| ATTACK OF THE CYBERMEN by Paula Moore |
| Story 137 Synopsis: The Doctor is bothered. The Cybermen are planning to avert the impending destruction of Mondas in 1986, by diverting Halley's Comet, and causing it to crash into Earth. The Cryons, natives of Telos, usurped by the Cybermen, are plotting to kick the Cybermen off. The TARDIS' chameleon circuit is on the blink. Griffiths is a crook, hoping to get a share in a haul of diamonds. He is being led by Lytton. The Cryons are using Lytton. The Cybermen are using Lytton. The Doctor is sure that Lytton is bad news. There are Cybermen in London's sewers, who reveal themselves to Lytton. They hijack the TARDIS, and get the Doctor to take them to Cuba, sorry, Telos. Lytton tries to double-cross the Cybermen, but gets partially converted into a Cyberman in the process. The Doctor blows up the Cybermen, who have hijacked a time machine which landed on Telos by accident. Griffiths dies, the Doctor changes his mind about Lytton, who also dies. Oh, and Peri's in it. |
| Review:- Despite the slightly difficult synopsis above, I am here not to bury Attack, but to praise it. So, here goes. The number 1 complaint about this story is that it's full to bursting with continuity. Doctor Who fans ever since it was screened in 1985, have been moaning that plot takes second place to continuity. Oh, this is so wrong. I watched this recently for the first time in 16 years. I watched with a reasonably open mind, watchful for references, but basically trying to watch with new eyes. Would the legendary excesses of continuity wreck the story? No, obviously not. In fact, I will go so far as to state that there is only 1, that's ONE, reference made which could cause confusion. If you watch this story in isolation, you will not need to be aware of any previous Cyber-story, indeed, of any previous Dr Who story (assuming you can cope with the basics, i.e. the TARDIS, the Doctor, aliens, time travel). Every event shown can be clearly followed within the internal frame of reference. For the record, the 1 extraneous bit is at the start of part 2, Lytton & the Doctor having a discussion in the TARDIS. That's that off my chest. Much of this is entertaining, particularly the Telos open-air bits, which do look impressive, unless you can't see the locale for the location. The scenes of the Doctor on ordinary streets beats Survival to the contemporary punch. We get time travel scenes, the TARDIS moves about a bit, the Doctor acts as detective, the Cybermen's plan is a bit awry, but grim enough. Obviously, this story has personal memories for me. I distinctly remember looking at Ceefax, on the morning of the first Saturday in 1985, seeing Doctor Who was on later, and deciding that I wanted to watch it. All these years later, I don't regret my decision one bit. Indeed, it's funny to think that people deride this story, assuming no casual viewer watching this would ever want to watch again. I, if nobody else, disprove that theory. |
| Disclaimer: I've seen the video, and read the book. |