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A Tale of Two Books
Mar. 13th, 2019 09:52 pmI've never been a big fan of the Daleks. I know that's practically sacrilege for a Whovian and I can name a few Dalek stories that were really good, but on the whole the Daleks have rarely frightened me. Cybermen, on the other hand, regularly scare the bejeezus out of me. There's something about their almost-humanity (minus emotions) that is really horrifying. They are my favorite of the classic villains, which is why I've been listening to the audiobooks for their first two TV stories.
I started with Doctor Who and the Tenth Planet by Gerry Davis. This was William Hartnell's last story as the Doctor as well as being the first ever appearance of the Cyberman. I had high hopes for this one and, long story short, I was pretty disappointed. It's a basic "base under seige" story and I usually like those, despite the fact that they tend to follow a certain pattern: the Doctor and friends show up somewhere by accident and are taken prisoner by suspicious military types who blame them for whatever issue is currently going on; the leader is obstinate and won't listen to reason despite multiple attempts to alert him to the true situation; the real threat shows up and wipes out a considerable amount of the population; the Doctor and his friends rally the survivors and save the day.
The book hit all those points like clockwork so it's pretty predictable, but that's not the only problem. It's also a very character-lite story. The Doctor doesn't feature in it much and, while I'm sure that's because Hartnell was ill at this point of the series, I don't see why they couldn't have fleshed his role out a bit for the novelization. Anyway, he's rather absent and that makes the story feel less like Doctor Who and more like your average 1960s science fiction. Polly doesn't get to do much of anything other than make coffee; she does have one scene where she fearlessly confronts the Cybermen but otherwise she's just there to ask questions. Ben is the only one who really takes an active role. To make things worse, unlike the Daleks who appear fully formed in their first story and don't change all that much throughout the rest of the series, the Cybermen aren't quite themselves yet. They aren't clever and, despite their numbers and relentlessness, they aren't that difficult to defeat.
As far as the audiobook version, Anneke Wills does a fantastic job with the narration and voicing all the characters, as always. But I'd say this one is only really for die hard First Doctor fans or completists who have to listen to or read every story in order.
In some ways the next appearance of the Cybermen, Doctor Who and the Cybermen by Gerry Davis, is the exact same story as Tenth Planet. It takes place in a base under siege, just on the moon rather than in the Antarctic. The base is staffed by scientists rather than the military, but the chief is still gruff, suspicious, and obstinate. Once again the Doctor and his friends are suspected of sabotage, but that's where the similarities end. Unlike its predecessor and despite the fact that Jamie is injured for the first half of the story, all four of the leads have plenty to do. Polly and the Second Doctor in particular have a lot of good scenes and interactions. One of my favorites for Polly is when she's redoing her nails (no really) while being held prisoner (as you do) and makes the connection between the Cybermen's plastic chest units and the chemical makeup of her nail varnish. She uses that information to cook up something to use against them and calls it "Cocktail Polly."
As for the Second Doctor, he's his usually sweet, befuddled, and yet sneakily frightening self. The Cybermen are more like they'll be for the rest of the series: cunning, cold, and implacable. The action is far less predictable, even if the science doesn't really hold up, and the dialog is better. All in all, it's a much more enjoyable read (or in my case, listen).
Edit to add: by the way, according to Doctor Who and the Cybermen, the events of Tenth Planet take place in 1986. So what were you doing during the first Cybermen invasion?
I started with Doctor Who and the Tenth Planet by Gerry Davis. This was William Hartnell's last story as the Doctor as well as being the first ever appearance of the Cyberman. I had high hopes for this one and, long story short, I was pretty disappointed. It's a basic "base under seige" story and I usually like those, despite the fact that they tend to follow a certain pattern: the Doctor and friends show up somewhere by accident and are taken prisoner by suspicious military types who blame them for whatever issue is currently going on; the leader is obstinate and won't listen to reason despite multiple attempts to alert him to the true situation; the real threat shows up and wipes out a considerable amount of the population; the Doctor and his friends rally the survivors and save the day.
The book hit all those points like clockwork so it's pretty predictable, but that's not the only problem. It's also a very character-lite story. The Doctor doesn't feature in it much and, while I'm sure that's because Hartnell was ill at this point of the series, I don't see why they couldn't have fleshed his role out a bit for the novelization. Anyway, he's rather absent and that makes the story feel less like Doctor Who and more like your average 1960s science fiction. Polly doesn't get to do much of anything other than make coffee; she does have one scene where she fearlessly confronts the Cybermen but otherwise she's just there to ask questions. Ben is the only one who really takes an active role. To make things worse, unlike the Daleks who appear fully formed in their first story and don't change all that much throughout the rest of the series, the Cybermen aren't quite themselves yet. They aren't clever and, despite their numbers and relentlessness, they aren't that difficult to defeat.
As far as the audiobook version, Anneke Wills does a fantastic job with the narration and voicing all the characters, as always. But I'd say this one is only really for die hard First Doctor fans or completists who have to listen to or read every story in order.
In some ways the next appearance of the Cybermen, Doctor Who and the Cybermen by Gerry Davis, is the exact same story as Tenth Planet. It takes place in a base under siege, just on the moon rather than in the Antarctic. The base is staffed by scientists rather than the military, but the chief is still gruff, suspicious, and obstinate. Once again the Doctor and his friends are suspected of sabotage, but that's where the similarities end. Unlike its predecessor and despite the fact that Jamie is injured for the first half of the story, all four of the leads have plenty to do. Polly and the Second Doctor in particular have a lot of good scenes and interactions. One of my favorites for Polly is when she's redoing her nails (no really) while being held prisoner (as you do) and makes the connection between the Cybermen's plastic chest units and the chemical makeup of her nail varnish. She uses that information to cook up something to use against them and calls it "Cocktail Polly."
As for the Second Doctor, he's his usually sweet, befuddled, and yet sneakily frightening self. The Cybermen are more like they'll be for the rest of the series: cunning, cold, and implacable. The action is far less predictable, even if the science doesn't really hold up, and the dialog is better. All in all, it's a much more enjoyable read (or in my case, listen).
Edit to add: by the way, according to Doctor Who and the Cybermen, the events of Tenth Planet take place in 1986. So what were you doing during the first Cybermen invasion?
