{"id":995,"date":"2019-09-23T23:41:49","date_gmt":"2019-09-24T03:41:49","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.davidredd.com\/doctorwho\/?p=995"},"modified":"2023-06-14T08:32:50","modified_gmt":"2023-06-14T12:32:50","slug":"attack-of-the-cybermen","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.davidredd.com\/doctorwho\/sixth-doctor\/attack-of-the-cybermen\/","title":{"rendered":"Attack of the Cybermen"},"content":{"rendered":"

\u201cThe sour, rank odour of death is unmistakable.\u201d \u2013 Lytton<\/em><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>They finally get a proper Doctor Who episode for Colin Baker, easily one of the best of his era. It is quite well written as a story with lots of strong elements and atmosphere. Right from the start it has a classic Who opener feel as we are introduced to two innocent city workers who will very quickly disappear with a scream. Yet there\u2019s also something new in the feel of the scene with Lytton and the gangster planning a heist in the middle of a busy London street. The plot of the episode purposefully calls back to many aspects of Cybermen lore of the early years\u2014from the events of the original Hartnell Cyberman episode to the Cybermen in the tunnels of \u201cThe Invasion\u201d to presaging \u201cThe Tomb of the Cybermen\u201d. Even not having seen the episodes, it\u2019s fairly easy to follow the storyline but when you know the nods to Totter\u2019s Lane and the Terrible Zodin, it makes the story a bit richer. It was also just a neat and overdue idea to play around with the TARDIS Chameleon circuit for a bit.<\/p>\n

Though they continue to play up his post-regeneration daze and the marked change in his character from his previous incarnation, the Doctor is thankfully much more \u201cDoctorish\u201d in his priorities and interaction with his companion. It\u2019s kind of a nice continuity that all is not yet perfect. I find the interplay of the two almost funny at the start as we see the Doctor busy working away and Peri nervously coming in with an \u201cum\u2026whatcha doing?\u201d demeanor as through trying to keep an eye on an odd uncle. Some have complained about the Doctor\u2019s continued hard edge, but it\u2019s such an improvement from last time that I can forgive all.<\/p>\n

The angry acting of the character playing Bates is grand. The whole arc of him and his companions trying to make it to safety is so pointless and sad in the end but he does a great job of driving our interest in it. The Cryons are exceedingly interesting characters\u2014very sympathetic in their dying struggle. Like the last episode, the costumes are quite elaborately odd but in this case it works very well. Their ultra-feminine hand motions, whether stroking Peri\u2019s hair or describing destruction, make their characters very interesting. Flast especially brings a lot of pathos and pity to her scenes.<\/p>\n

The plot pacing of the story is quite well done. There\u2019s a wonderful sense of trepidation when the Doctor makes the TARDIS materialize in the wrong location and notes that the Cybermen are nervous and even he doesn\u2019t understand why. It all builds up to the sad conclusion for most of the characters including the demise of Lytton. The Doctor is perhaps a bit over the top in his regret for not having seen him as a good guy, but it makes for an evocative ending. Overall the story is even better than I remembered.<\/p>\n

Best (or worst) unsettling moment:<\/h4>\n

Flast\u2019s torture by the Cyberman\u2014she\u2019s already lived such a harsh life and to see her die writhing in agony is rather hard to watch. It\u2019s only redeemed somewhat bittersweetly by knowing that she has already set up the element of their destruction. It\u2019s just sad she doesn\u2019t get to see it in the end.<\/p>\n

Regrets:<\/h4>\n

A few small things\u2014they really miss a trick by not having some darkly foreboding music play at the first appearance of the mysterious police pair instead of the silly jaunty music that doesn\u2019t fit the weight of their appearance. Also, one wonders why they couldn\u2019t have the Cybercontroller in a better fitting costume that didn\u2019t make him look quite pudgy?<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

\u201cThe sour, rank odour of death is unmistakable.\u201d \u2013 Lytton They finally get a proper Doctor Who episode for Colin<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[16],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.davidredd.com\/doctorwho\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/995"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.davidredd.com\/doctorwho\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.davidredd.com\/doctorwho\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.davidredd.com\/doctorwho\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.davidredd.com\/doctorwho\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=995"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/www.davidredd.com\/doctorwho\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/995\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1261,"href":"https:\/\/www.davidredd.com\/doctorwho\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/995\/revisions\/1261"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.davidredd.com\/doctorwho\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=995"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.davidredd.com\/doctorwho\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=995"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.davidredd.com\/doctorwho\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=995"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}