| THE TENTH PLANET by Gerry Davis & Kit Pedler |
| Story 29 Synopsis: The TARDIS lands in the snows at the South Pole. The Doctor, Ben and Polly find Snowcap Tracking Base, and the year is 1986. There is trouble about an impending influx of magnetism. Soon after, strange metal humanoids infiltrate the base. They are the Cybermen. Their home planet, Mondas, is approaching Earth. It was once Earth's twin planet, but disappeared into space. The people there embraced cybernetic replacement of limbs. Now they want to destroy Earth by absorbing energy from it. Despite efforts to thwart the Cybermen, their plan succeeds. But Mondas absorbs too much energy, and melts. The Cybermen are defeated. Exhausted by this latest adventure, the Doctor returns to the TARDIS, where he regenerates. |
| Review:- The single biggest change in the show's history, and the debut of the 2nd most fearsome monsters after the Daleks. For the audience in 1966, the shocks begin with a look at their planet, just 20 years ahead. The South Pole setting at least provides a realistic "base under siege", and a multi-national crew - something common to many if not all Cybermen stories, as a contrast between the versatility of humanity against the blank regularity of the Cybermen. With William Hartnell ill during recording, the Doctor is removed from much of the action in the last two episodes, unfortunately allowing the rather tiresome Snowcap staff, like General Cutler, to feature more. It's all Ben and Polly can do to stay on the screen. It's almost tempting to cheer the Cybermen, especially when they are given smart dialogue pointing out the hypocrisy of humanity. Luckily, the Doctor returns briefly for the finish, standing up to the villains as only he can. It's possibly to the credit of the Cybermen that the humans are unable to stop them, and it's only a colossal piece of luck that the day is saved. Without Mondas overloading, presumably the Cybermen would have gone on to conquer the world. There is some broad dialectic in showing the threat to a near-future Earth, although the events depicted don't seem to have caused too much trouble in real life, though they do lead into a sequel in the New Adventures, Iceberg. The Cybermen seem solid enough, although their imminent redesign helps cement their credibility. And they can take some credit for being the final straw to trigger the Doctor's regeneration... It is, I think, to the credit of a science-fiction series that it can find a creative solution to the necessity of recasting the show's leading actor. That it has been used to prolong the show's life for decades longer than it otherwise would is further proof of how successful it is. On the whole, this is alright enough, but perhaps not quite a swansong for William Hartnell, or a manifesto for the Cybermen. |
| Disclaimer: I've seen the video. |