Doctor Who and the Cybermen

"They lived by the inexorable laws of pure logic."

Writer: Gerry Davis 

Format: Novel

Released: February 1975

Series: Target 14

Featuring: Second Doctor, Polly, Ben, Jamie 

Synopsis 

One by one, their limbs became diseased – they were replaced by plastic and steel! 

Little by little, their brains tired – computers worked just as well!

With metal limbs, they had the strength of ten men. They could live in the airless vacuum of space. They had no heart, no feelings, no emotions and only one goal – power!

In the year 2070, a small blue planet caught their attention. They would land on its satellite and, from there, attack, ransack, destroy and finally abandon...

THE SATELLITE WAS THE MOON

THE HELPLESS PLANET – EARTH

THEIR NAMES? THE CYBERMEN!

Can the Doctor defeat an enemy whose threat is almost as great as that of the mighty Daleks?

Verdict 

Doctor Who and the Cybermen was an excellent novelisation! It really did present in an intriguing insight into The Moonbase and despite having numerous deviations, it did allow us to do the complete story. Of course, the missing parts of this televised serial have since been recreated in animation and whilst that's absolutely terrific, it's still not quite the same as having the actual episode right there. When reading the novel though, there are no differences between parts and it flows a lot better than watching the DVD and switching between black and white and animation. I read this novelisation on the usual train journey from south to mid-Wales and at 150 pages, it was longer than my usual choice of novelisation. I finished the book just in time which was great. The cover still irks me because it features the design of the Cybermen that appeared in The Invasion but I was put at ease by the illustrations within the novel having the correct design. I loved the inclusion of a Cyber Leader and I know that was done, along with the cover, to coincide with Revenge of the Cybermen. Naming the Cybermen is something I'm not a huge fan of because then having identity seems to contradict their whole lack of emotion and difference to humanity. It's not a big problem though. I was surprised there was no mention of The Underwater Menace which was the last Target novelisation I read but I did enjoy the references to The Tenth Planet and The Highlanders. I was quite shocked by the very first chapter which gave us an insight into the creation of the Cybermen and I was very shocked for Gerry Davis to claim that Telos was where the Cybermen were born. I've always thought, and still assume due to the Spare Parts audio, that Mondas was where the Cybermen were born so for the novel to claim Telos was the birthing place, in a story set prior to The Tomb of the Cybermen, was quite strange. I thought the story was excellent and I really enjoyed the 2070 setting on the Moon. Jamie not being able to grasp his head around where they were was a really great comedic moment. I thought the characterisation of all four TARDIS team members was superb and I enjoyed the characteristics of Patrick Troughton's incarnation very much. Polly was as wonderful as ever and she really is one of my all time favourite companions. She is just so loveable and nice and it's pretty much impossible not to like her. Ben hinting at Jamie liking her was an interesting moment. The Moonbase setting was terrific and I really liked the focus on the Gravitron. The way the Doctor utilised it to defeat the Cybermen was superb and the image of them flying off into space was depicted very well in prose. I thought Benoit, Hobson and Evans were very good characters and I liked the diversity of the Moonbase crew with all the different nationalities present. Some of the chapter endings were good although I was quite surprised by the way the cliffhangers were presented. The ending was great and I liked how the Doctor and companions just quickly disappeared before having to answer any questions. Their departure was just as odd and mysterious as their arrival and I really liked that. Overall, a superb novel that was a joy to read!

Rating: 9/10