Revenge of the Cybermen Part Three

The one where the Doctor becomes a walking bomb...

It might have taken them too long to actually enter the story proper, but when they do arrive, the Cybermen are pretty impressive. They board Nerva in a way very similar to Darth Vader and his Stormtroopers in Star Wars two years later, and waste no time in gunning down every human they see: Commander Stevenson, Lester and the Doctor. They use gunfire from their helmets and it looks very much like everybody's dead (except of course we know the Doctor can't die). It's soon revealed that they're not dead at all, just "neutralised", as they are needed as part of the Cybermen's grand plan.

And we finally find out what that plan is: the Cybermen will send Stevenson, Lester and the Doctor down to Voga with lethal bombs strapped to their backs. When they reach the core of Voga, the bombs will be exploded, resulting in the planet of gold being "fragmatised" (as the Doctor points out, that isn't a proper word!). These cyberbombs have been banned by the Armageddon Convention, but the Cybermen don't give a toot about intergalactic law so carry on anyway. The Armageddon Convention features in the 1995 book The Empire of Glass, and is also mentioned in the New Adventure Original Sin. For the record, Cybermen and Daleks refuse to cooperate with the Convention, but Ice Warriors, Krargs, Sontarans and the Rutan host do.

There's a great in-joke when director Michael Briant has Lester, the Doctor and Stevenson depicting the three wise monkeys of Japanese folklore. Lester sits covering his ears, the Doctor covers his eyes, and Stevenson covers his mouth - hear no evil, see no evil, speak no evil. It may have been an amusing gag at the time, but the proverb it refers to indicates that the trio are refusing to dwell on evil thoughts, or alternatively that they refuse to take responsibility for others' impropriety (feigning ignorance). The proverb can also be interpreted as a code of silence, among gangs. Whichever one you choose here, they all work!

Part 3 of Revenge of the Cybermen - Doctor Who's 400th episode, fact fans - is the first time the silver giants use the word "excellent", a phrase that will develop into a catchphrase throughout the 1980s. These Cybermen look quite impressive, it's a solid attempt at a redesign by Prue Handley. The helmets retain the silhouette of the older design, as well as the teardrops at the eyes, and it's only really the much more humanised speech patterns and dialogue that let them down. These Cybermen use colloquialisms that don't really work, and make them seem too chatty.

The Doctor is very disrespectful toward the Cybermen here, goading them and showing an obvious disgust for what they are. He calls them "tin soldiers" skulking about the galaxy, and liken them to hatstands! The Cyberleader shouldn't rise to these insults - Cybermen cannot be insulted, surely? - but seems affronted all the same. I love the bit where the Cyberleader faces the Doctor, and Tom Baker tries to peer inside the creature's helmet to see what might be inside. He's cut short by a swift Cyber-strangulation, but it's a nice bit of business from Baker, showing the Doctor trying to undermine the Cyberleader, but it also represents his search for any sign of humanity within the metal suit.

Two Cybermen transmat down to Voga to accompany the trio of humanoid bombers, and that's where the episode's true value lies, giving the story a much-needed boost of energy. Much of this third episode is taken up by the relentless gun battle between these two Cybermen and an army of Vogans, who are all mercilessly cut down by the silver giants. The Cybermen come over as unstoppable, sustaining little to no damage themselves, and Briant cuts the battle scenes with rapid shots, the Cybermen always looking indomitable in the dank location of Wookey Hole.

Of course, the Vogans don't appear to know about the fact the Cybermen are susceptible to gold, so don't use the metal in their assaults. During the last Cyber War, humans invented glitter guns which successfully used gold against the Cybermen, but it makes very little sense that the Vogans don't know about this. The fact the Cybermen are walking around caves made of gold doesn't stand up to much scrutiny either, but I don't mind because it all looks so wonderful.

Carey Blyton plays a blinder with his score too, building on the atmospheric horror motifs of Death to the Daleks to create an electronic soundscape reminiscent of John Carpenter's work. The scene where the Cybermen creeps up behind the Doctor on Nerva is accompanied by a fuzzy drilling sound that puts me in mind of Michael Myers in Halloween, or the work of Disasterpeace in the 2015 film It Follows. The music used for the Cybermen moving through the caves of Voga is also wonderfully atmospheric, given a funereal tinge by use of brass and organ. It's like a precursor to Malcolm Clarke's memorable score for Earthshock. Had Dudley Simpson been given this story, I'm sure the music would not have been as memorable.

Another good aspect of this episode is the reveal that Professor Kellman is actually a double agent, working for Vorus to lure the Cybermen into a trap. The plan all along was to get the Cybermen onto Nerva, then blow the beacon up with Magrik's Skystriker rocket. The fact most of the crew of Nerva are killed by the Cybermats seems to be a necessary side effect of the Vogan plan, and Kellman seems immune to the blood shed. Kellman's ultimate demise in the rockfall in the cliffhanger seems a rather underpowered way for a great, hissable baddie to go, if not altogether unnecessary. Would it not have been more rewarding to have Kellman die carrying out some unexpectedly heroic act to help the Vogan cause? Jeremy Wilkin deserved better.

Having Sarah beam back up to Nerva just after the Doctor's beamed down to Voga is an amusing, if eye-rolling, addition to proceedings, and her jaunt across the lake on the water-ski is a nice hark back to the Pertwee era when these unconventional modes of transport were found lying around all the time.

The cliffhanger sees poor Harry endangering the Doctor by first of all accidentally rendering him unconscious by causing a rockfall, then attempting to unbuckle the cyberbomb, which will of course cause it to explode. It's a great ending because I can well imagine all the eight-year-olds across the land shouting "Don't do it, Harry!" at the telly as the end titles came in.

This third episode gives the story the boost it really needed, using the Wookey Hole location to maximise incident and atmosphere.

First broadcast: May 3rd, 1975

Steve's Scoreboard
The Good: Michael Briant directs the shining Cybermen well at Wookey Hole, and the gunfight with the Vogans is sustained and well shot.
The Bad: The fact the Vogans aren't aware that gold harms Cybermen is difficult to swallow, as is the fact the Cybermen can walk around caves made of gold without ill-effect.
Overall score for episode: ★★★★★★★☆☆☆

"Would you like a jelly baby?" tally: 05 - the Doctor is unconscious, so doesn't actually offer any jelly babies, but Kellman finds a bag of them in his pocket (as well as an apple core!). Where the Doctor got these from is a mystery, as he gave his last bag of sweets to Vira in The Ark in Space.

NEXT TIME: Part Four...

My reviews of this story's other episodes: Part One; Part Two; Part Four

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.com/2014/06/revenge-of-cybermen.html

Revenge of the Cybermen is available on BBC DVD (alongside Silver Nemesis). Find it on Amazon - https://www.amazon.co.uk/Doctor-Who-Revenge-Cybermen-Nemesis/dp/B003QP2TPA