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Halley's comet! The return of Lytton! Telos! CYBERMEN! Cryons! Diamond heist! Chameleon circuit!
It is a fact controller that Attack of the Cybermen is often considered a mess of a story, but is that fair?
What do you think of it?
One of my earliest memories of watching Doctor Who is of the first episode of this when I was about 5. I can just vividly remember Colin in all his multicoloured glory and Nicola emerging from the church organ TARDIS so I've always had a soft spot for this particular story.
I've always been quite fond of it too, despite it being a bit of a mess of a story. There are plenty of good action sequences throughout that keep it moving, some splendid performances and some grim moments along the way. It's onyl when you get to the end and stop and think about it that you realise it doesn't make a huge amount of sense... but it's not alone in that... another story set on Telos is guilty of that... not that that is any mitigation of course for Attack's faults.
Most of the faults stem from letting your continuity advisor (unofficial) have a go at writing it (allegedly) It didn't need the Mondas plot really did it. It's not liek they do anything with it. Halley's Comet is shoehorned in because it's a contemporary reference (and I saw the comet back in 85!) and the chameleon circuit stuff is just crap and not very funny.
Part one is really good, it looks great, there's some good stuff with Lytton's gang, the filmwork looks fantastic, the tension builds as the Doctor & co get deeper into the sewers.... then they go back to the TARDIS, the whole story goes off to Telos, and it just never really works as well after that. This business of Moffat's of having the second part of a two-parter radically different to the first is nothing new, it happens all over the place in season 22, but it of course runs the risk of having a story that's 50% great and 50% rubbish. Telos looks unfortunately like a lot of studio sets, the Cryons look like ladies in bubblewrap, and there's just a general sense of having more money for the first half than the second!
The plot is interesting I guess, although baffling to any non-fans (and without any clips from The Tenth Planet to fill in the gap, to make it obvious to the casual viewer that the Doctor is at least referring to an old Doctor Who story, not just something made up for this story). They don't do much with it, though, it might have been nice to see some more shots of Halley's comet in part 2, and for the Cybermen not to be quite so chatty.
It's a shame - Colin's clearly ready to make his mark and give us something fresh & new, but the rest of the production just feels a bit... tired?
I like it, but I sooo want it to be better every time I see it!
I think Attack of the Cybermen is a good story to kick off Colin's first season as the Doctor. Some memorable moments include the TARDIS changing into an organ, the twist with Lytton and the Doctor being remorseful at the end nicely tied with The Tenth Planet and Halley's Comet (which was all the range in 1985). My second favourite of Season 22.
9/10