Underground Tombs Contain the Last of the Cybermen: TOMB OF THE CYBERMEN

On the planet Telos, The Doctor, his companions meet an expedition team hoping to discover the lost tombs of, the Cybermen. Deep beneath the surface, a labyrinth of bobbytraps and deadly creature stir, as the Cybermen silently await the command to rise and conquer other worlds once more.

Cast

Patrick Troughton (Dr Who), Frazer Hines (Jamie), Deborah Watling (Victoria), George Pastell (Eric Klieg)

Aubrey Richards (Professor Parry), Cyril Shaps (John Viner), Roy Stewart (Toberman)

Clive Merrison (Jim Callum), Shirley Cooklin (Kaftan), George Roubicek (Captain Hopper)

Alan Johns (Ted Rodgers), Bernard Holley (Peter Haydon), Ray Grover (Crewman)

Michael Kilgarriff (Cyberman Controller), Hans de Vries, Tony Harwood, John Hogan, Richard Kerley

Ronald Lee, Charles Pemberton, Kenneth Seeger, Reg Whitehead (Cybermen), Peter Hawkins (Cybermen Voices)

Crew

Kit Pedler, Gerry Davis (Writers), Ron Grainer, BBC Radiophonic Workshop (Title Music)

Victor Pemberton (Story Editor), Sandra Reid, Dorothea Wallace (Costumes), Gillian James (Make-Up)

Graham Southcott (Lighting), Brian Hiles (Sound), Peter Hamilton (Film Cameraman), Alan Martin (Film Editor)

Michaeljohn Harris, Peter Day (Visual Effects), Martin Johnson (Designer), Peter Bryant (Producer)

Morris Barry (Director)

UNCREDITED CREW: Sue Willis, Catherine Sykes (Assistant Floor Managers)

Snowy LIdiard-White (Production Assistant)

Broadcast

EPISODE	DATE	TIME	VIEWING FIGURE	CHART POSITION	APPRECIATION INDEX
1	02/09/1967	5:50-6:15pm	6.0M	57th	53
2	09/09/1967	5:50-6:15pm	6.4M	57h	52
3	16/09/1967	5:50-6:15pm	7.2M	38th	49
4	23/09/1967	5:50-6:15pm	7.4M	34th	50

Connections in the Who-Niverse

The Cybermen awaken from their slumbers; but who is who, they all lookalike.

Roy Stewart was previously an uncredited Saracen Warrior for The Crusade and was later the Strongman (or Tony) during Terror of the Autons. Cyril Shaps went onto be Lennox for The Ambassadors of Death, Professor Clegg for Planet of the Spiders and Archimandrite for The Androids of Tara. Clive Merrison went on to be the Deputy Chief Caretaker for Paradise Towers - quite a promotion from being a space explorer. Bernard Holley was the Axon Man for The Claws of Axos. Michael Kilgarriff played various other Doctor Who monsters: the Second Ogron for Frontier in Space, the K-1 Robot for Robot and another(?) or maybe the same(?) Cyber Controller for Attack of the Cybermen.

The Cyber Leader stands proud in the tomb. A pity 'he' was never able to enjoy it.

Tony Harwood went onto be a Yeti for The Abominable Snowmen, Rintan, the Ice Warrior for The Ice Warrior, another Cyberman (uncredited) for The Wheel in Space, another Ice Warrior for The Seeds of Death, and Tony Flyn for The Ambassadors of Death. John Hogan and Richard Kerley both played Yeti for The Abominable Snowmen. Ronald Lee was previously an uncredited Cybermen for The Moonbase. Charles Pemberton played the Alien Technician for The War Games. Reg Whitehead was Krail and Jarl for The Tenth Planet and then a Yeti for The Abominable Snowmen.

Death, the Constant Companion

Eric Klieg is beaten to death by a Cyberman. John Viner is shot and killed by Klieg. Toberman is electrocuted when he sealed the Cyberman Tomb's doors. Kaftan is killed by the Cyber Controller. Peter Haydon is shot in the back by a dummy Cyberman. The Crewman is electrocuted when he attempts to open the doors to the Cyberman

Tomb. The Cyberman Controller is apparently also electrocuted; but it is heavily implied that 'he' survived, and remained trapped within the tombs.

Episode Cliffhangers

(1) Whilst exploring the Tomb of the Cybermen, Jamie and Peter Haydon find themselves in a weapons room. Jamie activates some of the controls just as the Second Doctor, Victoria and John Viner enter; but a Cybermen slides out of a hidden doors, fires and kills Haydon! Victoria screams....

The Doctor attempts to bargain with the Cybermen, maybe they'll be more emotive

(2) The Cybermen have awoken from their slumbers. A couple of the Cybermen go to hatch on the wall of the tombs and opens it. Another Cybermen emerges, but this one is different. It's the Cyber Controller! The Cyber Controller speaks to the human crew, 'You Will be Like Us'.....

(3) The Doctor successfully defeats the Cybermats, but another danger has arrived. Eric Klieg and Kaftan have the remaining expedition at gunpoint. Eric Klieg points his gun at The Doctor and fires. Jim Callum

(4) The Tomb of the Cybermen has been sealed once more, and the remaining expedition party head to their ship to leave Telos. The Doctor, Jamie and Zoe make their way back to the TARDIS; they fail to notice a single, lone Cybermat has escaped, which crawls across the silent surface of Telos.....

Fun Facts

(1) Actress Shirley Cooklin was married to producer Peter Bryant at the time of the serial's production. Frazer Hines flirted with her, little realizing who her husband was; (2) This is the only Victoria story that has no scenes set on Earth. Victoria would find herself visiting Earth (past, present and future) until she left a few adventures later; (3) The scenes which required Victoria to be trapped in a sarcophagus were difficult for Deborah Watling to record as the actress suffered from claustrophobia; (4) The Cybermats were brought to life by various means: being pulled along with wires, some were windup clockwork props, some were radio-controlled props, whilst others were simply pushed into shot; (5) The demise of the Cyber Controller was originally very different. The headpiece of the Cyber Controller was going to explode after being resealed in the tombs; (6) The episodes were recorded at Lime Grove during a very hot summer. Shirley Cooklin actully fell asleep whilst playing Kaftan's corpse and started snoring which alerted the cast and crew

Recording Days

Eww. The tombs are invested with bugs, only deadlier and creepier.

Production took 10 days to complete between Monday 12 June and Saturday 22 July 1967. A single day of location filming was carried at Gerrards Cross Quarry, Bucks on Monday 12 June 1967. Work turned to the studio sessions with four days between 13-16 June being spent at Ealing Film Studios. The team worked at the Television Centre Puppet Theatre for one day on Monday 19 June. The actual bulk of the episodes were recorded at Lime Grove Studios D on Saturday evenings over a four week period: 1-22 July 1967.

Although this was the first serial to broadcast as part of season 5, the production office broke for a short break before work commenced in September for The Abominable Snowmen.

Verdict

The first Cyberman story which uses the villains at their best who hardly appear or do anything at all. The first two episodes act as a waiting game where the Cybermen can emerge from the shadows at any given moment and strike the heroes as they explore their surroundings. There is a lack of subtly with the unconvincing villains who are best suited for B-Movie epic pictures. The direction is impressive as are the set pieces and location work. The plot moves well, and the pacing is great but does run out of steam in episode four. The Cybermen are again - quite emotional– a common problem for some Cybermen stories. There are some genuinely smart moments but the lack of Cyberman action keeps it from being an all-time Cyberman classic. On saying that many Cybermen stories fall short on creating anything classic. The Tomb of the Cybermen is the near enough to a good Cyberman story. *****