Thursday 6 August 2015

Know Your Cybermen No.15


A Good Man Goes To War (2011).
Another cameo appearance for the Cybermen, but this marks the first occasion that we see the ones that originated in our universe. How can we tell? Well, they don't have the "C" - for Cybus - on the circular chest plate.
However, to all intents and purposes these Cybermen are identical to their parallel universe cousins.
The helmet of the Cyber-Leader is the same as the one seen in The Next Doctor, having the transparent brain case and the black face plate.
This is the 12th Cyber Legion, sometime in the 51st Century. The Cybermen have a significant presence in the cosmos at this time.
Rory and the Doctor break onto the flagship in order to learn the whereabouts of the kidnapped Amy. To prompt an answer, the Doctor destroys the bulk of the fleet.
These Cybermen use rifle-type guns, rather than threaten Rory with built-in arm weaponry.
Their spaceships look the same as the ones we saw in The Invasion - as well as The Pandorica Opens.
The question needs to be asked. Are these really "our" Cybermen at all, or are they a development of the Cybus survivors? Could the Seventh Doctor have really wiped out the Mondasian Cybermen, and all the new series ones are descendants of survivors from the parallel universe?
Then again, if the Cybermen develop along logical lines, our ones might come to look exactly like the Cybus ones - if that is the logical way to evolve.
The two branches may also have met and merged, obviously.


Story Notes:

  • Not a lot to say on this occasion, as it is only a cameo after all. The removal of the "C" is obviously intended to show that these are supposed to be our universe Cybermen.
  • Alternative titles for this episode were 'Demon's Run' and 'His Darkest Hour'.
  • It was the 777th episode of Doctor Who, and it is the 7th episode of its season.
  • Captain Jack was supposed to have been part of the Doctor's gang - but John Barrowman was busy filming TW: Miracle Day. Ood Sigma was also to appear, and was indeed filmed, but the scene was cut. RTD still gets a credit at the end for creating the Ood.
  • As with his previous appearance, there must have been some dialogue changes as the Cyber-Leader's mouth lights activate when he doesn't actually say anything.

3 comments:

  1. I'm a fan of the merged Cybermen theory, myself. I'm not sure if it helps resolve some lingering questions, but raises new questions also!

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    Replies
    1. Wait till we get to "Nightmare In Silver", where there are both Cybus and non-Cybus Cybermen in the museum.

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    2. I look forward to it, good sir!

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