Season 7 - Patrick Troughton - The Tomb of the Cybermen

The Tomb of the Cybermen was actually the first classic episode I ever saw and despite the fact that it briefly fooled me into believing that I didn’t really like the classic female companions at all, it is one of my favourite episodes. Patrick Troughton is captivating as the Doctor, he is silly and serious in perfect harmony and his devotion to his companions is palpable. Most of all though, it is his mind that I admire, he watches the people around him with equal parts curiosity and suspicion and isn’t afraid to do what needs to be done.

In this episode the Doctor is accompanied by his long suffering companion Jamie and a young lady named Victoria Waterfield who the Doctor plucked out of the 1800s when her father died protecting the Doctor from the Daleks. Victoria is very girly. She screams, holds the Doctors hand and has to hide her face at every opportunity and she simply does not want to be there, in reality the Cybermats aren’t really all that scary and don’t really warrant that kind of a response. Despite all this I know I must give her the benefit of the doubt, since her adventure with the Daleks this is Victoria’s first adventure in the Tardis and she is separated from the Doctor pretty early on.

Jamie is his usual slightly sarcastic self; he treats with the Doctor with his usual mixture of respect and exasperation. Jamie is a great contra to the Doctor’s natural silliness and is resourceful and clever. He is a seasoned time traveller now in comparison to Victoria and he takes care of her in almost paternal and protective way.

There is a very touching moment during this episode in which the Doctor sits with Victoria and talks about her father, in this moment you forget that Patrick Troughton wears silly baggy trousers and a cape and you realise that he is still that wise old man who takes such good care of all of his companions. Its easy to see where Matt Smith got his inspiration for the Doctor.

VICTORIA: Well, if you are 450 years old, you need a great deal of sleep.                                                     
DOCTOR: Well that's very considerate of you, Victoria, but between you and me, I'm really quite lively actually, all things being considered. 
(The Doctor takes the gun.) 
DOCTOR: Are you happy with us, Victoria? 
VICTORIA: Yes, I am. At least, I would be if my father were here. 
DOCTOR: Yes, I know, I know. 
VICTORIA: I wonder what he would have thought if he could see me now. 
DOCTOR: You miss him very much, don't you? 
VICTORIA: It's only when I close my eyes. I can still see him standing there, before those horrible Dalek creatures came to the house. He was a very kind man, I shall never forget him. Never. 
DOCTOR: No, of course you won't. But, you know, the memory of him won't always be a sad one. 
VICTORIA: I think it will. You can't understand, being so ancient. 
DOCTOR: Eh? 
VICTORIA: I mean old. 
DOCTOR: Oh. 
VICTORIA: You probably can't remember your family. 
DOCTOR: Oh yes, I can when I want to. And that's the point, really. I have to really want to, to bring them back in front of my eyes. The rest of the time they sleep in my mind, and I forget. And so will you. Oh yes, you will. You'll find there's so much else to think about. So remember, our lives are different to anybody else's. That's the exciting thing. There's nobody in the universe can do what we're doing. You must get some sleep and let this poor old man stay awake. 
(A Cybermat has entered the room. The Doctor puts his cloak around Victoria as she settles by the table. The metal creature homes in on his shoe and he feels it's bump.) 

In true Doctor Who form the Cybermen aren’t the only villains, there are always the people who think that they can control the monsters and make them carry out their bidding. Kaftan and her companion Klieg have funded an architectural expedition into the sarcophagus of the Cybermen on the planet Telos with the intention of waking the sleeping Cybermen and bending them to their will. It ends, as ever, with the monster’s refusing to obey the commands of the humanoids who released them and making a bid to take over the universe.

There is a wonderful scene that you see again and again throughout the episode, sometimes slowed down and sometimes reversed but always the same shots in which you watch the Cybermen climb out of their tombs. The set which is used for this scene is really well put together and screams classic who. The Tomb is a honeycomb-esque grid of tombs each containing one Cyberman with ladders down the side.

The Classic Cybermen are just as creepy as the modern Cybermen even without the stiff military robotic movements or the flashing lights. This episode proves that even a costume comprising of plastic tubing and an overall can’t detract from the horror of a relentless race of upgraded humans who feel no emotion and want to convert the rest of the universe. Truly terrifying.

Overall this is a wonderful episode which really captures the second Doctor in his full glory and we have given it a 4/5