The Cybermen in the 1970s and 1980s

Earthshock is decent. The Five Doctors is dumb fun. Silver Nemesis is so so bad. Not seen the other two.

But yeah 60s Cybermen were boss.

this really is a "which turd sandwich is least terrible?" question

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Mt67k3AEl1s

If they had edited down the endless marching scenes in Earthshock, it would be a total classic. The first two episodes are really tense and the ending rules; it's just that after a certain point there's only so much menace you can wring from six Cybermen marching down a corridor AGAIN.

the Cybermen marching across a field scenes from Silver Nemesis are far superior imo

didn't realise there was actually a track from Malcolm Clarke's Earthshock score called 'March of the Cybermen'

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AXE85LamACk

Attack pushes a lot of fan buttons - IM Foreman! The return of Lytton! Terry Molloy out of costume! - but doesn't do much else right. Earthshock has precisely two things going for it; Adric DIES and The Wet Vet taunts David Banks with enjoying a well prepared meal. Silver Nemesis has so many hundreds of things wrong with it, and I do mean HUNDREDS, but I have a soft spot for The Crazy Mixed Up Adventures Of Them There Stuarts Not In Merrie Engerland particularly when Lady Pienforte shows Richard Maynarde his tomb. Revenge has Lovely Harry in it but far too many plot strands and really wants to be an industrial espionage story with a hint of Wurzel Doctor striking workers/class war storylines.

So that leaves Five Doctors. It's objectively dreadful, and the cybermen don't really have that much to do (but still more than the daleks) but it's a sort of warm slanket for me and I'll happily watch it whenever it's on.

They had rubbish voices in this period, didn't they? Not at all flat and robotic, actually quite emotive.

Comp & con with:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9or2yDvC3Ck

when Lady Pienforte shows Richard Maynarde his tomb

I love this scene, Lady Peinforte and Richard + their cod-jacobean drama dialogue are definitely the highlight of Silver Nemesis

Is it in Silver Nemesis where the Doctor bumps into QEII and her corgis in a 'comedy' scene?

also inexplicable cameo appearances by Courtney Pine and Dolores Gray

Silver Nemesis has a nostalgic appeal for me because it reminds me of stuff like Challenge Anneka and Interceptor, definitely the apotheosis of crap Cybermen though, especially the scene where the Doctor and Ace manage to acquire the mcguffin by walking between them while they just stand there (also, befuddled by jazz, weird distracting gardening gloves etc)

befuddled by jazz

This at least kind of makes sense.

I love this scene, Lady Peinforte and Richard + their cod-jacobean drama dialogue are definitely the highlight of Silver Nemesis

The bit where they're approached by two muggers is top as well.

imdb entries for the actors who played the skinheads seems to indicate that they specialised in these sort of roles

http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0155828/?ref_=fn_al_nm_1

http://www.imdb.com/name/nm1293325/?ref_=tt_cl_t10

The Bill (TV Series)
Skinhead / Lord Lucan
- Sunday, Sunday (1989) ... Skinhead
- Just Call Me Guvnor (1988) ... Lord Lucan

yeah, I read that as saying he played 'Skinhead Lord Lucan' in The Bill at first

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The Five Doctors could be a protest vote for how hilariously easily they get mowed down by the Raston Warrior Robot... except that on-screen this turned out to be a dude doing squats in a body stocking

even the cover of the novel was shinier silver

I wonder if that scene was the first mainstream TV appearance of something approximating a morph suit?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QnQVtmYfLtk

Cybermen go dubstep

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D-g0s7o29Qw

Automatic thread bump. This poll's results are now in.

https://31.media.tumblr.com/41dafdc23b775a9a9cdb93f9c1a6e021/tumblr_inline_nes2ajad2s1r87qsr.gif

the cybermen who couldnt hit a barn door. i watched it the other week again on the horror channel and its still fairly enjoyable i dont mind bad dr who when its enjoyable its the boring stories i cant stand

SN is great - it doesn't take itself seriously, there are a lot of different converging plots so it never gets boring, and it's only three episodes long, so there's none of that 'bugger all happens for an entire fucking episode' nonsense.

there are a lot of different converging plots so it never gets boring

I like SN, and there's certainly lots of different stuff going on, describing them as 'plots' seems a little over-generous, though

watching Attack of the Cybermen on tv right now btw