#5 (12.17 - 12.20): Revenge of the Cybermen

The Cyberleader (Christopher Robbie) threatens the Doctor.

4 episodes. Written by: Gerry Davis, Robert Holmes (uncredited). Directed by: Michael E. Briant.  Produced by: Philip Hinchcliffe.


THE PLOT

The Time Ring returns the Doctor, Harry, and Sarah Jane to Station Nerva. They arrive centuries early, however, in the time before the solar flares, when the station is being used as a beacon to aid in space travel.

Nerva Beacon has been set up around Voga, a seemingly uninhabited asteroid that has been drawn into Jupiter's orbit to become a new satellite, creating a hazard to space navigation. All is not well. The station has been ravaged by plague, with only a handful of its original staff still alive.

The Doctor suspects that this is no natural disease - and when a metallic worm is caught attacking Sarah Jane, his fears are confirmed. The worm is a Cybermat, injecting the "plague" into its victims. The Cybermen are on their way. Their target: Voga, which is anything but uninhabited, and whose plentiful gold marks them as a threat to the Cybermen!


CHARACTERS

The Doctor: Tom Baker is noticeably more manic here than in most of the stories of this season (Robot excepted). I half-suspect that the actor, now comfortable in the role, recognized this as a weak script and decided to compensate by playing against as many lines as possible. Earlier stories already introduced his tendency to grin while making grave pronouncements. In this story, he does that several times, drawing out words a beat or two past their natural endpoint. This is not a complaint, as Baker's quirks make this vastly more watchable than it might have been otherwise.

His best moment comes in Episode Two. Shady Professor Kellman (Jeremy Wilkin) has been exposed as a traitor, but he is still protesting his innocence. The Doctor responds by using one of Kellman's items, which turns out to be a control device for the Cybermats, to threaten him.  He observes that after the metallic creature strikes, Kellman will have about 10 seconds to give the needed information if he wants to live. It's a standard enough scene, but Baker turns it just enough askew to make it memorable, grinning maniacally and seemingly reveling in the game of threatening the traitor. It's effective, and just the tiniest bit disquieting, just how much he seems to be enjoying himself.

Sarah Jane Smith: She gets thrust into the role of "damsel-in-distress" early on, when she's poisoned by the Cybermat. She then plays companion to Harry, who very much takes the lead on Voga.  Finally, she thrusts herself right back into peril by going back to the Beacon in Episode Four... just so that the Doctor will have to rescue her all over again. Though it's not a great story for Sarah, it is fun to watch the rapport that's developed between Elisabeth Sladen and Tom Baker. Their interplay is positively buoyant, each seeming to feed off the other's energy.

Harry Sullivan: "Harry Sullivan is an imbecile!" Not really a fair summation of the character at any point, but he does spend this story as the inexplicable butt of the Doctor's ire. As early as Episode One, he's earning glares for little real reason (such as when the Doctor is dragged by a sliding door), and he even he seems to get a little fed up, asking, "What have I done now?"

This distracts from Revenge of the Cybermen being quite a strong story for Harry.  He helps to save Sarah after she's attacked. Then he takes the lead on Voga. He observes the significance of the gold shackles, engineering an escape. When the Cybermen arrive on Voga and send their prisoners to the core of the asteroid with Cyber bombs attached to them, he determines that there must be a way to delay the Cyber bombs from being planted. His only substantial misstep is sending Sarah back to the Beacon, but that isn't so much idiocy as simply acting on incomplete information.

The Cybermen: This story marks their return after a five-year absence. Though the submission was by their creator, Gerry Davis, his scripts were heavily rewritten - and with regard to the Cybermen themselves, not for the better. The Cyberleader (Christopher Robbie) has a booming voice rather than the mechanical drone of previous stories, and he spends a lot of time gloating. He gives the Doctor the upper hand at one point by throwing a temper tantrum, literally tossing the Doctor at one of the Cyber bombs. The plan to destroy Voga is needlessly complicated; their backup plan seems both simpler and more likely to actually succeed! All told, it's not hard to see why it was 8 years before the next Cyber story. It's just a shame that, when they did return later, the Revenge Cybermen seemed to be the template, rather than the more effective 1960's versions.


THOUGHTS

Revenge of the Cybermen is a mishmash of barely-connected elements in service of a thin and derivative plot. Kellman's double-agent shenanigans make very little sense. The Vogans' plan depends entirely on there being only four Cybermen left in existence. The story can't seem to keep straight whether Voga is an asteroid or a planet. It's all ludicrous, sub-Buck Rogers nonsense, that by no reasonable critical standard could be labeled as "good."

It is also a heck of a lot of fun to watch.

For all of Revenge's many faults, it is never boring. The story keeps piling on incidents and set pieces, moving along with enough sheer verve that I find it impossible not to enjoy it. The Doctor's investigation of Kellman early in the story leads to an amusing set piece in which he avoids a trap involving an electrified floor ("the floor is lava"). Sarah Jane and Harry dodge Vogan troops, then a few minutes later join forces with them. The Cybermen attack Voga with a relentless force of... um, two. There are cave-ins and bombs and two countdowns to Doomsday. Then, when it's all over, the Doctor still has to avoid a massive collision in what looks like a primitive version of a Disneyland ride.


OVERALL:

It's a silly, ramshackle serial... but it also captures one of the enduring appeals of Doctor Who: even its weaker stories are often quite a lot of fun to watch. Revenge of the Cybermen is about as dumb as a 2-month-old beagle. It's not a patch on Genesis of the Daleks. But there are many times that I'd opt not for the gritty drama of Genesis, but for the amiable idiocy of this.


Rating: 6/10.

Alternate Version: Return of the Cybermen (not yet reviewed)

Previous Story: Genesis of the Daleks
Next Story: Terror of the Zygons

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#2 (12.5 - 12.8): The Ark in Space

Noah (Kenton Moore), captain of Space Station
Nerva, undergoes a terrible transformation...

...or Dr. Who in an Exciting Adventure with Bubble-Wrap!

4 episodes. Written by: Robert Holmes. Directed by: Rodney Bennett.  Produced by: Philip Hinchcliffe.


THE PLOT

The Doctor's attempt to prove the TARDIS's properties to Harry with a quick trip goes predictably awry. Instead of materializing on the moon, they find themselves in the far future, on a space station orbiting Earth. Space Station Nerva is an ark, carrying the cryogenically frozen survivors of a global catastrophe. The station's systems have been sabotaged, but the Doctor brings the power back on-line, awakening the command crew in the process.

It quickly becomes apparent that something has gotten into the station. The insect-like Wirrn have invaded the station while its crew has slept, laying their eggs inside one of the crew. Now, the larval Wirrn has taken control of the station commander, Noah (Kenneth Moore) - leaving the Doctor and his friends, along with the remaining station crew, in a race against time to prevent this last outpost of humanity from being consumed!


CHARACTERS

The Doctor: Robot introduced the new Doctor in a story that was otherwise indistinguishable from a Pertwee offering. By contrast, this outer space thriller allows Tom Baker and the incoming production team to establish their own tone and style. This story sets the new template that would largely exist through producer Philip Hinchcliffe's tenure, with the Fourth Doctor being not only quirkier than his immediate predecessor, but also more intellectual and more emotionally remote. Tom Baker is marvelous, with several terrific individual moments: trying to use his hat and scarf to deal with station defenses (and giving a perfect nonverbal reaction when both of the aforementioned get zapped); the iconic "homo sapiens" speech when he discovers the frozen bodies; berating Sarah to get her moving, only to grin with pride and affection after she completes her task.

Sarah Jane Smith: Writer/script editor Robert Holmes gives more focus to new companion Harry than to Sarah.  The first episode, in particular, puts all the focus on the Doctor and Harry, reducing Sarah Jane to "woman-in-peril" status and then literally putting her into storage. Even after she is thawed out in Episode Two, she is given less to do than in most of Season 11's entries, with her only memorable moment being an attack of claustrophobia in the air vents. Elisabeth Sladen still invests the character with likability and intelligence, but I hope that the remaining stories of the season don't sideline her to this extent.

Harry Sullivan: Harry's character is given a chance to emerge and stretch a bit, and he's immediately likable. There is something very humorous in his attempts to take everything in stride. In contrast with the character's intermittent reputation as a nincompoop, he never loses his head, nor does he behave recklessly. In fact, he makes a rather good team with the Doctor, keeping up with him just enough so that the Doctor can usefully bounce ideas off of him, without ever being at risk of being at the Doctor's own level. Ian Marter's rapport with his co-stars remains excellent, and I'd argue that the 4th Doc/Sarah Jane/Harry line-up is a strong contender for my favorite 1970s team.


THOUGHTS

Incoming producer Philip Hinchcliffe's first story is a sharp break with Barry Letts' era in both tone and presentation style. Reputation has it that Hinchcliffe was initially weak on production. There isn't much evidence of that here, save for the too-obvious bubble wrap of the Wirrn larval stage - which, admittedly, is seen a bit too clearly, a bit too often, particularly in Part Three.

Bubble wrap aside, I'd rate this as possibly the best-looking Doctor Who story since The Sea Devils. The station sets are superbly realized for their time. White, antiseptic corridors in a circular shape, to match the station models (and to make it easier to convincingly reuse one stretch of curving corridor for different parts of the station), running the circumference of a more dimly-lit central core. The station architecture is effectively established in the early episodes, and there is little to interfere with the illusion of being in a station orbiting Earth, as opposed to a BBC studio set. Even the Wirrn are passably realized, with smart directorial choices keeping their on-camera appearances to a minimum.

I like this story - but I don't love it the way much of fandom seems to. The first two episodes are excellent, building atmosphere and mystery. The second half just doesn't quite hit the same mark. I honestly think the third episode drags a bit, while the final installment is slightly rushed, with a sequence of the Doctor and Sarah besieged in the cryo chamber seeming like a beat that should have been held longer. Wendy Williams' Vira is a strong guest character, just hesitant enough at taking charge to feel human while still being a convincing leader, but the other guest characters are too thinly sketched to get invested in. This includes Noah; his few pre-infection scenes make him seem a little too much like a Pertwee-era pompous bureaucrat for his fate to particularly resonate.

It's still a good story, mind you. Robert Holmes does a fine job of maintaining tension, with the characters dealing with one threat after another. In Part One, the regulars are in jeopardy from the station's automated defense systems. Once the crew start being revived, they become suspicious of the Doctor, with Noah seeming almost eager to summarily execute him and his companions. In Part Three, the characters evade the larval Wirrn, while the Doctor probes for weaknesses. It is only in Part Four that the adult Wirrn emerge, effectively putting the characters under siege. It's a clever structure, well-designed to keep the audience engaged without giving the audience too much to keep track of.


OVERALL:

It's easy to see why this story is a fan favorite. The set design is superb, the alien design is above the series' average, and the script is adeptly structured. Tom Baker is particularly good here, and the 4th Doctor/Sarah Jane/Harry line-up is a strong contender for the best set of 1970s regulars.

All of this makes The Ark in Space a good story. But the third episode feels a bit overstretched, whiel the guest cast are mostly too bland to get invested in. I like the story... but on this viewing, as in previous ones, I find that my reaction just doesn't match the serial's reputation.


Rating: 7/10.

Alternate Version: The Ark (audio)

Previous Story: Robot
Next Story: The Sontaran Experiment

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