Visually it’s one of my fave Cybermen designs, but yeah I agree that their abilities are overpowered and not that interesting
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I think I prefer a bit less “Iron Man” in the design, but I also like the mask/helmet, and the way they make it clear that there’s still a body in there, unlike just a bunch of brain matter that the Cybusmen originally did.
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Cybermen are my favourite villains,and WEaT/TDF are a big part of that, probably the best Cybermen have ever been served on TV.
EU included, Sins of the Flesh is one of the best DW stories ever made, doing Cybermen in an interesting and heartbreaking way.
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I don’t agree with you on this. I think that it is a story that is built around the Cybermen and their unique abilities. You could not swap them for Daleks or any other monsters in that one.
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Okay to be fair I’m definitely playing up some of them, the cybermen don’t take a backseat in RotC/AoS, but the focus of the story is definitely split between them and the parallel universe stuff
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I usually try to think, could this story work as a Dalek story without big changes? If the answer is yes, you are doing a Cybermen story wrong.
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I’d absolutely agree with that, I think the only revival stories that fill that brief (talking purely about them as cyber stories here) are:
- Rise of the Cybermen/Age of Steel (though it splits the focus, I think the cyberman stuff there is in there is great, and I know people aren’t fans of the cybus-men, but I really like them)
- Dark Water/Death in Heaven (I do think the cybermen being already dead people is a bit of a shame, and there’s split focus with Missy, but the fact we have an established character get converted definitely helps a lot with the former)
- World Enough And Time (The most cyber story since the revival began, though I think in The Doctor Falls they could absolutely be replaced for the daleks bar Bill)
- The Haunting of the Villa Diodati (which splits focus with the historical aspect, and there’s no conversions or that, but it uses the fact cybermen are meant to be emotionless and that and plays with it which you couldn’t do with a dalek)
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The main thing for me is the assimilation. I don’t understand why, when the Cybermen’s unique quality is that they want to assimilate people, Doctor Who always ends up with them marching around blasting people like generic soldiers / robots.
The key to a good Cyberman story:
- Assimilation
- Body horror
- An unstoppable force
I quite like how in Nightmare in Silver the only way to stop them is blow up a whole planet. That’s about all I like in that story though!
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Seconded. My favourite Cyberman design—sooo scary.
I love the absolute runaway victory for WEaT/tDF! Possibly the biggest landslide on a forum poll?
My favourite Cyberman story is the Short Trip Scientific Advisor. Love that one. But if we’re talking best use of the Cybermen—Spare Parts or Sins of the Flesh, all the way. I also love the 90s DWM Cybermen comics series!
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It’s because you only get one vote. I prefer polls that let you vote for more than one because you can easily see who comes second and third.
(Can’t be changed now though)
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A more democratic voting system, that!
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Voted for WEaT/TDF, since well I think it’s a great Story and more importantly a great Cybermen Story.
While looking at this List, I must admit it’s a shame that a lot of Cybermen Stories in the Revival have them share Screen Time with other huge Things/Figures. Which I don’t mind on principal, but I really hope this will change for a future TV Story of theirs, (and I do say that as somebody who did enjoy most of their Outings sharing the Screen with the Master, but come on let them have their very own Episodes again!!)
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Dark Water / Death in Heaven is a pretty definitive win for me.
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I love that one so much,shame it barely gets mentioned.
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I mean, you’re not wrong.
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World Enough and Time/The Doctor Falls easily. Uses Cybermen really well in a story where they’re not the only focus.
My favourite Doctor Who story in any medium
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