The Tenth Planet

Don't Mention The Borg!
The Tenth Planet (4 X 25mins B&W)
Doctor Who Series four Serial two
Episode 1 transmitted BBC1 8 October 1966
Episode 2 transmitted BBC1 15 October 1966
Episode 3 transmitted BBC1 22 October 1966
Episode 4 transmitted BBC1 29 October 1966*
Written by Kit Pedler & Gerry Davis
* episode missing, animation version on DVD, though the 'regeneration' sequence survives on film.
Synopsis
The Doctor, Ben and Polly arrive at the South Pole twenty years into the future. Taken into custody at the nearby Snowcap space tracking station, the suspicious General Cutler links them to the problems they're having with two astronauts. Then a new planet appears in Earth's orbit. It's Mondas, the titular Tenth Planet, the Earth's twin from millions of years ago now returned on the same orbit. The Earth begins to be drained of energy, and an alien craft lands, disembarking The Cybermen, a cybernetic humanoid (not a robot) with no weaknesses, including emotions. They plan on destroying the Earth by absorbing all its energy. Can the small staff of the base and the Doctor and co save the Earth? And why does the Doctor seem so tired and frail?
Review
This serial starts well and is maintained throughout by an exciting pace, helped by the claustrophobia of the icebound base under siege from the enemy, and the small cast, all of them individual and believable characters in their own right. This was Lloyd & Davis first attempt at a new template for Who stories, the base-under-siege plot, which they would ring the changes on throughout the Second Doctor's reign. 
The Cybermen themselves are of course a marvellous idea, and quickly became the new favourite monsters once Nation withheld use of The Daleks. Indeed, if the First Doctor's tenure was noted and now remembered for the Daleks (four serials of 31 episodes), then it's juts as true that the Second Doctor's tenure became associated with the many appearances of the Cybermen (four serials of 22 episodes, excluding this his introductory story). Kit Pedler used his scientific knowledge of modern medical treatments (in 1967 the first successful heart transplant took place) and projected this into the future with the use of the new transistorised electronic components then coming into existence.
Their first appearance was not how they later appeared, the design was more crude. Stockinged masks and human hands, with a large electronic box on their front and a Morris Minor headlamp on their heads. The poor old actors must have been boiling hauling that gear around under the hot studio lights. The voice is different here too, an alternating pitch up and down used. They look and sound crude compared to their later incarnations, but they work here. 
They are not robots, which makes them all the more sinister. Their humanoid roots as people just like us make them scary.
Other new experiments again saw them using innovative credit sequences, here using a sort of computer code language flickering across the screen. More importantly, just as the crew of the base is multi-national, and keep in contact with Geneva, so for one of the two astronauts they hired Bermudian actor Earl Cameron. Reportedly, this made him the first Black actor to portray an astronaut on television. He is a fine actor (witness his film performances in Pools of London plus his many excellent Danger Man guest spots), and what is even more credit-worthy of the show is that his race is not mentioned. He's an astronaut by dint of his skill and experience, as it should be.
The writing on all four episodes is good, well paced with almost no padding, and with rich characterisation. This is aided by Derek Martinus's direction, which is brisk and to the point. He makes the most of the claustrophobic base with his camera set-ups. To add to this, the acting is uniformly excellent. Seeing Robert Beatty, a fine actor, slowly unravel with the stress and concern for his son, an astronaut whose ship is in peril from Mondas, to the point he's prepared to risk destroying the Earth by using the Doomsday weapon, is marvellous. Indeed, at one stage in the serial he becomes the main threat!  Testament to the skill of writers and actor.
Among the lesser known support, special praise must also go to David Dodimead and Dudley Jones, especially in their arguing over the best course of action. Peter Kindred's design works well, with three levels for the control room, allowing for menace to come from above, unobserved by everyone but us the audience. And, of course, Sandra Reid deserves praise for creating the Cybermen part one look.
Finally, we have the end. Hartnell's departure was reported in the news beforehand. “I think three years in one part is a good innings and it is time for a change,” said William Hartnell when the first historic announcement was made on August 6, 1966 that he would be leaving Doctor Who. Although the incoming Patrick Troughton signed on for the role the very same day, his arrival wasn’t formally announced by Head of Drama, Sydney Newman (a man instrumental in the creation of the show) until September 1, 1966 and was featured in newspapers the following day. The fact is that Hartnell did not want to leave, but due to his failing health (and he missed episode 3 of this show due to this), he was told by producer Lloyd in advance that this would be his last show, this time with the backing of the new head of drama Shaun Sutton. It's sad because he made this show, without his utter belief and conviction in this series in its early days, and his unstinting devotion to making the very best given the constraints of budget and time, over 46 weeks every year, it wouldn't have lasted three years. With the constant changes, he was the fixed point. Its to his credit he returned for this last serial. But the truth is his health was not up to it, he had to be replaced, or the show cancelled.
The genius of this change is that they didn't replace the actor playing Doctor Who (as John Wiles had unsuccessfully tried), they changed the Doctor himself. It was a bold move, the audience might take against the new Doctor. It wasn't called regeneration, Troughton referring to it as renewal in the next serial, but it's marvellously handled. The TARDIS seems to be alive, lights flash on and off, switches move by themselves, and as they turn over the recumbent Doctor we hear the TARDIS dematerialisation sound, just as Hartnell's face whites out and then reconfigures into Troughton. Brilliant, in that it's unexplained. It also hints that the TARDIS isn't just a craft (in an earlier serial one character remarked that the TARDIS seems to be alive), and that the relationship between Doctor and craft is more than it seems, something completely alien. 
Hartnell's tenure ended with the lowest ratings ever for serial The Smugglers, that immediately preceded this, so the future of the whole show is at stake. Will Who survive? This serial, with its strong basic plot and new monsters, saw it gain 2 and 3 million viewers, and Lloyd and Davis hoped that this Tenth Planet story template, married to the replacement of historical stories (there would only be one Troughton historical) with a 'monster-of-the-week' format might save the show. The genius of the 'regeneration', as it was later called, is that the show could survive losing its lead actor. As for this story, smashing. Thoroughly enjoyed it. At least Billie left on a classic highpoint.
ANIMATION rating. Epiosde 4 is missing (thankfully the regeneration sequence survives on film) so for the source DVD the episode is animated, as with The Reign of Terror serial. The animation is less successful here, the Cybermen look better than they actually are, but the faces of the lead actors is not always accurate, especially Hartnell face on, and Polly in profile. But it's mostly effective, and serves its purpose. 3/5.

TARDIS rating: 5/5
Credits
Dr. Who .................................................................................... WILLIAM HARTNELL
Polly ......................................................................................... ANNEKE WILLS
Ben Jackson ............................................................................ MICHAEL CRAZE
General Cutler ........................................................................  ROBERT BEATTY
Barclay .................................................................................... DAVID DODIMEAD
Dyson ...................................................................................... DUDLEY JONES
Astronaut "Bluey" Schultz ........................................................ ALAN WHITE
Astronaut Williams .................................................................. EARL CAMERON
Terry Cutler ............................................................................. CALLEN ANGELO
Tito .......................................................................................... SHANE SHELTON   
Wigner .................................................................................... STEVE PLYTAS
Radar Technician .................................................................... CHRISTOPHER MATTHEWS
Geneva Technician ................................................................. ELLEN CULLEN
R/T Technician ........................................................................ CHRISTOPHER DUNHAM
Cybermen Voices .................................................................... ROY SKELTON
                                                                                                  PETER HAWKINS
Title Music ........................... by RON GRAINER with the BBC Radiophonic Workshop
Music ..................................................................................... None (stock)
Story Editor ............................................................................ GERRY DAVIS
Designer ................................................................................. PETER KINDRED
Costumes ............................................................................... by SANDRA REID
Make-up ................................................................................. by GILLIAN JAMES
Lighting ................................................................................... HOWARD KING
Sound ..................................................................................... ADRIAN BISHOP-LAGGETT
Producer ................................................................................. INNES LLOYD
Directed .................................................................................. by DEREK MARTINUS
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