20 Cancelled Doctor Who Episodes You Need To Know About

6. Genesis Of The Cybermen

Unlike the Daleks, the Cyber-origins have only been explored relatively recently – notably in the excellent (and horrifying) Series 10 finale World Enough And Time/The Doctor Falls.

However the notion of a Cyberman origin story was first floated by their co-creator Gerry Davis in the early 1980s.

Set on Mondas before the events of The Tenth Planet, Davis’ storyline revealed the Doctor to have unwittingly played a part in the Cybermens' creation, leaving a powerful component behind when the TARDIS is accidentally sent forwards in time.

Upon arriving in the future, he discovers that Mondas' king has used this device to turn his subjects into Cybermen.

In a final twist we would've seen the moment Mondas was forced out of our solar system – the direct result of rebel spaceships fleeing to Earth.

At the time Genesis of the Cybermen was deleted pretty much immediately, on the grounds that it was out of step with the show’s current style of storytelling. Although an audio version was finally released in 2025!