Now, you see, in the past the mere mention of the metallic harbingers of doom being anywhere near a cathode ray would have rocked your being to its very core – sending you scurrying behind the nearest soft furnishing.
However now, yeah you see them (and you certainly hear them) but didn’t they get all soft? Hadn’t they just become metal thugs? Didn’t they cry out all their mystery and otherworldliness when CyberYvonne shed a tear during Doomsday? Weren’t they defeated by James Corden?
Well one man who wants you back behind those sofas where you belong is Neil Gaiman – the man charged by Steven Moffat to instigate this re-frightening of one of the Doctors deadliest foes in his upcoming episode rumoured to be called The Last Cyberman.
Speaking to Australian radio station Triple J, Gaiman commented:
Understandably for a writer of his experience, Gaiman knows that the best way to get those scares is the element of surprise (Boo! See, I wasn’t lying!) So he’s remained tight-lipped on the details but did let slip that this episode is nothing like his previous one, The Doctor’s Wife, (which he describes as ‘very odd and weird’) and that the Cybermen were not, as we may have been lead to believe, the main focus of the episode.
I’m liking the new Cybermen design in the accompanying picture. They don’t look quite so anime (esp. in the legs, forearms and shoulders). That was my beef with the previous look–they looked as though they’d jumped out of Japanese sci fi rather than Dr. Who. These look leaner and more menacing to me.
I agree, I love this new design. Its still modern, but also has a look that harkens back to the classic Troughton stories. If anyone can reinvigorate the tired, rusty old Cybermen and make them scary again, its Gaiman. I’m also hoping there will no longer be any mechanical marching in formation with big CLANG! CLANG! noises and absolutely no more “Delete!”
My only wish is that the episode include some line of dialogue clearly indicating that these are the original (or, rather, “prime”) Cybermen and not the Pete’s World variety. The last couple of appearances have hinted that it’s been the original Cybermen featured, but it’d be nice to get that bit of business out of the way before the anniversary.
Seems like we’re all on the same page here. I just zoomed in. A bit (I’m on my phone so it’s quite small!) and noticed the lovely detailing on the sides of the heads–if that isn’t a nod to the classic “Troughton and beyond” Cybermen I don’t know what is! I agree with your assessment as well, Alex–these should be original lineage Cybermen, not alt universe leftovers…and they certainly do not need a catchphrase!
Has it ever occurred to anyone that what the Doctor called “Pete’s World” might actually have been called ‘Mondas’?