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Cyber-Summer part 1; The Tenth Planet
7 years ago
ScottishFurDoctor Who Cyber Summer Part 1: The Tenth Planet
Hello one and all and welcome to the first part of Cyber Summer. Today its one of the most important episodes ever, the Tenth Planet, which does double duty; introducing the Cybermen and the concept of regeneration.
In a rocked base in Antarctica (which doesn’t make sense due to trajectory; its why most rocket bases are in places close to the Equator such as Florida.), the Doctor and co. arrive just as a new planet enters the solar system and starts orbiting Earth, the titular tenth planet. The planet is Mondas, Earth’s twin and home to the Cybermen who arrive in force to take suitable people to convert into Cybermen and drain Earth of resources before blowing it up before it collides with Mondas. But in the midst of the action, the elderly First Doctor faints and begins to feel his body wearing out.
The Tenth Planet is very strange to revisit in terms of the regeneration, after over 50 years of Doctors regenerating after big events. However the first ever regeneration is very low key, the Doctor doesn’t go down fighting, he just grows frail and dies and its up to the companions, Ben and Polly who are two of the greatest companions and very underrated in my opinion, to carry the story. Although its an important event, I’d argue its also one of the weaker regenerations. But its not really the story’s fault, William Hartnell who played the Doctor was really ill at the time and they were pressed for time.
Now of course we can’t ignore the other massive event of this story, the Cybermen. This is one of my favourite Cybermen designs, even if they look a bit silly by modern standards, with the cloth faces and bulky chest units.
But when you get down to it, the design is very clever. It has a lot of human to it, almost equal amounts of human to machine. The cloth faces are basically medical gauzes and dressing that cover what could be a human face but with the eyes drilled out and replaced with computerised versions.
These Cybermen aren’t metal monsters, but beings of pure survival and their rough design makes the idea of being converted into one even more horrific.
I think this is an area where most of Classic Who and the majority of the New Series forget the power of the Cybermen. They’re not evil robots who want to take people’s emotions away because they’re baddies, no, they run purely on logic. We made them as the next upgrade of humanity and we made them think they’re the next big step for humanity. It makes you think how desperate the people of Mondas were to sacrifice their humanity, their bodies and emotions just for survival.
The Cybermen were created by a scientist called Kit Peddler and he was influenced by two massive medical breakthroughs in the 1960s; the first ever successful heart transplant and the growth of plastic surgery in America. He had an idea and fear of the ‘dehumanising machine’, where people started having metal and plastic replacements for lost limbs but it quickly escalated to point where it became cosmetic.
And in a way what he feared came true; people change their bodies for cosmetic reasons. Ok it doesn’t involve becoming an emotionless cyborg, but to me the bland ‘pretty’ faces of models and people who have had loads of plastic surgery like the Kardashians (bet you’d never see them and Cybermen mentioned in the same journal!) are just as blank, emotionless and alienating as the cloth faces of the Cybermen. No personality, no lines showing every smile or the journey of age.
Why yes I am reading a lot into it, but thats what good fiction does. And its all what Mr Peddler theorised in a way.
Sadly despite all this praise I have heaped on the Cybermen, thats only a part of the Tenth Planet. The Cybermen plan to blow up the Earth and are pretty much reduced to generic bad guys in the latter half of the episode. Its a real shame since they started off as fascinating beings who saw that what they were doing was right; upgrading people so they don’t die of disease, don’t feel pain and live longer. But nope, got to blow up the Earth. Though in fairness its not as egregious as some later episodes, more on those later, since they’re doing it so Mondas doesn’t smash into the Earth.
The base crew are also a bit bland, bar one. The general in charge, Cutler, is the most interesting character. A control freak who runs his men with brutal efficiency, he only cares about one thing; his son. Once he believes his son, who pilots a rocket to explore Mondas, is killed he snaps and tries to shoot the Doctor. (which would have made for a better regeneration).
Aside from this the rest of the base are kind of stock such as gruff soldiers, nervous put upon scientists and a racial stereotype of a woman-hungry ‘Mama Mia” screaming Italian crewman.
Overall I’d say the Tenth Planet is...ok. Its got a lot going for it here and there, especially with the Cybermen in Episode 2, but aside from that not much. Its also kind of a sad ending to the First Doctor’s run, its just a sudden inglorious end and he deserved far much more. Its an important part of DrWho history, but not an outstanding one.
But if you want a true Cyberman experience like this, I can recommend the audio play Spare Parts. Its such a vivid story and really soul crushing as you see what life is like on Mondas before full on Cyberman conversion and just how far the people were pushed to the extreme.
Next up will be the Moonbase. Where the Cybermen get a new look...but not a fresh story.
Hello one and all and welcome to the first part of Cyber Summer. Today its one of the most important episodes ever, the Tenth Planet, which does double duty; introducing the Cybermen and the concept of regeneration.
In a rocked base in Antarctica (which doesn’t make sense due to trajectory; its why most rocket bases are in places close to the Equator such as Florida.), the Doctor and co. arrive just as a new planet enters the solar system and starts orbiting Earth, the titular tenth planet. The planet is Mondas, Earth’s twin and home to the Cybermen who arrive in force to take suitable people to convert into Cybermen and drain Earth of resources before blowing it up before it collides with Mondas. But in the midst of the action, the elderly First Doctor faints and begins to feel his body wearing out.
The Tenth Planet is very strange to revisit in terms of the regeneration, after over 50 years of Doctors regenerating after big events. However the first ever regeneration is very low key, the Doctor doesn’t go down fighting, he just grows frail and dies and its up to the companions, Ben and Polly who are two of the greatest companions and very underrated in my opinion, to carry the story. Although its an important event, I’d argue its also one of the weaker regenerations. But its not really the story’s fault, William Hartnell who played the Doctor was really ill at the time and they were pressed for time.
Now of course we can’t ignore the other massive event of this story, the Cybermen. This is one of my favourite Cybermen designs, even if they look a bit silly by modern standards, with the cloth faces and bulky chest units.
But when you get down to it, the design is very clever. It has a lot of human to it, almost equal amounts of human to machine. The cloth faces are basically medical gauzes and dressing that cover what could be a human face but with the eyes drilled out and replaced with computerised versions.
These Cybermen aren’t metal monsters, but beings of pure survival and their rough design makes the idea of being converted into one even more horrific.
I think this is an area where most of Classic Who and the majority of the New Series forget the power of the Cybermen. They’re not evil robots who want to take people’s emotions away because they’re baddies, no, they run purely on logic. We made them as the next upgrade of humanity and we made them think they’re the next big step for humanity. It makes you think how desperate the people of Mondas were to sacrifice their humanity, their bodies and emotions just for survival.
The Cybermen were created by a scientist called Kit Peddler and he was influenced by two massive medical breakthroughs in the 1960s; the first ever successful heart transplant and the growth of plastic surgery in America. He had an idea and fear of the ‘dehumanising machine’, where people started having metal and plastic replacements for lost limbs but it quickly escalated to point where it became cosmetic.
And in a way what he feared came true; people change their bodies for cosmetic reasons. Ok it doesn’t involve becoming an emotionless cyborg, but to me the bland ‘pretty’ faces of models and people who have had loads of plastic surgery like the Kardashians (bet you’d never see them and Cybermen mentioned in the same journal!) are just as blank, emotionless and alienating as the cloth faces of the Cybermen. No personality, no lines showing every smile or the journey of age.
Why yes I am reading a lot into it, but thats what good fiction does. And its all what Mr Peddler theorised in a way.
Sadly despite all this praise I have heaped on the Cybermen, thats only a part of the Tenth Planet. The Cybermen plan to blow up the Earth and are pretty much reduced to generic bad guys in the latter half of the episode. Its a real shame since they started off as fascinating beings who saw that what they were doing was right; upgrading people so they don’t die of disease, don’t feel pain and live longer. But nope, got to blow up the Earth. Though in fairness its not as egregious as some later episodes, more on those later, since they’re doing it so Mondas doesn’t smash into the Earth.
The base crew are also a bit bland, bar one. The general in charge, Cutler, is the most interesting character. A control freak who runs his men with brutal efficiency, he only cares about one thing; his son. Once he believes his son, who pilots a rocket to explore Mondas, is killed he snaps and tries to shoot the Doctor. (which would have made for a better regeneration).
Aside from this the rest of the base are kind of stock such as gruff soldiers, nervous put upon scientists and a racial stereotype of a woman-hungry ‘Mama Mia” screaming Italian crewman.
Overall I’d say the Tenth Planet is...ok. Its got a lot going for it here and there, especially with the Cybermen in Episode 2, but aside from that not much. Its also kind of a sad ending to the First Doctor’s run, its just a sudden inglorious end and he deserved far much more. Its an important part of DrWho history, but not an outstanding one.
But if you want a true Cyberman experience like this, I can recommend the audio play Spare Parts. Its such a vivid story and really soul crushing as you see what life is like on Mondas before full on Cyberman conversion and just how far the people were pushed to the extreme.
Next up will be the Moonbase. Where the Cybermen get a new look...but not a fresh story.
Plus, when I first saw them I thought "hey aren't they just like the Borg?". Of course, when I looked them up when they first appeared I thought "maybe Gene Roddenberry got inspiration from Doctor Who for the Borg?" What do you think, especially how the Borg compare to the Cybermen?
Its just a shame the Cybermen looked mostly like Iron Man though in the new series :O I think every Cyberman design should have a human aspect to them, like the cloth faces or something else, to show these were once people. But New Who, at least in the Moffat era, wasn't so high minded :o
Of course, what do you think are differences and similarities between the two? And which you think is better?
And understandable. It’s why I like your journals because they are like a guide of which Doctor Who classic to watch.