BOOK OF LISTS: TOP FIVE CYBERMEN STORIES - NUMBER FOUR

The Countdown continues....

DOUBLE WINNER

Believe it or not, we have a story that won in both categories. World Enough and Time/The Doctor Falls was not only an excellent Master Story (as you can see, here, in this review: https://robtymec.blogspot.com/2021/11/book-of-lists-top-five-master-stories_19.html), but it also did a damned fine job of representing those Metal Meanies from Mondas. Clearly, I was very impressed with these two episodes! 

Some fans even seem to wish that this was Moffat and Capaldi's final story and that Twice Upon a Time had never been made. After all, the Doctor is in the process of holding back a regeneration throughout the entire second half. He could have, easily, just done his big "Doctor, I let you go..." speech at the end and finally allowed the regeneration to happen. An era would have been brought to an end on a much less divisive note than it was.  

Bringing up the regeneration, however, gets us to ponder a heavy point. These two episodes not only featured a multi-incarnation Master Story and the origins of the Cybermen - they also began the process of writing out the Twelfth Doctor. That's a lot of stuff to handle! Some fans love to point out how Planet of Fire had to feature the Master, write out Turlough, kill off Kamelion and introduce Peri. I would say World Enough/Doctor Falls carried just as heavy of a load. Maybe it didn't have quite as many strands to take care of, but the plot threads it does handle are a bit larger in scale. 

I am always very impressed with a Who Story that has to resolve multiple ongoing continuity issues at once and still tell a good story.  World/Falls does this magnificently. It really is an impressive two episodes. 

For now, though, we will focus in on how it handles the Cybermen. 

AN ORIGINS STORY? 

Probably one of the best things this story does for the Cybermen is give them their own version of a Genesis of the Daleks adventure. Although - and this will sound horrendously blasphemous - I think I like this way better than the Dalek origins tale. There aren't endless captures-and-escapes to mark time or awful cliffhangers where people appear to be falling to their death but aren't, really. Instead, we get a really great sci fi concept involving black holes and how they can affect the flow of time. Which, apparently, was even scientifically accurate! 

Watching the gradual evolution of the Cybermen throughout the first part is probably one of the cooler aspects of the whole story. I love the way they look more like hospital patients at the beginning. But, at the same time, you can still see the "Cyberman-to-be". It had been made pretty clear in promotional material that Series 10 would finish with Peter Capaldi getting his wish fulfilled to fight "Mondasian Cybermen". So there was no need for subtlety. We knew what these strange creatures in hospital gowns and IV drips were going to become. It was great fun to watch the transformation gradually happen over the length of the episode. 

The fact that Bill becomes one of - if not - the first "True Cyberman" is massively cool. At the same time, it's quite devastating. I'd become quite attached to her by this point and didn't want to see this happen to her. The fact that cybernisation seems to be irreversible made her fate all-the-more painful to watch. I've spoken before of the potency of that cliffhanger (https://robtymec.blogspot.com/2020/06/book-of-lists-ten-amazing-cliffhangers.html). It's a gorgeous "double-whammy". Not only must we watch the Doctor's close friend become a Cyberman, but the Doctor also comes to terms with the fact that he's dealing with two incarnations of his greatest rival at once. So it's an excellent moment for both the Master and the Cybermen. But it's an especially important moment since it is the final stage of an evolution that we've been watching. 

The Cybermen are born. It's particularly mortifying that they were born through Poor Bill! 

There is one neat thing that Moff does during the second half of the tale that works as a sort of escape clause if one wants it to be. The Doctor delivers his speech about parallel evolution. He claims that most species, at some point, try to convert themselves to Cybermen. This allows what we're seeing on this colony ship to Mondas to be subjective. I like to think that the ship makes its way to its destination and converts the Mondasian population. That this is the true origins of the Cyber-race. But, if you so desire, you can view this as a completely separate tale that has no bearing on what we will eventually see in The Tenth Planet. That those Cybermen have a completely different backstory. It's another gorgeous example of the ambiguity Steven Moffat has woven into the script. 

THE HORROR! 

One of the other really outstanding elements of this tale that involved Cybermen was something that is commonly referred to as "body horror". I actually find this to be one of the most disturbing forms of the genre. There are all kinds of terrifying things you can do to characters in a plot. But when you start actually changing their physical form and the very nature of who they are, it really gets under my skin. 

I find that Who actually needs to be careful with this style of horror. As it really can become too disturbing for a family audience. In the past, we've had stories like Ark in Space, where Noah transforms into a Wirrn. We're not really all that mortified by the scene, though, because the effect was done with bubble wrap (the performance of the actor, though, as he struggles through the transformation was brilliant)!  But now, the show has a real budget. They could really make some stomachs turn if they wanted to. 

But the whole thing is pitched quite magnificently. We know there's some gruesome surgery going on but it's only vaguely alluded to. We can't help but notice, for instance, that the new head apparatus that the surgeon is showing Bill at the end of the episode has a nasty spike in it that will, very obviously, penetrate the skull of its wearer. We don't actually witness the process going on, though. It's left to our imagination. Which will do a far better job than a graphic visual ever could. 

There's also a far stronger emphasis on the psychological damage that occurs during Body Horror. Which is safer to portray in a PG format but, ironically, can be far more difficult to watch. Bill waking up from her operation and wandering into a room full of Patients begging to be killed is, in many ways, one of the most memorable moments in the whole episode. And it sticks with us so well because it is just so dark and morbid. It's a truly brilliant scene. 

CONVERSION

As we discuss the various virtues of Body Horror, it leads us to another point about this story that I really enjoy. A core element of the terror a Cybermen inspires is the fact that they are the sci fi equivalent of a zombie. Rather than just kill you - they go one step further. They turn you into them. You become the Walking Dead. Every story involving them mentions, at least, in passing that Cybermen convert humans. 

And yet, we rarely get to see the actual process. The first time we see any real hint of it is in Attack of the Cybermen: a story that takes place nearly 20 years after the monsters were first introduced. For nearly two decades we hear things like: "If the Cybermen catch you, they turn you into them!" But we never actually get to see how that's done. 

New Who stories like Rise of the Cybermen/Age of Steel and Closing Time also show a little bit of the process. In some ways, not letting see us see much of it is part of that less is more approach that I described a bit, already, in the last section. But, after so many years of not ever really witnessing much of the procedure, I really wanted a story that focused in on it a bit more. 

In World/Falls, we finally get to see that. It's a very primitive form of conversion. No doubt, future Cybermen come up with much more efficient ways to transform humans into their kind. But it's quite nice to see such low-tech methods.  It makes it more horrifying, of course. But also allows us to really see and understand what goes into the process of making an actual Cyberman.  I found it most interesting to see the whole thing displayed in such great detail. Now we can go back to putting Maurice Colbourne or Jame Corden in partial Cybermen outfits!    

DRAWBACKS...

This story ranks Fourth Place in my Cybermen Story Countdown. While I have a lot of great things to say about it, it must also have some weak points. Otherwise, it would be at the top, right? 

I have to say: my qualms with the tale are negligible. For the most part, I adore it. 

However...

It made sense that we might eventually see the Cybermen evolve into a more efficient model. So I didn't mind the Nightmare In Silver Version suddenly appearing and kinda taking things over. They would look more intimidating for a final conflict. This was also the latest costume that the production team was using so that worked, too. The fresher the look, the better.   

I'm not sure if we needed the Cybus-Style Cybermen in there, too. It seemed a bit unnecessary. Seeing multiple versions of Daleks in Asylum of the Daleks was cool. Any other attempts to cram in as many different past models of an evil cyborg seemed a little too fan-pleasing. In this case, it even seemed a little half-assed. They, more-or-less, re-created the Mondasion style Cybermen and then just dug out the suits they still had lying around. If they really wanted to show an evolution of some sort, we should have gotten a few more re-creations of classic costumes. Maybe one more version from the 60s and then the totally awesome 80s look. 

As I've mentioned, World/Falls is a bit like Planet of Fire. It has a lot to take care of. Because of this, the Cybermen do feel ever-so-slightly sidelined during the second episode. Technically, there is a Cyberman accompanying everyone as we deal with the multi-Master drama and the Doctor trying to halt his regeneration. But, most of the time, she appears as Bill. Only once in a while are we reminded that it's no longer really her. So the Cybermen's presence is a bit weak for a while. Especially with all the build-up we get in Part One. It does feel a bit like they've just been, suddenly, pushed to the side after Nardole rescues everyone from the rooftop. It's not a huge failing. But it would have been nice to see more of what was going on in the Cyber Factory during The Doctor Falls. How cool would it have been, for instance, to have a scene where that creepy surgeon is, at last, betrayed by his creation and forced to become a Cyberman? And then some other scenes where we just watch the Mondasian Cybermen completely take over operations and make improved models of themselves? It just seemed like a plot thread that should have kept getting explored in the second half. Instead, it's a bit of a wasted opportunity. It does work to leave the goings-on in the Engine Level mysterious now that the protagonists have left it. But it also feels a bit "off" that we abandon the setting so suddenly and only return to it to watch Cybermen activate their jet boots!

FINAL VERDICT

My objections, as you can see, are pretty minor. In terms of how this adventure treats both the Master(s) and the Cybermen, it does a pretty damned solid job. It begins Twelve's final journey quite well, too! Overall, it was a great way to finish out the season. Probably one of the best season finales of the New Series.   

It is important to note, however, that there is one sequence towards the end of the whole adventure that gets me to forget about any problem I may have with these two episodes. I'm speaking of that glorious moment where the Doctor is running through the solar farm setting off explosions with his sonic screwdriver and shouting out every victory he's ever had over this particular foe. It's an utterly brilliant scene that, for me, captures the true spirit of the Doctor. He knows his life will be over soon, but he still defiantly celebrates all the times he has won against the monsters that are about to end him. I find the whole thing genuinely inspiring, really. No matter how many times I watch it, it stirs up something in me. I'm always moved by it. 

That scene, alone, gives this story a special place in my heart. It helps, of course, that the rest of tale is very well put-together, too.   

Number Four Cybermen story has been covered. We'll keep moving on....