Doctor Who - The Television Stories

Doctor Who - The Stories

QuickNav to a Season:

QuickNav to a Story:

The Moonbase

The Previous Story
(The Underwater Menace)

The Next Story
(The Macra Terror)

Season
Details

Synopsis

General
Information

The
Episodes

Audience
Appreciation

Archives

Notes

First and Last

Story Images

Quote of
the Story

Release
Information

In Print

Photo
Gallery

Synopsis

Cybermen on the Moon Surface

In 2070 Earth’s weather is controlled by the Gravitron, a device based on the Moon and manned by an international team of experts. When the TARDIS deposits The Doctor and his companions on the zero-gravity surface, they discover the base in the grip of a plague epidemic which is drastically reducing the personnel.

The Doctors curiosity is amused by the mysterious infection. With the base’s own medic himself incapacitated, the time traveller offers his services to the ailing crew. Can he pinpoint the source of contamination before time runs out? Jamie, meanwhile, is recovering in the Sick Bay from a blow to the head. In his delirium, can that really be the Phantom Piper come to haunt him - or is it something far more deadly?

Soon an invasion force from Mondas descends, its aim to take control of the Gravitron and decimate Earths population with waves of extreme weather. All remaining humans will be converted to the Cyber race…

Source: BBC Audio

General Information

Season:

Four

Production Code:

Story Number:

Episode Numbers:

149 - 152

Number of Episodes:

Number of Incomplete/Missing Episodes:

Percentage of Episodes Held:

50%

Alternative Titles:

"The Cybermen"

Working Titles:

"The Return of the Cybemen"

Production Dates:

January - February 1967

Broadcast Started:

11 February 1967

Broadcast Finished:

04 March 1967

Colour Status:

B&W

Studio:

Ealing Television Film Studios, Riverside (Studio 1) and Lime Grove (Studio D)

Location:

None

Writer:

Kit Pedler

Director:

Morris Barry

Producer:

Innes Lloyd

Story Editor:

Gerry Davis

Editor:

Ted Walters

Production Assistant:

Desmond McCarthy

Assistant Floor Manager:

Lovett Bickford

Designer:

Colin Shaw

Costume Designers:

Daphne Dare, Mary Woods and Sandra Reid

Make-Up Designers:

Gillian James and Jeanne Richmond

Cameraman:

Peter Hamilton

Lighting:

David Sydenham

Incidental Music:

From Stock

Special Sounds (SFX Editor):

Brian Hodgson

Studio Sounds:

Gordon Mackie

Title Sequence:

Bernard Lodge

Title Music:

Ron Grainer and the BBC Radiophonic Workshop. Arranged by Delia Derbyshire

Cybermen Originally Created By:

Kit Pedler and Gerry Davis

Number of Doctors:

The Doctor:

Patrick Troughton (The Second Doctor)

Number of Companions:

The Companions:

Anneke Wills (Polly Wright), Michael Craze (Ben Jackson) and Frazer Hines (Jamie McCrimmon)

Additional Cast:

Patrick Barr (Hobson), Andre Maranne (Benoit), Michael Wolf (Nils), John Rolfe (Sam), Alan Rowe (Voice from Space Control), Mark Heath (Ralph), Alan Rowe (Dr. Evans), Barry Ashton (Scientist), Derek Calder (Scientist), Arnold Chazen (Scientist), Leon Maybank (Scientist), Victor Pemberton (Scientist), Edward Phillips (Scientist), Ron Pinnell (Scientist), Robin Scott (Scientist), Alan Wells (Scientist), Denis McCarthy (Voice of Controller Rinberg), John Wills (Cyberman), Sonnie Willis (Cyberman), Peter Greene (Cyberman), Keith Goodman (Cyberman), Reg Whitehead (Cyberman), Peter Hawkins (Cybermen Voices)

Setting:

The Moon (2070)

Villain:

Cybermen

The Episodes

No.	Episodes	Broadcast (UK)	Duration	Viewers (Millions)	In Archive
149	Episode 1	11 February 1967	24'12"	8.1	Missing
150	Episode 2	18 February 1967	24'42"	8.9	16mm telerecording
151	Episode 3	25 February 1967	26'11"	8.2	Missing
152	Episode 4	04 March 1967	23'28"	8.1	16mm telerecording

Total Duration

1 Hour 39 Minutes

Audience Appreciation

Average Viewers (Millions)

8.3

Doctor Who Magazine Poll (1998)	68.97% (Position = 75 out of 159)
Doctor Who Magazine Poll (2009)	68.79% (Position = 112 out of 200)
Doctor Who Magazine Poll (2014)	71.63% (Position = 113 out of 241)
Doctor Who Magazine Poll (2023)	Position = 11 out of 21

Archives

Only episodes 2 and 4 exist as 16mm telerecordings. Telesnaps (off-air camera photographs) from this story also exist.

Notes

This story featured the second appearance of the very popular creations of Kit Pedler and Gerry Davis - The Cybermen. This story marks the first redesign, of these recurring villains.

It was commissioned before the last episode of "The Tenth Planet" was broadcast, to take advantage of the strong positive response to the Cybermen. Perhaps because of this, the script writer, Kit Pedler, chose to reuse a number of elements of "The Tenth Planet", and the two stories have a number of marked similarities.

In one scene, as a reference to "The Tenth Planet", Hobson is heard to say 'There were Cybermen, every child knows that. But they were destroyed ages ago'.

The use of the Moon – the first Doctor Who story to be set their – was due to Producer Innes Lloyd capitalizing on the recent interest in our only natural satellite – It would be nearly two years after the this story was broadcast until NASA would send Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin to land there.

A final clip, used to carry the story into the next story, "The Macra Terror", was filmed separately during the making of that story as the Macra prop was too large to be brought into the studio.

This story features the debut of actor John Levene (who would go on to become the semi-regular character Sergeant Benton) as one of the Cybermen in the third and fourth episodes. He was not credited for this role. John Levene would also return as a Yeti in the 1968 story "The Web of Fear".

John Wills, who also plays one of the Cybermen in this story, earlier appeared as 'Frankenstein' in the 1965 story "The Chase" under the name John Maxim.

As the first draft of the script was written before it was decided that Frazer Hines would be a regular cast member the character of Jamie McCrimmon was consigned to unconsciousness in sickbay, after an accident due to the low gravity, for the first half of the story. In the last two episodes, some of Ben Jackson's dialog was given to him.

In this story the Cybermen are seen to have three digits and shoot electricity from their wrists. In their first story they had bare hands.

For the first time The Doctor and his companions are seen to wear space suits with breathing apparatus.

The Moonbase was established around 2050 to control the Earth's weather via the Gravitron as apparently Earth has become environmentally unstable. This story seems to take place before "The Seeds of Death", when a Moonbase is being used to control Earth's travel system and weather control has been moved to the Earth.

There is an unusual sequence in episode three where The Doctor debates with himself what the Cybermen might be afraid of; this was achieved by pre-recording his whispered 'thoughts' and playing them back in the studio with Patrick Troughton muttering the responses in between.

Much to Innes Lloyd's disappointment, part three marked the end of Doctor Who's residence at Riverside Studios. The show would now move back to the more cramped and antiquated confines of Lime Grove D, which had housed the show during its first year in production. The difficulties of working in Lime Grove D immediately became apparent when, reviewing the part four footage the week after filming. Director Morris Barry discovered that the sound equipment had picked up some of the chatter from the floor manager's headphones. Since there was no possibility of the episode being rerecorded due to the need to broadcast it the following Saturday, Morris Barry was forced to edit out this ‘talkback’ as much as possible.

The return of the Cybermen was judged to be a huge success, and so plans were already being made to bring them back again for Season Five.

Unfortunately, only the second and fourth episodes currently exist in the BBC Archives. This story was released on DVD, in January 2014, with animated versions of the missing episodes 1 and 3 along with the original soundtrack.

First and Last

The Firsts:

The first time The Second Doctor confronts the Cybermen.

The first Doctor Who story to be set on the Moon.

The first time there has been a significant redesign of a Doctor Who monster and the first of many for the Cybermen.

The debut of actor John Levene (as an uncredited Cyberman). John Levene would return to the show as semi-regular character Sergeant Benton.

The first time The Doctor and his companions are seen to wear space suits with breathing apparatus.

The first Doctor Who story to be directed by Morris Barry.

The first Doctor Who story to be recorded back at Lime Grove.

The Lasts (Subject to Future Stories):

The last Doctor Who story to be recorded at Riverside.

Story Images

Show Text

The Cybermen Return

The Doctor

Polly is Attacked

Jamie in the Sickbay

Jamie In Danger

Hobson

Evans is Possessed by the Cybermen

Could The Doctor be onto Something?

Polly's Cocktail

A Dreaded Cyberman

The Cybermen Plan Their Attack

Polly

Quote of the Story

'There are some corners of the universe which have bred the most terrible things. Things that act against everything we believe in. They must be fought!'

The Doctor

Release Information

Format	Title	Release Date (UK)	Code Number	Cover Art	Remarks
VHS	Cybermen: The Early Years	July 1992	BBCV 4813	Photo-montage	Includes episodes 2 and 4 only Introduced by Colin Baker Also includes episodes 3 and 6 from "The Wheel in Space"
CD	The Moonbase	April 2001			Narrated by Frazer Hines (Jamie McCrimmon) Double CD Release
DVD	Doctor Who: Lost in Time	November 2004	BBCDVD 1353	Photo-montage	Episodes 2 and 4 as well as audio versions of episodes 1 and 3
CD	The Moonbase	August 2011		Photo-montage	Part of the "Doctor Who: The Lost TV Episodes: Collection Three 1966-1967" Box Set Narrated by Frazer Hines (Jamie McCrimmon)
DVD	The Moonbase	January 2014	BBCDVD 3698	Photo-montage	Includes animated versions of episodes 1 and 3.

In Print

Format	Title	Release Date (UK)	Publisher	Author	Cover Art	Remarks
Novel	Doctor Who and the Cybermen	February 1975	Target No. 14	Gerry Davis	Chris Achilleos	ISBN: 0-426-10575-3 (1st Edition Target Cover)
Novel	Doctor Who and the Cybermen	1980	Target No. 14	Gerry Davis	Chris Achilleos	ISBN: 0-426-10575-3 (Red Logo Cover)
Novel	Doctor Who and the Cybermen	1981	Target No. 14	Gerry Davis	Bill Donohoe	New cover reprint. ISBN: 0-426-11463-9
CD	Doctor Who and the Cybermen	March 2009	Target No. 14	Gerry Davis	Chris Achilleos	Audio version of the Target Novel read by Anneke Wills (Polly Wright)
Novel	Doctor Who and the Cybermen	July 2011	Target No. 14	Gerry Davis	Chris Achilleos	BBC reprint with introduction by Gareth Roberts. ISBN: 978-1-849-90191-8

Doctor Who CMS Magazine (An Adventure in Space and Time)	Issue 33
Doctor Who Magazine - Archive	Issue 138 (Released: July 1988)
Doctor Who Magazine - Article	Issue 181 (Released: December 1991)
Doctor Who Magazine - Time Team	Issue 299 (Released: January 2001)
Doctor Who Magazine - Archive	Issue 322 (Released: October 2002)
Doctor Who Magazine - The Fact of Fiction	Issue 426 (Released: October 2010)

Photo Gallery

The Doctor and Companions

The Second Doctor

Polly Wright

Ben Jackson

Jamie McCrimmon

On Release

Cybermen: The Early Years VHS Video Cover

VIDEO

Soundtrack CD Cover

AUDIO

Lost In Time DVD Cover

VIDEO

The Lost TV Episodes: Collection Three CD Cover

AUDIO

DVD Cover

VIDEO

In Print

Original Target Book Cover

NOVEL

Reprinted Target Book Cover

NOVEL

Second Reprinted Target Book Cover

NOVEL

Target Audio CD Cover

Reprinted BBC Book Cover

NOVEL

Magazines

Doctor Who CMS Magazine (An Adventure in Space and Time): Issue 33

Doctor Who Magazine - Archive: Issue 138

Doctor Who Magazine - Article: Issue 181

Doctor Who Magazine - Time Team: Issue 299

Doctor Who Magazine - Archive: Issue 322

Doctor Who Magazine - The Fact of Fiction: Issue 426

Who's Who

Who Me

Episodes of the
Second Doctor

Season 4

References

Doctor Who is the copyright of the British Broadcasting Corporation. No infringements intended. This site is not endorsed by the BBC or any representatives thereof.