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Reviews > BBC DVD > Tomb of the Cybermen Tomb of the Cybermen - A Review By Andrew Hunter Patrick Troughton, Frazer Hines and Deborah Watling star in this classic four-part adventure from Season 5, The Tomb of the Cybermen: The Doctor arrives on Telos, and meets an archaeological expedition from Earth. The doors of the Cybermen tombs are soon opened and a man dies in the story within 5 minutes. The monsters are soon woken from their sleep… The Cybermen are not the only forces working against the Doctor. Eric Klieg (George Pastell) arrives on Telos to unfreeze the Cybermen so he and the Brotherhood of Logicians can rule the world with the strength of the Cybermen and their intelligence. George Pastell does a wonderful job in making his character a madman and a dangerous threat to the Doctor. Two other opponents of the Doctor in this story are Kaftan (Shirley Cooklin) and Toberman (Roy Stewart). Toberman is a huge man and destroys a cyberman. He is Kaftan's bodyguard but the Cybermen alter part of him. In the end, he assists the Doctor in stopping the "evil". Kaftan is Klieg's business partner. This story also features robotic servants of the Cybermen, Cybermats. These creatures are small, fast in moving and obey the Cybermen without question. The Cybermen have a leader in this story, called the Cybercontroller, which looks fantastic. This is why the Cybermen are very menacing in Tomb. The story is particularly effective because it is atmospheric, especially in the scenes where the Doctor and the expedition are trapped underground with the tombs. Many of Troughton's stories are atmospheric, but this story is also claustrophobic because it is set in the cold tombs of Cybermen and there is no way out (the Doctor will not leave until the Cybermen are taken care of and the expedition's ship is sabotaged). On first viewing, we are expecting nasty surprises round each corner, and this story does not disappoint! Tomb can always still be enjoyable after each viewing because there are very few boring moments and you can sit back and admire the sets, created by Martin Johnson. As a Troughton fan, I am glad this story re-surfaced in 1992 and made its way to DVD The DVD of Tomb of the Cybermen is brilliant, one of the best released so far. The extras help make this DVD one of the best. The commentary by Deborah Watling and Frazer Hines is very interesting and they work well together. They point out some mistakes in the story and crack a few mild jokes! The introduction by the director of Tomb, Morris Barry, is great and shows how good the director was and how well the story was directed. The "Final End" extra shows how the ending Dalek battle scenes in Evil of the Daleks may have appeared. I think it is the most interesting special feature. Another special feature compares sections of the original master prepared for the 1992 VHS release to the same sections of the DVD master. This is another very interesting feature. The special title sequences are good, but last too long. The Tombwatch feature is great and the people involved in Tomb discuss many aspects of the story. There are a number of Easter Eggs on this DVD. One of them is an audio trailer for the Abominable Snowmen and is s superb Easter Egg to find. I will not tell how to get the Easter Eggs, but the others are brilliant as well! Tomb of the Cybermen is the best of Troughton's remaining stories. It has some mild humour (Jamie holding the Doctor’s hand), horror (the Cybermen attacking underground), and classic moments (Victoria and the Doctor talking about Victoria's parents) On the other hand, Tomb of the Cybermen does have some bad special effects (the sting holding the Cyberman), but it was made in the sixties and is a very small "blooper" in this great story. This story deserves 10/10. |
