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Post by redsharkJason on Oct 8, 2016 2:00:37 GMT
Today's the day! It's been 50 years (October 8, 1966), since Kit Pedler's first episode of The Tenth Planet rolled out! - What are your most cherished television stories, audios, books, comics, toys, etc. pertaining to the Cybermen?
- Do you enjoy the Cybermen being applied into their different stories both in a gravely serious and a humorous manner?
- What is your favourite body armour design and voice style era of the Cybermen?
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Post by constonks on Oct 8, 2016 2:58:07 GMT
I voted Tenth Planet for the TV story but tbh I don't think there's ever been a truly perfect Cyberman story on TV. All the best Cyberman stuff is in the EU - Spare Parts, The Silver Turk, The Flood, The Glorious Dead, Legend of the Cybermen... Heck, nothing in the TV show compares to even some of the more middle-of-the-road BF Cyberman appearances.
As for body design, I gotta give it to TTP again, with the caveat that of course the gaping mouths look super goofy (as do the massive chest-pieces). Slim them down and wire their jaws shut and you have an absolutely terrifying monster.
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shutupbanks
Castellan
There’s a horror movie called Alien? That’s really offensive. No wonder everyone keeps invading you.
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Post by shutupbanks on Oct 8, 2016 3:46:58 GMT
I was looking at that list and there's not many on their that I rate as really good stories, which is strange because I think the Cybermen are fantastic as an idea. But I think, as an idea, their time has gone: they came from a time when people could genuinely be concerned about how replacing parts of the body could dehumanise you and lead to loss of individuality. These days, though, it seems that bodymods and prostheses are "just" another way of expressing our individuality and there are some people actively anticipating a chance to drop their meatsuit and become part of a singularity.
Of the Cybermen stories, many could have been written about other villains without it changing the story too much. I think they have been best served in the Tennant stories where you got a palpable sense of the body horror that becoming a cyberman could engender. The closest the classic series came to it, IMNSHO, was Attack Of The Cybermen (a story where it the Cybermen were well-placed as villains, too). I don't think they lend themselves to humour very well, but I would love to be persuaded otherwise).
I loved the Earthshock designs best, followed by Series 2 of the revived series (truth be told, the best Cyberman designs come from Star Trek TNG: the Borg are a really scary visualisation of the the Cybermen). While I really enjoyed Dark Water/ Death In Heaven, I felt they were starting to verge in on Iron Man territory in their design and ability.
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Post by redsharkJason on Oct 8, 2016 3:52:38 GMT
As for body design, I gotta give it to TTP again, with the caveat that of course the gaping mouths look super goofy (as do the massive chest-pieces). Slim them down and wire their jaws shut and you have an absolutely terrifying monster. On screen: David Banks era Cybermen all the way for me baby! Iconic body design with booming E-R-A-D-I-C-A-T-E vocals. On audio: The terrifying monotone voices of The Tenth Planet style of Cybermen. New series: I've never had a problem embracing their body redesign, but I do not find their vocal presence to be menacing (goliaths with Michael Jackson voices).
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Post by paulmorris7777 on Oct 8, 2016 10:00:59 GMT
Very difficult choice. I would have to be either Tenth Planet or a Troughton story. I went for Tenth Planet.
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Post by mark687 on Oct 8, 2016 10:24:49 GMT
The Invasion and The Moonbase
Regards
mark687
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Post by dalekbuster523finish on Oct 8, 2016 11:38:09 GMT
I voted Nightmare In Silver because it doesn't get enough love. People were expecting The Doctor's Wife 2 as opposed to a harmless fun action-packed episode featuring the Cybermen and I think it will be one of those episodes that will be re-assessed by fandom in ten years' time.
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shutupbanks
Castellan
There’s a horror movie called Alien? That’s really offensive. No wonder everyone keeps invading you.
Likes: 5,677
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Post by shutupbanks on Oct 8, 2016 13:46:35 GMT
Neil Perryman pointed out on Twitter a couple of hours ago that this is, in fact, the Mondasian's Golden Anniversary.
Hell of a thing for them to celebrate.
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Deleted
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Post by Deleted on Oct 8, 2016 16:56:54 GMT
I went with The Invasion, even though I've never seen it. However, the BBC Radio Collection CD of it - with linking narration by Frazer Hines - was brilliant and it's one of my favourites of those BBC soundtrack releases.
I also think the Cyberman look in that story is the best of all the designs. When I hear Cybermen on audio that's how I imagine them looking... even if the voices put them in a different era.
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Post by agentten on Oct 8, 2016 17:12:36 GMT
"The Moonbase" and "Earthshock" are my favorites. I love a Cyberman story and am always excited when they pop up.
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Post by mark687 on Oct 8, 2016 19:42:25 GMT
I went with The Invasion, even though I've never seen it. However, the BBC Radio Collection CD of it - with linking narration by Frazer Hines - was brilliant and it's one of my favourites of those BBC soundtrack releases. I also think the Cyberman look in that story is the best of all the designs. When I hear Cybermen on audio that's how I imagine them looking... even if the voices put them in a different era. You never seen the Invasion!!
(It was the 1st DW VHS I bought)
it's one the best shot stories ever without even mentioning the performances and I think the animation Eps on the DVD are fairly decent, correct this error at the earliest opportunity
Regards
mark687
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Post by barnabaslives on Oct 8, 2016 20:21:29 GMT
I was looking at that list and there's not many on their that I rate as really good stories, which is strange because I think the Cybermen are fantastic as an idea. But I think, as an idea, their time has gone: they came from a time when people could genuinely be concerned about how replacing parts of the body could dehumanise you and lead to loss of individuality. These days, though, it seems that bodymods and prostheses are "just" another way of expressing our individuality and there are some people actively anticipating a chance to drop their meatsuit and become part of a singularity. Great point, but apart from bodily modifications and even grand ambitions, personally I think the Cybermen are scary for the same reasons as Daleks, being relentless, unreasoning and lacking autonomy. I think I know too many people like that in real life (yikes!), which in a way makes them even scarier. That the Cybermen's true terror may stand apart from their form might explain why I haven't been very moved by the NS attempts to upgrade it (and agreed with others they probably look too much like Iron Man for their own good these days) and why they were scary even back when they were sort of goofy looking. I think almost all most of my favorite Cyberman stories overall are Big Finish stories, but I think I'll give a vote to Revenge of the Cybermen here, not only because it's good to have them turn up in that period (and great to have them pitted against the 4th Doctor) but because I do rather enjoy that story (and they do seem menacing enough in it).
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Post by icecreamdf on Oct 8, 2016 21:11:15 GMT
I chose the Invasion, but I almost voted for Dark Water/Death in Heaven. In the end, I decided that Dark Water/Death in Heaven was more of a Master story than a Cyber-story. Even though Vaughn was the main villain of The Invasion, that was really more of a Cyber-story.
Someone should also add Cyberwoman to the list. Not that I think anyone is likely to vote for it, but that is a TV story that primarily focuses on the Cybermen.
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Post by Deleted on Oct 8, 2016 22:26:06 GMT
I went with The Invasion, even though I've never seen it. However, the BBC Radio Collection CD of it - with linking narration by Frazer Hines - was brilliant and it's one of my favourites of those BBC soundtrack releases. You never seen the Invasion!!
Strange but true! With episodes 1 & 4 missing I felt the animation might spoil my enjoyment of the story if I didn't like it.
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Post by icecreamdf on Oct 8, 2016 22:42:29 GMT
You never seen the Invasion!!
Strange but true! With episodes 1 & 4 missing I felt the animation might spoil my enjoyment of the story if I didn't like it. The animation isn't bad. If you really don't want the animation, you can always listen to the audio for episodes 1 and 4, and watch the remaining six live action episodes.
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Post by Deleted on Oct 8, 2016 23:34:52 GMT
What are your most cherished television stories, audios, books, comics, toys, etc. pertaining to the Cybermen? It's very difficult to choose on audio with so many genuinely powerful stories (Spare Parts, The Reaping, Real Time, The Harvest, etc.), but for the novels I would definitely say I have a soft spot for Killing Ground. It takes all the Sawardian staples and manages to turn out a really, really good story. I think I prefer stories that explore either the horror of the Cybermen or the temptation of becoming one. After all, you can live without fear, sadness, pain and forever. The Cybermen offer you genuine peace, but at the cost of your soul. There's this wonderfully evocative sequence in the novel where one of the characters, Hegelia, documents her conversion blow-by-blow ("My eyes have been scooped out and replaced with ruby ocular crystals.") before the helmet is lowered onto her head and she is connected to their computers. The new convert obliterates her notes because it sees no purpose in their existence, a lifelong obsession turned into a bland irrelevance.
Do you enjoy the Cybermen being applied into their different stories both in a gravely serious and a humorous manner? Much like the Daleks, I don't really think the Cybermen should be used in a humorous way. The subject matter is such that it'd just make me uncomfortable mocking it.
What is your favourite body armour design and voice style era of the Cybermen? There's a question... I'm a big fan of the original Mondasian Cybermen with their cloth-covered faces and sing-song voice, but then I also have a soft spot for the 1980s Neomorphs designed by Imagineering that kept popping up after Earthshock. They were the first Cybermen I ever saw on the programme and the design still manages to be iconic even to this very day.
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Post by theotherjosh on Oct 9, 2016 0:47:07 GMT
I voted Tenth Planet for the TV story but tbh I don't think there's ever been a truly perfect Cyberman story on TV. All the best Cyberman stuff is in the EU - Spare Parts, The Silver Turk, The Flood, The Glorious Dead, Legend of the Cybermen... Heck, nothing in the TV show compares to even some of the more middle-of-the-road BF Cyberman appearances. I agree. In most of the Big Finish stories, it's important that the villains are Cybermen, whereas in most of the TV stories, you could swap in the Daleks and not have to change too much. It's funny to say, but I feel like Big Finish gave the Cybermen their own identity.
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Post by dalekbuster523finish on Oct 9, 2016 8:56:59 GMT
You never seen the Invasion!!
Strange but true! With episodes 1 & 4 missing I felt the animation might spoil my enjoyment of the story if I didn't like it. The animation feels just like watching the episodes that are missing.
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Post by whiskeybrewer on Oct 9, 2016 17:13:30 GMT
For TV i went with Earthshock, mainly because that was the first Cybermen story i ever saw. So that would trump what came before.
On audio its a toss up between, Spare Parts and The Silver Turk
I've only read the first 3 issues of Supremacy of the Cybermen, so cant say much about there comic adventures lol
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Post by redsharkJason on Oct 10, 2016 1:20:33 GMT
When viewing Earthshock for the first time on TV. John Nathan-Turner did a great job of keeping the involvement of the Cybermen a secret within that story! It was a very exciting surprise moment when they were revealed as the real enemy (not the mysterious faceless androids) at the end of the first episode! And, like a lot of us, I LOVE its impactful shocker during the conclusion of its final episode. There are about 6-8 Cybermen TV stories that I quite enjoy. For this poll, I chose The Tomb of the Cybermen as tops. Illegal Alien (PDA novel), Legend of the Cybermen (MR audio) and Human Resources (EDA audio), which haven't been mentioned within this thread yet are certainly enjoyable romps as well. I haven't thus far read David Banks' Iceberg novel, but I plan to do so in the near future!
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