Friday, 20 January 2017

B is for... Bates


A prisoner of the Cybermen, forced to work on the surface of their planet Telos. He had been partially converted into a Cyberman, given mechanical limbs. He formed a plan of escape with fellow captive Stratton. They would kill a guard and use its head as a disguise in order to infiltrate Cyber-Control as prisoner and escort. There, they would steal the Cybermen's captured time-ship. This needed three pilots. The mercenary Lytton would be the third of the crew, in an elaborate plan hatched by the Cryons, Telos' native species. The Cyber-Controller had anticipated this plot, and Bates was killed by a booby-trapped door just as he entered the base.

Played by: Michael Atwell. Appearances: Attack of the Cybermen (1985).

  • Atwell had appeared in Doctor Who once before, though his face was not seen. He played the Ice Warrior Isbur in The Ice Warriors.
  • Usually called upon to portray criminal types, he played Bill Sykes in the musical Oliver! as well the BBC classic serials adaptation of the Dickens tale.
  • For a time he played one of the Beale clan in Eastenders.
  • Between 1981 and 1993 he also had a sideline as a newspaper political cartoonist, signing himself as "Zoke" - from his children's names, Zoe and Jake.

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