Cyber-marathon!: Spare Parts (Spoilers ok)

I'm in the habit of distinguishing Daleks from Cybermen by the way their societies tend to function. A Dalek is fundamentally authoritarian. Obey the rule of law or be exterminated. Cybermen, on the other hand, are much more utilitarian. Everything for a purpose. No art, no culture, not even a poem; however grotesque it may sound from an omnicidal drone. Spare Parts posits this fascinating origin where humankind stepped foot onto the magnificent desolation -- and their suits exploded. The men inside die instantly. A horrific inversion of the triumph behind that first lunar landing.

It goes beyond the Planet of Hats that might be found in an alternate Earth, though. The Cybermen, like the Doctormen and Sistermen, are merely another arm of the great civilised machine. The name begins as an honourific title. No different to Mister, Miss... Doctor. There's something genuinely quite unnervingly pragmatic about why they exist in the first place. They're chosen from candidates who are actually jealous if they fail the selection process. The chrome sheen of propaganda holds a stark contrast to the poor, miserable and unprogrammed Cyberman who returns home to her father and brother. Unable to face what she had become.

Are the Cybermen inherently evil? A Dalek's genetic structure and mental conditioning is so intrinsically tied to that lack of pity, remorse or morality, that it's comparatively straightforward to see why such a creature is evil. But a cyborg work crew, tasked with the reparation of systems vital to the survival of Mondasians, quicksilver Atlases holding up the roof of the world? It's much more difficult to say. They're not an authority. They're a function. A function that eventually outgrew its original purpose and ran uncontrolled throughout the universe. Pushed and prodded by the genuine evil of the Committee, a parasitic bloat of authority that's been absorbing all city resources with one goal -- survival at all costs.

Part of what makes Spare Parts so potent is that, for all intents and purposes, the Fifth Doctor and Nyssa have arrived in a historical. Adorned in gold leaf palaces, mounted police on cybernised horses and lens-eyed silverfish you could hide under a Christmas tree, but nevertheless, all the tenants are there. There's a palpable sense of doom hanging over the whole thing. The Doctor proves instrumental to refining the conversion process, Nyssa prevents him from leaving, even Doctorman Allan's repeated efforts to find another way are stifled by the cold, relentless logic of a seemingly insurmountable disaster.

(Incidentally, how good is Sally Knyvette's Doctorman Allan. Not even an anti-Davros, she's just a woman trying genuinely to find solutions and failing every single time. A last spark of reasoned humanity snapping at the Committee.)

I can never find fault with a Marc Platt script. His stories are some of my absolute favourites, they're right up there in my mind, but among the best of the best is Spare Parts. It's downright revolutionary.

You know.....a Planet of Hats does have some appeal

I have to agree that this story, for me, is also very, very bleak.
I think the only other BF classic story even bleaker is "Jubliee". And more recently, the first War Master set and Lies in Ruins.
Yes, these are fantastic tales, wonderfully written, perfectly performed.
But are they enjoyable?
There is a reason I have not had these on my re-listen plan for a long time, because I know they will upset me emotionally.
Of course this speaks for the quality of the story, that fiction is able to transform one's mood to despair.
But to be honest, it is not my idea of relaxing evening entertainment.

Maybe, however, I am just to sensitive.

Double post sorry

Hello everyone!

Here's my review on 'Spare Parts' - bradleybasement.wordpress.com/sci-fi/doctor-who/doctor-who-timelines/the-doctors-timelines-index/the-fifth-doctors-timeline/spare-parts-audio/

Enjoy!

Tim.

Its seeing it through the Hartley Family (their just an average Family trying to survive), and the Doctor's surrender to/ revolution of the unavertable that this works on.

Regards

mark687

Spare parts where everything aligned to make the first doctor who audio to better the TV show or at least equal the very best of the TV stories

One of the stories that doesn’t put a foot wrong. Everything about this story is excellent and the Cybermen have never been more chilling as a result.