138: Attack of the Cybermen

8/18/08

The Doctor takes the TARDIS to 1984 Earth where he stumbles across a Cyberman plot to destroy the world.

You know, I think I'm just not a big Cyberman fan. I find them to be a bit boring. If you have seen one or two Cybermen stories, you know what you are going to get out of all of them, because they aren't that different. One thing that sets this story aside from the rest is the other alien race in this story, the Cryons, natives of the planet Telos, which the Cybermen have over run. What is cool about the Cryons is that they are all played by women, and I think this is a welcome change to Doctor Who. Sometimes you just get tired of dudes in masks screaming a lot, and when you have women underneath the special effects makeup, it makes for an interesting change.

In addition to that, I liked the stuff that happens with the chameleon circuit in this story. The Doctor thinks he has fixed it, enabling the TARDIS to blend in with it's surroundings, no longer being stuck in the guise of a police box. Of course, it doesn't work quite right, and I like that.

And while I'm not a Cyberman fan, there is something incredibly cool about one Cyberman literally punching the head off another Cyberman. Say what you will about these stories, but they do have some good robo-carnage.

But the thing I like most about this story is that the Doctor really misjudges a character in the story and gets it all wrong. That was a nice change from the last story, where the Doctor thought he could do no wrong. He acts incredibly arrogant, but as he learns in this episode, he doesn't know everything.

These are all things I enjoyed about this episode, but outside of this, I thought it was very standard, maybe even substandard. But I came into it with preconceived notions anyway because I'm not a fan of the villains.

I rate this episode a 6/10. It's not bad, it's just...average.