The Tomb of the Cybermen - Episode 2

One of the things that I like about this story is apart from the fact that it’s a Cyberman story and its one of my favourites. It’s that it exists entirely on DVD and so I feel that I am enjoying it more than when I have to stick on the CD. I said in the previous episode that I remember listening to this on my cassette tape version and it was just before it was discovered in Hong Kong and I remember listening to it and trying to imagine what it would look like and my young imagination couldn’t have come up with what I would see. The tight setting of the story is one of the things that works so well in this episode.

It’s this episode where we are treated to the first glimpse of the cybermats. Compared to the ones that we have seen recently on TV they are fairly simplistic and look like they would be hitting toy shop shelves pretty soon but I think that they are quite fun. Something that didn’t strike me when watching the previous episode and that is why have the Cybermen gone to the trouble of building a table and putting stools with it? The choice of furniture is not something that you would think Cybermen wouldn’t bother with. There is a line where Hopper says that its going to take 72 hours to repair the damage and its like a sign to the viewer that the story is going to happen over a short amount of time.

The idea that the Doctor is manipulating people continues in this episode where he helps Klieg raise the hatch to the tomb. I find Patrick Troughton’s performance in this episode to be comforting. It feels like he’s having enjoying himself and gives a very good performance. Both Frazer Hines and Deborah Watling give good performances but they are somewhat overshadowed by Kleig and the Doctor.

Viner is a hysterical worrier and some might say that there’s nothing wrong with this considering the situation but I to admit that I think that it gets slightly annoying. It wasn’t so much of a problem in the previous episode but here it seemed like a big issue. He is more hysterical than Victoria should be (or at least has been portrayed recently). Thankfully he meets a grisly ending towards the end of the episode. Captain Hopper seems like the only one with any proper sense. He might come across as a bit abrupt but he is a good on screen presence. George Roubicek plays the part well and I like how he seems to see everyone else as a problem. Hopper is another solid character. Kleig continues being the villain of the story and George Pastell is brilliant from start to finish. I also think that Shirley Cooklin is in second place as Kaftan though her star will rise by the end of the story.  As a double act they are quite the piece and with the lack of Cybermen involvement take centre stage and they do well with it. There’s a nice moment when Victoria realises that the world she finds herself in now is very different to the one that she knew before she boarded the TARDIS.  When she is being served some food she must have been assuming a plate of food but is instead given a OXO cube.

The tomb set is very impressive. It’s done in two parts with the shot of the tomb being the first and then the second is the studio set. It’s edited together rather well and it all feels like one big set.  The tomb part is the more spectacular as it’s surprising that they built something so big for this show when normally they would have done it

The lack of Cybermen must have been a problem for viewers in 1967 as apart from the dummy Cyberman at the beginning we don’t see anymore Cybermen until the 20 minute mark when the temperature is raised and they start climbing down the ladder. When they do get involved its quite an impressive moment as the Cyber Controller’s entrance is easily one of the best entrances that I can remember.

This is another cracking episode and it continues to build on the good work that was achieved in episode one. We get more Cybermen (even though its left until the end) and it feels like the story is building towards something instead padding until we get to the business end of the story. Good stuff.