C05S01 The tomb of the Cybermen
Synopsis
For centuries, the disappearance of the Cybermen from the universe has been a mystery, The Doctor, Jamie and Victoria arrive on Telos — once the Cyber home world — just as an Earth expedition uncovers the entrance to a long-lost control centre filled with baffling technology.
With the Doctor's help, the archaeological party discover giant ice-tombs holding the last of the Cybermen in a frozen sleep beneath the planet's surface. But someone is working to re-activate them from their slumber; by entering the tombs, the humans have sprung a fiendish trap. All around them, the Cybermen begin to rise from the dead...
Cover notes
The original appearance of the Cybermen in The Tenth Planet had created something of a stir in 1966. In an unprecedented move, the production team opted to bring back the emotionless metal giants for two further appearances in 1967, first in The Moonbase and then in The Tomb of the Cybermen.
The cosmopolitan mix of characters thrown together here on Telos — including the exotic, duplicitous Kaftan, the intellectually snobbish Klieg and the comic strip-styled Captain Hopper — echoes a multicultural future also depicted in The Moonbase. Although Toberman could initially appear to embody a racial stereotype considered unacceptable today, his ultimate fate portrays him in a positive light.
Cleverly evoking an air of ancient mystery in an alien, technologically advanced setting, the striking and ambitious design provides an impressive backdrop for a tale of subterfuge and deception on all sides, most intriguingly of all from the Doctor himself.
Hailed as a classic by long-term viewers of Doctor Who, The Tomb of the Cybermen has always been shrouded in mystery and treated with awe by the programme's fans. Missing from the BBC archives for nearly two decades, The Tomb of the Cybermen was rediscovered in 1992 at a TV station in Hong Kong and returned to the BBC. It has subsequently proved deserving of its reputation as a Doctor Who classic, boldly embelishing the mythology of the Cybermen, and firmly cementing their rank as one of the Doctor's top foes!
Cast
| The Doctor | Patrick Troughton | listed as Dr. Who |
| Jamie McCrimmon | Frazer Hines | |
| Victoria Waterfield | Deborah Watling | |
| Toberman | Roy Stewart | |
| Professor Parry | Aubrey Richards | |
| John Viner | Cyril Shaps | ep. 1,2 |
| Jim Callum | Clive Merrison | ep. 1,3,4 |
| Kaftan | Shirley Cooklin | |
| Captain Hopper | George Roubicek | |
| Eric Klieg | George Pastell | |
| Ted Rogers | Alan Johns | ep. 1 |
| Peter Haydon | Bernard Holley | ep. 1,2 |
| Crewman | Ray Grover | ep. 1 |
| Cyberman Controller | Michael Kilgarriff | ep. 2,3,4 |
| Cyberman | Hans de Vries | ep. 2,3,4 |
| Cyberman | Tony Harwood | ep. 2,3,4 |
| Cyberman | John Hogan | ep. 2,3,4 |
| Cyberman | Richard Kerley | ep. 2,3,4 |
| Cyberman | Ronald Lee | ep. 2,3,4 |
| Cyberman | Charles Pemberton | ep. 2,3,4 |
| Cyberman | Kenneth Seeger | ep. 2,3,4 |
| Cyberman | Reg Whitehead | ep. 2,3,4 |
| Cybermen voices | Peter Hawkins | ep. 2,3,4 |
Crew
| Written by | Kit Pedler | |
| Written by | Gerry Davis | |
| Title music | Ron Grainer and the BBC Radiophonic Workshop | |
| Story Editor | Victor Pemberton | |
| Costumes | Sandra Reid | listed final episode only; probably all |
| Make-up | Gillian James | listed final episode only; probably all |
| Lighting | Graham Sothcottt | listed final episode only; probably all |
| Sound | Brian Hiles | listed final episode only; probably all |
| Film Cameraman | Peter Hamilton | listed final episode only; probably all |
| Film Editor | Alan Martin | listed final episode only; probably all |
| Visual Effects | Michael John Harris | |
| Visual Effects | Peter Day | |
| Designer | Martin Johnson | |
| Producer | Peter Bryant | |
| Director | Morris Barry |
DVD Extras
| Frazer Hines Deborah Watling |
commentary track | |
| VHS introduction [1992] | Morris Barry | Recorded in 1992 for the original UK video release of The Tomb of the Cybermen, director Morris Barry talks about the casting of the Cybercontroller, and the impact the story had at the time of transmission. |
| Late Night Line-Up [1967-11-25] | Joan Bakewell Jack Kine |
A popular BBC magazine programme from the 1960s, this particular edition features BBC Visual Effect Designer Jack Kine discussing with Joan Bakewell the department's work on Doctor Who. This edited extract showcases many props from the series - including the Cybermats in colour! |
| Tombwatch | Frazer Hines Deborah Watling Shirley Cooklin Michael Kilgarriff Peter Bryant Victor Pemberton |
To celebrate the return of The Tomb of the Cybermen to the BBC, the Doctor Who Appreciation Society together with Dominitemporal Services Ltd., arranged for the story to be screened for the first time in nearly 25 years on Sunday 26th April 1992 at BAFTA in London. Highlights of this day are presented in this DVD for the first time. |
| "The Final End" | The Tomb of the Cybermen begins with the TARDIS leaving Skaro, homeworld of the Daleks. Although the last episode of The Evil of the Daleks no longer exists, part of the final climatic battle scene does still survive, in the form of an 8mm cine film shot at Ealing Studios. Extracts from this film are presented along with the original programme's soundtrack in order to give some idea of how the Daleks' 'final end' may have appeared... | |
| Title sequence tests | A selection of test sequences and raw footage, much of it ultimately unused, that went into the creation of the Patrick Troughton version of the Doctor Who title sequence. | |
| Restoration | A short feature - with subtitle commentary - showing how the surviving film prints of this story have been cleaned up in preparation for its release on DVD. | |
| Second Doctor title sequence | (easter egg) Original film print with no overlay | |
| The Abominable Snowmen trailer | (easter egg) Audio from The Abominable Snowmen BBC trailer | |
| photo gallery |
Special Edition DVD Extras
| Deborah Watling Frazer Hines Bernard Holley Shirley Cooklin Reg Whitehead Victor Pemberton |
commentary track #2 | |
| The Lost Giants | Cast and crew look back on the making of The Tomb of the Cybermen. | |
| The Curse of the Cybermen's Tomb | Sir Christopher Frayling and Dr. Debbie Challis examine the ancient Egyptian origins to the story of the Cybermen's tomb on Telos. | |
| Cybermen - Extended edition | A history of the Cybermen, presented by writer and broadcaster Matthew Sweet. | |
| The Magic of VidFIRE | A look at the technology behind the VidFIRE process, developed specifically for the Doctor Who DVD range in order to restore the original live studio video look to the episodes that now only survive as film recordings. | |
| Sky Ray Advert | 1960s Doctor Who-themed promo for Walls Sky Ray ice lolly. | |
| Sky Ray promotional matterial | ||
| Radio Times listings |
Commentary
| serial code : | MM |
| episode count : | 4 |
| initial broadcast date : | 1967-09-02 |
| DVD release date : | |
| DVD SE release date : | |
| BluRay release date : | |
| part of The Cybermen Collection boxset | |
| Special Edition part of the Revisitations 3 boxset | |