Doctor Who: Countdown To 50- Week Five

THE TOMB OF THE CYBERMEN
So, we're now into the second month of our eleven-month countdown to Doctor Who's 50th Anniversary Special and all of the other celebrations, which brings us onto the adventures of Patrick Troughton's Second Doctor. Sadly many of the famed star's classic stories have been lost in the depths of the BBC archive, but no matter: the adventures of this whimsical incarnation of the Time Lord that do remain are pure gold. Over the next four weeks, I'll be picking out what I recall to be the best instalments of the Troughton era and reminiscing on each of those episodes with a re-watch retrospective.

This week it's the turn of the Cybermen to enter the spotlight, with the iconic The Tomb Of The Cybermen. Neil Gaiman has rightfully dubbed this famous story to be the inspiration for his new attempt to bring the horror back to these classic foes in the anniversary season's The Last Cyberman, and it's clear to see why. Here, the metallic adversaries move with a terrifying silent march rather than the clunky stomps of their modern successors, and this approach from the writers and producers makes their first living appearances stepping out of the Tomb in Episode Two's cliffhanger thrillingly scary, especially as the fabled Cyber Controller says to the Doctor and the party of scientists that "You will be like us- you will become us..." Never has the threat of conversion seemed like more of an utterly horrific concept, as this incarnation of one of the Time Lord's oldest enemies really solidifies the fear that these enemies should always have surrounding them.

Although the titular enemies are undoubtedly Tomb's highlight, though, there are plenty of other elements in this story that make it so memorable. First and foremost, the TARDIS gang of Patrick Troughton (the Doctor), Frazer Hines (Jamie) and Deborah Watling (Victoria, for the first time) are all smashing, with Troughton's Doctor a stark contrast to his predecessor yet a man who once again plays the cards of fate close to his chest in the name of curiosity and justice. Indeed, there's a strong instance of danger here brought about in no small part by the Doctor's desire to learn more of the Tomb and stop his foes rather than flee in the TARDIS, and given the danger that he places his companions in by doing so, one has to wonder if just as in The Daleks he would have been better off stifling his curiosity for once. Of course, it's an intriguing concept, yet one that could never really fuel a show built so heavily on exploration, yet it's definitely something which Who continues to explore to this day, with modern adventures such as Father's Day, Human Nature/The Family Of Blood, Turn Left and The Girl Who Waited investigating this topic alone to great effect.

It's easy to say without a shadow of a doubt that despite containing a few stereotypical elements of the show- intrepid scientists with a hidden secret betrayer among them and the human race again recklessly trying to do the unthinkable by forging an alliance with aliens- this Patrick Troughton era adventure is among the best that Who has ever given us these past fifty years. The Tomb Of The Cybermen stands as a shining example of horror-esque setpieces and chilling foes of the classic era of Doctor Who, and certainly infers much of the same 'behind-the-sofa' scare tactics that writers such as Steven Moffat and Russell T Davies have engineered with the likes of Blink and Midnight respectively and as writers of the programme will continue to do for the foreseeable future- in other words, forever...

NEXT WEEK: THE SEEDS OF DEATH