"Come to Mondas and you will have no need of emotions. You will become like us."
TECHNICAL SPECS: Watched on Dailymotion. First aired Oct.15 1966.
IN THIS ONE... The Cybermen introduce themselves and their mission before Ben stages a revolt that kills them all. Except for the hundreds in space, of course.
REVIEW: This episode has a single function and that's to present the Cybermen to an unsuspecting public. They demonstrate their abilities and they discuss their planet, their philosophy and their plans. And we get to see them in the flat light of the base. These early models have their problems, namely the huge head and chest units, and that strange obsession with wearing found coats. But otherwise, I like them a great deal. Future models will look more like robots, whereas the original Cybermen look like burn victims with life-support equipment attached. The way they speak, just opening the mouth and letting the words come out as if from a speaker is creepy and wonderful, like twitchy fish taking breath. And that sing-song delivery is inhuman in its strange inflections. A great voice creation later Cybermen could have done with more of. And though the head gear is too big, it does turn them into impressive giants.
The science is, of course, nonsense. I'm down with the Earth having a twin in its orbit, but with upside down mirror continents? That's just silly. How does Mondas move around? Why doesn't it make the whole solar system fly apart with its gravitational field? How is it draining the Earth of its energy, and how much energy did it spend in the first place getting here from the edge of the system? The part of their plan that's interesting however is that they plan to save humanity after the Earth is dead and have us live with them on Mondas. No, not live, SURVIVE. As they tell Polly, that's all they really care about, and we can look forward to being assimilated into emotionless Cyber-culture. Cue the Doctor's outrage. And if the Daleks waited a few episodes before shouting "Exerminate!", the Cybermen are already warning that "you will become like uzzz".
The morality of this story is something suspect. The Cybermen no doubt believe they're doing us a favor. The government officials are willing to sacrifice the one for the good of the many, sending the general's son to replace the astronauts killed in orbit (in a slow, deliberate sequence that smacks of the era's NASA news). Ben is forced to kill the Cybermen with their own weapons, but relish being congratulated for it by the base commander. Polly condemns the general for his callousness, but immediately feels bad when she realizes he's hurting, what with his son in harm's way. And then there's the Doctor, cutting a striking figure, looking disapprovingly at the massacred Cybermen. It's like the Cybermen's amorality has permeated the entire story, and like them, we don't understand what we're supposed to be feeling about any of it.
REWATCHABILITY: Medium-High - The true introduction of the Cybermen is a good one. They're creepy and dangerous, but not entirely unsympathetic, the latter thanks to some excellent character work from the regulars.
TECHNICAL SPECS: Watched on Dailymotion. First aired Oct.15 1966.IN THIS ONE... The Cybermen introduce themselves and their mission before Ben stages a revolt that kills them all. Except for the hundreds in space, of course.
REVIEW: This episode has a single function and that's to present the Cybermen to an unsuspecting public. They demonstrate their abilities and they discuss their planet, their philosophy and their plans. And we get to see them in the flat light of the base. These early models have their problems, namely the huge head and chest units, and that strange obsession with wearing found coats. But otherwise, I like them a great deal. Future models will look more like robots, whereas the original Cybermen look like burn victims with life-support equipment attached. The way they speak, just opening the mouth and letting the words come out as if from a speaker is creepy and wonderful, like twitchy fish taking breath. And that sing-song delivery is inhuman in its strange inflections. A great voice creation later Cybermen could have done with more of. And though the head gear is too big, it does turn them into impressive giants.
The science is, of course, nonsense. I'm down with the Earth having a twin in its orbit, but with upside down mirror continents? That's just silly. How does Mondas move around? Why doesn't it make the whole solar system fly apart with its gravitational field? How is it draining the Earth of its energy, and how much energy did it spend in the first place getting here from the edge of the system? The part of their plan that's interesting however is that they plan to save humanity after the Earth is dead and have us live with them on Mondas. No, not live, SURVIVE. As they tell Polly, that's all they really care about, and we can look forward to being assimilated into emotionless Cyber-culture. Cue the Doctor's outrage. And if the Daleks waited a few episodes before shouting "Exerminate!", the Cybermen are already warning that "you will become like uzzz".
The morality of this story is something suspect. The Cybermen no doubt believe they're doing us a favor. The government officials are willing to sacrifice the one for the good of the many, sending the general's son to replace the astronauts killed in orbit (in a slow, deliberate sequence that smacks of the era's NASA news). Ben is forced to kill the Cybermen with their own weapons, but relish being congratulated for it by the base commander. Polly condemns the general for his callousness, but immediately feels bad when she realizes he's hurting, what with his son in harm's way. And then there's the Doctor, cutting a striking figure, looking disapprovingly at the massacred Cybermen. It's like the Cybermen's amorality has permeated the entire story, and like them, we don't understand what we're supposed to be feeling about any of it.
REWATCHABILITY: Medium-High - The true introduction of the Cybermen is a good one. They're creepy and dangerous, but not entirely unsympathetic, the latter thanks to some excellent character work from the regulars.
Comments
"Just imagine trying to tackle one of those geezers with a screwdriver!"