Attack of the Cybermen

John Nathan Turner was right when he claimed that “the memory cheats”. At the time he was referring to Sixties and earlier Seventies Doctor Who against which many of his stories were being unfavourably compared. Now that this era is of an even older vintage watching a story like this shows how accurate he was. I’ve always held `` `Attack of the Cybermen` as an example of how terrible the show was at this point. One moment in particular is stuck in my memory when a brick wall sweeps to one side to reveal a brightly lit group of Cybermen like some tv variety show introduction. In fact, this occurs sooner in the story than I recalled and the only reason the light seems so bright is because we’ve spent the previous few minutes mooching around in semi darkness. The story is full of little moments like this which I’d forgotten or mis remembered because it must be more than twenty years since I’ve seen it. That is not to wholly redeem the story which is rather messy at times, but does show its not as poor as I thought it was.

 

The success of `Earthshock` became a big influence on mid Eighties Doctor Who yet that was in some ways a one off, an aptly named surprise that could not really be repeated. We’d not seen a new Cyberman story for seven years and the ti tle and much of the opening episode did not give the `shock` away till that iconic episode one cliffhanger. With the Cybe’s names emblazoned in the title of this story, the surprise element was gone yet `Attack` does riff on that success- there are instrumental callbacks with that clanging theme and the tone is dark, grim even. There is a lot of death and an attempt to destroy Earth though in this case it’s using Halley’s Comet. David Banks is back as the “excellent” Cyberleader and though none but the most knowledgeable fans would recognise it Michael Kilgarriff returns as the Cybercontroller. I’m not a massive fan of relentless continuity because I just think `all of time and space` is surely large enough to avoid bumping into the same places and people but it sort of works in this instance.

These references are mostly light touch; fans notice them whereas a lot of other viewers probably would not but they do play into the story The attempt to fix the chameleon circuit provides some light humour showing how well Colin Baker and Nicola Bryant can do comedic banter. The icy tombs are a hideout for Cryons who as they keep reminding us can’t survive above zero degrees while the sewers are a typical low lit, shadowy Doctor Who environment to amp up the atmospherics early on. Let’s not forget too that back in 1985, people did not have instant access to old episodes or even alot of information about them so these references were probably lost on much of the viewership and knowing them is by no means essential. The one that doesn’t work so well is seeing the name Totters Lane because no way would that still be a scrapyard after twenty-two years, and its name makes no difference to the plot.

What the story does lack perhaps is more identifiable moments for the viewer. This used to be the companion role but Peri is written as being frightened of the Doctor half the time so we wonder why she doesn’t just run off and catch a flight back to the US. Despite her background being addressed in `Plent of Fire`, she seems a character without much backstory, someone to fulfil a generic role. This is by no means unique amongst the series’ companions but she’s not really that likeable either while the Doctor alternates between even less likeable and arrogant. Apart from the lighter moments in the scrapyard they are just not people you want to spend time with. Which is a shame because I’m sure some calibration would suit both actors. As for that costume, I’ve never understood why by now someone hadn’t said it had to change – there’s even a joke about it’s loudness in the first episode from Peri; what is surprising is that no other character ever mentions it. Surely no nonsense Griffiths would say something!

The provenance of the storyline is difficult to trace. Paula Moore was a nom de plume for Paula Wolsey but it seems she wrote very little of what’s on screen with Eric Saward’s signature clear across swathes of the story. Ian Levine also contributed in his unofficial script consultant role and his influence is clear in the continuity references peppering the story whether Totters Lane or putting the Cybermen both in tombs and sewers as well as references to previous Cyberstories.

Visually parts of the story impress with an attempt to light them as appropriate rather than bathe everything in bright white luminescence as was the trend at this time. The sewer set is really good, compete with sound effect drips and echoes. The outdoor sequences on Telos are tightly directed, probably to conceal limited space and extras which works quite well and there’s enough smoke to disguise the limitations.

The tombs are well lit too though the Cyber control rooms less so which only serves to highlight how un alien their computer systems look. Presumably even Cybermen bought their tech from IBM. The Cryons are given fluid hand movements to accentuate their alienness which kind of works though their masks are best viewed from a distance- in close up you can see the actors’’ very human faces moving independently underneath. There are plenty of explosions- this era of Doctor Who loved showing Cyper decapitations amidst showers of sparks which does make the story lively

Lytton is back and effectively a triple agent; supposedly working on a diamond robbery but really working for the Cybermen but actually working for the Cryons to remove the Cybermen from Telos. Effectively he’s a reboot of `Revenge of the Cybermen’s` Kellman albeit with added London grit. Maurice Colbourne isn’t given enough screen time to put all this across but makes the most of an interesting role. Rare amongst characters in this era, Lytton seems to have more story that could be told; it’s a shame he wasn’t kept around for a third appearance to explore other aspects.

The `gang` stuff earlier on is nothing special script wise but the actors make it much more interesting; I especially like the interactions between Lytton and Griffiths ( the later a defiantly Northern Brian Glover) as well as the edgy Russell; Terry Molloy suitably different here from his Davros. With a sparkier script, the quartet could have held up a story on their own but they get rather lost once the Cybermen show up. I wondered if Lytton’s police henchmen are androids or not; weirdly they don’t speak even when confronted by the Doctor but their presence seems jarring. At the end we have some disconcerting sympathy for Lytton from the Doctor just because he happened to perish while working for the Cryons. But its implicit the character is a mercenary and has no doubt done many bad deeds in the past. Surely undercover police office Russell is the real victim here, putting himself at risk? Yet he doesn’t merit a similar tribute from the Doctor.

Doctor Who had always had some violence but around this time the issue became a target for those seeking to curtail the show. The question was how gratuitous it was and there is definitely a scene towards the end which crosses the line. When Lytton is `pressured` by the Cybermen we see blood dripping from his hands. Admittedly it doesn’t look very real (and surely broken bones would be the result) but earlier the Doctor had been `shaken down` from the shoulders which looks a bit silly but avoids any blood.

In retrospect of course we can see the direction of travel. Something about this season seems determined to mirror the sixth Doctor’s less than pleasant demeanour. We can see from some scenes how well the `lighter` Doctor works but with him pontificating too often and Peri doing very little but moaning it seems a waste of both actor’s undoubted abilities and off-putting to viewers.  In this story the Doctor seems casually offhand about violence even if it is not always on screen as in the fight with one of Lytton’s policemen in part one. Yet the character used to be generally clever enough to avoid violence and use his other skills, something this season seemed to forget. It was clearly part of an attempt to be a more `adult` show but unless you are producing something to a movie standard it  will never be enough. Of course if you tried to make the plots more complex that could be more adult, more sophisticated but the team didn’t think of that. 

There are some weaknesses in the overall story especially the fact that Flast has seemingly hidden in a room that the Cybermen lock the Doctor in and, as with `Warriors of the Deep`, there just happens to be some explosive material lying about.  Flast doesn’t mention this for ages, till the Doctor has nearly frozen in fact. Didn’t Ian Levine point out that the Doctor can out himself into a coma (as per `Terror of the Zygons`). I mean if you’re going to use continuity do it properly! Also how does Flast  know the Cybermens’ plans? When we see the Doctor adjusting circuitry inside a recently removed Cyberhead there is no space in it where the actual head was; this minutes after a scene in which another character has to `clean out` a similar item. I am fine though with the overall Telos plot, I think it’s got just the right scope of peril and inventiveness.

When reviewing these old stories we also need to take account of what I’d call the enjoyment factor. In other words, regardless of any plot flaws and other issues, is the production entertaining to watch? Surprisingly perhaps, this story is. I never felt it was dragging or that I’d wished I hadn’t started watching it. The early part stokes up enough atmosphere and later on there’s plenty of action and cuts from one scene to another. Whether or not you know about Telos the ultimate threat is comprehendible and large enough. There’s even a good model shot at the end when the Cyberbase explodes.

It’s a bit of a fan myth too that the ratings for this season were calamitous when they actually hovered between six and seven million, more often nearer the latter. And here’s a curious thing; in the pantheon of the classic show, `Attack` is almost at the same juncture (twenty-two years) from the start as the modern show is now (twenty one years). Similar accusations over content, relevance, the Doctor and public perception once again dominate the agenda. Maybe when a show has been going for over twenty years, this is what happens and people overlook the positives in the stampede to take it down?