Colin Baker Fans Unite! - "Attack of the Cybermen"

Episode Title: "Colin Baker Fans Unite!" - Attack of the Cybermen Review

THREE YEAR ANNIVERSARY!

Recorded on January 14th, the anniversary was January 13th! Three years of The Doctor's Beard Podcast!

The Early Days: "I wonder how many people were listening back then?" Only a couple dozen, mostly friends. "How many of those people are still with us?"

Patreon Originals: Shout-out to Dawn, Jameson, and Jamie Girl who've been there from the beginning!

THE OPENING QUESTION:

John: "What did you think of the season opener for Season 22?"

JIM'S RESPONSE: "I'M A HAPPY CAMPER."

"This is a world of difference. A universe of difference. I'm even rolling with the stuff that's not that great."

THE BIG DECLARATION:

"I think this is my second favorite Cyberman story."

Why Jim Loves It:

• Colin Baker has settled into his Doctor

• "He's smoothed over some of the rougher edges already"

• The Cybermen's scheme isn't dumb - it's BIG and makes sense

• Foundation is reasonable: self-preservation

• Connects with Tomb of the Cybermen

John's Agreement: "I give you all that. Colin, his performance, and even Peri."

PRODUCTION DETAILS:

Production Code: 6T
Air Dates: January 5-12, 1985 (not 1986 as John mistakenly said last episode!)
Writer: Paula Moore (Paula Woolsey, Eric Saward's girlfriend)
Director: Matthew Robinson (last directed Resurrection of the Daleks)

THE WRITING CONTROVERSY:

Three Claims:

1. Paula Woolsey: Got the credit

2. Eric Saward: Most say he wrote it; this was a workaround to BBC rules

3. Ian Levine: Claims HE wrote the story, Saward just wrote the script

Saward's Version: Levine contributed to continuity help, didn't write anything

Jim's Reaction to Levine News: "You shouldn't have told me that. I'm down on it."

John's Defense: "You appreciate these continuity things. That's what Levine brings to the table."

Why the Strong Opening? "Hey, the Cybermen are back! It's the new season!" BBC did 4-5 different promos (unprecedented). Possibly Nicola Bryant cheesecake photos helped.

NOSTALGIA CENTRAL:

THE COMPANION NAME-DROPS:

Peri's Line: The Doctor's called her Tegan, Zoe, Susan... and strangely, Jamie.

Jim's Point: "Really dumb thing to say - as we in particular know on this podcast, Jamie can be used for both male and female. It's like Peri's never met a female named Jamie?"

The List: Tegan, Zoe, Susan, and Jamie

THE TERRIBLE ZODIN:

Jim: "How do you remember that?"

The Running Joke: Started in The Five Doctors - Patrick Troughton listing enemies fought, mentions "the terrible Zodin." Brigadier: "Who?"

Peri's Confusion: She seemed to act like it was a companion or ally. "Although the 'terrible' part should have tipped her off."

TOTTERS LANE:

The Landing: No specific reason other than for us, the audience

John's Theory: "There seems to be more of a nod to the 20th anniversary with these references. Companions, Totters Lane, we're getting The Two Doctors with Patrick Troughton, another story where Jon Pertwee's Doctor is referenced. This felt more like walking down memory lane."

The Set vs. Location: Originally a set, now actual location shot. "Doesn't exactly match up, but probably thinking 'It was 20 years ago, who the heck would remember what it looked like?'"

The Availability Problem: At that time, you couldn't watch An Unearthly Child if you wanted to - not available on VHS or anything. Only if you caught The Five Faces of Doctor Who a couple years earlier.

Jim's Sadness: "It's sad they would have had to rely upon an outside source to help with historical things of the show. Doctor Who is still a pretty big, important part of the BBC. Odd there wouldn't be anybody around who would be the keeper of the flame."

PERI'S FIRST OUTFIT:

Jim's Complaint: "Horrible. Dumb. Peri, you're obviously having a lot of problems running when the Doctor starts running. Is this really the best choices you're making here? And the color!"

Why It's There: "But I know why it's all there. I get it." (For the male viewers)

GUEST STARS:

Brian Glover (Griffiths): Former wrestler and English teacher turned actor. No relation to Julian Glover.

David Banks: Cyber Leader (same as Earthshock)

Michael Kilgarriff: Cyber Controller (same as Tomb of the Cybermen

THE CYBER HIERARCHY:

Jim's Confusion: "Is this the first time we've actually seen this Cyber Controller?"

The Difference:

• Cyber Leader: Always in the field directing Cybermen in action

• Cyber Controller: The big boss they check in with

PART ONE PRAISE:

John: "I always love anytime we've got the Doctor in contemporary setting - going back to Pertwee, but definitely Troughton and Hartnell with War Machines. Here we have Peri and Doctor just roaming the streets tracking the signal. Loved it. I'm looking at the houses."

The Date: Aired January 5-12, 1985. Set in 1985 to jive with The Tenth Planet (1986).

The Realization: "Whoever came up with this idea realized 'We're coming up on the year the Cybermen first arrived. We should do something with that.'"

THE TIME CRAFT MYSTERY:

The Questions:

• Where did it come from?

• Whose planet is doing this?

• Was the Doctor sent off course to stop use of time ship?

• Is mission to stop Cybermen from changing history or to get time ship?

The Concern: "How many times over past 20 years has there been any other race with time craft other than Time Lords? The Daleks, for one..."

John's Point: "That should be of fairly great concern by Time Lords. They should know everybody everywhere in the whole universe who has time travel capability."

Jim: "Why did they want the TARDIS when they already had a time craft?"

THE WEB OF TIME:

Jim's Note: "I always love the conversation about history of Mondas, the whole 1986 thing. I circled this - mentioned more than once, I don't think the term has been used before. The web of time."

The Phrase: Used very formally as if that's what it's really called. The concept has been there, but not the phrase.

PERI'S SECOND OUTFIT:

Jim: "Much better outfit once Cybermen force her to change clothes."

The Question: "Did they stand there as she changed to make sure?"

John: "They'd do it passively. No passion. They'd just be like—"

Jim: "Oh right, yeah. I can just see 'You've got to turn your back.' 'There's no significance to us having to turn our back.'"

TOMB OF THE CYBERMEN LOVE:

Jim: "I love all the references to the tombs, Tomb of the Cybermen. That whole thing. I love that concept. That's one of the reasons I like Tomb of the Cybermen. Really glad that was pulled back into cyber mythology."

THE KRYONS:

Jim's Uncertainty: "I don't know what to think about the Kryons and their design. Interesting it's all women who play the roles. Don't know if we were supposed to think anything of that - is their race entirely female, or were there males but the males perished?"

John's Theory: "More my thinking - there's nothing suggesting 'we're the last women' or 'we were only women.'"

The Appreciation: "Makes them more exotic. I appreciated all the actresses - really got into the hand movements thing. Right out of the 60s!"

THE SENSORITES CONNECTION:

Jim: "Everything about the Kryons is right out of the Sensorites playbook. They are so early 60s. The translucent pieces of plastic film cut up and pasted on them."

The Head Pieces: "Weirdly, their eye holes are so big you can see the actresses' eyes. Then I saw there's an actual lens over that - some smooth, some segmented which really made it hard for actresses to see. I realized they weren't trying to say those were their organic heads but helmets they wear."

Ice Warriors Comparison: "Reminded me of Ice Warriors - those aren't necessarily their heads but helmets. Made me wonder what the Kryons actually looked like."

The Follow-Up: "There's no way nobody has not followed up - they've returned in a book, comic, or Big Finish and answered some questions."

John: "Do you know off the top of your head?" / Jim: "I don't. They don't return in the show."

SONIC LANCE VS. SONIC SCREWDRIVER:

Jim's Frustration: "Why have an ersatz sonic screwdriver? Just have a sonic screwdriver! They call it a sonic lance. Why does JNT not want his cake but he's going to eat it too? You want to get rid of sonic screwdriver, yet you have a device that is everything but a sonic screwdriver except for the name."

The Theory: "Possible Eric Saward himself was either testing waters or trying to put his mark on it."

The Problem: "We won't see it again. Because it had a lot of use - chameleon circuit, closeups, handed around."

Modern Context: "I get it - at this moment, sonic screwdriver's not anything like today where it's indispensable. Almost too much in modern Doctor Who - almost overboard, like he couldn't live without it."

LYTTON'S TORTURE:

Jim: "Wow, that was pretty extreme. But I have to say, I was glad for it. Not necessarily that somebody gets tortured, but I think it's a good moment. Makes the Cybermen seem like a threat."

THE DOCTOR'S HUMANITY:

Jim's Appreciation: "I really liked and appreciated how much the Doctor's humanity comes through. You might've gotten the idea with earliest moments of Colin Baker's Doctor we weren't going to see anything like that. But no - he's got one hell of a streak of humanity."

The Balance: "My goodness, did they balance that character in the span of one story! They somewhat softened his sarcasm and cutting remarks, but not completely. The ego is still there, but then they play up the humanity. It's a nice balance. I really like him."

COLIN BAKER'S VOICE:

Jim: "I haven't said this before - I like Colin Baker's accent. Every Doctor is from somewhere different in the UK. I don't know exactly where Colin Baker's from, but I liked the way he speaks. Something about his voice I like."

The Comparison:

• Tom Baker had the most distinctive voice

• Davison's kind of wasn't a pleasure to listen to

• Loved Hartnell's accent

• Troughton's just kind of bland

• "My God, I love the way Pertwee talked"

• "I'm finding I really like to listen to Baker, Colin Baker, give lines"

Born in London, moved to Lancaster - primarily uses posh accent. "It is high-brow. That's okay. Nice to have another Doctor like that."

THE WEAK SUBPLOT:

The Agreement: Bates and Stratton (semi-converted men trying to make their way through) - "Probably the weakest part of this whole thing."

Jim: "A little boring. I think the show intended them to be comedy relief with bickering back and forth and sarcasm. Didn't really take much notice of them until they run into Lytton and Griffiths."

The Fan Wank Accusation:

John: "Some people look at it as fan wank."

Jim: "No. Yeah. No. There are moments that go so quickly - maybe a little fan service. But overall, no way whatsoever. Just because Cybermen are in it? People who are against use of any classic bad guys? Assume they probably say that of every Dalek story."

The Defense: "There's no reason behind using Totters Lane and I.M. Foreman other than 'hey, look at this folks, remember this from 20 years ago?' But if it was all through the whole thing doing that over and over, no. As far as Tenth Planet references, brought in for significant reason - it's the plot! They want to go back and stop that story from happening. That's a valid story idea."

Jim's Challenge: "Tell me I'm wrong. Tell me I'm wrong for liking this story."

The One Person: "I know one person is probably sitting there screaming... He's probably wondering what the hell is wrong with me. That dude betrayed me."

THE NEXT TWO STORIES:

John: "Honest to God, the next two are two favorites of mine."

Story 1: "One from extremely nostalgic perspective - first one of Colin Baker's I ever saw and actually said 'You know, as ridiculous as this coat is, this has a lot of potential.'"

Story 2: "One other story speaks to my love of television in many respects."

JIM'S CURRENT PROJECTS:

Local Author Spotlight: Tomorrow night (unfortunately very cold - "people in my area cower in their homes if drop of rain, flake of snow falls or it drops below 55 degrees"). "Really hoping I have nice little audience. Really looking forward to it. Did some prep work today. Going to do readings from my books, selling my books hopefully. Should be pretty fun."

Doc Jones Novel: "14 chapters in, writing every day, averaging between 2,600-2,700 words a day. Completely insane for me, but I can't question it or think too hard about it. Got to keep going. Try to finish this. More than halfway through."

NEXT TIME:

Monday (Patreon #154): Part 2 of Voyager, Memory TARDIS spin (maybe another Peter Davison to annoy Jim!), and "probably one of the most unique Doctor Who-inspired songs - not a theme this time. I found this really unique song called 'I Am Chameleon' and we'll discuss the whole origin on Patreon show."

Friday (Patreon) then Saturday (Main Feed): Vengeance on Varos! Jim handles narration. Joined by Felicity Cousins from The Flop Cast!

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