|
Attack of the Cybermen Format Reviewed: VHS Review Attack of the Cybermen represents the first time Colin Baker comes into contact with a vastly popular returning villain in Doctor Who. We also see many features of the shows past returning here, probably placed in to try to engender support for the new Doctor with the viewing public. We see the return of the great chamelion circuit debate, Totters Lane and a side plot villain from a previous story, all very interesting! Attack of the Cybermen starts with the TARDIS arriving at Totters Lane, tracking a galactic distress call that leads them into the sewers where they are captured by the Cybermen where the Doctor is reunited with Lytton who was working with the Daleks in Resurrection of the Daleks. The Cybermen force the Doctor to take them to Telos where the rest of the Cybermen are, and a couple of slaves are trying to recover their timeship from the Cybermen. The indiginous population, the Cryons, are trying working with Lytton to thwarte the Cybermen, and through problems with revivification of Cybermen, the Doctor and the Cryons, the Cybermen are defeated at the cost of Lyttons life. One of the most obvious things about this story is the level of overt violence in it. It was around this time that Mary Whitehouse was at one of her most critical phases about Doctor Who, and you can see why. Granted, early on the Doctor does his violence off screen down a hole, but later on there are Cybermen, Cryons and Humans being killed all over the place. This makes the tone largely very dark, with the second and final episode in particular remarkably dark in tone. Colin Baker really starts to settle in to playing the Doctor here, but Nicola Bryant doesn't really seem as comfortable as Peri during this story. She is largely shunted to the side to allow the interplay between the Cybermen, Lytton and the Doctor anyway so it isn't too much of a problem for the story. Of the guest cast, there are some very good performances. The pick of these are Maurice Colbourne who returns as Lytton, Brian Glover as Griffiths and Micheal Attwell as Bates. Another aspect of this story that is really striking is the incidental music. The incidental music is, for me, absolutely awful and doesn't help the story in the slightest. A comparison can be drawn here with Star Wars, in that if John Williams had written the music for this story, and the 'plink plonky' stuff been used for the famous trilogy, their reputations would probably have been reversed. Despite this major problem, the story is one of the better ones of Colin Bakers reign and there is plenty here to keep avid fans and non-fans alike coming back for more. Overall, Attack of the Cybermen is a good story that will stand the test of time. The incidental music is truly awful though, and it is also perfectly understandable why Mary Whitehouse complained about this story, as there is a considerable amount of violence present. A good story though, and a welcome return of the Cybermen. Rating:  |