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Amazon.co.uk Review
Tomb of the Cybermen brought the Doctor, Patrick Troughton, into conflict with his silver cyborg nemeses for a third time, following The Tenth Planet (1966) and The Moonbase (1967). The Doctor, Jamie (Frazer Hines) and Victoria (Deborah Watling) join an archaeological expedition on the planet Telos, where they encounter deathtraps, betrayal and a waiting army of frozen Cybermen. Scripted by Kit Pedlar and Gerry Davis, who would later write Doomwatch (1970-72), many of the essentials of the plot anticipate James Cameron's blockbusting Aliens (1986): the barren planet with abandoned city, the tense wait for a rescue ship, the human traitors, the implacable, more powerful enemy. Unfortunately for a story so centred on logic the characters display a worrying lack of sense; the supposedly highly logical villains assume the Cybermen will just do what they tell them, and the Doctor locks the chief human traitor in a room without first checking it for ray guns! There's also an astonishingly crass racial stereotype with the one black character, Toberman (Roy Stewart) being a muscle-bound, slave-like henchman. Flaws aside this is a superior Doctor Who adventure and a thoroughly entertaining piece of classic television.
On the DVD: as ever the BBC have done a fabulous job bringing Doctor Who to DVD, with fully restored sound and picture making Tomb Of The Cybermen the best it has ever looked. A short feature on the disc notes there have been over 16,000 repairs to the image, and includes comparison footage with the unrestored prints. The black and white 4:3 picture is as good as low-budget 1960's television is ever going to look and the mono sound is excellent. The commentary by Frazer Hines and Deborah Watling is a little stilted and takes time to get going--often they just don't know what to say--but contains some interesting trivia for serious fans. Rather more information comes from the detailed production background subtitles, and from a 28-minute convention style panel filmed in 1992 with Hines, Watling and many of the production crew. Also included is 8 mm footage from the end of the previous story, the long lost Evil of the Daleks (1967), 3 minutes of alternative main title tests, a photo gallery, a short introduction by director Morris Barry and a two-minute clip from Late Night Line-up (1967) with Joan Bakewell profiling the BBC Visual Effects department, including unique footage of the Cybermats in colour.--Gary S Dalkin
Video Description
DVD Special Features: Commentary by Frazer Hines and Deborah Watling
Introduction by Morris Barry, Director
Behind-the-scenes at BBC Visual Effects
Exclusive "Tombwatch" Documentary
Unused Title Sequence Tests and 8mm Cine Footage
Photo Gallery and On-Screen Production Notes
Introduction by Morris Barry, Director
Behind-the-scenes at BBC Visual Effects
Exclusive "Tombwatch" Documentary
Unused Title Sequence Tests and 8mm Cine Footage
Photo Gallery and On-Screen Production Notes
Dolby Digital mono
Anamorphic 4.3
Subtitles English SDH
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Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
16 of 16 people found the following review helpful
Format:DVD
This story has all the hallmarks of a true classic: a compelling story, ambitiously shot with a powerhouse soundtrack.
This stands as possibly the best example of the unfortunetly scant remaining Troughton era stories, and newcomers shouldn't be put off by the fact that it's in black and white- the story and performances are strong enough to captivate on any format- whilst for Dr Who fans it will represent DVD heaven.
This stands as possibly the best example of the unfortunetly scant remaining Troughton era stories, and newcomers shouldn't be put off by the fact that it's in black and white- the story and performances are strong enough to captivate on any format- whilst for Dr Who fans it will represent DVD heaven.
If the tale has a weakness it perhaps lies in the simplicity of the supporting characters- there are good ones and there are bad ones, and they all seem capable of behaving in the most illogical way at times. However, Troughton's Doctor is a treat to watch, and the whole piece is laced with excellent humour and even some insight into the Doctor's past.
The picture has been especially restored for dvd release and is now pristine; a detailed synopsis guides the viewer through the restoration process. And there are plenty more extras on this generous disc. Hopefully this release will pave the way for more of the sixties material to be represented on dvd alongside the seventies and eighties stories.
21 of 22 people found the following review helpful
Format:DVD
As someone who was not born until 1972 The Tomb of the Cybermen is a fantastic piece of late '60's TV and the only complete classic Patrick Troughton story to survive the mass junkings of the 1970's (his other surviving complete stories are no where near as good as this).
The story is set on the home planet of the Cybermen in the far distant future where the Cybermen are just archeological relics to be discovered and studied, having been extinct for sometime. The Doctor, Jamie and the new companion Victoria stumble across the archeological team who have just discovered the entrance to the Ttombs. From there they whole group come to discover the delights and horrors waiting for them in the Tombs.
Patrick Troughton's Doctor is a relevation to me personally. He is both restraining and gently cajoling to the archeological team, giving them the answers they want to revive the Cybermen, but viewing the unfolding drama with fascinated horror, one moment manipulating events in the background, the next taking charge. There is some great interplay between the Doctor and Victoria too. And the scene of the Cybermen being thawed out from the impressive cocoons still sends a shiver down the spine 35 years on. Yes there are one or two dodgy special effects but you can see how this terrified children and adults alike in 1967!
This is classic stuff (without giving too much away). The quality of the picture and sound is great and the little documentary on how they restored the episodes (splitting the picture showing before and after restoration)shows how much work was put into this release. All the other extras are great to see but the highlight is the 8mm footage of the special effects ending of the previous story 'Evil of the Daleks' (no longer in existence bar Part 2) matched with the actual soundtrack of Part 7 with the Daleks being blown up left, right and centre.
Lets hope that more Doctor Who DVD's are put together with the care of this one, with more restored and digitally remastered prints, particularly the Hartnell & Troughton years. And lets hope they find some more classic Troughton stories currently missing because if they are anything like this then they deserve to be found!
8 of 8 people found the following review helpful
Format:DVD
What really annoys me is people who view this story and say things like: 'It's not as good as it's supposed to be.' No doubt they would say the same thing about Power of the Daleks if it turned up. You know, you really have to place this yarn in the context of when it was made. Of course the effects aren't Star Wars, they didn't have the technology back then! But the mood, the setting and the characters make this great. It was never going to live up to the hype, wasn't possible... But it remains a classic example of sixties Dr Who at its best, and more power to it.
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Most Recent Customer Reviews
WOW
I thoroughly enjoyed this episode and it will go down as one of the best. The Cybermen are at their greatest as are the main cast and the excitement and intrigue is unreal. Read more
Published 4 months ago by Mr. D. P. Metcalfe
"You Belong To Us, You Will Be Like Us"
I have been waiting to do a review of this DVD for quite a while now and the reason I have left it so late is this is the review I am putting most of my energy into. Read more
Published 4 months ago by M.B.E. Of Tooting
INDISPENSABLE
If you're a Doctor Who fan, you can't miss this serial AT ALL.
Nicely cleaned but not so much extras. Read more
Nicely cleaned but not so much extras. Read more
Published 4 months ago by Guillermo Moure
A great Cyberman story.
The Doctor and his companions join a team of scientists investigating what turns out to be the building where the Cybermen have lain dormant for untold ages. Read more
Published 8 months ago by StormSworder
one of my faves ever
This is in my opinion one of the best stories ever and certainly one of my favorites. I am really glad that BBC found this one again after they lost it, they found this story again... Read more
Published 11 months ago by sam marshall
'You might say they've had a complete metal breakdown...'
This late Sixties Doctor Who serial starring the late great Patrick Troughton is widely regarded as one of the series' high-points, and rightly so. Read more
Published 13 months ago by Scaroth, Last of the Jagaroth
grave-robbing for children's TV?
Not sure if the Doctor should have so willingly joined in a spot of grave-robbing. I'm glad he did though because it leads us into a chilling and claustrophic story that borders on... Read more
Published 14 months ago by sean cutter
Troughton Masterclass
Odd that many in Doctor Who fandom claim that this 'lost story' was a disappointment when finally rediscovered in the 1990s because it didn't live up to its 'classic' status. Read more
Published 15 months ago by Antares
Cybermen at there best
My mum and dad bought me this for my birthday many years ago and i have only just got round to writing a review about it, this was the first cybermen episode i ever saw and no... Read more
Published 22 months ago by Mrs. S. Allen
Actually quite good
Unlike a lot of the early Dr Whos this does not have much filler material and there is only a couple of times that the action seems to repeat itself. Read more
Published 23 months ago by Stewart Mckellar
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