The Doctor, Harry and Lester try to destroy the Cybermen's relay device, while the Vogans prepare to destroy Nerva even though Sarah is still on board.The Doctor, Harry and Lester try to destroy the Cybermen's relay device, while the Vogans prepare to destroy Nerva even though Sarah is still on board.The Doctor, Harry and Lester try to destroy the Cybermen's relay device, while the Vogans prepare to destroy Nerva even though Sarah is still on board.
- Vogan
- (uncredited)
- Cyberman
- (uncredited)
- Director
- Writers
- Gerry Davis
- Sydney Newman(uncredited)
- Donald Wilson(uncredited)
- All cast & crew
- Production, box office & more at IMDbPro
Storyline
Did you know
- TriviaTom Baker's sole squaring off against the Cybermen. After Revenge of the Cybermen was broadcast, the Cybermen weren't seen again until the Peter Davison serial Earthshock: Part One (1982).
- Quotes
[the Doctor, unconscious due to the rockslide, Harry tries to unbuckle The Doctor's harness which, if tampered with, would detonate the bomb The Doctor is wearing. The Doctor awakes and stops him]
The Fourth Doctor: Harry, were you trying to undo this?
Harry Sullivan: Well, naturally.
The Fourth Doctor: Did you make the rocks fall, Harry?
Harry Sullivan: Well, I suppose... I suppose I must have done, yes.
[the Doctor laughs quietly and takes a deep breath]
The Fourth Doctor: [yelling] HARRY SULLIVAN IS AN IMBECILE!
I was a little distracted on the first episode of this serial (the last of a really enjoyable season). I found myself a bit confused about being back on the same location as the previous serial, and who these new characters were (not least of which the aliens who seemed to have almost no context); indeed I assumed I must have missed great swathes of plot in my distraction, so I started the episode again. Things were still muddy the second time around, and this continued through to the very end of the serial; even once all the pieces had been fitted together it did still feel like a plot that was being rewritten as they were shooting it, so some bits didn't make sense, or seemed poorly trailed. The action plot is so- so generally, and neither the Vogans nor the Cybermen really made much of an impact on me throughout the serial. There were some nice moments here and there but generally it tended to wash over me. Of course following Genesis didn't help one bit, and certainly the gulf between the two serials is significant.
The cast do okay with Baker on good form, Sladen proving a practical companion (rather than a running and screaming one); meanwhile the supporting cast were mostly solid. The one that stuck out in a bad way was Marter's Sullivan; I have yet to fully make my mind up on him, and he previously has been played as a bit of a daft old sort, but here they decide to essentially make him an idiot for almost no reason and with little context. Okay it was not chalk and cheese from his previous performances, but he was forced to be deliberately stupid and it just clunked around on the screen, making it feel out of place with the previous serials and even within this one.
There is enough in the way of cliffhangers and activity to make this serial just about get along, however at the end of a strong season it does feel like them fumbling the ball over the goal-line as opposed to confidently thumping it into the back of the net.
- bob the moo
- Oct 23, 2015