Revenge of the Cybermen

DOCTOR WHO TAKES ON THE CYBERMEN!

Doctor Who is the longest running science fiction series in the world.  A Time Lord from the advanced world of Gallifrey, the Doctor roams through time and space in his ship, the TARDIS, which has taken the shape of a police call booth.  Able to regenerate into a new body, over the years he has had five different forms, each played by a different actor.  In this adventure the Doctor, with Sarah and Harry, returns to Space Station Nerva to find that the TARDIS has drifted back a few thousand years in time.   Plague is raging through the Nerva which is manned by only a handful of frightened survivors.  Sarah falls victim to the mystery virus.  The Doctor discovers that the Cybermen have taken over the station in order to use it to destroy the planet Voga where there are extensive gold mines.  They wish to destroy all the gold in the solar system as it is a deadly metal to them.  Will the Doctor manage to defeat the Cybermen and find an antidote to cure Sarah?

• "Revenge of the Cybermen" marks the return of the Cybermen to Doctor Who after a 6 year absence.

• This story also establishes that gold is toxic to the Cybermen.

• **Omnibus Format**  Unfortunately, this story was originally released in an edited "movie" (or Omnibus) format.  This means that individual episodes have been cut and pasted together into one viewing.  The BBC released Doctor Who videos like this until the early 90's.  Since then they have gone back and issued "re-releases" of virtually all of their omnibus versions.   Unfortunately, the U.S. (i.e. CBS/Fox at first, and then later Warner Home Video) hasn't been eager to follow suite, as they have only done two re-releases "The Brain of Morbius" back in 1997 and  "Terror of the Zygons" in 2000.  Additionally, many stories first released in the late 80's and early 90's are seeing re-release on DVD.  Unedited titles such as "Spearhead from Space," "The Ark in Space" and "Robots of Death" are all available now in their unedited formats.

• "Revenge of the Cybermen" was the very first story ever released on VHS (all the way back in 1986).

• The U.K. re-released "Revenge of the Cybermen" on VHS in its unedited episodic format in April 1999 (no such luck for North America however).

• It is unlikely that this story will get an unedited episodic release on DVD here in North America anytime soon.  There are several reasons for this.  Since it was re-released only a few short years ago over in the U.K. it is likely not to be a priority for DVD release.  Additionally, although quite a good story (in my humble opinion), it is not a top fan choice.  This all adds up to a low probability of DVD release.  The only thing that might change this forecast would be the possibility of a Season 12 Boxset on DVD.  It is speculated that such a move might happen over here in North America in the next year to two, and season 12 is a popular choice.  Time will tell...

• David Collings (Vorus) makes his first of three memorable appearances in Doctor Who.  He would return two years later for the classic Tom Baker adventure "The Robots of Death."  Six more years would pass before his third and final guest spot as Mawdryn in the Peter Davison story "Mawdryn Undead."

• The actor playing the minor role of Magrik is none other than Michael Wisher.  He appeared frequently in Doctor Who over the years.  His first role in Doctor Who occurred during season 7 in "The Ambassadors of Death" where he played news reporter John Wakefield.  The following year he played Rex Ferrel in "Terror of the Autons."  He went on to play Kalik in "Carnival of Monsters" and did the voice of the Daleks in both "Planet of the Daleks" and "Death to the Daleks."  His most memorable role was that of the Daleks' creator Davros in "Genesis of the Daleks."  His final appearance came one year later in the minor role of Morelli in "The Planet of Evil." 

• The part of Lester is played by William Marlowe.  Marlowe's only other appearance was in the 1971 Pertwee adventure "The Mind of Evil."

• The events of "Revenge of the Cybermen" form part of a very loose arc spanning most of season 12.  It began with "The Ark in Space" which lead immediately into the next story "The Sontaran Experiment."  From there the action moves to "Genesis of the Daleks.'  After "Revenge" the arc finally finishes up with "Terror of the Zygons."