Season 19, Story 6/7, Serial 6B, 4 x 25min episodes, 8th to 16th March 1982, Writer: Eric Saward, Director: Peter Grimwade, Script Editor: Antony Root, Producer: John Nathan-Turner.
I like the earlier versions of the theme best, but still love the 80s version.
This opening scene looks amazing fully restored, but it's a shame the scenery isn't quite as imposing as Ian Marter's description in the Target novelisation. Just imagine a towering cliffside, resembling a gigantic human skull with the dark openings of caves gaping like empty eyesockets and nostrils...
High overhead, the sun casts deep ominous shadows over the wild precipice and huge birds of prey wheel silently in the hot dry air. At the bottom of the wall of rock yawns a cavernous mouth overhung with bristling thorn bushes and dangerously loose scree...
Still, good old quarry.
We can tell you from first hand experience, having briefly tried one on, that those helmets are ruddy heavy!
50dw50@50dw50 This is a very green show,the BBC really got their money worth out of them, how many Who's and Red Dwarfs did they appear in? And Adrics bedroom's from The Mutants!
Bek Hobbes, outlier@Greebobek Adric's death is green too. Nothing but a greasy smear.Archaeologist Professor Kyle anxiously awaits news of her missing expedition.
Gareth Kavanagh@Garethothevworp Oh you're on Earthshock! A Lass classic. Don't call me Ma'am on the bridge!
Indeed! Happy times and places...
Gareth Kavanagh@Garethothevworp Happy memories of afternoons in the Snug, rolling round chuckling with you + @FictionStroker - "Berger? Where's Berger?"This lot are quite strange, really... a military group investigating deaths at an paleontological dig? It's a bit UNIT actually.
Chris@KosmicKris it does have a UNIT feel - perhaps that’s why it is so well regarded. Has the DNA of a classic!Bek Hobbes, outlier@Greebobek It is a bit DWM too. I remember one of the comics at the time being at a paleontological dig too.Ah, yes...
Pretty sure that's Street Fighter 2.
Kyle begins to lose hope, while Lieutenant Scott keeps a stiff upper lip beneath his Brig-ly moustache.
There were eight in the expedition, all paleontologists and geologists, but the scans don't show even a single life-form.
Down in the darkness, two shadowy sentinels detach themselves from the darkness and flit silently along the tunnels. Creepy silhouette people in dark tunnels - this is far from the reputation of over-lit 80s Who. Best caves in Who ever? The androids look great, so simple.
Chris@KosmicKris this is a great start to the episode. Saward doesn’t mess about - gets the mood and tone perfect from the outset.Scott & his troopers prepare to go down.
Lieutenant Scott isn't entirely sure whether to believe Professor Kyle. After all, what if it was her that bumped off the rest of the expedition? Sergeant Mitchell thinks she's telling the truth "as far as she knows it."
No sooner are they down there, than the trooper bringing up the rear has the creepiest feeling that they're not alone...
...even if the androids only show up as a form of flaring on Walters' "ancient" scanning equipment.
Snyder is keen to report to Lt. Scott, but Walters dismisses the effect as "ghosting"...
...but of course, it's not.
Elsewhere in time and space, aboard that fantastical time and space machine known as the TARDIS, the Doctor is loitering in a corridor. Now in his fifth incarnation, the Doctor is a tall fair-haired young man, looking as though he's dressed for a summer garden party or a regatta, dressed in a pale, knee-length blazer with bright red edging, a cream shirt, a cricket pullover and striped trousers. Embroidered on the open collar of his shirt are two red question-marks (thanks, JN-T).
And here's this week's reference to the previous story, as the Doctor recommends some reading material to his young companion, Adric, George Cranleigh's "Black Orchid..."
50dw50@50dw50 "Adric dear I hate to mention it but you have been wearing the same clothes for two years, you stink... sorry"
He's tired of being considered a joke. Bit late for that, mate.
Chris@KosmicKris if they’d have had this discussion earlier on in the Davison era, Adric might have been a whole different kettle of fish!50dw50@50dw50 as a youth I did not mind him, mind you back then I even liked Tegan #StupidBoy
Simon Pittman@LibraryPlayer I think it worked, having a companion who doesn't always agree (and in a way thought he was better then) the Doctor.50dw50@50dw50 I had this poster on my wall, which might explain a lot!
Simon Pittman@LibraryPlayer I didn't find Adric that annoying - although I suppose watching him for an entire series might be different...Adric is such a fanboy; as the Doctor notices, his room is full of memorabilia from previous stories. It's practically a Doctor Who exhibition in there.
50dw50@50dw50 walls borrowed from The Mutants, Who was very good at recycling even before it was fashionableShout outs to Kinda, Black Orchid, Logopolis... blimey.
atruedrwhofan🌈@atruedrwhofan Adric mate can I borrow your space map? I rather fancy a trip to Andromeda!
Adric is tired of being an Outsider.
The Doctor sees red when Adric points out what his promise to get Tegan back to Heathrow was worth.
But this is no ordinary row...
...the kicker is that the young native of E-Space wants to go back to his own people.
Kyle leads Scott and the others down, down, deeper and down. (I'm so, so sorry...)
Kyle says the expedition was cursed from the beginning: "Tools would go missing. Small but important components would be discovered smashed."
The Doctor sees red when Adric points out what his promise to get Tegan back to Heathrow was worth.
But this is no ordinary row...
...the kicker is that the young native of E-Space wants to go back to his own people.
Kyle leads Scott and the others down, down, deeper and down. (I'm so, so sorry...)
Kyle says the expedition was cursed from the beginning: "Tools would go missing. Small but important components would be discovered smashed."
I think we can hazard a guess as to who was responsible.
Chris@KosmicKris the pacing and the atmosphere of the whole thing is brilliant! Makes me regret Saward never got to write more DW!
James ❄ Gent@jamesgentwrites Saward only has one story. Straight to video 80s guns and ammo wankChris@KosmicKris That’s all he ever got to tell - but I’d have like to see his range (which I’m sure existed somewhere)James ❄ Gent@jamesgentwrites "got to"? He was the script editor!!!Chris@KosmicKris Yes, so he couldn’t write too many of his own and was fractious with JNT. I don’t think we saw his best!James ❄ Gent@jamesgentwrites He has a good dark humour that only really comes thru in Revelation and Slipback.Chris@KosmicKris I wish he’d had a Barry Letts type producer who he could have bounced ideas off (instead of crashing into)James ❄ Gent@jamesgentwrites That's the sadness of that era. Too much conflict, not enough creative synergyChris@KosmicKris completely agree - even at this stage, good stuff comes in spite of the vibe not because of it.
Nyssa's taken on the unenviable task of explaining the workings of the TARDIS to Tegan, but doesn't get too far...
...before the Doctor and Adric bowl in, tearing verbal strips off each other.
50dw50@50dw50 Romana sends a text "Don't you bloody dare!". Imagine the look on Romana's face if they had turned up and the Doctor had dumped Adric on her!
...before the Doctor and Adric bowl in, tearing verbal strips off each other.
Adric plans to get help from Romana, who's still in E-Space.
50dw50@50dw50 Romana sends a text "Don't you bloody dare!". Imagine the look on Romana's face if they had turned up and the Doctor had dumped Adric on her!
atruedrwhofan🌈@atruedrwhofan my favourite line ever in that argument. "E-space is another universe. There isn't a Taxi service goes back and forth". Bet Romana can't wait to see Adric again, lol.
The Doctor agrees to let Adric use the TARDIS' computers, but thinks he's plotting a course to his own destruction.
Back with the soldiers and professor Kyle, really great atmospheric, tense stuff. One of the troopers knackers her shoulder in a minor rockfall.
James Wood@face_4radio"Trooper Bane's hurt, sir.""I've damaged my shoulder!"
"Can you walk?"
The Space Pirate @Space_Pirate_73 Makes a change from the ol' twisted ankle cliché!Scott sends her back to the surface for treatment and checks in with Walters, who breaks the news of the odd flares.
The TARDIS arrives on Earth for the 3rd story on the trot.
Simon Pittman@LibraryPlayer Remember New Who fans kept saying in 2005/2006 that was always on Earth, forgetting how often Old Who was also on Earth...Nyssa's reaction to Earth: "Oh, not again!"
In a slightly less annoying sequel to his Four to Doomsday "sodium Chloride" debacle, Adric insists on labelling the year "2526 in the time scale you call Anno Domini."
The Doctor wants to go for a walk. However stuffy those caves are, they've got to have fresher air than a console room full of Adric and his sweaty jim jams.
Adric calling the Doctor immature only highlights what a supercilious little git he's being himself.
"I'm going outside now. I might be gone some time." That's all a bit... final sounding. You'd think someone was for the chop.
Love Tegan directing Nyssa to talk Adric down with her "I'm going to talk some sense into the Doctor."
Can't say she's really doing her job, though. Adric admits he was being rude, but Nyssa's best suggestion is for him to complete his calculations and show the Doctor that it can be done. I mean, wasn't that his plan anyway?
While the wounded trooper and her escorts continue to crawl through the cave system...
...Snyder and Walters monitor their progress.
All of a sudden, three new lifesigns appear - one of them with two hearts!
God knows where he got that definition of ectopic from (Ectopic doesn't mean two hearts. At least, not automatically), but at least he's having fun playing Pong (by the sounds of it).
I'm sure what Walters is doing is just checking the scanner every now and again, switching tabs whenever they call him up.
The Doctor calms down a bit in the cool cave air.
"I'm not taking him back into E-space, and that's my final word on the matter," he says before agreeing to give it a go if Adric's sums add up.
Nyssa and Tegan's looks to one another say it all.
Walters confirms to Scott that the "ectopic" lifeform is definitely alien, so the Lieutenant orders him to track its position.
Scott has the troops set their blasters to stun. Fat lot of good that'll do against those androids.
James Wood@face_4radio why do the cybermen even have the androids? To get past customs?!50dw50@50dw50 so they can hide until the cliffhanger!
MAW Holmes@MAW_H Cybermimes…?Tegan wonders why they can see in the dark.
Great bit of business from Davison on "phosphorescence!" with a quick finger waggle...
Nyssa's made a discovery of her own: some dinosaur bones.
Adric stays in the TARDIS making lists and writing out production codes and whatnot.
Walters has fixed the co-ordinates of the Doctor and his pals...
...to a small tunnel that just so happens to run alongside the cavern where Kyle's group were attacked.
The injured trooper is tiring, blissfully unaware that the tunnels are not as empty as they thought.
Snyder gets impatient and decides to go down into the caves to play hide and seek with the injured trooper.
Nyssa and Tegan get a lesson in paleontology, and the dinosaur apocalypse!
The Doctor says that Tegan should be proud if her ancestors were dinosaurs, and is curious about what exactly wiped them out.
Chris@KosmicKris on first watch this was just DW doing its education/sciency stuff - didn’t realise it was part of the pay off!
The Doctor always meant to "slip back" to find out what actually collided with the Earth to wipe the dinosaurs out.
Snyder's a bit horsey posh isn't she?
The injured party mistake a movement in the shadows for Snyder...
Despite Walters' assurances that she's on the right level, though, Snyder can't find hide nor hair of them.
Snyder heads straight into danger, as Walters detects more flaring on his scanner.
The scanner registers the flare, but the computer doesn't...
Come on, fella, you're not going to get 4G down in those caves...
With another flare, first the two lights of the wounded party, and then Snyder's light, all go out...
"Get out of there! Bane and Collis are dead! Do you hear me? Snyder! Snyder! Get out of there, Snyder!"
BeeblePete@BeeblePete blimey, after 32 years I've only just clocked the human hand amid all that steaming death-goo. Horrific!
50dw50@50dw50 the fizzing remains are genuinely horrible.
Simon Hart@Si_Hart I remember that being terrifying at the time.
The Doctor explains what was so different about the asteroid that wiped out the dinosaurs: its' size.
It was so colossal in fact that it threw up so much debris into the atmosphere, that the planets' surface temperature dropped below the point that reptiles could function.
No mention for the poor old Silurians. Wonder if any fans in '82 suspected the Silurians were behind all these cave shenanigans?
The pause allows him to catch up with Walters, who breaks the news that Snyder, Bane and Collis are all dead.
Sergeant Mitchell volunteers to take a couple of troopers back to investigate.
I don't remember "Carry On Sergeant Mitchell." Sergeant Peggy Mitchell, presumably.
BeeblePete@BeeblePete carrion sergeant in a minute o_o.
Adric is still keeping an eye on things.
Kyle has her strength back, so Scott determines to crack on in the direction of Walters' Ectopic alien.
Tegan wonders what stage her ancestors were actually at 65 million years ago.
"Primitive, Tegan, very primitive." BURNED.
Once again the scanner is flaring, and Walters begins to panic at how close it is to Mitchell's group.
Making it to the main cavern where the massacre took place, Kyle notices there's been a rock fall. Scott ushers his troopers to take up positions to ambush the Doctor and his friends.
Adric's still revising production codes with a little help from the TARDIS computer. "YYY did they ever make The Monster of Peladon! I'm totally the first person to make that joke!".
As the tunnel lighting flickers, Mitchell and her two accompanying troopers put there foot in it. "It" being the grisly remains of Snyder and her colleague.
The silent sentinels revisit the scene of the crime to take out Mitchell and the other two troopers. This is turning into a bit of a spree.
Walters is powerless to do anything as the scanner flares and he hears their death throes.
50dw50@50dw50 you would think companions after a while would just wear T Shirts with "IT WAS NOT US" printed on them.
The Doctor tries the pleasant open face routine with the Prof...
...but Scott is less than impressed.
He's even less impressed when Walters radios through with the news that Mitchell & co. are dead.
Scott's a bit like a future Brigadier. Except stupider.
50dw50@50dw50 but with a better mustache.
The Doctor offers help but is slammed to the floor with a gung ho "Too many people have died for you to play the fool!"
Adric notices his chums have wanders off, but isn't bothered enough to pop out for a look see.
Things are all very fraught; Scott seems awfully trigger happy. He'll have something to shoot at soon, mind you.
He's determined to finger the Doctor for the seven murders even though there are no bodies.
Nyssa suggests they may be beneath the rock fall so Scott orders the Doctor to get digging.
Their proximity to the rockfall gets a reaction in the nearby tunnel.
An alarm goes off on the TARDIS console. Adric's microwave dinner is done.
Nyssa and Tegan uncover a metal hatch beneath the rocks, so Scott orders his troopers to get stuck in to help clear it.
Kyle has made a rather grislier discovery: the bloodied overalls of her colleague, Dr. Khan.
Scott orders the Doctor to open the hatch.
He's not had much time to deny that he's able when the androids attack.
The androids' flesh-melting weaponry is housed in their palms.
The Scott platoon have all the marksmanship skills of imperial stormtroopers.
The Doctor points out that as androids they wouldn't have shown up on the scanner.
Scott still thinks the Doctor might be the one controlling them, but a shot that narrowly misses his head swiftly backs up the Doctor's denial.
Kyle recognises them as her attackers, but when the Doctor asks why, she says there isn't a reason. "Whoever's controlling them thinks there is."
Oooh, android vision...
...and *that* cliffhanger!
The villains behind the androids are... snazzy-looking new Cybermen!
"Destroy them!"
"When?"
"Destroy them at once!"
"Ooh, I'm all booked up, I'm afraid, I can do you next Thursday?"
Simon Hart@Si_Hart CLANG! Malcolm Clarke at his best there! What a shock!50dw50@50dw50 has to be said that at the time that was officially the most exciting thing EVER!
Jason McLaughlin@jangomac72 I still remember jumping around the room as an excited 9 year old when the Cybermen were revealed. This and The Invasion of Time Part 4 cliffhanger were the ones I remember most as a kid.
Michael Seely@mpseely I didn't recognise either returnee! My cynical and older brother recognised the Cybermen.The Space Pirate @Space_Pirate_73 Definitely the best cliffhanger of Davison's era to date
Matthew@MattBobRoss Even though I knew about the cliffhanger when I watched the story for the first time that reveal still shocked me!50dw50@50dw50 I fell off my chair as a kid, I was so excited!Arguably never really topped for shock value until The Stolen Earth, in Davison's own time, there's only The Caves of Androzani part 3 that can hold a candle to it for drama.
The new Cybermen are a huge improvement over their 1975 predecessors.
Chris@KosmicKris these cybermen costumes are absolutely wonderful - the perfect blend of human and mechanical!Simon Hart@Si_Hart They still look great. Best Cybermen ever. I'd never seen them in action before, but I knew all about them from the Target books and the Monthly.
50dw50@50dw50 they actually look like people wearing a survival suit, brilliant design (best?)
Avocado frog@fuddlemark to be fair, that wasn’t a high bar. Revenge of the Cybermen was the absolute worst of Tom’s episodes in every respect.50dw50@50dw50 I could just about remember Revenge when I was convinced they were blue! You mean they weren't...? ;-P
The cyber-heads and chest units are so well designed. The bicycle reflector bit at the top gives quite a neat effect.
Great that you can see the human chins; maybe modern cybermen don't pay enough dues to the human component.
Simon Pittman@LibraryPlayer Indeed! I prefer classic design as more human... although I've said that countless times before...! :-)Davison's well into his stride by this late stage of the season, but he desperately needs a bit of a haircut!
Jason McLaughlin@jangomac72 I prefer his S19 & S20 look, didn't like the shorter haired version in S21.
At first, the troopers' weapons seem to have no effct.
The Doctor advises concentrating their fire...
...advice that Scott elects to follow...
...and the troopers are finally able to asplode one of the androids' hand-mounted weapons.
One of the Cybermen frets that the androids will get wasted, but his leader is confident that they can hold their own.
Sure enough, they still have the humans pinned down behind the rocks.
To make matters worse here comes Adric.
While the androids hang back and wait, Kyle wonders what they really want.
The Doctor suggests that they're guard dogs for the hatch, but with an important flaw in their reliance on logic.
Adric blunders into the main chamber despite his friend's hissed warnings to watch out for the androids.
The Doctor proposes a logical dilemma to confuzzle the androids: attack the hatch to force them into putting their bodies on the line.
The Leader isn't so confident when his Lieutenant reports that the human weapons could breach the hatch.
Adric makes himself useful for once, and distracts an android with a rock...
...allowing the troops to blow it's head off.
The Doctor is proud of the lad who, not half an hour ago, he'd've been happy to let off the TARDIS at the nearest black hole.
The Cybermen are forced to switch to camera B, but it's not long before Scott gives the surviving android a face full of laser.
With the androids out of the picture, the Cybermen start to worry about the hatch being breached, and so prepare to activate "the device".
The Doctor warns the troopers not to celebrate too soon, as the androids contained transmitters, meaning their unseen masters already know the score.
The Cybermen prepare to transmit a signal to their mysterious "device".
The Doctor is less than impressed to singe his fingers on the laser hole in the hatch.
He tells everyone else to get back, but "My arms are only this long, I can't get any further away!"
Despite his Lieutenant's protestations that it's too early, the Cyberleader decides it's time to "Let the Earth see the effectiveness of Cyber technology: Explode the bomb!"
Adric is keen to help, but the Doctor ushers him back.
Just as well, because once the hatch swings open, the bomb is revealed with a rather worrying flash.
Darth Cyberleader's not half pompous. Is he really supposed to have so much of a character? It works, I suppose. And in fact the Tenth Planet Cybermen were so individual they had names.
Kicking himself when he think she triggered the bomb, the Doctor orders Tegan to take everyone into the TARDIS. Ugh.
We've been introduced to a major failing of Saward's here: "everyone into the TARDIS!" Drives me mad that at every opportunity Saward lazily lets all & sundry into the TARDIS as a lazy shortcut to get the guest characters of the week to trust the Doctor.
50dw50@50dw50 not as bad as having people enter your Tardis which gets you off a murder charge Black OrchidDefinitely one of the worst offenders.
The Space Pirate @Space_Pirate_73 ...and they just accept dimensional transcendentalism like it was nothing, too.Exactly; it's something that (IMO) underpins a lot of 80s Who's failures: those behind the scenes lose sight of the wonder and magic of that concept, so all the characters, even the companions, take it for granted & treat it as ordinary & dull.
Simon Pittman@LibraryPlayer Also notice a lot of characters in 80s (including Cybermen in Attack) know how to pilot TARDIS, making it less alien!The low point being the concorde chaps in Timeflight! Even if they do have a helping hand. Even Tegan manages a short hop.
Simon Pittman@LibraryPlayer Moffat era has kind of been guilty of that too - River piloting TARDIS I can understand, but then Tasha, Clara, Ashildr, etc.Although he's initially keen for Adric to retreat with the others, the Doctor relents and decides he's better off with the lad's help.
The bomb will detonate in just one minute!
Or rather, it would be, if the Doctor didn't have a plan to block the signal. He needs to use the TARDIS to figure out the co-ordinates of the signal's origin first, though, so he still needs to act quickly.
Lieutenant Scott finally figures out what's been bugging him about the TARDIS interior but doesn't get a "bigger on the inside" line. The indignity.
If the Cybermen ever want to have another stab at blowing up the Earth I'd suggest they use something that doesn't have such a ruddy long arming procedure.
Tegan starts to get a bit panicky and wants to retire to a safe distance, in both time and space.
The Cyberleader is not amused when his Lieutenant reports the wi-fi's dropped out, and demands more power.
The Doctor works to disarm the bomb before the signal can break through again, assessing that it could do enough damage "to make life intolerable for the few who survived"!
An alarm goes off in the TARDIS. Adric's dinner must be completely cremated by now.
While the Doctor gets stuck in with his laser cutter and magnetic drone, Adric wonders why the androids waited four weeks to attack.
The Doctor points out that they only needed to intercede once it seemed the hatch would be discovered.
When he opens a panel in the bomb to get at the circuitry, he's literally shocked to find power flowing through.
Tegan queries how the Cybermen's signal can break through when the TARDIS has limitless power. Does anyone buy Nyssa's explanation that the transmitter doesn't? Isn't the transmitter part of the TARDIS?
"Right or wrong, here we go!"
The Cyberleader is still optimistically predicting the destruction of Earth...
...but when the signal finally cuts out, Nyssa declares that the Doctor's defused the bomb in the nick of time.
The Cyberleader's left with cyber-egg on his shiny face.
Immediately the Leader assumes betrayal. "Whoever has done this must be found and destroyed at once."
The Doctor can now turn his attention to whoever planted the bomb, and wonders why they even did so, instead of using a missile.
Adric says it isn't their problem. Charming. The Doctor obviously disagrees, anyway.
The Cybermen give it a bit of post-match analysis on the clip clearance scanner...
...and the Leader spots a familiar blue box. "I know that object!"
The Doctor tries to ditch Future UNIT and their not so special scientific advisor.
He's more concerned with heading off to Sector 16 in deep space to trace the source of the signal.
But Scott, Kyle and half of UNIT's time team are tagging along for the ride nonetheless.
The Cybermen have that same BBC Micro programme as the one the Doctor had in Logopolis.
The Leader explains that the blue box he recognised is in fact a TARDIS, which confuses the Lieutenant, who thought that Time Lords are forbidden to interfere.
"This one calls himself the Doctor, and does nothing else but interfere."
"Emotions. Love, pride, hate, fear. Have you no emotions?" No-one doesn't like this clip sequence.
Michael Seely@mpseely Hartnell speaks! How exciting was that.Very."It was in this regenerated form that he confined the Cybermen to their ice tomb on Telos."
I notice the buggers have a copy of the Wheel in Space. Obviously it's been found by 2526.
The Space Pirate @Space_Pirate_73 Glorious part, this. Here at this early stage, at least, the Saward/Nathan-Turner continuity obsession gets it right.
The flashback scenes (see also Logopolis, Mawdryn Undead) are always a treat.
Simon Pittman@LibraryPlayer Earthshock - showing past Doctors faces before The Next Doctor and 11th Hour made showing past Doctors faces fashionable! :D
50dw50@50dw50 me too, got all wistful as I had never taken to 5"You've no home planet, no influence, nothing. You're just a pathetic bunch of tin soldiers skulking about the galaxy in an ancient spaceship."
As none of these fellas have been spotted in the cave, the Cybermen suss that the Doctor's regenerated again.
Another Saward failing in this dialogue from the Cybermen: all & sundry have heard of the Time-Lords, who are basically just A.N.Other alien race. Wonder who they suspect is their nemesis, the lad in the pyjamas, or the gobby Aussie in the purple skirt, maybe? "Whatever his form, he must be found and destroyed!"
As Scott & co. get the guided tour of the TARDIS (AAARRRGGGHHH!)...
...the Doctor asks Adric to stay behind, and thanks him for his help.
He's even willing to give E-Space another go as long as Romana checks his sums.
But the daft beggar has changed his mind and says there's nothing there for him, he only worked it out to "prove a point"(!)
Not sure why Adric thinks it was a point worth making - that it's technically possible to go somewhere pointless!
The Cyberleader is pretty chuffed to hear that the TARDIS is en route to "the freighter", which means their contingency plans can go ahead.
In fact, he's so chuffed he thinks it's... excellent. We're up to at least 3 "Excellent"s from the Cyberleader already, and it's still only part 2.
They follow the bomb signal to its source - a freighter in space. It's only a model.
Simon Hart@Si_Hart Good model though! Shame you don't see the space station more clearly.On the freighter's bridge, Security Officer Ringway grows anxious at the amount of time the Captain has been held up on the station.
The first officer, Berger, tells him to chillax, but now he's moaning about a power surge in the hold knackering the security scanners.
Finally a bit of good news, the Captain's coming back aboard.
The TARDIS arrives i, which the Cyberleader declares to be "rubbish". Oh, no, sorry, "Excellent."
Nyssa and the hangers-on aren't too impressed by the view, but the Doctor's itching to get out an explore, and lets Adric tag along.
Davison really rocks that hat. Should have worn it more often.
Simon Hart@Si_Hart I love the hat. He looks gorgeous in the gorgeous hat. It's the best Doctor Who hat (that isn't the Archimandrite's hat).The crew are another one of those completely unsympathetic bunches that Saward throws into his stories.
All this stuff on the freighter is influenced by Alien. All the business about bonuses is a straight steal. But Alien's just a giant rip off of The Ark in Space anyway.
Simon Hart@Si_Hart The Troopers beat the second film by 4 years.
50dw50@50dw50 lets face it there is hardly anything that Who has not ripped off at sometime.
I believe the technical term is "homage" ;-P
Simon Pittman@LibraryPlayer Guess it makes them more human in a way, having a little (but not too much) personality.
Dunno what all the fuss about Beryl Reid is. Cast a man in that part and this'd be ten times more po-faced and irritating.
James Cooray Smith@thejimsmith And 1000x more obvious. Reid's casting is the single best thing about the story. Ian Levine says Saward wanted a 50ish bloke with a buzz cut. That is boring. Casting a middle aged woman is a masterstroke. Reid is a brilliant piece of inventive, counterintuitive casting which lifts those episodes.Jason McLaughlin@jangomac72 Never had a problem with Reid's casting, fans forget she was also a dramatic actress and not just comedy. Reid had just recently been in the BBC's adaptations of Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy & Smiley's People. James Cooray Smith@thejimsmith Smiley's People was later in 1982 than Earthshock. Tinker Tailor 1980. Bafta nominated for both. (Won for SP.) Alec Guinness confessed to feeling intimidated by Reid's talent when working with her. Who fans who dismiss her are idiots.
Steph@AVWoman She's a lege. Was never quite the same after her copilot, Mooncat, left service.Back in the TARDIS, Nyssa and Tegan register that the freighter has gone to warp drive.
The model work on the silos is great. Again, a brilliantly darkened set, very atmospheric.
The Captain clearly doesn't have much time for Ringway. Berger tells him he needs to lighten up a bit. Fat chance of that with Eric writing all his dialogue, mate.
"You could hide an army down here and no-one would find it."
"Well, funny you should mention that..."
50dw50@50dw50 they should be wearing red shirts.
Adric is concerned that the Doctor is being a bit too casual, but the Time Lord wants to announce his presence, and without any daft teases about midnight.
The Cyberleader receives a distorted report from a collaborator aboard the freighter...
...and suggests using the Doctor and Adric as scapegoats.
"Scapegoats for what?", you may ask.
Or you may be noticing that Ringway orders Carson and Vance to search the hold immediately after the Cyberleader's given orders to his unknown collaborator.
Adric thinks they're being followed.
Vance and Carson also have reason to believe they're not alone in the hold when a shadowy figure darts past. Rather more quickly than the cave androids, it has to be said.
On the bridge, Berger finally spots the intruders and summons the Captain to the bridge.
In fact the Doctor and Adric are on the verge of giving up hope of a chinwag with any freighter crew when they hear the dying screams of Vance and Carson.
As Berger sounds the alarm, the Doctor, Adric and Ringway all race to the source of the screams.
They're too late, Vance and Carson are dead. Just as the Doctor recognises something familiar about the way the fatal blows have been administered, Adric urges retreat...
...only for Ringway to get the drop on them looking as guilty as sin.
"On this ship we execute murderers. Regardless of the law. We execute the hell out of them!"
End of part 2! It could hardly live up to the first, but that's stil a nicely crafted cliffhanger.
Ringway is still keen to turn them in though, and calls up the Captain...
...who's none too impressed."Apprehended. Why can't he say caught? So melodramatic."
The Captain tells him he'll get extra bonus, but his sombre response is that he'd rather have the crewmen alive.
The Cybermen quickly identify the new Doctor is "the tall one with the fair hair" and not the short one in the PJs.
The Doctor would never wear anything as daft as that.
The Cyberleader wants the Doctor taken alive. "He must suffer for our past defeats!" That's the spirit, you emotionless cyborg, you!
Scott is itching to go and see what's going on, but Nyssa orders him to stay put.
As the stretcher party arrives and the Doctor and Adric are marched to the bridge, the Doctor objects to being called a stowaway when he has a ship of his own. "Stowaways or pirates, you're still murderers." That went well.
The Cyberleader decides to wake his personal guard and march on the bridge.
Arriving on the bridge, the Doctor and Adric don't have much luck persuading the Captain that they've only just arrived.
Their pleas are interrupted, though, by a mysteriously timed power surge.
The TARDIS registers the surge as an expanding electromagnetic field.
Of course, this is just the Cyberleader's personal guard booting up.
The Cybermen are bad role models at the best of times, but don't put plastic bags over your heads, kids.
I do enjoy these homages to The Invasion that have echoed down Doctor Who history ever since.
To say Briggs finds the idea of a bomb on Earth controlled from her ship preposterous is putting it mildly.
Ringway and Berger are similarly unconvinced, but another power surge takes precedence.
Scott is still itching to get out for some action, but Nyssa's foot is still down, due to the electromagnetic field.
Slowly, the Doctor and Adric seem to be gaining the Captain's trust, or at least she's willing to admit there have been three or four such power drains already - just nothing on this scale.
The Doctor has a nasty feeling, though, that "whatever's causing your power loss is out for considerable more than control of this ship."
The Cyberleader isn't fussed that the powering up his troops has been noticed as he's ready to make his move.
Heeding the Doctor's warnings that something's on the way, Ringway arms his security team.
Berger starts to worry that at this rate the engines could fail.
The Doctor warns that with their security clearance, the freighter is taking whoever they are where they want to go.
Briggs is unswayed: "We *will* go on!"
With the electromagnetic field now subsiding, Nyssa gives Scott the nod to go and look for the Doctor.
Tegan demands Kyle strips so she can go too. Makes sense to her.
Nyssa tells Kyle not to argue. Speaks from experience, obviously.
Tegan demands Kyle strips so she can go too. Makes sense to her.
50dw50@50dw50 and lots of teenage boys spent a restless night considering this.Ringway prepares a barricade. Bet that lasts long.
Kyle bemoans the lack of positive input they can make from inside the TARDIS. Bit on the nose for Nyssa.
Davison twiddling his fingers whilst they're held on the bridge is reminiscent of both Hartnell & Troughton.
Sneaking around the silos, Tegan concedes demanding to tag along may not have been her smartest move. "I'm just a mouth on legs!"
Now the security cameras are on the blink. Berger suggests locking the Doctor and Adric in the brig, but Briggs wants them where she can see them.
Ringway orders the crew to take up their positions.
The Cybermen are on the march...
...and not too far from Tegan and Scott.
The Doctor gets his first glimpse of the new Cybermen...
They've redecorated themselves & he doesn't like it.
The Cybermen shove the barricade aside...
...and though the crew put up a fight, they're soon slaughtered.
When Berger asks if they're robots, the Doctor replies that they're "far worse...", and advises the Captain that the crew should fall back.
Scott hears the gunfire ahead but Tegan assure him that's not the Doctor's style.
Ringway hangs back...
...as the Cybermen sweep aside all resistance on their march to the bridge.
As the Doctor, Briggs, Berger and Adric watch in horror, Ringway returns to the bridge, his gun pointed squarely at them.
Briggs responds in typical fashion. "The enemy's outside, Mister. You're pointing your gun in the wrong direction!"
Ringway says he's tired of her bullying. The Doctor tells him to wait till the Cybermen start...
Did Saward get the idea that the Cybermen have to have a human agent from watching/reading Revenge of the Cybermen?
The Doctor admits he and the Cybermen go way back, and wonders what Ringway has been promised for his services, tipping Adric the wink that his gold-edged badge would come in handy.
Chris@KosmicKris if only we’d known the trauma that Gold badge would cause at the end!!!
Ringway gets the hint, but as Adric makes his excuses, Berger is able to move behind him and get the drop on the traitor.
They get the bulkheads down in the nick of time, locking the Cybermen out of the bridge.
The Doctor pockets
After all, there's an invasion force in them thar silos.
Don't worry, though, there's only 15,000 silos on board.
"It's not possible!" says Briggs, as the penny drops as to what her cargo actually is.
Outside, the Cyber Lieutenant confirms they can break through the bulkhead shields, which the Leaders assesses as - you guessed it - Excellent.That's 7 "Excellent"s, we're up to, if you're still keeping score.
MAW Holmes@MAW_H "My cyberman's got no nose…" (courtesy Denise Fisher, 1978)50dw50@50dw50 how does he smell?MAW Holmes@MAW_H "EXCELLENT!!!"
As the Cybermen prepare a thermal lance to break through the bulkhead, Briggs suggests pumping the air out of the hold, only for the Doctor to burst her bubble when he has to break it to her that the Cybermen don't need any.
Instead she has to cheer herself up by composing "a particularly nasty epitaph" for the conscious again Ringway.
Tegan is quick to notice that they have the same issue rifles as the crew, and there don't seem to be any Cybermen amongst the casualties.
The Doctor tells Briggs that the Cybermen won't really give a toss about Ringway, and turns his attention to neutralising their efforts to break in.
Tegan, Scott & co. aren't going to be able to get around the pair of Cybermen guarding the way, and they aren't going anywhere soon, as they're having a right old natter.
The Cybermen fire up the thermal lance, and Adric starts to feel the heat.
The Doctor notes that the ship is powered by anti-matter and ponders fiddling with the stabilising device. What could possibly go wrong?
Nevertheless, Berger thinks it's worth a go.
Kyle wants to get on the blower to check how Scott and Tegan are getting on, but Nyssa wisely decides they'd be best without loud ringtones interrupting them.
As Adric shows off with some snazzy mental arithmetic...
...the Doctor explains to Berger that as the computer already has a way to rearrange molecules to make them more stable, he should be able to apply the same effect to the bulkhead.
Scott is still reluctant to start taking potshots at the Cybermen, and wants the chatty pair to line up just a bit closer.
The Doctor needs to get his skates on, that bulkhead's white hot.
The wittering Cyber guards finally take that step back so Scott & co. open fire. Tegan rushes straight into the thick of things...
Now Saward thinks Tegan is Ellen Ripley. She's not, Eric, she's really not. Points for trying, but shooting things on its own doesn't do much for her character.
Brad Wolfe @bigbradwolf get away from her you flamin' skank!
One of the Cybermen is just damaged and staggers away. I'm sure that's the last we'll see of him, and Tegan not having finished him off will have no consequences for any of her friends later in part four. Cough.
Berger urges the Doctor to finish his sums, as the Cybermen are nearly through the bulkhead.
In the nick of time, the Doctor persuades the softened bulkhead to solidify, trapping the encroaching Cyberman like a fly in amber.
The Cyberman frozen into the door is a great image. Iconic, even? Presumably "homaging" the then recent Han-in-Carbonite, but the cause & effect are different enough for it not to be *too* obvious a rip-off. Still looks great.
But the Cybermen have a plan B: try the other door.
Noting that one of their number has been damaged by gunfire, the leader jumps to the conclusion that Ringway has deceived them about the crew numbers...
...and orders the activation of reinforcements.
"I should have realised... that door on the other side of the bridge is only made from balsa wood & polystyrene!"
The Cybermen pile on to the bridge, and the Doctor is powerless to stop them taking control.
"So! We meet again, Doctor!" Are we to take it that's "we" as in the Cybermen in general? Or is the "Cyberleader" just software? That seems to be implied in Doomsday.
These Cybermen are a bit melodramatic, with their fake-out shooting of Ringway.
"You never change, always the perfect guests..."
Poor old Nyssa gets the "stuck in the TARDIS standing around" role again, but with added Kyle whinging about them being stranded without the Doctor to pilot the TARDIS.
The Cyber Leader wastes no time in sticking the boot in about the fact that he's on course to destroy a planet for which the Doctor has "fondness".
The Cyber Lieutenant reports that the reinforcements are activating ("Excellent!"), and the Leader looks forward to showing the Doctor their strength.
Tegan and Scott are pinned down as the next batch of Cybermen awake.
Tegan runs off on her own. Solid plan.
Three cheers for Malcolm Clarke's Cyber-march music!
"My army awakes, Doctor!"
End of part 3. That'd be an even better cliffhanger if only their arms didn't overlap as they get that bit too close.
Chris@KosmicKris Here we go… into one of the most traumatic TV experiences of my childhood!
John Collier@FriendsUnitedUK don't look Chris!Chris@KosmicKris HOLD ME!!!!The Cybermen are set to implement their backup plan; turn the freighter into a flying bomb & wipe out life on Earth.
Gareth Kavanagh@Garethothevworp Fine lateral thinking on display there. Always build a bit of redundancy into your plans for interstellar domination.
Michael Bater@GreenLeftie That's where Ernst Stavro Blofeld always got it wrong!Gareth Kavanagh@Garethothevworp Exactly. He needed a backup Bond villain lair and a plan B.I do like how relentless the Cybermen are, and there's a pleasing number of them compared to last time out.
So far, Tegan has managed to keep out of their way as she searches for signs of the Doctor and Adric.
Kyle misidentifies the Cybermen as "robots", noting that "they're huge!"
Separated from Tegan, Scott's group have headed back for the safety of the TARDIS, only to find more Cybermen shuffling about.
The Cybermen integrate their own systems into the freighter's, to turn it into a flying bomb aimed at the Earth.
Turns out they're targeting an intergalactic conference, arranged to unite military forces in a war against the Cyber race - a war the Doctor knows they couldn't possibly win.
"It will be a great psychological victory!" gloats the Leader. The Cybermen, for all their emotionless logic, put great stock in psychological manipulation. No "does not compute" guff, they know and understand emotions, they just don't experience them personally.
As Tegan continues to skulk around the cargo hold...
...Scott decides they're close enough to risk calling the TARDIS.
The Doctor asks the Cyberleader how he'll carry out his task if he's onboard when the freighter crashes into Earth. "I mean, you would be very crumpled..."
Of course, the Cyberleader plans to be long gone by then, having evacuated to join a "secondary force." Does this mean the Cybermen have a ship nearby, or is he just planning to follow in an escape pod?
Briggs has noted the Cyberleader's single-mindedness, but the Doctor remarks that "compared to some, this one's positively flippant!"
Tegan's luck finally runs out as she's nabbed by a patrolling Cyberman.
Scott and co. approach the TARDIS as Tegan is hauled off in the direction of the bridge.
Nyssa opens the TARDIS doors to let Scott & co. back in.
As the troopers make it inside, though, a Cyberman grabs a female trooper...
...who then appears inside the TARDIS, unlike two of her male colleagues.
Nyssa is horrified by the continuity error.
As the troopers struggle to keep out another attacker...
...Kyle is killed by a stray shot from a Cyberman's weapon.
Tegan Ripley is brought to the bridge...
...where she's used as leverage as the Cyberleader posits to the Doctor that emotion is a weakness.
The Doctor makes an impassioned defence of emotions: "When did you last have the pleasure of smelling a flower, watching a sunset, eating a well-prepared meal, popping bubble wrap, that new car smell, a lie-in on a bank holiday, freshly cut grass, raindrops on roses, whiskers on kittens...?"
50dw50@50dw50 sniffing a newly opened jar of coffee, clean sheets, watching a child drop an ice cream, trees in the Autumn...But the Cyberleader is unmoved, pointing out that he has merely to threaten Tegan's life...
...and the Doctor is completely under his control.
The Cyberleader actually seemed to chuckle when he was taunting the Doctor. That's not great.
Scott feels he has no choice than to get after Tegan and the others, but Nyssa doesn't fancy his chances much: "The Doctor won't thank you for throwing away your life!"
The Cyberleader claims to be returning the freighter to the Captain, but of course the co-ordinates are now locked on to a collision course with the Earth.
When the Cyberleader refuses to let the crew go, the Doctor says he's made his point, but he wants to silence any remaining doubters.
He then orders all reactivated Cybermen to evacuate and send a minion to inform the fleet of the modified plan.
Scott's chances of safely reaching the bridge are improved by the departure of the main Cyber force.
The Cyberleader leaves some troops behind so that the crew's reactions can be observed.
He says this is so he can study the humans reaction to fear, which Tegan labels as "sadistic", but he claims is "scientific".
He orders the Doctor & Tegan back to the TARDIS at gunpoint but the Cyberleader doesn't want Adric to come with. Fair enough.
Despite the Doctor's excuses, the Cyberleader knows that Adric isn't needed to pilot the TARDIS.
The two shake hands, perhaps sensing that that may not be a promise he can keep.
"I'll see you again soon, Tegan."
Jason McLaughlin@jangomac72 lovely use of his theme & his "I'll see you soon" giving us a hint Adric might not make it out of this one.
With not much else to do, Berger and Briggs attempt to out-droll one another:
"Nice to see where we're going."
"We know where we're going."
"Nice to see when we arrive."
Tasked with locking up, the Cyber-Lieutenant slams the door a bit too hard, flipping the switch that re-starts the activation sequence for the remaining silo-bound Cyber-forces.
Was the Cyber-leader just going to leave all those spare Cybermen to be blown up on the freighter, then?
Maybe they were all supposed to jump out just ahead of the collision and shout "boo"?
Tegan tries to put the Cyberleader off Earth by telling him it'll make him rust. He's not arsed.
Scott lets Nyssa know that the Cybermen are doing a runner, and in return she warns him that that electromagnetic field is on the rise again.
Adric thinks he might be able to tinker with the Cyber-equipment fitted to the navigational controls. They'd only need to divert the freighter a degree or two to miss Earth.
Scott and his team are finally at the barricade to the main bridge.
Although she's relieved to hear that Adric is safe, Nyssa is alarmed when the Doctor leads the Cybermen into the TARDIS.
Signalling to Adric, Briggs and Berger to take cover, Scott storms the bridge.
Very Brig-like.
As the TARDIS departs, the ranks of the Cybermen continue to swell back aboard the freighter.
Inside the Doctor's ship, the Cyberleader orders the Time-Lord to follow the freighter at a safe distance.
Tegan thinks the authorities on Earth will detect the TARDIS, but the Doctor has to admit that it's radar trace will be swamped by the freighter as its external dimensions are too small.
The Cyberleader sends one of his minions to search the TARDIS. Still in there to this day, probably.
MAW Holmes@MAW_H "Handles…!"
He does pop up later to take a blasting from Nyssa, but maybe his head survived and got upgraded...? Maybe not.
Adric gets to work on the maths; he just needs to solve three logic codes.
Despite the Doctor trying to throw Tegan some crumbs of encouragement, the Cyberleader is starting to get cocky, assuring them that this time they will not fail.
Adric works slowly but surely at unlocking the first code, assisted by Berger.
Tegan grows increasingly frustrated with the Doctor's apparent hesitance...
...and takes matters into her own hands with a lunge at the controls that send the TARDIS into a spin.
The Doctor warns her they'll all end up dead if she keeps that up.
Adric unlocks the first bonus on the Cyber-wotsit.
As a result the freighter's flung phasing through time...
The Cyberleader orders the Doctor to follow in the TARDIS.
As the freighter rights itself, Scott polishes off a marauding Cyberman, allowing Adric and Briggs to assess the effects of their meddling.
The Cyberleader tries to coerce the Doctor into materialising back aboard the freighter but he can't because its co-ordinates keep shifting.
The Doctor reckons the freighter has travelled back in time some 65 million years. Hang on, WHY is the freighter travelling back in time again? Not sure that explanation really washes. Cyber-technology linked in to the ship makes them time travel how exactly?
But it's still headed to Earth!
The Cyberleader's verdict? "This is EXCELLENT news!" (13).
This wounded Cyberman is obviously going to be significant.
50dw50@50dw50 never introduce a gun unless your going to fire itSolving the second code brings the freighter out of warp drive.
The Cyberleader decides they're in the perfect spot now to see the freighter strike the Earth. Can the Doctor pull something out of the bag? Tegan hopes so.
The wounded Cyberman crawls ever onwards in the direction of the bridge.
There, Briggs, Scott & Berger have the escape pod ready...
...but Adric dives back in. What a numpty, going back just to do some maths. Could quite easily have escaped.
Jason McLaughlin @jangomac72 if only he'd been around in the caves earlier to hear the Doctor talk about the dinosaurs....doh!!
The Doctor realizes the truth; history is now set in stone - it's 65 million years ago & the dinosaurs are about to snuff it ...
...meaning the Cybermen's plan has failed after all; instead of ending Earth's history, they've become an integral part of it!
In your shiny metal face, leader!
Adric really needs to get a shift on here, as the planet below looms ever larger.
Scott calls the TARDIS from the escape pod to alert the others to Adric having stayed behind, and the "unemotional" Cyberleader crushes the communicator in a fit of petulance.
The Doctor feels a familiar object in his pocket - no, no that, it's Adric's badge, which the boy palmed to him when they shook hands on the bridge.
With nothing left to play for, the Cyberleader decides to kill the Doctor.
Tegan grabs at the silver giant, giving the Doctor his chance to get in close with the gold edged badge.
In its death throes the leader shoots up the console, but the Doctor eventually wrestles its' weapon away to blast it right in the chest unit. The TARDIS' state of temporal grace fails, mainly because Saward's solution to everything's to have lots of shooting.
(Final Score: 14 "Excellent"s).
Professor Quiteamess@whoer_pete Ironic the Cyberleader was taken down by a badge for mathematical EXCELLENTS.With time running out, Adric seems to have forgotten something.
Nyssa urges the Doctor on to save their friend - but he also crucially can't interfere with the destiny of the dinosaurs.
Chris@KosmicKris it was this point that I realised something different was afoot!...aboard the freighter that knackered Cyberman, almost as if directed by the web of time itself, arrives on the bridge to blast Adric's keyboard...
...which Adric evades almost as if he'd been expecting it. Ahem.
50dw50@50dw50 i would not get my fingers burned for a production team that had just sacked me TBH!
Job done, the Cyberman keels over.
"Now I'll never know if I was right..."
Pretty sure he wasn't.
The Doctor tries to lock onto the freighter, and Nyssa has to be quick on the draw when the Cyber-scout returns from its recon mission.
Nyssa, Tegan and the Doctor all watch in horror as Adric's fate becomes irreversible.
Adric clutches his brother's Outler rope belt, as he resigns himself to death.
Professor Quiteamess@whoer_pete I hope Beryl got extra bonus for delivering 65 million years early. Maybe negative feedback re the packaging condition though.
"You hadn't evolved yet, so left your package with a neighbour, Mr. T. Rex in Cave 6."
Professor Quiteamess@whoer_pete "WHY WAS IT IN A MILLION TONNE FREIGHTER IT WAS ONLY A PACKET OF SOCKS! ALSO BITS OF ALZARIAN EVERYWHERE"
2 (broken) Stars out of 5
Your Aunt Siobhan @SioGallichan TOO SOON!! DammitChris@KosmicKris This still makes my tummy go funny!This ending is powerful, but utterly, utterly destroyed by Timeflight Part 1.
The friends are all stunned as it sinks in what has happened.
The Doctor is numbed speechless.
The credits roll in stunned silence.
50dw50@50dw50 shame it was not the end of the season, the lack of reaction in Timeflight would not have been so jarring after months awayMichael Seely@mpseely I was 10 when this went out. i wouldn't have wanted it stretched out. Emotions are a weakness. David Banks was magnificent. There were hints of a whole story between the two. Cyber fleet dispersed, soldiers gone home etc.Jason McLaughlin@jangomac72 Those silent credits had a huge impact back in the day, everybody at school was talking about the show after Earthshock50dw50@50dw50 it was so shocking at the time, stunningThe Space Pirate @Space_Pirate_73 Wouldn't it be weird if Adric's DNA seeded into the earth at that time became....oh shit... and then of course, human colonists made their way to E-Space founding the Alzarian colony on which Adric was born... :O All I can say is, @LordFlashheart0 ain't gonna be too happy about this! Brad Wolfe @bigbradwolf We're all Adric!The Space Pirate @Space_Pirate_73 Nooooooooooooooooooooooo!
Alexander Wilkinson @LordFlashheart0 *Finally catches up after long day of final exam* NOOO! I am not a spawn of Adric!
Chris@KosmicKris I talk about Modern Who fans needing their “Earthshock” moment!For a brief moment it seemed Face the Raven might be it... then Moffat bottled it. Then it seemed like The Doctor Falls might be it... then...
Chris@KosmicKris So many times it *could* have been - they’ve never been brave enough in Nu Who to actually kill anyone really importantMichael Seely@mpseely Too many modern dramas wallow in slaughtering their cast. Why can't they just be goosed instead?
#GooseShock
Michael Seely@mpseely We loved it at the time. A game changer. I remember it was mooted to be the 'fastest' Who of its era.
Kippy Woo@TygerWhoCame2T
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