Doctor Who: EVERY Version Of The Cybermen Explained

18. Cybermats (First Appearance: 1967)

Some types of Cybermen are not humanoid, such as the rat-like Cybermats.

Like Cyber Leaders, Cybermats exist amongst the ranks of multiple types of Cyberman. Common to every design is a segmented, tapered body, which ends in a wriggling Cyber tail.

Because of their size, Cybermats can move around unnoticed, making them particularly useful to Cybermen lurking in the shadows.

For example, Cybermats guarded the Cybermen’s base on Telos, and were the first to wake when it was raided. The complex even featured secret tunnels, which allowed the Cybermats to easily move from one section to another.

Cybermats were also sent to sabotage space stations, including the Wheel (where they consumed the mineral that powered the station’s X-ray laser) and Nerva Beacon (where one infected the crew).

The latter was a larger, sleeker model, which was eventually reprogrammed by the Fourth Doctor, to attack its masters with gold.

The Eleventh Doctor performed a similar trick on a Cybermat caught patrolling a department store in Colchester (nicknamed Bitey because of its organic teeth), instructing it to drain energy from the Cybermen rather than its surroundings.

However, this attempt was less successful, with Bitey crushed by a Cyberman at the first hurdle.