The Tomb of the Cybermen is a timeless gem of 60s Doctor Who; a testament of story, acting and production done right. It will forever remain one of the strongest stories in Doctor Whoä's entire history.
Story: 10
We are thrown straight into the action after the opening, with the archaeological team digging up the titular tomb. The action never stops from there, and the story flows by in a breeze.
This is one of the simplest yet most effective storylines in Classic Who. It's tense, exciting and mysterious and once the Cybermen are introduced it also becomes properly scary.
The ending to Episode 2 is one of the most powerful and iconic moments in Doctor Who history. I love it just as much every time I watch it. The cliffhanger is chilling and haunting to this day, even though the repeat in the following episode isn't quite as good.
This serial has one of my favourite endings ever, with Toberman pushing the door shut as the Controller declares that the Cyberman have to survive. It's so grim and heroic at the same time. And then we are treated with an unresolved cliffhanger, which is even better.
The characterisation and the stereotypical villain and hero characters might not be entirely politically correct by today's standard, but this is not the first or worst time Doctor Who fails in that part.
Acting: 12
This story has one of the finest guest casts in the series' history. Couple that with the great performances from the main cast, and you will hardly find a story with better all around acting.
Cyril Shaps is one of the better guest actors to appear on Doctor Who. He captures the characteristics of Viner very well.
The Doctor: 12
The Doctor is at his very best here, perfectly captured by Patrick Troughton in one of his finest appearances in the part. This is the Second Doctor at his most scheming and calculative. He's once again great together with Frazer Hines. Over the story, he's energetic, sassy and protective.
The scene where the Cybermen attempt to pull the Doctor down the shaft is pretty intense, and the best Doctor moment of the series up to this point.
The Companions: 8
New companion Victoria is pretty pointless, mostly just creaming and being helpless. It's a bit of a shame, particularly since Deborah Waitiling performs her part very well.
Jamie is sidelined by the Doctor, but has some okay moments. He is shown to be smarter and more capable than most earlier companions though, which is always a plus.
The Monster/Villain: 11
Klieg is one of the more memorable and iconic villains in the series. His intentions might be a bit shady and he lacks the megalomaniac personality of some other great villains, but George Pastell puts a great spin to him.
Kaftan is one of the better female characters and villains in Classic Who. If Klieg is the mastermind, then she is the effective and slight mad brute.
Production: 12
The direction and cinematography is beautiful and the simple set design very realistic. This is Classic Who production values at the very best. Add the iconic and eerie musical score to it, and you have a hit.
The Cyberman costumes and the Cybermats still look very good today, as do the effects with the tombs.
Pacing: 12
The Tomb of the Cybermen is arguably the most well-paced and swift of the Classic Who adventures. There is hardly anything that could flow better.
Atmosphere: 12
Few Doctor Who stories are so consistently intense and exciting as The Tomb of the Cybermen. It builds up tension quickly and keeps it going through the entire serial.
The little moment between the Doctor and Victoria in Episode 3 is a lovely and touching little moment and a true gem of the entire Classic Era.
This is one of the grimmer tales in 60s Doctor Who, but it has a narrow silver lining as well.
Impact: 11
The Tomb of the Cybermen is still seen as one of the biggest classics of Doctor Who. It showed just how good Doctor Who can be when almost all of its assets turn out to be near perfect.
Replay Value: 12
This classic adventure is one of the few Classic Who stories that could never be watched too many times. I'm so happy it exists in its entirety.
Random Observations:
This story opens with one of my all-time favourite TARDIS scenes, where Victoria is amazed of what she sees and we finally learn the Doctor's age) it's around 450 years).
The gag with the Doctor and Jamie grabbing each other's hand as they enter the tomb in Episode One was an improvised moment, made possible by the close relationship Troughton and Hines had. It's a funny, warm and great moment.
The Episode 1 cliffhanger shouldn't be a surprise considering the title of the story, but it's so sudden and shocking that it still catches me off guard.
The "You belong to us" cliffhanger of Episode 2 is my all-time favourite Doctor Who cliffhanger. Period.
Toberman is this classic silent brute type, a bit like Doctor Who's version of Jaws from the Roger Moore Bond films.
The Doctor: "You could almost say they've had a sort of a metal breakdown". That's the greatest pun ever intended!
Toberman is another character I will add to my list of favourite supporting characters. He has almost no speaking lines but proves to be badass once he picks up the Cyber-Controller and throws him into the wall. Utterly badass moment. And he turns out to be the greatest hero of the story.
Review by Theo KallströmVIP 6BlockedParent2020-06-01T15:18:32Z
The Tomb of the Cybermen is a timeless gem of 60s Doctor Who; a testament of story, acting and production done right. It will forever remain one of the strongest stories in Doctor Whoä's entire history.
Story: 10
We are thrown straight into the action after the opening, with the archaeological team digging up the titular tomb. The action never stops from there, and the story flows by in a breeze.
This is one of the simplest yet most effective storylines in Classic Who. It's tense, exciting and mysterious and once the Cybermen are introduced it also becomes properly scary.
The ending to Episode 2 is one of the most powerful and iconic moments in Doctor Who history. I love it just as much every time I watch it. The cliffhanger is chilling and haunting to this day, even though the repeat in the following episode isn't quite as good.
This serial has one of my favourite endings ever, with Toberman pushing the door shut as the Controller declares that the Cyberman have to survive. It's so grim and heroic at the same time. And then we are treated with an unresolved cliffhanger, which is even better.
The characterisation and the stereotypical villain and hero characters might not be entirely politically correct by today's standard, but this is not the first or worst time Doctor Who fails in that part.
Acting: 12
This story has one of the finest guest casts in the series' history. Couple that with the great performances from the main cast, and you will hardly find a story with better all around acting.
Cyril Shaps is one of the better guest actors to appear on Doctor Who. He captures the characteristics of Viner very well.
The Doctor: 12
The Doctor is at his very best here, perfectly captured by Patrick Troughton in one of his finest appearances in the part. This is the Second Doctor at his most scheming and calculative. He's once again great together with Frazer Hines. Over the story, he's energetic, sassy and protective.
The scene where the Cybermen attempt to pull the Doctor down the shaft is pretty intense, and the best Doctor moment of the series up to this point.
The Companions: 8
New companion Victoria is pretty pointless, mostly just creaming and being helpless. It's a bit of a shame, particularly since Deborah Waitiling performs her part very well.
Jamie is sidelined by the Doctor, but has some okay moments. He is shown to be smarter and more capable than most earlier companions though, which is always a plus.
The Monster/Villain: 11
Klieg is one of the more memorable and iconic villains in the series. His intentions might be a bit shady and he lacks the megalomaniac personality of some other great villains, but George Pastell puts a great spin to him.
Kaftan is one of the better female characters and villains in Classic Who. If Klieg is the mastermind, then she is the effective and slight mad brute.
Production: 12
The direction and cinematography is beautiful and the simple set design very realistic. This is Classic Who production values at the very best. Add the iconic and eerie musical score to it, and you have a hit.
The Cyberman costumes and the Cybermats still look very good today, as do the effects with the tombs.
Pacing: 12
The Tomb of the Cybermen is arguably the most well-paced and swift of the Classic Who adventures. There is hardly anything that could flow better.
Atmosphere: 12
Few Doctor Who stories are so consistently intense and exciting as The Tomb of the Cybermen. It builds up tension quickly and keeps it going through the entire serial.
The little moment between the Doctor and Victoria in Episode 3 is a lovely and touching little moment and a true gem of the entire Classic Era.
This is one of the grimmer tales in 60s Doctor Who, but it has a narrow silver lining as well.
Impact: 11
The Tomb of the Cybermen is still seen as one of the biggest classics of Doctor Who. It showed just how good Doctor Who can be when almost all of its assets turn out to be near perfect.
Replay Value: 12
This classic adventure is one of the few Classic Who stories that could never be watched too many times. I'm so happy it exists in its entirety.
Random Observations:
This story opens with one of my all-time favourite TARDIS scenes, where Victoria is amazed of what she sees and we finally learn the Doctor's age) it's around 450 years).
The gag with the Doctor and Jamie grabbing each other's hand as they enter the tomb in Episode One was an improvised moment, made possible by the close relationship Troughton and Hines had. It's a funny, warm and great moment.
The Episode 1 cliffhanger shouldn't be a surprise considering the title of the story, but it's so sudden and shocking that it still catches me off guard.
The "You belong to us" cliffhanger of Episode 2 is my all-time favourite Doctor Who cliffhanger. Period.
Toberman is this classic silent brute type, a bit like Doctor Who's version of Jaws from the Roger Moore Bond films.
The Doctor: "You could almost say they've had a sort of a metal breakdown". That's the greatest pun ever intended!
Toberman is another character I will add to my list of favourite supporting characters. He has almost no speaking lines but proves to be badass once he picks up the Cyber-Controller and throws him into the wall. Utterly badass moment. And he turns out to be the greatest hero of the story.
Score: 112/120