Attack of the Cybermen

Attack of the Cybermen is the first serial of the 22nd season of the British science fiction television series Doctor Who, which was first broadcast in two weekly parts on 5 and 12 January 1985. It was credited to the pseudonymous author "Paula Moore"; there are conflicting accounts concerning to whom this credit belongs. Beginning with this serial and continuing for the remainder of Season 22, episodes were 45 minutes in length (as opposed to previous episodes which were 25 minutes long); for syndication, in some markets, this serial is re-edited into four 25-minute segments.

Attack of the Cybermen has a complex plot which reiterates narratives from The Tenth Planet (1966) and The Tomb of the Cybermen (1967). Set in London in 1985 and the planet Telos in the future, in the serial the Cybermen intend to change the course of history by destroying Earth with Halley's Comet in 1985, which would prevent the destruction of the Cybermen's original home planet Mondas. In addition to its contemporary London setting, it also features several other references to the previous season's Resurrection of the Daleks, notably the return of Lytton (played by Maurice Colbourne) and his henchmen (who again masquerade as policemen), and is directed by Matthew Robinson in his second and final contribution to the series.

Plot
The Doctor, who has been trying without much success to fix the TARDIS's chameleon circuit, picks up a distress signal from Earth in the year 1985. Unbeknownst to him, the signal has been sent by Lytton, a mercenary formerly in the employ of the Daleks, who has since begun a new life as a London gangster. Lytton dupes a bunch of fellow gangsters into attempting a fake diamond heist, actually intending to hand them over to the Cybermen, who have set up a base in the city's sewers. The Doctor tries to investigate the signal, but he, Peri, and the TARDIS are captured by the Cybermen, and is forced to take them and Lytton to the Cybermen-controlled planet of Telos.

After the Doctor sabotages the TARDIS, it materialises on Telos, but in the depths of the Cyber-Tombs, which have been sabotaged by Telos's native species, the Cryons. Peri, Lytton, and his right-hand man Griffiths escape when the group is attacked by a damaged, maddened Cyberman, and the Doctor is imprisoned with the Cryon leader, Flast, who tells him that the Cybermen intend to use a time ship that they have captured to prevent the destruction of their original homeworld, Mondas.

Lytton and Griffiths make contact with the time ship's original crew, Bates and Stratton, who turn out to have been failed victims of conversion into Cybermen. The group tries to retake control of the time ship, but Lytton is captured by the Cybermen, while Griffifths, Bates and Stratton are killed by a squadron guarding the time ship. Flast helps the Doctor prepare an explosion that will destroy the Cybermen's base before assisting him with escaping, but is executed by the Cybermen when they discover that the Doctor is missing. Peri, having been taken into the care of another group of Cryons, is re-united with the Doctor and informs him that Lytton had actually been working with the Cryons all along, in order to drive the Cybermen off Telos.

The Doctor lands the TARDIS in the Cybermen's control room, but finds Lytton almost fully converted into a Cyberman. The Cyber-Controller then arrives and prepares to kill the Doctor, leading to a firefight which claims the lives of the Cyber-Controller and other top-ranking Cybermen, but also Lytton. Unable to do anything to help Lytton, the Doctor and Peri narrowly escape before the explosion the Doctor and Flast had earlier set up detonates, and completely destroys the Cyber-Tombs. While Peri reassures the Doctor that he stopped the Cybermen, he nonetheless berates himself for having misjudged Lytton.

Production
The repair to the Chameleon Circuit was in part a publicity effort by John Nathan-Turner to drum up more interest in the series. He hinted publicly that it might be a permanent development, but never pursued the idea beyond this story. According to Patrick Mulkern of Radio Times, the director, Matthew Robinson, "fought the lighting crew to keep the sewer scenes dark and effectively creepy" and had the idea of changing the Cryons from male to female. Music cues by Malcolm Clarke from Earthshock were reused to establish the presence of the Cybermen.

Authorship
The serial is credited to Paula Moore, an alias for Paula Woolsey. Several separate accounts offer differing versions of who actually authored the story. Most accounts agree that series fan and continuity advisor Ian Levine suggested a number of plot elements. At one extreme, it is suggested that the story was authored by series script editor Eric Saward, with or without substantial input by Levine, with Woolsey only acting as the story's author to prevent problems with the Writers' Guild of Great Britain, who objected to script editors editing their own scripts. Alternatively, it is suggested that Woolsey originated the story, but that Saward heavily rewrote it in his capacity as script editor. Levine claims that Saward wrote the dialogue to Levine's story and plot, and that Woolsey "did not write one single word of that script". In a 2004 interview with Doctor Who Magazine, Saward responded that he "effectively" wrote the script himself, incorporating Levine's story outline, with a "minor contribution" from Woolsey.

Broadcast and reception
Episode One achieved the highest viewing figures of any Sixth Doctor episode, at 8.9 million viewers. No other story reached 8 million or above for the remainder of Baker's run.

Attack of the Cybermen was the first of several stories from this season to provoke controversy over its depiction of violence. In 1985, Australasian Doctor Who Fan Club president Tony Howe singled out the crushing of Lytton's hands until they oozed blood as being an instance of "sick, shock violence like Andy Warhol's" that was present for "cheap shock value only". Doctor Who: The Television Companion's own review of the story is similarly critical of the scene, describing it as a "gratuitous incident" which is "unnecessarily nasty and gory". It acknowledges some "saving graces", including Matthew Robinson's "polished direction" and Maurice Colbourne's return, who "manages to give a boost to every scene in which he appears", but states the story is "superficially exciting but it does not stand up to considered scrutiny or repeated viewing", describing it as "one of the most derivative stories that Doctor Who ever turned out".

For Den of Geek in 2010, Rob Hill ranked Attack of the Cybermen at number six in "the top 10 Cybermen stories", describing it as "a guilty pleasure, much like Hollyoaks, Neighbours, or even spying on your neighbours. And who couldn't love it? It's just so kitsch!" He added, "This story, if you do not have a working knowledge of the previous twenty-two years of Doctor Who continuity, makes as good as no sense whatsoever", with almost "no effort made to give the viewer any backstory." He also described the plot as "almost a rehash" of The Tomb of the Cybermen and thought Lytton's "motives" were "completely inscrutable and unclear right up until the end." Patrick Mulkern of Radio Times reviewed the story in 2012, awarding it two stars out of five and stating "Attack of the Cybermen is nowhere near as wretched as I remembered it. Part one is markedly more eventful and involving than part two, but there's plenty of amusing lines and well-shot action." Mulkern was critical of aspects of Peri's character and Nicola Bryant's inexperience as an actress, but enjoyed a "never less than entertaining, and often very funny" performance by Colin Baker. The review concluded by stating "on balance Attack of the Cybermen is a brash start to season 22 that would benefit from another polish."

In the book Doctor Who: The Episode Guide, Mark Campbell awarded it three out of ten, describing it as "badly written and continuity-obsessed, with a predilection towards needless violence."

In print
A novelisation of this serial, written by Eric Saward, was published by Target Books in April 1989.

The novel was also issued by BBC Audio in 1995 as an abridged audio book, read by Colin Baker.

Home media
Attack of the Cybermen was released on VHS in November 2000 from BBC Video as "Doctor Who: The Cybermen Box Set: The Tenth Planet and Attack of the Cybermen" double-tape set for its United Kingdom release (both stories were released individually in the United States, Australia and Canada in 2001). The DVD version of "Attack of the Cybermen" was released on Monday 16 March 2009. The special features on the disc included a commentary featuring Colin Baker, Nicola Bryant, Terry Molloy and Sarah Berger that was recorded on 26 June 2007, a making-of documentary featuring interviews with cast and crew, including Eric Saward, Matthew Robinson and film cameraman Godfrey Johnson, and an interview featuring real-life Cyberman Kevin Warwick. This serial was also released as part of the Doctor Who DVD Files in Issue 82 on 22 February 2012.

It was released as part of the ‘Doctor Who The Collection: Season 22’ blu-ray box set on 20th June 2022.

Target novelisation

 * On Target – Attack of the Cybermen
 * On Target – Attack of the Cybermen