It’s weird – even though Four, Sarah Jane, and Harry were together for a little more than a season, similar to plenty of TARDIS teams, it feels like we don’t get as much of them. Some of that is down to the sheer fact that the series reduced its episodes per season as it went on, meaning that the Fourth Doctor seasons had fewer stories and fewer episodes per story than seasons with the earlier Doctors. But I think it’s more than just that. Maybe it’s to do with their time together being one string of adventures, each serial clearly proceeding from the next one and rather logically concluding as soon as they make their way back to UNIT—I don’t know. Either way, it means there’s never quite enough of the Four-Sarah Jane-Harry team, which means we’ve got to savor the adventures we do have with them.
The Fourth Doctor, Sarah Jane, and Harry arrive on a space station beset by a mysterious plague. However, a quick investigation shows that this isn’t a random spread of disease but a deliberate infestation of poison-spreading creatures, creatures controlled by—you guessed it—the Cybermen. Featuring Cybermats that look like giant wormy things, a golden asteroid, inter-species intrigue and double-crossery, and the infamous line, “Harry Sullivan is an imbecile!”
If I recall correctly, this is the first time we learn about the Cybermen’s vulnerability to gold. Granted, the whole “completely susceptible to this one seemingly innocuous, super-specific thing” gets a bit vampire/werewolf-ish at times, and the Doctor and co. wielding bags of deadly gold dust is a little silly, but I enjoy it. It also leads to an interesting plot development with Voga. Normally, if you encounter a golden asteroid, the story would be about people wanting to mine it into oblivion, not caring about its inhabitants. But with the Cybermen, Voga isn’t something they want—it’s something they fear, which is a more unique angle to go with.
Everyone gets a chance to contribute a little, although for me, no one stands out too particularly (I think this more of a middle-of-the-road serial, to be honest.) Sarah Jane gets unfortunately damseled a few times, but I like her learning of the Cybermen’s plan and trying to figure out how she can get the information to her friends. The Doctor does some medical detective work with the Cybermat “plague,” has a little fun with explosives, and uses gold dust to put the fear of god into some Cybermen. And despite the “Harry Sullivan is an imbecile!” of it all, Harry doesn’t do too terribly badly. He has his fumbles, but he helps out, too.
Final note—I don’t like the Cybermats here. They just seem gross to me, too short to be like snakes, not scrunchy enough to be like worms. They remind me a little of the maggots in “The Green Death,” which, again, gross. The ratlike Cybermats used in stories like “The Tomb of the Cybermen” are way better, and not just because they look so goofy and yet so awesome. (I always like the Cybermites in “Nightmare in Silver,” and the Cybershades in “The Next Doctor” have their moments despite not being hugely memorable. So really, these are the only Cyber creatures that don’t fly with me.)
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