Doctor Who: 10 Cleverest Classic Who References In NuWho

10. Mr Clever Has A Long Memory- Nightmare In Silver

One of the big differences between Old and New Who is that New Who is creator driven. One person- currently Steven Moffat- oversees all continuity. It wasn€™t always that straightforward. In fact, back in the day, it wasn€™t straightforward at all. The Cybermen were created by Gerry Davis and Kit Pedler, but meddled with by multiple different script editors. The result is a Cyber-history that€™s both extensive and often completely ridiculous. Nightmare in Silver, scripted by Neil Gaiman, revels in the inconsistencies. The Doctor, in a mental battle with Mr Clever (the latest in a long line of head honchos, including the CyberLeader and the CyberController), mentions the cyborgs€™ previous weaknesses against gold and, er, cleaning fluid. The allergy to Au was introduced in Revenge of the Cybermen, and became an accepted part of the mythos in Earthshock and Silver Nemesis. This despite the fact that it barely made any sense- some nonsense about choking their respiratory systems. Even more baffling is the nod to cleaning fluid. Can the Cybermen really be repelled by Mr Sheen and Ajax? Well€in the Patrick Troughton story The Moonbase, the Doctor€™s companion Polly stumbles upon a recipe to dissolve the Cybermen, using (because she€™s a girl) nail varnish amongst other things. At least the Cybermen in Nightmare in Silver are felled by something slightly more impressive- namely a big planet-destroying bomb. It€™s a nice touch for Gaiman, learned Whovian that he is, to acknowledge the frankly rubbish elements of the Cyberman backstory.