Cyber Smackdown

One of the reasons that I'm so happy (in general) posting on Planet Skaro is that unlike on most forums there's room for some reasonable debate without it all turning nasty and personal.
Today is a great example of this. What started out as a few throwaway comments about why people like or dislike Revenge of the Cybermen (unfortunately most people are unable to appreciate it...) turned into several pages of reasonable debate about when the Cybermen were at their best. It's the kind of irrational argument that can easily get out of hand on a Doctor Who forum (believe me, I've seen it happen over far lesser issues!), because everyone tends to have a set view on the issue. What we got, however, was a well reasoned argument from all sides, defending every type of Cybermen, even the ones that ran away from gold arrows in Silver Nemesis!

The Eighties versions remain my favourites, if only because they terrified so much after Earthshock was broadcast. My Dad had, and indeed still has, the habit of turning off all the lights in the rooms of the house that aren't being used, and so going to bed after Doctor Who always meant going up to the dark landing upstairs... we had three big cupboards all the way along the landing where I was sure there were Cybermen hiding, ready to march out and take me away... It was always that feeling that they were hiding in the dark that scared me most, and when I grew up a bit and thought about what conversion would be like (thanks to David Banks Cybermen book) that feeling of unease grew! (for that reason I found the book Killing Ground and the audio Spare Parts very uncomfortable too). That's why they're my favourite Doctor Who monsters and why I'm enjoying the current story so much, because for the first time ever we're seeing some of the horror of Cyber Conversion on TV.