This
Second Doctor serial is a classic for good reason. While it certainly has its flaws, I really
love it – so cool, so many memorable moments, so stylish. It’s early serials like this that remind you
why Who has been able to last as long
as it has (a few spoilers.)
An
archeological team lands on the planet Telos, looking for the tombs of the
long-gone Cybermen. When the Second
Doctor, Jamie, and Victoria arrive on the scene, they naturally get in on the
action, and the Doctor quickly starts to suspect that the Cybermen aren’t as
dead and buried as everyone thinks. The
group braves traps and dangers within the pyramid-like tomb and faces up
against at-odds forces in their own party.
First off
– this story has style points through the roof.
Though it’s not the first time the iconic Cybermen score has been used,
I tend to associate that piece of music most closely with this serial, and it
pairs perfectly with the classic scene of the Cybermen emerging from their
“honeycomb” chambers (which are excellently-designed as well.) Just in general, I love the whole look of the
tomb, the nice blend of Egyptian imagery and sci-fi tech.
All our
heroes are great. The Two-and-Jamie
comedy duo is in full force here, with some fantastic lines in between the
thrills and chills. I’ve always liked
the way Jamie is characterized as being both very brave and pretty frightened,
and we see that quite a bit in this story, with him leaping at any chance to
get out of the tombs and yet, always, begrudgingly staying because he’s not
going to leave the Doctor and Victoria alone when he thinks they need
protecting.
Meanwhile,
the Doctor is in prime form. I love
that, even in the midst of his cautions and warnings to the archeological team,
he can’t quite help himself; no matter the danger, his curiosity and drive to
solve puzzles forever wins out. That
gets him into some trouble here, but he of course pulls it off in the end,
using his logic and quick thinking to win the day. And, because it has to be said, “You might
say he suffered a complete metal breakdown” – ha! Even Jamie groans at that one!
It’s
Victoria’s first deliberate trip in the TARDIS, and considering her background
and the recent trauma she’s just endured at the end of the previous season, I
think she holds her own pretty decently.
She’s thrown into the deep end of a lot of dangerous stuff that she doesn’t
understand, but while she’s apprehensive, she presses forward, displaying some
good intellectual curiosity and some real nerve in the face of danger. She doesn’t always get it right, and yes, we
do get a few samples of that ear-splitting trademark scream of hers, but for
her first time out, I still think she does pretty well.
However,
I unfortunately need to mention the serial’s “swarthy” villains Kaftan and
Klieg, along with Toberman, Kaftan’s Black servant of many muscles and few
words. Kaftan and Klieg are hardly the
only humans in the show’s long history who think they can use the Cybermen to
their advantage, but I don’t like that the two main baddies here are somewhat
darker-skinned and foreign, who employ an imposing Black man to handle the brute
force side of things. It’s another entry
in classic Who’s very spotty history
with race.
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