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RTD Retrospective #5: Cyberman Story

Favorite Cyberman Story?

  • Total voters
    42
Stevil2001

Stevil2001

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Well, everyone's favorite familial crime syndicate ended up with a clearly preferred top story:

76%: Boom Town
24%: Aliens of London/World War Three

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So, now we work our way up the returning monster stakes to investigate the Cybermen. No longer Telosians or Mondasians, the new Cybs are what some people like to call Cybusmen and they sure do stomp a lot. But in which story do they stomp the best?

(I guess I kinda want people to judge these as Cyberman stories, not just stories in general, but that's up to you, the voter. The power is yours!)

DELETE. :borg:
 
I voted for "Army of Ghosts/ Doomsday" because I loved those episodes (despite the presence of the Cybermen).

I'm really not a fan of the Cybermen. Of all of the corny old series monsters that have been brought back (Daleks, Sontarans, etc.), the Cybermen fared the worst. The production team succeeded in improving upon the look of the Cybermen (and then some), but failed to elevate them above the cheesy B-movie monsters of the old show.
 
In my view, there are no Cybermen in the new show. The head in Dalek aside.

Seriously though, they used to be my favourite villains in the old show, but now they're just a bit rubbish. Not really thinking, just marching around saying "delete". The older ones looked better too. I'd much rather have the Mondasians back.

Out these these though, the story I recall liking the most is the first two-parter.
 
"Rise of the Cybermen"/"Age of Steel" is the first time Doctor Who actually dealt with the concept of assimilation instead of using the Cybermen as generic bad guys who want to take over the world. For the very first time, we've seen Cybermen actively trying to turn everybody else into Cybermen, trying to replace individuality with mass-produced perfection. I can't understand why they never used the full potential of the concept before, but I'm glad they finally did it, because it makes Cybermen infinitely more interesting and more distinctive.

I love some of the old Cybermen stories despite their flaws, but in my opinion, the two-parter that reintroduced them is by far the best Cybermen story in the history of Doctor Who.
 
Voted The Next Doctor, which is a nice standalone with them doing their thing. Age Of Steel is their best single episode, and AoG/DD is a better two-parter, but not really a Cyberman story - they're only in there to show how much more badass the Daleks are.
 
Actually, we do see Cybermen try to convert humans in the original series, most notably in "Tomb of the Cybermen" and "Attack of the Cybermen".
 
Mr. Sin said:
Actually, we do see Cybermen try to convert humans in the original series, most notably in "Tomb of the Cybermen" and "Attack of the Cybermen".
Click to expand...
I'm not claiming it never happened, I'm saying it's never been used as the central theme of those characters, despite the fact that it's quite obviously what makes them scary.
 
Cyber Leader: We have five million Cybermen. How many are you?
Dalek Sec: ...four.
Cyber Leader: You would destroy the Cybermen with four Daleks?
Dalek Sec: We would destroy the Cybermen with one Dalek! You are superior in only one respect.
Cyber Leader: What is that?
Dalek Sec: You. Are. Better. At. Dying.
Click to expand...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vu6_IxkAHsI&feature=related

:guffaw:

God, I loved those episodes. Still think it's my favorite episodes of RTD's Doctor Who, at least the most memorable.

I've never seen the Rise of the Cybermen/The Age of Steel, and while I can't exactly remember how the Cybermen behaved in The Next Doctor, I do remember most of the episode being horrible, aside from the stupendous opening and the Jackson Lake mystery.
 
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"The Next Doctor" gets my vote. The first half is absolutely fantastic with the mystery of Jackson Lake leading up to wonderful infostamp moment. Dervla Kirwan as Mrs. Hartigan was a wonderful villainess, but I'm disappointed by the second half of the episode as both Lake and Hartigan were forced into the background for the sake of The Doctor and the Giant Steampunk Cyberman. *sigh*

That being said, I'm far more imperssed with "The Next Doctor" than the other two Cybermen stories where the Cybermen stomp around shouting "Delete! Delete! Delete!" I long for the early Mondas Cybermen stories such as The Tenth Planet, Tomb of the Cybermen, and The Invasion. I want more stories like Big Finish's Spare Parts (and yes, I know the first two-parter is loosely inspired by that audio play, but with heavy emphasis on loosely inspired).
 
I'm also gonna go with "The Next Doctor". The Cybermen in that story were much more like the Mondas Cybermen than the Alternate Cybermen. The Cyber King was way over the top, but I love steampunk so I can forgive it. Also, it was nice to see other Cyber creatures again.

I enjoyed the first two stories when I saw them, but after repeated viewings, the first one falls apart compared to "Spare Parts" and in the second, the Cybermen take a very very back seat to the Dalek, Torchwood, and Doctor/Rose stories. (Though the conversation between the Cyber Leader and Dalek Sec was fantastic.)
 
Army of Ghosts/Doomsday for me. I loved those episodes and just realised I haven't watched them in ages (will rectify that today!), Dalek vs Cybes was great and the music after the rift seals is fantastic.
 
The Cybermen have never fared well in any run of the program, outside of an occasional classic like "Tomb of the Cybermen" -- and, really, "Rise of the Cybermen" / "The Age of Steel" is probably the best Cybermen story in a long time, in that it brought back (in a big way) an aspect of them that hadn't been used since "Attack" (and before then, not since "Tomb"), that these things will mutilate you and stuff you in a suit, and it's fucking horrible. The two-parter had some flaws, but it had enough candy that I was happy after all was said and done.

"Army of Ghosts" / "Doomsday" is easily my favorite of the Davies-era season finales, but it's not at all a Cybermen story. It's really a Doctor / Torchwood / Daleks story, with the Cybermen hanging around as window dressing.

"The Next Doctor" has a great first half, and the second half is so terrible that it makes me want to start drinking again. So that's out.
 
The next one'll be better, I promise!

I don't think the Cybermen are particularly well-served by the episodes in that they either have poor outings ("Rise of the Cybermen" and "The Next Doctor", though the latter is all right) or they are extremely sidelined ("Doomsday"). But in general, I do really like the new series approach to the Cybermen: the visual design is good, and I love the stomping and the voice. And I quickly warmed up to "DELETE!" :borg: once I started chanting it whilst going through e-mail.
 
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