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Doctor Who Attack of the Cyberman
Most people are probably familiar with the
Doctor Who from the 70s and 80s, most famously portrayed by Tom Baker
and perhaps the second most famous Doctor from that era would be Colin
Baker (no relation.) This was the last Doctor until the series was put
on hiatus until resurrected in a movie in the 90s and the latest series
in the 00s.
The Colin Baker Doctor was supposed to be somewhat unstable, heralded by
his attempt to kill his companion when he first regenerated. He got his
wits back, but there was an attempt by the producers to try and leave a
dark undertone throughout the series - the Doctor might just go crazy,
and his decisions might not be completely trustworthy. Colin Baker has,
perhaps unfairly, been accused of being the “unlikable Doctor” who ended
the series’ run.
Attack of the Cybermen is essentially his first “real” outing after
completing the regeneration cycle and wrapping things up that caused his
said regeneration. He is detoured to Earth, 1985, where he comes across
his old foe the Cybermen, who are up to no good as usual. To reveal more
would be to include spoilers, so suffice to say the plan involves bad
things for Earthlings and The Doctor and his companion Peri is here to
save us all.
This particular episode is riddled with old Doctor Who through-backs –
the Cybermen themselves for example, as well as the return of another
Doctor Who foe. It would be good to tell you what other nuggets can be
found scattered throughout the episode, but again that would be spoiling
things. Try checking Google afterwards to see if you spotted them all.
It can be revealed that the Doctor fixes the chameleon circuit on the
TARDIS - so for the first time ever it is not in the shape of the iconic
police box.
The episodes should immediately cause reminiscing for anyone alive
during this time. Late afternoon reruns of cheesy, budget BBC shows were
a staple of the ABC from the eighties. Now we’re all a bit older,
though, you’re bound to notice some quibbles you might have overlooked
as a kid. The Cybermen’s costumes are nothing short of laughable, as is
their acting, weapons, and death sequences. Their retooling for the
latest series was much needed – the new Cybermen now move and sound
robotic (rather than guys in jumpsuits with synthesized voices.) The new
Cybermen “delete” opponents, whereas the old Cybermen were simply
supposed to be incredibly strong (as are all robots, don’t you know?)
Their attacks generally consist of putting a hand on someone who then
has to pretend they are in great pain as they are squeezed, or they tap
their opponent who then has to seem like they are thrown across the
room. You should get a great guffaw whenever these grown adults throw
their arms up and stumble about the room after being “hurt.”
Unfortunately The Doctor’s companion does nothing to help salvage the
attention away from the Cybermen. Peri is American, annoying, and
couldn’t act her way out of a paper bag. The Doctor treats her with a
fair amount of derision, and it’s a far cry from the Doctor/companion
relationship of say Hartnell and his teacher aides. In that relationship
the Doctor was quite bumbling and the companions were along to keep him
out of trouble. By 1985 it seems the Doctor was quite capable – even to
the point of using a weapon and disarming several foes – and Peri is
tagging along so she can annoy us all.
The biggest problem, however (one which it is hard to believe was
overlooked by even children of the eighties) is the constant background
music tooled by a single synthesizer. It is spectacularly terrible, and
ever-present. Every action and scene is riddled with the blooping and
plunking of the most ingraining instrument ever devised. It doesn’t
sound like an organ, or a panio, or any earthly device – it just sounds
like a synthesizer, and the composer seems to have been unaware of the
fact that good background music blends in and is barely noticeable. If
an hour and a half of listening to that doesn’t make you want to bay at
the moon and terrorize innocents with the blathered ramblings of
impending doom – you aren’t human.
Most fans of Doctor Who should be able to recall the days when these two
episodes aired, and this story arc in particular is linked to a number
of related subjects for the Doctor. If you pull on all the threads you
might just turn up some interesting gems, however, the episodes are in
the dead area where it is not quite old enough to be “classic”, just
painful, and not quite new enough to be passable. It has its pros and
cons, but if only for your sanity, you might be better off reading a
plot outline.
There are two episodes and no special features on this disc.
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