Doctor Who: 5 Times The Cybermen Terrified Us
Will 'Ascension of the Cybermen' live up to some of these classic moments?
While the Daleks are generally considered the big enemies of Doctor Who, it's the Cybermen that still really give fans the shivers today due to their resemblance of ourselves.
First introduced back in 1966, the cybernetic monsters have been plaguing our screens since, with some truly horrifying moments for both the Doctor and us. It's their idea that they are a superior being that continues to scare us, that the Cybermen never consider themselves to be evil or have any perception or feeling of what that is.
They simply upgrade as they go, and we've lost some beloved characters over the years as a result. This is when the Cybermen work best, when they succeed in hurting the Doctor or someone close to them, and their actions feel personal.
This weekend, they are set to return in 'Ascension of the Cybermen', and with three current companions as part of Team Tardis, it's very possible not everyone will make it out alive. So before we get there, let's look at some of their most terrifying moments over the years.
As the Doctor said in last week's episode, she 'won't let this happen to anyone else'...
5. We Were Once Like You - The Tenth Planet
Arguably, rather than the fully-formed machines we see in later eras, the Cybermen are at their scariest when in their earliest form, as they bear the closest resemblance to humans, and remind us of the dangers of technology and how far we are capable of going.
This is what audiences were treated to back in 1966, when the Cybermen appeared onscreen in The Tenth Planet for the first time. Taking over the Snowcap base at the South Pole, the Doctor encounters the mechanical monsters for the first time and they explain their origins - that they come from Earth's twin planet, Mondas, but when the planet was knocked out of solar orbit with the sun, the Mondasians started experimenting with cybernetic parts to survive. They also removed emotions, which they consider to be a weakness and became Cybermen.
It was a frightening prospect for fans at the time - the idea of being turned into a machine - and one just as horrifying today as modern tech has developed and the threat of global warming continues.