they … go back to sleep again? Huh? How was it going to work if they all needed to be revitalized before they could go off and conquer?
Gerry Davis did improve the shape of the cyber plan a lot in the novelization, to his credit. I love the creeping realization that the levers were made to fit human hands, not Cyber ones (would have been great to see this in the show, but then the Cybermen take a pointless turn at the levers in the final episode).
We’re not supposed to immediately know who the bad guys are, but they just happen to be the swarthy ones with foreign accents? Huh?
It’s 1967, Civil Rights is in full swing, and nobody on this production winced at Toberman being the strong “servant” of few words? Or at the way they just leave his corpse there after his sacrifice?
Likewise, but in a way that is arguably less necessary to the plot, the sexist treatment of “Vic” by the rocket jerks. “Who’d be a woman?” “How would you know, honey?” OK, she gets her own back, sort of, but why did those scenes even need to exist?
Again to be fair to the script, the original intention was that Toberman had a hearing aid, but this got lost in production. It’s a shame, because that would have been a hint at the cybernetic theme, and it would have explained why he’s blundering along a dangerous ridge at the start (because he didn’t hear, not because he’s an idiot.)
The dialogue, fully half of which is about opening and closing doors and hatches, pulling levers and pressing buttons and firing guns and doing logic puzzles and putting on anoraks, is only saved by the delicious sound of scenery in each actor’s mouth.
Even the Doctor’s nice speech to Victoria has a fair amount of “huh?” hanging over it. Why is this the first mention of her dad dying? Why wasn’t that a theme from the beginning of the story, which might have humanized her a bit more and provided a thread? Also, the family that sleeps in the Doctor’s mind … isn’t that just another way of shunning, forgetting, not processing a loss if they’re lost, or not communicating with them if they’re alive? He never writes, he never calls ..
Hard to deny that this got overhyped when it was a lost classic pre-1992. Looking at you, Peter Haining. (and also at the superior Target novelization, which led a lot of fans to expect a lot more than they got.)
Cyril Shaps bingo!
Four Questions to Doomsday - Chris
Why did the Randomizer take us here? Because I asked for more tinkering — well, for more Doctor tinkering, but here’s a whole cyber city full of tinkering. Because the Randomizer is tired and wants to go back to sleep in its tomb, making us do all the work to wake it back up again?
What if the evil plot had succeeded? Maybe it did? Toberman gets restored to Cyber life with the help of the Cyber Mat, then goes on a rampage of revenge against the callous crew who left him lying there for dead.
Where’s the Clara splinter? A team of archeologists getting deep into trouble excavating a Cyber tomb and Professor River Song doesn’t show up? There must be a Clara splinter deputized to keep her away from Telos …
Dalek, Ogron, Professor Hayter, Viscount Banger, Fixed Point in Time, Lady Cassandra, or Zarbi? Banger-Zarbi hybrid
