OK, quiz time. You are casting a part in a Doctor Who serial. It's the leadoff story to the 5th season, with relative newcomer Patrick Troughton as the second Doctor. And it's got the Cybermen in it! This story's going to be a big deal.... The spec says that an expedition looking for the lost Cyberman city/tombs on Telos will have a man and woman (I hesitate to call them a couple, as they come off like a cut-rate Boris and Natasha) from the Brotherhood of Logicians (Who are a thing, apparently). They have a strong, silent brute who will basically do their will. Almost like a servant. So, you have to cast a brutish servant. In 1967, an era where certain..... sensibilities were becoming very much the issue of the day. So, for this, er, manservant role.... you certainly wouldn't cast a black man. And you absolutely wouldn't cast one who often needed his dialogue dubbed anyway for film or TV roles - Doctor Who very rarely redubbed ANYTHING, so you'd basically be making him almost silent. Which, taking away his ability to speak for himself, that wouldn't help this whole role where he was basically a....slave, now would it? I, uh.......guess it was a different time. This story is absolute legend, and for a long time was missing. The redicovered visuals.....are pretty damning. Toberman is a mostly silent, black, manservant. It is INCREDIBLY awkward to watch and even more awkward if someone new to Doctor Who points it out. He is later partially converted to a Cyberman and gets some redemption in the form of hammering the Cybercontroller (Or at least his rag doll stunt double). But the fact remains that in 1967, the production team made these choices. And it's entirely the execution, casting, and writing that's to blame - Roy Stewart returned to the program as a circus strongman in the 3rd Doctor story "Terror of the Autons" - NONE of the problems here are present there. Originally, Toberman was supposed to be deaf - hence his lack of speech, and with hearing implants foreshadowing his cyber-conversion. That was cut, so now he just seems, er, dim. (He can happily grunt or say his own name.) This is one time, one period, and one role where they simply could've cast a less racially controversial actor - problem solved. Instead, they made a choice that screams bad judgment to this day.
(Less than) Shining Moment:
Many people love to point out Toberman's losing fight with a Cyberman that you can clearly see wires during - That's the director's and production team's fault, though. It's far more fun to point out the sole moment that Roy Stewart attempts to inject some character into Toberman that ISN'T lifting, pushing, or fighting something. At one point, Natasha - I mean Kaftan - is discussing with surrogate Boris (Klieg) about how they'll need to subdue the Doctor's party for their nefarious schemes. They decide Toberman will have to subdue Scottish highlander Jamie - And Stewart, rather than remaining in (nonexistent) character as he's been thus far, does a little "All RIGHT!" dance in preparation. Give the guy credit - it's the only difference between Stewart playing Toberman before and after cyber-conversion.
In a parallel universe where game shows' final jackpots and consequent fortunes depend on knowledge of obscure music trivia and Jon Pertwee/Tom Baker Doctor Who episodes, I've probably gone rich, insane, and am now a powermad despot. But happily we're not there, so I'm actually rather pleasant. Really.
