.... And the Countdown continues! Part Two of my Ranking the Cybermen Stories reveals my Ten Faves.
If you missed Part One;
https://robtymec.blogspot.com/2026/07/book-of-lists-ranking-all-cybermen.html
Right then, let's get on with it:
10: ATTACK OF THE CYBERMEN
There are a few things I genuinely dislike about Attack of the Cybermen.
It employs that ever-so-dreadful "supporting cast slaughterfest" device that several tales in this era use to resolve all their conflicts. The plot is, perhaps, a bit busier than it really needs to be. And those Cybermen are just a bit too easy to kill in certain scenes.
But this is still such a fun story to watch. The violence is especially enjoyable. That Cyberman stumbling around like a chicken with its head cut off is indelibly stamped into my memory.
Even with its problems, there's just too much to love, here.
I know there were complaints at the time ("They're alienating the casual viewer! Shame on them!"), but I actually liked how much the whole thing is built upon the Lore created in previous Cybermen stories. It was an interesting way to construct a plot that, up until this point, we hadn't really seen the show do.
9: THE FIVE DOCTORS
"Wait a minute, Rob!" some of you may be saying, "The Five Doctors isn't a Cybermen story. It's a multi-incarnation anniversary special."
True enough, that is the main intent of this tale. But, by golly, do the Cybermen show up a whole lot in this story. Their strong presence is all-the-more noticeable since other recurring foes really only get cameos (with the exception of the Master, Should I do a list for him, Five Doctors will also be included there).
Part of the reason we get so much of them, of course, is sheer practicality. The suits were still lying around from last season's Earthshock. There was also a lot of outdoor shooting and Cybermen work much better on location than most other monsters did at the time,. But they are also very well-served in this adventure. They cause all kinds of nice plot complications and, as always is the case in 80s Cybemen stories, die in many glorious ways. Especially in their battle against that nasty Raston Warrior Robot.
8: SILVER NEMESIS
I've heard several complaints about Silver Nemesis that I can't refute. It's, pretty much, a re-tread of Remembrance of the Daleks. The Cybermen are somewhat superfluous to the plot. And who the Hell doesn't bother to check inside the case of an extremely valuable artifact before betraying a very powerful ally?!
But Silver Nemesis does take place in Season 25. One of the best seasons the show has ever offered us. Which means it still contains a lot of qualities that made this period so great. Characters that inhabit this season all have some gorgeous layers to them. And the plot has all kinds of wonderful nuances to it. The Seventh Doctor is particularly awesome to watch. He has become more complex than he ever was or will be.
So, yes, there are problems with the story. But there any number of qualities that help to outshine the negative traits. If we're being completely honest, Ace taking out Cybermen with gold coins and a slingshot is enough to get me to forget about any of the adventure's shortcomings!
7: POWER OF THE DOCTOR
Similar to The Five Doctors, there's plenty going on, here - but the Cybermen are in it enough to have this story included in this list.
It was quite refreshing to see a whole new breed of Cybermen that gets along with the old version rather than engaging in a civil war with it! I would really love more stories involving these two schisms working together. And, of course, I want more Ashad!
There's also some absolutely beautiful arcing that Chibnall accomplishes, here. Similar to what RTD did with Doctor's hand but much more clever and subtle. By creating the Cybermasters in a previous story, they are now a source of regeneration energy that can be used to reverse what the Master did to the Doctor.
That Chibnall might just be a bit more clever than some grumpy old fans give him credit for!
6: TOMB OF THE CYBERMEN
Considered by many to be an "absolute classic", I do really love Tomb of the Cybermen - but I can't quite love it as much as General Fandom does.
The first two episodes are absolute brilliance. Quite possibly, the two most perfect episodes of Doctor Who, ever. But the plot to the second two parts feels just a bit too threadbare. The whole narrative is simply: "We need to keep those Cybermen in the basement!" and not much of anything else. Which does start to wear thin after a while.
Ultimately, I'd still call this a Classic Cybermen Story. But it just barely crosses that threshold.
5: THE HAUNTING OF VILLA DIODATI/ASCENSION OF THE CYBERMEN/THE TIMELESS CHILDREN
Once more, Chris Chibnall proves that he does the best job in New Who at writing recurring foes.
The Cybermen are just so beautifully menacing in this tale. Something that we don't get in most other New Who stories involving them. I also absolutely adore Ashad (aka: The Lone Cyberman), One of my favorite villains in the show, ever.
As the adventure becomes more about the Master and the Doctor and the changing of the show's Lore, the Cybermen don't get pushed to the wayside. They still, very much, have a strong presence in the plot and develop in a whole new and interesting way as some of them become Cybermasters.
Yet again, the Cybermen get a power that only seems to make so much sense. The organic components of a Cybermaster can regenerate, now. That's great. But how does that repair any mechanical damage they receive?! I imagine it's some more of that advanced Time Lord science. The regeneration energy was re-engineered to effect repairs to non-organic material, too. It seems feasible. After all, regeneration energy can also make clothes!
4: THE TENTH PLANET
The tale that began it all. This fact, alone, gives it a fairly high ranking on this list. But the fact that The Tenth Planet is actually really good helps it all-the-more! This is the first time we get a base-under-siege adventure and it's very well-executed. Better than a lot of other stories that will come along in the next little while using the same premise.
Once the Cybermen truly enter the plot, we get an immediate sense that they're going to be something special. A lot is owed to that nice big info-dump Krang delivers in Part Two. It really fleshes their race out and causes them to become something more than monster-of-the-week. For a 60s cyborg, they're also quite visually-imposing. The fact that the costume gets re-created decades later and still looks quite fearsome is a testament to its effectiveness.
The Tenth Planet has another key element to it, of course. It also features the Doctor's first regeneration. But this does nothing to diminish the fact that this is also the Cybermen's first appearance. Both elements are equally-brilliant.
3: WORLD ENOUGH AND TIME/THE DOCTOR FALLS
The tale that began it all that came out decades after the tale that began it all.
This is, essentially, Genesis of the Cybermen/ It's as brilliant as the Dalek version was meant to be (we'll learn a lot about my feelings towards Genesis of the Daleks if I do a list like this for Daleks, someday). A brilliantly-constructed plot that actually made the most impractical-looking model of Cyberman absolutely horrifying.
Yes, we also have two incarnations of the Master stealing a lot of our attention. But it's not uncommon for there to be something else big and important going on in a Cybermen story. Quite often, these monsters are just so imposing that they don't end up taking a back seat - regardless of what else might be going on that's trying to dwarf them. World Enough/Doctor Falls does a gorgeous job of achieving this. At no point do we forget that this adventure is all about the Cybermen. Two versions of the Master or the Doctor approaching the end of his twelfth life feel more like secondary issues.
And then, of course, there's that absolutely wonderful scene in the forest where the Doctor is blowing up Cybermen left and right and recalling all the other times we've seen him defeat them (or, in the case of Planet 14, not seen him defeat them!). One of the most absolutely memorable moments in the history of the show. .
2: THE INVASION
The Invasion is one of the longest Doctor Who stories ever. It stands to reason that it might actually drag in places. Amazingly enough, it never does. All eight episodes keep me completely engaged.
There should be moments that are hard to stay interested in. All of Part One, for instance, is a fairly big Nothing Burger (do people still say that?!). The final episode also depends on a lot of stock footage and people commenting through radio communications about stuff that is happening off-camera. Even the Doctor and Jamie's daring climb through the elevator shaft feels a bit like a capture-and-escape stalling tactic.
But, again, none of this seems to damage any of my enjoyment of this story. Quite simply, The Invasion is wonderfully epic. A great joy to watch. And, of course, it contains some of the most iconic visuals in the history of the show. There are some stories that are considered "Classics" that I find to be pretty over-rated (Genesis of the Daleks, Seeds of Doom, Caves of Androzani - just to name a few) but this tale totally lives up to its reputation. In fact, it deserves more praise than it gets.
Much I think is owed to Douglas Camfield's direction. He took a script that was a tad too long and unwieldy and managed to make it into a thing of beauty.
1: EARTHSHOCK
Could it really be anything else but Earthshock in the Number One Position? Not just the best Cybermen story, but one of the best Doctor Who stories ever. There's really just too many compliments to give. I've reviewed this story on multiple occasions so I'll just do some edited highlights;
The Cybermen really are at their most terrifying. Particularly in the latter parts when they're wandering around the space frighting like a giant colony of deadly, near-unkillable ants. As I think I have said in all my other reviews: I get genuine nightmares from Earthshock.
David Banks' Cyberleader just might be the greatest Doctor Who villain, ever. Particularly in this story. It's almost like Banks saw how bad the Cyberleader was in Revenge of the Cybermen and proclaimed: "We must fix this." And he did. Magnificently. One might even say he was: "Excellent".
Admittedly, there's not much of a plot, here. But we hardly care. Like The Invasion, the director does an incredible job of lifting the story above its limits. Things move at a breakneck speed and the tension in the last ten minutes of the adventure is like nothing I've ever seen in television before or since.
On top of all that great Cybermen stuff, the story sends you into a state of shock at the end by killing off Adric.
I don't think anything will ever be able to topple Earthshock from its Number One position.
SOME GENERAL OBSERVATIONS:
I do love the Cybermen. They're, probably, my favorite recurring monsters. They pack that extra a bit of menace because they don't just want to conquer us - they also want to transform us into them. That's created some really terrifying scenes over the years.
Sadly, there's a decent amount of stories that feature them that I consider genuinely bad. If I had given these shoddier stories a rating out of ten, they would have gotten twos and threes. Whereas the other great recurring foes don't tend to have stories this low in quality. Which really does display just how much I adore the Cybermen. Even with several problematic episodes, the many positive traits of these creatures still shine through.
Arranging these stories in such an order has also shown some interesting things about how every decade handled the Cybermen. I'd like to go through that with you before wrapping up this entry:
60s Cybes
A bit of a mixed bag. Some excellent stories that are true Classics like Tomb of the Cybermen and The Invasion. But then some other tales that are a bit more "meh" like The Moonbase and Wheel in Space. It seems like production teams were trying too hard, sometimes, to make this new monster as popular as the Daleks. A lot of love went into some of these adventures. On other occasions, however, it seems they were just trying to crank out something quick to get them more screentime rather than really give us something great.
70s Cybes
Only one contribution to this era. Thank God for that. If they had kept making Cybermen stories in such a manner, their longevity might have come to an end right here.
80s Cybes
There's probably a bit of a bias, here. My first experience with the Cybermen was Earthshock. Which kinda made me fall in love with the ones from this period. I just adore everything about them. Particularly the actual costumes. These Cybermen look great. And while several stories from this period are problematic, in places, I still find that they are the most engaging. I'd even go so far to say enthralling. Hands down, the best decade for Cybermen.
2000s
From best to one of the worst. Until we get to Closing Time (which is, at best, a very middle-of-the-road yarn), I like none of the stories in this period. The whole concept of Parallel Reality Cybermen just doesn't really agree with me. I'm plenty happy with the ones in our Universe and really don't think that new fans of the series would have had trouble with their origins. I was quite glad when the whole idea was abandoned.
2010s
Things start looking up for the Cybermen of New Who. We're not getting any more "bad" stories and we're even getting something quite marvelous like World Enough and Time/The Doctor Falls. A lot of the credit for the upswing in quality goes to Moffat. His conscious decision to not continue with the Cybermen RTD created was a very good one.
2020s
Only two Cybermen stories in this era (and, with the state the show is currently in, we might not get anymore) but they both rank quite highly for me. One might even say it's the 80s Cybermen all over again. A certain standard of quality is maintained throughout. I also love The Lone Cybermen and the Cybermasters. Great creations from the pen of Mister Chibnall.
And thus concludes a most long-winded of lists. Hope you enjoyed both parts and didn't savagely disagree with me too much.
Will I rank other recurring foes like the Daleks and the Master? Maybe even the Sontarans?
Time will tell. It always does.
