Doctor Who/Revenge of the Cybermen

Revenge of the Cybermen
Season 12, Serial 5
Airdate	April 19, 1975
Production Number	4D
Written by	Gerry Davis
Directed by	Michael E. Briant
← 12x04 Genesis of the Daleks	13x01 → Terror of the Zygons
Doctor Who — Season Twelve

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Revenge of the Cybermen is the fifth serial of the twelfth season of Doctor Who, and the seventy-ninth serial overall.

Part One: Tom Baker (Doctor Who), Elisabeth Sladen (Sarah Jane Smith), Ian Marter (Harry Sullivan), Jeremy Wilkin (Kellman), Ronald Leigh-Hunt (Commander Stevenson), William Marlowe (Lester), Alec Wallis (Warner), David Collings (Vorus), Michael Wisher (Magrik), Christopher Robbie (Cyberleader)

Part Two: Tom Baker (Doctor Who), Elisabeth Sladen (Sarah Jane Smith), Ian Marter (Harry Sullivan), Jeremy Wilkin (Kellman), Ronald Leigh-Hunt (Commander Stevenson), Kevin Stoney (Tyrum), David Collings (Vorus), William Marlowe (Lester), Michael Wisher (Magrik), Brian Grellis (Sheprah), Christopher Robbie (Cyberleader), Melville Jones (First Cyberman)

Part Three: Tom Baker (Doctor Who), Elisabeth Sladen (Sarah Jane Smith), Ian Marter (Harry Sullivan), Jeremy Wilkin (Kellman), Ronald Leigh-Hunt (Commander Stevenson), William Marlowe (Lester), Kevin Stoney (Tyrum), David Collings (Vorus), Brian Grellis (Sheprah), Michael Wisher (Magrik), Christopher Robbie (Cyberleader), Melville Jones (First Cyberman)

Part Four: Tom Baker (Doctor Who), Elisabeth Sladen (Sarah Jane Smith), Ian Marter (Harry Sullivan), Ronald Leigh-Hunt (Commander Stevenson), William Marlowe (Lester), Kevin Stoney (Tyrum), David Collings (Vorus), Brian Grellis (Sheprah), Michael Wisher (Magrik), Christopher Robbie (Cyberleader), Melville Jones (First Cyberman)

Trivia

The Show

• The symbol seen hanging in the Vogan audience chamber would later be reused in The Deadly Assassin, and become known thereafter as the Seal of Rassilon.

• Coincidentally, William Hartnell, whose final solo serial was the first Cybermen story The Tenth Planet, died between the original airings of the first and second episodes.

• Gerry Davis was unhappy with Robert Holmes's rewrites on what turned out to be his final contribution to the series. He also disliked the title. Gerry's original draft was adapted as part of Big Finish Productions' The Lost Stories range and it was released under its originally-planned title, Return of the Cybermen, in March 2021.

Behind the Scenes

• Although the practise had long been abandoned, this serial originally had individual episode titles. These were "The Beacon in Space", "The Plague Carriers", "The Gold Miners" and "The Battle for the Nerva".

• A number of sets in this story were reused from The Ark in Space, which was recorded immediately before it.

• The serial was partially filmed at Wookey Hole Caves. It's believed that a string misfortune and strange incidents occurred due to a curse stemming from Briant's wife finding some Iron Age arrowheads and taking them home. This included the staff disobeying instructions not to touch the rock formation known as the "Witch" formation after which Sladen nearly died when her boat went haywire and she had to dive overboard to keep herself from smashing into the cavern wall, where stuntman Terry Walsh had to pull her out to save her from drowning, and who later fell ill. Briant claims that when he took the arrowheads from his wife and reburied them, production ran smoothly.

Allusions and References

• In part one, Stevenson informs the Doctor about Kellman's interest in Jupiter's new satellite. The Doctor remarks, "What? Do you mean there are now 13?" At the time of writing in 1974, there were only 12 known Jupiter moons, with the 13th (Leda) being discovered in September 1974.

Goofs

• Following the discovery of the first dead body, the Doctor and companions find more, which are clearly portrayed by mannequins.