Doctor Who: 8 Times The Cybermen Were Scarier In Black And White
5. Earthshock (1982)
A fan favourite, mostly remembered for the death of a divisive companion, Earthshock opens very well with mysterious androids killing a team of archaeologists and lots of toing and fro-ing in a cave system that eventually leads to a transporter connecting the caves with a deep range spaceship. The first appearance of the Cybermen is pretty good, too. Theres a great moment in which they burst out of plastic bags and stomp off to threaten the humans in what is another historical reference to Tomb of the Cybermen. But, actually, as ever, once again their purpose makes little sense and fans see the beginnings of their obsessive emotions seeping through in the script. For all his talk about emotionless logic, the Cyberleader delights in telling the Doctor how his feelings are his weakness, doing so in a way that sounds very much like hes gloating and enjoying the moment far too much. The Cybermen can, by this point in their evolution, be interchanged with almost any other threat. Their defining essence of cold logic and brutal single mindedness has been replaced by a level of gloating that easily rivals that of the Master himself. The fact they are responsible for the death of Adric, however, and the frankly terrifying sight of an army emerging from the cargo bays of a starship, means that they still retain some of the power they had in their glory days.
