Cybermen March in a Platoon on the Moon: THE MOONBASE

In year 2070AD the Earth's weather is controlled from a Moonbase, but soon the crew succumb to a strange illness and bodies in the sickbay begin to disappear. What is going on at the Moonbase and who could possibly want to sabotage it? The Cybermen are lying in wait, awaiting for the right moment to begin their attack.

Cast

Patrick Troughton (Dr Who), Anneke Wills (Polly), Michael Craze (Ben), Frazer Hines (Jamie)

Patrick Barr (Hobson), Andre Maranne (Benoit), Michael Wolf (Nils), Alan Rowe (Voice from Space Control)

Mark Heath (Ralph/Scientist), Alan Rowe (Dr Evans), Barry Ashton, Derek Calder, Arnold Chazen, Leon Maybank

Victor Pemberton, Edward Phillips, Ron Pinnell, Robin Scott, Alan Wells (Scientists)

Denis McCarthy (Voice on Controller Rinberg), Sonnie Willis, John Wills, Peter Greene, Keith Goodman

Reg Whitehead (Cybermen), Peter Hawkins (Cybermen Voices)

UNCREDITED CAST: Mike Britain, Paul Harrington (Technicians), Bernard Reid, Terry Wallis, Declan Cuffe,

Derek Chafer, John Levene, Ronald Lee, Barry Noble (Cybermen), Derek Calder (Double for Scientist (John))

Crew

Kit Pedler (Writer), Ron Grainer and the BBC Radiophonic Workshop (Title Music)

Peter Hamilton (Film Cameraman), Ted Walter (Film Editor), Sandra Reid (Costumes), Gillian James (Make-Up)

Dave Sydenham (Lighting), Gordon Mackie (Sound), Gerry Davis (Script Editor), Colin Shaw (Designer)

Innes Lloyd (Producer), Morris Barry (Director)

UNCREDITED CREW: Peter Campbell (Floor Assistant), Alan Boyd, Dave Baumber (Grams Operators)

Ian Easterbrook (Vision Mixer), Paul Kay (Senior Cameraman), Glenys Williams (Director's Assistant)

Brian Clemett (Technical Manager), Hugh Wilson (Film Ops Manager), Norman Allen (Film Sound)

David Bruce Johnson (Film Camera Assistant), Lovett Bickford (Assistant Floor Manager)

Desmond McCarthy (Production Assistant)

Broadcast

EPISODE	DATE	TIME	VIEWING FIGURE	CHART POSITION	APPRECIATION INDEX
1	11/02/1966	5:50-6:15pm	8.1M	56th	50
2	18/02/1966	5:50-6:15pm	8.9M	36th	49
3	25/02/1966	5:50-6:15pm	8.2M	49th	53
4	04/03/1966	5:50-6:15pm	8.1M	44th	58

Connections in the Who-Niverse

John Rolfe was previously the Captain in The War Machines and then played the Global Chemicals employee Ralph Fell in The Green Death. Alan Rowe later played Edward of Wessex (The Time Warrior), Skinsale (Horror of Fang Rock) and Garif (Full Circle). Barry Ashton was constant on DW in the early season: he was later Proctor for The Time Monster and Kemp for Frontier in Space; as a background artist he was a Highlander for The Highlanders, a Policeman for The Evil of the Daleks, an Auton for Spearhead from Space and a UNIT Soldier for Doctor Who and the Silurians. John Wills (or Maxim) was previously Frankenstein - the robot - for The Chase. Reg Whitehead was previously Krail and Jarl for The Tenth Planet; and later played another Cybermen for The Tomb of the Cybermen and then a robotic Yeti for The Abominable Snowmen.

Derek Calder was a background artists playing a Gladiator and Guard for The Romans, an English Solider for The Highlanders, a Fish Person for The Underwater Menace and several parts for The War Games. Leon Maybank can be seen in the background in The Highlanders, Day of the Daleks, Robot and City of Death playing an Art Gallery Customer. Sonnie Willis can be seen wandering the background during The Underwater Menace, Spearhead from Space, The Dæmons, The Green Death and The Deadly Assassin as a Time Lord - take a guess which one. Uncredited John Levene would later play a robotic Yeti for The Web of Fear; before playing Sergeant Benton his most remembered role. Barry Noble was a supporting artist for The Daleks' Master Plan, The Massacre, The War Machines and The Faceless Ones. Ronald Lee returned to the show to play another Cyberman for The Tomb of the Cybermen.

Critical Response

(1) A review appeared in the Morning Star from Ann Lawrence - although she only reviewed the first two episodes on 22 February 1966. She felt the story was better compared to other recent serials; but, she was critical of Polly being reduced to that of a screaming companion; (2) Reviewing the serial in their book, The Discontinuity Guide, Paul Cornell, Martin Day and Keith Topping, were very critical. They felt the story was boring and illogical, and they were critical of the characterisation of the Cybermen; (3) Writing in their book, The Television Companion, David J. Howe and Stephen James Walker were positive. They felt The Moonbase was a 'superior remake of The Tenth Planet. They praised the characterisation of the Cybermen, the soundtrack, the acting and the shots of the lunar landscapes. They were critical about some of the directions and the model shots of the Cybermen spaceships;

(4) Writing for The A.V. Club, reviewer Christopher Bahn was positive. He noted it has flaws, and was far from perfect. He felt there was just enough for The Moonbase to be named as one of the must-see adventures of the Second Doctor tenure; (5) Writing for Starbust, Paul Mount noted the similarities between The Tenth Planet and The Moonbase; but felt the latter was not as good as the former; (6) Writing for SciFiNow, James Hoare felt the story [was] a weaker comparison and basically the same as The Tenth Planet. He did however, praise Patrick Troughton's performance; (7) The popular magazine SFX called the moment when a tray was used to patch the hole in the Moonbase, as one of the silliest moments in the show's history.

Death the Constant Companion

Beds in 2070AD haven't really advanced much, have they?

The Cybermen are flung into space to be set adrift for all eternity. Ralph and Dr. Evans and several scientists are all converted by the Cybermen to sabotage the Moonbase; their deaths are a little ambiguous. A relief crew are flung into the orbit of the Earth's sun by a mind-controlled Dr. Evans. The relief crew are killed before the sun even arrives at its new destination. One of the Scientists, Bob is killed by the Cyberman which concealed itself in the Moonbase sickbay. A few Cybermen are killed by a mixture of nail varnish remover which dissolve their chest units, effectively suffocating them.

Episode Cliffhangers

(1) Polly leaves the sickbay to get some water for Jamie. Somebody else enters the sickbay. Jamie comes to and come face-to-face with a Cyberman. Jamie thinks the Cyberman is the 'phantom piper' come to take him away.

(2) Hobson tells The Doctor, his crew have searched the entire Moonbase and have found no Cybermen. The Doctor asks Hobson if the sickbay was searched, Hobson answers no. The Doctor looks around and points at one of the sickbay beds. There is a Cybermen in the room with them. The Doctor gets everyone to back away, but the Cyberman has heard them, it leaps off the bed and marches towards them,

(3) Another Cybership lands on the moon, and a whole army of Cybermen marches out. The Cybermen walk towards the Moonbase, ready to claim for their plans to destroy the Earth

(4) The TARDIS lands at its next destination. The Doctor turns on the time scanner to see into the future. Polly stares up at the screen and tells The Doctor to look. On the screen, a giant claw emerges

Fun Facts

(1) Just like The Tenth Planet, the Cybermen were going to have individula names. It seems the lead Cyberman was going to be called Tarn (or Kron), the name 'Tarn' had previously be used by Gerry Davis for the Cybermen's debut story; (2) It seems that producer Innes Lloyd pushed and suggested for a story to be set on the Moon, in order to appeal to audience. At the time on conception and writing, the space race was ongoing; (3) The Cybermen went through a little bit of a redesign for the new story. The produciton team wanted a more robotic look about them. Costume designer Sandra Reid came up with three different designs, from which the

Jumping on the Moon, looks like fun. The time travellers should return at some point. Eventually..

production office made their decision; (4) Two of the characters, Faure and Benoit were both given the first name Jules; so, Benoit was given the first Roger to avoid confusion; (5) Episode 3 was the final episode of the show to be recorded at Riverside Studios. The show was moved back to Lime Grove Studios, which di not sit well with producer Innes Lloyd; (6) During the rehearsal period, Patrick Troughton was nearly crushed under the large Gravitron prop which lost its balance and feel down. The leading actor was not hurt or injured; (7) Whilst Patrick Troughton had provided a more comedic portrayal of The Doctor, director Morris Barry demanded the actor reign everything in. Morris asked for a more serious portrayal from Troughton wanting the character to be more grounded; (8) The scripts had to be seriously rewritten to accommodate Jamie into the narrative. Frazer Hines was asked last-minute to remain with the show, having impressed the production office during production of The Highlanders. As such Ben was heavily rewritten to take on a more scientist role within the narrative.

Recording Days

Production took 9 days to complete between Tuesday 17 January to Saturday 25 February 1967. 4 extensive days were carried out between 17 - 20 January at Ealing Film Studios Stage 3. All scenes involving the Lunar surface,

The Cybermen get ready to blast the Moonbase to pieces. Surely they'll only blow one hole in the dome, surely. Right? Right! right...

weather control and the models shot were complete on these days. Extensive Kirby wire work was utilized during these production days for the various space jumps completed by the main characters and the actors and supporting artistes playing the Cybermen. Friday 20 January focused on the model shots which involved the arrival and expulsion of the Cybermen spaceships. The first three parts were recorded on Saturdays between Saturday 4 - Saturday 18 Feb at Riverside Studio 1; part four was recorded at Lime Grove Studio D on Saturday 25. A small insert scene - recorded by John Davies for The Macra Terror - was complete on Friday 17 February at Ealing Film Studios. A prop Macra claw was recorded for the scene to be inserted on the TARDIS monitor for the end of part four.

Verdict

The Moonbase models. Not bad at all. This will be easy to invade and conquer. Surely not even the Cybermen can mess this up.

The Cybermen return to a plot which seems very similar to a lot of Doctor Who base under siege stories, where a race of monsters or aliens turn up to use the base as a weapon to destroy the Earth and claim it for themselves. That is not to say it cannot be done well. The Moonbase whilst very interesting does lacks energy and originality in places. The direction is a highlight with a wide variety of angles and shots – something Morris Barry is very good at. The Cybermen are better compared to The Tenth Planet looking more menacing rather than humans wearing facecloths and gloves. The plot does well to keep the story doing but at the same time fails to develop some very important plot points and primarily focuses on the humans not trusting the Doctor for far too long. Haven’t we seen this before? There is some good science work in the scripts all down to Kit Pedler being a licensed practitioner. The ending is very rushed and the Cybermen act very stupid, which is not their character at all. Very impressive in design but not the most all-around brilliant story by far. ***​