The Tomb of the Cybermen Episode 1

The one where the Doctor joins an archaeological expedition...

I used to think that the opening sequence of this episode would've made a great jumping-on point for the series, almost like a reintroduction of the series to a stranger in a way they'd understand. But on viewing it again, I've changed my mind. It still looks great: for some reason director Morris Barry shot the entire TARDIS scene on film, giving the ship a gloss not seen for a few years. But the sound is tinny and echoes like they're in a cavern, and the way Barry directs it doesn't quite work as well as it should. We're shown the TARDIS police box first, but we're not shown anybody entering it. We then have the fab establishing shot where we follow Victoria and the Doctor through the doors into the TARDIS, but Barry stays tight on Patrick Troughton and Deborah Watling's head and shoulders, and at no point attempts a camera shot which demonstrates how big the TARDIS actually is inside.

We're told it's big, but we don't see that it is. One of the best rules of storytelling is to show, not tell, but Barry fails here. And although a couple of months have passed for the viewer since The Evil of the Daleks, from Victoria's perspective, it's been only moments since she learnt her father was dead, but she seems remarkably together here, as if unaffected by his loss. Still, while it has its sticking points, it makes a grand opening for a new season, and almost acts as a pre-credits sequence as the story title doesn't come up until well over two minutes into the episode.

There's then some sumptuous location filming for Telos. Aubrey Richards insists on calling it "Tee-loss", and also refers to it as a city, rather than the entire planet, so there's room for conjecture there. But Morris Barry does well with these location shots, using some unusual angles looking down on the cast from on high, or looking over characters' shoulders up to the promontory we've just looked down from. It makes it all feel quite epic, and to see the remarkably sizable guest cast (I think I counted ten?) running around the sand dunes gives it a filmic gloss befitting a season opener. There's even an explosion to boot, complete with a double entendre ("Sorry... we had to make it a pretty big one!") to rival Victoria's "What are all these knobs?" just moments earlier! It also makes me chuckle how the incidental music stops just as Professor Parry turns down the dial on his detonator, as if he's in control of the score!

Barry is capable of some lovely directorial flourishes at times. My spine tingled slightly when you hear the TARDIS materialising in the distance, so that you know the Doctor is almost here and the adventure can really begin! When Troughton and co meet the rest of the cast, sparks begin to fly and the talents of a good many fine character actors begin to shine. This cast bounces off one another so well. I love the bit where Cyril Shaps' Viner says of the Doctor: "Archaeologist is written all over him!", to which Troughton replies: "Really, does it show?" with bags of charm!

It's often commented on that the Second Doctor is quite different in this story to most other times. As soon as he learns that it is a Cyber-tomb they're standing outside, he goes all out to aid and abet the expedition to get inside. Any rational incarnation of the Doctor might insist they leave well alone and all go home, but for some reason, here the Doctor is determined to get inside, but to do it by appearing to help the others. He helps the expedition to open the doors of the tomb, coercing Toberman into pulling the doors apart by questioning his courage (or maybe the Doctor just wanted to admire Roy Stewart's lovely bottom, like I did!). Later, he tells the humans that there are actually three doors, not one, and then shows them how to open the doors.

We then see the Doctor flatter Victoria's dress to encourage her to join them inside the tomb, even though she's plainly scared, and to be honest, also in mourning. I'm not sure that taking a grieving Victorian teenager into such a potentially dangerous environment so soon after the horrifying events on Skaro is such a good idea, or even a considerate one. The Doctor is being rather reckless with his vulnerable new friend if you ask me.

Martin Johnson's sets are stunning, resplendent with all the bas relief iconography of the Cybermen, both full-length reproductions and just the face mask. These icons loom over the characters constantly throughout the proceedings, and Morris Barry often manages to capture a Cyber-face in the background during a particular scene, as if the creatures are there, somewhere, hidden but observing. The Cybermen's physical absence is made up for by the constant reminder of their presence... somewhere! And as for that stunning glowing "clockface" screen on the wall, packed with bizarre symbols. It's immense, and would make  any fan of the British game show Bullseye very happy indeed!

The Doctor is playing a game with these people, like a cat with a ball of string. But while it doesn't feel quite as cold and calculating as it might if we were watching his seventh persona, there's definitely an element of manipulation at work here. He views Klieg with rightful suspicion, but also bemusement. He teases him with his own superior knowledge, and comments sarcastically that he "loves to see the experts at work". As for the scene where he basically shows Klieg how to switch on the main power source of the Cyber-computers, that's just plain irresponsible. Troughton plays this scene beautifully, managing to make an explosion of complicated dialogue relatively fathomable: "If you take the sum of the integrants and express the result as a power series, then the indices show the basic binary blocks - although I wouldn't do it if I were you!" Troughton slowly pockets his pencil as he watches Klieg work out exactly what to do. It's almost like the Doctor needs to soothe his own conscience by pretending to warn the humans not to go ahead, but enabling them to do it anyway.

He then has the gall to say: "Some things are better left undone and I have a feeling that this is one of them!" Too little, too late, Doctor. You've already put their hands in the trap!

Elsewhere, Shirley Cooklin is magnificently sinister and untrustworthy as Kaftan, hellbent on binning off Victoria by trapping her in a Cyber-conversion device and pressing "Start". Although it has to be said that Victoria is pretty stupid to climb inside the thing to begin with. I'll forgive her though, as she is still a relative virgin when it comes to the Doctor's adventures, and she has yet to discover just how dangerous they can be - and the people he meets!

There's another lovely directorial effort from Morris Barry when Kaftan is operating the converter controls, and we can glimpse the Doctor quietly watching in the background. And they're proper blink-and-you-miss-him glimpses too, often as just a shadow or reflection, as the Doctor lurks in the darkness until he finally leaps to Victoria's rescue, just when he's sure that Kaftan is up to no good. The look the Doctor gives Kaftan as he leads the sobbing Victoria away is most telling. He's marked her cards!

Sadly, Barry really flubs the cliffhanger. It's written perfectly well, but executed confusingly, perhaps rushed through in order to disguise some of the design department's shortcomings, but resulting in a pretty weak finale. A clearly empty Cyber-suited dummy slides in, a gun that's come from nowhere shoots, poor old Peter Haydon is caught in the blast, and then Barry crash-zooms in on the Cyber-mask to hide the fact it was a dummy all along. It's all a bit too fast to fully comprehend, and Barry then unravels any amount of suspense the viewer might have had by lingering on the Cyber-mask for a full 22 seconds as the credits roll. If the viewer didn't realise it wasn't a real Cyberman before, then they must be fully aware now!

It's a shame, because the rest of the episode is a well written and directed slow-build which is really spoiled by this dud ending. Still, it's the best season opener since An Unearthly Child - by a long way - and promises to get even better...

First broadcast: September 2nd, 1967

Steve's Scoreboard
The Good: The location filming is wonderfully epic, trying to make Doctor Who look like a film on the standard BBC budget.
The Bad: That cliffhanger, where everybody is terrorised by an empty Cyber-suit. Doh!
Overall score for episode: ★★★★★★★★★☆

NEXT TIME: Episode 2...

My reviews of this story's other episodes: Episode 2; Episode 3; Episode 4

Find out birth/death dates, career information, and facts and trivia about this story's cast and crew at the Doctor Who Cast & Crew site: http://doctorwhocastandcrew.blogspot.co.uk/2014/01/the-tomb-of-cybermen.html

The Tomb of the Cybermen is available on BBC DVD. Find it on Amazon - https://www.amazon.co.uk/Doctor-Who-Tomb-Cybermen-DVD/dp/B00005R5DJ.