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Doctor Who Target Books (Numerical Order) #66
Doctor Who and the Tomb of the Cybermen
The Cybermen - silver, indestructible monsters whose only goal is power - seem to have disappeared from their planet, Telos. When a party of archaeologists, joined by the Doctor, Jamie, and Victoria, land on the Cybermen's barren, deserted planet, they uncover what appears to be their tomb.
But once inside it becomes clear that the Cybermen are not dead, and some in the group of archaeologists desperately want to re-activate these monsters! How can the Doctor defeat these ruthless, power-seeking humans and the Cybermen?
But once inside it becomes clear that the Cybermen are not dead, and some in the group of archaeologists desperately want to re-activate these monsters! How can the Doctor defeat these ruthless, power-seeking humans and the Cybermen?
141 pages, Mass Market Paperback
First published January 1, 1978
3 people are currently reading
331 people want to read
About the author
Gerry Davis
36 books10 followersGerry Davis was a British television writer, best known for his contributions to the science-fiction genre. He also wrote for the soap operas Coronation Street and United!.
From 1966 until the following year, he was the script editor on the popular BBC science-fiction series Doctor Who, for which he co-created the popular cybernetic monsters known as the Cybermen, who made several appearances in the series over the following twenty-two years. His fellow co-creator of these creatures was the programme's unofficial scientific adviser Dr. Kit Pedler, and following their work on Doctor Who, the pair teamed up again in 1970 when they created a science-fiction programme of their own, Doomwatch. Doomwatch ran for three seasons on BBC One from 1970 to 1972, and also spawned a novel written by Davis and Pedler, and later a cinema film and a 1999 revival on Channel 5.
Davis briefly returned to writing Doctor Who, penning the original script for Revenge of the Cybermen, in 1975, though the transmitted version was heavily rewritten by the then script-editor Robert Holmes. He also adapted several of his scripts into novelisations for Target Books. With Kit Pedler, he wrote the science-fiction novels Mutant 59: The Plastic Eaters (1971), Brainrack (1974) and The Dynostar Menace (1975).
In the 1980s Davis worked in America both in television and on feature films such as The Final Countdown (1980). In late 1989 he and Terry Nation made a joint but unsuccessful bid to take over production of Doctor Who and reformat the series mainly for the American market. Gerry Davis died on August 31 1991.
From 1966 until the following year, he was the script editor on the popular BBC science-fiction series Doctor Who, for which he co-created the popular cybernetic monsters known as the Cybermen, who made several appearances in the series over the following twenty-two years. His fellow co-creator of these creatures was the programme's unofficial scientific adviser Dr. Kit Pedler, and following their work on Doctor Who, the pair teamed up again in 1970 when they created a science-fiction programme of their own, Doomwatch. Doomwatch ran for three seasons on BBC One from 1970 to 1972, and also spawned a novel written by Davis and Pedler, and later a cinema film and a 1999 revival on Channel 5.
Davis briefly returned to writing Doctor Who, penning the original script for Revenge of the Cybermen, in 1975, though the transmitted version was heavily rewritten by the then script-editor Robert Holmes. He also adapted several of his scripts into novelisations for Target Books. With Kit Pedler, he wrote the science-fiction novels Mutant 59: The Plastic Eaters (1971), Brainrack (1974) and The Dynostar Menace (1975).
In the 1980s Davis worked in America both in television and on feature films such as The Final Countdown (1980). In late 1989 he and Terry Nation made a joint but unsuccessful bid to take over production of Doctor Who and reformat the series mainly for the American market. Gerry Davis died on August 31 1991.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 47 reviews
February 11, 2019
Tomb of the Cybermen has always been a fans favourite, in fact it was the first Troughton story I watched on DVD.
He’s incarceration of The Doctor really sparkles on the screen.
This novelisation is just as good, the story itself is very character driven as the TARDIS team arrive on Telos just as an archeological team attempt to uncover a hidden entry in the mountains.
As the story progresses the tension slowly builds as the group explore the various rooms.
It all leads to a great show down once the Cybermen are revealed due the second half of the story.
He’s incarceration of The Doctor really sparkles on the screen.
This novelisation is just as good, the story itself is very character driven as the TARDIS team arrive on Telos just as an archeological team attempt to uncover a hidden entry in the mountains.
As the story progresses the tension slowly builds as the group explore the various rooms.
It all leads to a great show down once the Cybermen are revealed due the second half of the story.
October 21, 2021
This is a novelization of the first adventure of the fifth season of Doctor Who, which was broadcast in September of 1967. The teleplay was written by longtime science fiction collaborators Kit Pedler and Gerry Davis, and Davis adapted it for this book. They had created the Cybermen the year before, in The Tenth Planet. The Doctor was in his second iteration, and was accompanied by recently orphaned Victorian Victoria Waterfield and Scotsman Jamie McCrimmon from a century before her. It's a good Cyberman story, set at an archaeological dig on the planet Telos. They're researching remnants of the Cybermen, who is believed to have died out five hundred years earlier. Naturally, things don't do as planned. I always thought the Cybermats were creepy, but Victoria didn't have a problem. The book has a few inconsistencies (the character is called Doctor Who in the narrative!), and may be aimed at a younger audience than the Target target, but it's an enjoyable story.
October 4, 2014
This is a novelization of a 4 part story that first appeared in 1967 and featured the 2nd Doctor with companions Jamie and Victoria. I was too young to see that at the time of screening (I would have been 4 years old), but as one of the few complete 2nd Doctor stories left, I would have seen it when it was reshown (possibly as late as the 1990s). I have fond memories of this one being very creepy and suspenseful despite (or maybe because of) the poor picture quality of this serial. It was the first time those creepy little buggers the Cybermats appeared.
I was not that impressed with this book to be honest. This story should have been suspenseful - a group of archaeologists investigating the tomb of one of the most dangerous beings in the galaxy, who are not nearly as dead as everyone hopes - but it spends far too much time on histrionics. Many of the characters are very poorly written stereotypes of scientists who spend most of their time squabbling instead of actually doing their job. The human villains here are just pathetic and ill conceived - their motivations for the expedition are nothing short of ludicrous. The only group that comes across well are the crew of the spaceship who transports everyone here - they wisely get out of the way early on and stay in their ship.
The Doctor doesn't fare much better - it is never really explained just why he is there at all. Oh, I know the Tardis takes him where he needs to be rather than where he wants to be, but he really doesn't do nearly enough to prevent the Cybermen from escaping their tomb, which I presume is his intent. His companions are merely painted in broad strokes rather than achieve any semblance of original thought or action.
The Cybermen start off rather clumsily written, and there is a distinct lack of suspense for much of the book. It does start to pick up a bit towards the end, but it's too late to make much of an impact by that point. The Cybermats are not really as creepy as in the serial, so they lose a lot of their impact.
The writing is pretty bad as well a lot of the time, and the extraneous use of some words make it painful to read at times. The Cyberman picks up his Cybergun and aims it at the spaceman who points his spacegun back at him, and so on. I really struggled to wade through this treacle, and it took me several days to read the 141 pages of this book.
(Barely) 2 stars
July 9, 2011
The Target Doctor Who novelizations are ostensibly children's books. Older children, but children still ... but surely children's books don't use words like "truculent" or "incredulous?"
Children's books tend also be be lacking in reflections on loss and longing, yet I find them here.
Greed and human frailty drive the story, but human strength and resilience lead to it's resolution.
Children's books tend also be be lacking in reflections on loss and longing, yet I find them here.
Greed and human frailty drive the story, but human strength and resilience lead to it's resolution.
June 14, 2022
Writing a Target novel to a missing story that is then returned to the archives is interesting and Doctor Who and the Tomb of the Cybermen is one of those few novels that has the opportunity. Yet I cannot help but feel that the adaptation by one of the original authors, is just lackluster in comparison to the original story. Sure The Tomb of the Cybermen had bad special effects and the Cybermen really didn’t do much, but Doctor Who and the Tomb of the Cybermen is a novel that adapts the story in such a slow pace that a lot of the original quality of the story. It’s a book of 140 pages with the first 50 pages or so being dedicated to just the first episode of the four part story, then the next 40 for the second episode, 30 pages for episode three, and the final 20 pages for episode 4. It makes the first episode which is exposition and set up feel extremely dragged out and difficult to get through while the actual story feels rushed. There’s also quite a lot more wrong with the structure of this book, mainly the prose itself. It isn’t like a novelization from Terrance Dicks who writes with a pulp fiction style, but comes across as very dry for the story. There are passages of dry things obviously written based solely on the memories of Gerry Davis and the scripts of The Tomb of the Cybermen to make its story which you think would work. The Doctor’s character and actions suffer the most as Davis is unable to bring Troughton’s charisma into a novel. Davis also suffers from writing structure as the book is split into chapters which are supposed to end on a way to keep the reader interested and this is an adaptation of a story with great cliffhangers. Yeah the chapters never end on the cliffhangers and the imagery of the scene loses some of its radiance with this change.
To summarize, Doctor Who and the Tomb of the Cybermen is a novel that is stripped of what made the story a truly great story, even though it does a straight adaptation of the original story. The problem is in the structure of the novel is off and the performance of Patrick Troughton is missing. 5/10
To summarize, Doctor Who and the Tomb of the Cybermen is a novel that is stripped of what made the story a truly great story, even though it does a straight adaptation of the original story. The problem is in the structure of the novel is off and the performance of Patrick Troughton is missing. 5/10
November 1, 2024
Based on a script by himself and Kir Pedler this is number 66 in the Target catalogue. The first cover is by Jeff Cummins and the second by Alister Pearson. It’s interesting that the wrong style of cyberman is on the first cover, it’s a 4th Doctor version, but the also matches the wrong description in the book of the cyber Controller with a black helmet, that was also the 4th Doctor and later for the Cyber Leader. I wonder if the change was due to when the book was written, to keep it contemporary with the current models.
Also what I’m sure is a hold-over from the original script is the Doctor being referred to as Dr Who in the narration. It’s not all the time and peters out from about a quarter the way through, then resurfaces again on the very last page. Every time it appeared it would throw me. I just too used to him being the Doctor.
The other thing I was slightly disappointed in was some subtle changes in the dialuge, particularly Captain Hopper. His language is more restrained in the book. There’s a couple of quips that I love in the broadcast version that are missing from the book. They have no impact on the story, but take some of the fun out of it for me. For example from an transcript of the story:-
HOPPER: Later, maybe. Not this trip.
VICTORIA: Who'd be a woman.
HOPPER: How would you know, honey? You'd better stay up here. We don't know what's going on down there.
(Hopper goes down through the hatch.)
VICTORIA: Is he always like that?
CALLUM: Most of the time, Vic, yeah.
Telling Victoria, she can’t come is there (pg 97), but it’s shortened. The quipping between Hopper and Victoria is missing, and I think that really helped characterise both Victoria and Hopper.
But don’t get me wrong. I loved this book, I’m just picking nits. It is my all time favourite Cyberman story. I’ve seen it countless times. The story is great and complex with two sets of villains each with different dastardly plans to conquer the universe. And it’s told very well.
Also what I’m sure is a hold-over from the original script is the Doctor being referred to as Dr Who in the narration. It’s not all the time and peters out from about a quarter the way through, then resurfaces again on the very last page. Every time it appeared it would throw me. I just too used to him being the Doctor.
The other thing I was slightly disappointed in was some subtle changes in the dialuge, particularly Captain Hopper. His language is more restrained in the book. There’s a couple of quips that I love in the broadcast version that are missing from the book. They have no impact on the story, but take some of the fun out of it for me. For example from an transcript of the story:-
HOPPER: Later, maybe. Not this trip.
VICTORIA: Who'd be a woman.
HOPPER: How would you know, honey? You'd better stay up here. We don't know what's going on down there.
(Hopper goes down through the hatch.)
VICTORIA: Is he always like that?
CALLUM: Most of the time, Vic, yeah.
Telling Victoria, she can’t come is there (pg 97), but it’s shortened. The quipping between Hopper and Victoria is missing, and I think that really helped characterise both Victoria and Hopper.
But don’t get me wrong. I loved this book, I’m just picking nits. It is my all time favourite Cyberman story. I’ve seen it countless times. The story is great and complex with two sets of villains each with different dastardly plans to conquer the universe. And it’s told very well.
February 17, 2021
A good novelisation of a very good Doctor Who story. I think the style of the story means that it loses a bit in the print version, especially when constrained by page count, and some memorable moments from the TV stories were missing or not as memorable in book form.
Is still a good story, plenty of suspense, and becomes a good base under siege type story. The Cybermen are good and menacing in here, though in comparison to say Power of the Daleks, where in both stories some humans helped the enemies' cause as such, in Power you get impression that if need be, the Daleks could have been a threat without it, whereas in here they would have been cut off pretty quickly without such help, which did lessen the nature of the threat a bit for me.
I liked Victoria calling out some of the sexism that was present, but at same time, it is unfortunate that for a story set in the future, such sexism still existed. Also a little unfortunate the racial mix that seemed to be opted for between protagonists and antagonists, and for the one doomed to be transformed.
The Doctor and the companions in good form here, and Jamie and Victoria are shown to cope pretty well with a lot of technology well outside their frame of reference, in some respects showing that perhaps the further away your frame of reference is from the technology shown, the easier it is to accept, and conversely the more knowledge you have, the more sceptical you are of things outside of it - as occurred with Ian and Steven.
Is still a good story, plenty of suspense, and becomes a good base under siege type story. The Cybermen are good and menacing in here, though in comparison to say Power of the Daleks, where in both stories some humans helped the enemies' cause as such, in Power you get impression that if need be, the Daleks could have been a threat without it, whereas in here they would have been cut off pretty quickly without such help, which did lessen the nature of the threat a bit for me.
I liked Victoria calling out some of the sexism that was present, but at same time, it is unfortunate that for a story set in the future, such sexism still existed. Also a little unfortunate the racial mix that seemed to be opted for between protagonists and antagonists, and for the one doomed to be transformed.
The Doctor and the companions in good form here, and Jamie and Victoria are shown to cope pretty well with a lot of technology well outside their frame of reference, in some respects showing that perhaps the further away your frame of reference is from the technology shown, the easier it is to accept, and conversely the more knowledge you have, the more sceptical you are of things outside of it - as occurred with Ian and Steven.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
July 30, 2018
An interesting adaption, that like the TV episodes it adapts cleverly disguises the Hammer Horror and Egyptology inspirations of the story under a thick layer of science fiction. The novelisation, by necessity plays a little less on the touchstones of the inspiration, and instead draws more heavily on the threat they cybermen pose not only of superior strength, but of what it would mean to be made like them.
The characters are fun, with more human villains contrasting nicely with the otherworldly machine-minded cybermen, and diverse personalities waiting to be picked off one by one. The Doctor gets some charming, witty, moments, but something darker is hinted at, keeping him in the midst of the danger even when he and his friends could have retreated to safety, or offered sanctuary to those they have been entangled with.
It is worth noting that since this was written sometime after the shows aired, a more progressive and sensitive attitude is taken to some characters who could easily have become shlocky and embarrassing stereotypes, taking the broad strokes and trying to round them into something more endearing and believable.
It may be my fond memories colouring my judgement, but I found the story to be breathless and exciting, with a growing sense of menace, leading towards a thrilling conclusion. It rattles by at a pace, and is fun to read.
The characters are fun, with more human villains contrasting nicely with the otherworldly machine-minded cybermen, and diverse personalities waiting to be picked off one by one. The Doctor gets some charming, witty, moments, but something darker is hinted at, keeping him in the midst of the danger even when he and his friends could have retreated to safety, or offered sanctuary to those they have been entangled with.
It is worth noting that since this was written sometime after the shows aired, a more progressive and sensitive attitude is taken to some characters who could easily have become shlocky and embarrassing stereotypes, taking the broad strokes and trying to round them into something more endearing and believable.
It may be my fond memories colouring my judgement, but I found the story to be breathless and exciting, with a growing sense of menace, leading towards a thrilling conclusion. It rattles by at a pace, and is fun to read.
March 26, 2024
From Terrance Dicks to Gerry Davis. This time one of the co-authors of the original television story gets a chance to write his own novelisation. The prose is less driven than Terrance at his best, but Davis gets a chance to expand on the original storyline a little more.
There's an Introduction that gives us a history of the Cybermen and then we're into the story itself. The archaeological exhibition arriving on Telos to explore the extinct Cybermen's home planet. But the whole thing is, of course, a trap.
The Doctor is at his most mysterious and Machiavellian in this story giving the starter villains assistance even though he probably shouldn't. You could drop the Seventh Doctor into this one instead of the Second and it would fit him to a tee.
A word on the two main 'human' villains in this story Kaftan and Klieg. One of them seems to be terminally stupid and the other seems both stupid and mad. It is obvious that their plans to ally with the Cybermen will come to nothing very quickly but still they persist and so they both die stupid. Toberman, whose character is a little less thin in the book than on the televised version, is the only one of them that comes out of the story with any dignity.
But I enjoyed this probably better than I enjoy the TV series to be honest, which I know is sacrilege but what can you do.
There's an Introduction that gives us a history of the Cybermen and then we're into the story itself. The archaeological exhibition arriving on Telos to explore the extinct Cybermen's home planet. But the whole thing is, of course, a trap.
The Doctor is at his most mysterious and Machiavellian in this story giving the starter villains assistance even though he probably shouldn't. You could drop the Seventh Doctor into this one instead of the Second and it would fit him to a tee.
A word on the two main 'human' villains in this story Kaftan and Klieg. One of them seems to be terminally stupid and the other seems both stupid and mad. It is obvious that their plans to ally with the Cybermen will come to nothing very quickly but still they persist and so they both die stupid. Toberman, whose character is a little less thin in the book than on the televised version, is the only one of them that comes out of the story with any dignity.
But I enjoyed this probably better than I enjoy the TV series to be honest, which I know is sacrilege but what can you do.
April 23, 2025
According to the lore, since The Tomb of the Cybermen was a lost Doctor Who serial until the early 1990s, the Target novelisation is what fans grew up dreaming about. And according to that same lore, many were vaguely disappointed when they saw the actual footage. Personally, I don't get it. While, obviously, the serial has the same limitations as other episodes from the era, it's still got gigantic Cybermen, cool effects, and amazing music. And now reading the novelisation, I find it hedges very close to what was put on screen, refuting the notion that this Target somehow made the story seem more grandiose and epic. I guess Doctor Who fans can never be truly happy. Gerry Davis is head writer on these Cyberman adaptations (and indeed, having co-written these particular episodes), so it's all of a piece. Well-rendered without really adding too much to it. He does go on a bit too much about Kaftan's "beauty", as if protesting the casting of the producer's wife at the time (or showing untoward attraction towards her, but his re-casting of her and Toberman as being from the Middle-East may point to original intent rather than a reaction to choices made by others).
December 13, 2025
I've said it before and I'll say it again: I'm a sucker for a Cyberman or Dalek story!
I have fond memories of watching The Tomb of the Cybermen in my Dad's flat when I was a kid, so I already had an idea I was going to enjoy the novelisation. I was thankfully correct, as loving the episodes doesn't always translate to enjoying the books, as was the ever baffling case of the Remembrance of the Daleks novel.
The choices made in this novel definitely raised some questions for me. Since when is Jamie a red head? Victoria doesn't have fair hair either. Kaftan's prize for whoever opens the doors at the beginning was changed from £50 to $5,000. My dad said it was probably just artistic license, but I still found it quite bizarre.
Referring to the Doctor as Dr Who threw me off multiple times as well. I know that the classic era referred to him as such in the credits until Tom Baker's era (I think??) but it was never the name anyone called him in the universe. So any time the author wrote "Dr Who did this" or "said Dr Who" I felt a twinge of irritation.
But all in all an enjoyable and solid adaptation of one of my favourite classic episodes!
I have fond memories of watching The Tomb of the Cybermen in my Dad's flat when I was a kid, so I already had an idea I was going to enjoy the novelisation. I was thankfully correct, as loving the episodes doesn't always translate to enjoying the books, as was the ever baffling case of the Remembrance of the Daleks novel.
The choices made in this novel definitely raised some questions for me. Since when is Jamie a red head? Victoria doesn't have fair hair either. Kaftan's prize for whoever opens the doors at the beginning was changed from £50 to $5,000. My dad said it was probably just artistic license, but I still found it quite bizarre.
Referring to the Doctor as Dr Who threw me off multiple times as well. I know that the classic era referred to him as such in the credits until Tom Baker's era (I think??) but it was never the name anyone called him in the universe. So any time the author wrote "Dr Who did this" or "said Dr Who" I felt a twinge of irritation.
But all in all an enjoyable and solid adaptation of one of my favourite classic episodes!
March 25, 2025
"Tomb of the Cybermen is a fascinating story a unique quasi-historical approach. Instead placing aliens or futuristic elements historical setting, it treats the exploration of an alien planet as an archaeological This makes it a science fiction version of various "mummy" films. The tomb is riddled with traps and puzzles, and the advanced Cybermen fulfill the roles of resurrected undead/zombies.
The novel, written by one of the original script's authors, sticks closely to the televised version. Some characters receive a bit more attention and detail, but it's minor, and there's enough about their backgrounds and motivations to allow the plot to function. Patrick Troughton played the Doctor seriously in this story, and the author captures the gravitas and intelligence of his performance. Although he refers to as "Doctor" rather than "the Doctor a couple of times, which can feel jarring.
The novel, written by one of the original script's authors, sticks closely to the televised version. Some characters receive a bit more attention and detail, but it's minor, and there's enough about their backgrounds and motivations to allow the plot to function. Patrick Troughton played the Doctor seriously in this story, and the author captures the gravitas and intelligence of his performance. Although he refers to as "Doctor" rather than "the Doctor a couple of times, which can feel jarring.
October 30, 2023
This book is better than the original TV story. A simple, but cracking novelisation that brings real energy and suspense to the story.
Tomb of the Cybermen is generally talked about as one the bona-fide “Classics” of Who, but I’ve generally found it a bit dull, at least the TV version.
Gerry Davis adapts his scripts brilliantly. As is sometimes the case, the freedom of the written word surpasses the budget and practical constraints (and dare I say it, acting limitations) of a TV production.
If there is one tiny, Who-pedant criticism it’s that the cover image clearly shows a Cyberman from a later era (more like one from The Invasion) than the ones that turn up in “Tomb”. Bigger ear things.
But that’s just an old die-hard Who nerd talking. Read and enjoy this excellent slice of 1960’s Doctor Who.
Tomb of the Cybermen is generally talked about as one the bona-fide “Classics” of Who, but I’ve generally found it a bit dull, at least the TV version.
Gerry Davis adapts his scripts brilliantly. As is sometimes the case, the freedom of the written word surpasses the budget and practical constraints (and dare I say it, acting limitations) of a TV production.
If there is one tiny, Who-pedant criticism it’s that the cover image clearly shows a Cyberman from a later era (more like one from The Invasion) than the ones that turn up in “Tomb”. Bigger ear things.
But that’s just an old die-hard Who nerd talking. Read and enjoy this excellent slice of 1960’s Doctor Who.
December 24, 2018
“Doctor Who and the Tomb of the Cybermen” by Gerry Davis
Rather slow moving narrative just as the TV episode was. Still, good story.
“.. a small, moon-like planet pitted and scarred by light-centuries of astral bombardment..”
“.. a great deal of room in the confined space aboard the TARDIS”
“Alice in Wonderland” (p10)
“A pall of fine dust..” (p13) [pall = a dark cloud of smoke, dust]
“Doctor Who looked at the man... 'He appears to have been electrocuted,' said Doctor Who.” (p17)
“Doctor Who denied nothing..” (p18)
sufferance = absence of objection rather than genuine approval; toleration.
sibilant = making or characterized by a hissing sound. (p22)
“'Goodbye, Professor,' said Doctor Who...” (closing paragraph, p141)
Rather slow moving narrative just as the TV episode was. Still, good story.
“.. a small, moon-like planet pitted and scarred by light-centuries of astral bombardment..”
“.. a great deal of room in the confined space aboard the TARDIS”
“Alice in Wonderland” (p10)
“A pall of fine dust..” (p13) [pall = a dark cloud of smoke, dust]
“Doctor Who looked at the man... 'He appears to have been electrocuted,' said Doctor Who.” (p17)
“Doctor Who denied nothing..” (p18)
sufferance = absence of objection rather than genuine approval; toleration.
sibilant = making or characterized by a hissing sound. (p22)
“'Goodbye, Professor,' said Doctor Who...” (closing paragraph, p141)
May 12, 2018
Another Gerry Davis book, another lukewarm review. Not entirely sure why I keep reading these, they're never great. The dialogue here was better than in The Highlanders, but it's still a bit of racist mess, without the massive redeeming feature of Patrick Troughton's fantastic performance in the TV episodes. I've noticed that normally, reading a Gerry Davis book is what puts me off reading any more Dr Who books for a while, so I'm doing my best to break the cycle by reading a really good one next. Take THAT, Davis.
March 9, 2023
Doctor Who and the Tomb of the Cybermen (1978) by Gerry Davis is the novelisation of the first serial of the fifth season of Doctor Who. The Second Doctor, Jamie and Victoria land an a planet where an archaeological expediction is searching for remnants of the cybermen. They encover a tomb of cybermen, which contains cybermen that have been frozen.
What happens next is predictable. Apparently the TV serial is better than the novelisation.
Doctor Who and the Tomb of the Cybermen is a short read, but not a very good one.
What happens next is predictable. Apparently the TV serial is better than the novelisation.
Doctor Who and the Tomb of the Cybermen is a short read, but not a very good one.
June 25, 2023
This is an adaptation of one of the original so missing then found stories,and unfortunately the novel suffers from this fact. The novel is a bit slow paced with a prototype book taken up with setting the scene so that over a third of the book covers just the first episode meaning despite the pace the ending feels a bit rushed. He also seems to have lost the Cliffhanger endings to each episode. The fact that he still uses to tiles Doctor Who occasionally also niggles me as a fan. The magi Michael Kilgariff does a decent job with the narration. Overall I would rate this as 3.5 stars.
June 10, 2019
It is my understanding that if you watch this programme you will be subjected to one of the campiest of Dr. Who stories. I can say that although I have never seen it I have read it and it wasn't half bad. The flow was very much like that of the show leaving you wondering often how they would escape their individual predicaments.
Story resolution was good and I can say it probably was very close to how one of the episodes would have concluded.
Story resolution was good and I can say it probably was very close to how one of the episodes would have concluded.
September 22, 2019
Finally, a novelization that I've seen!
Now, this seems a bit different from the television show in some details, but it was still fun to read. I think it was actually more cohesive as a novel than on telly, but that might just be because I sat down and read it all in one.
I will warn you: this is a bit... okay, yeah, it's racist. There's some racist shit in here, and we can all blame it on the times, but, eesh.
Anyway, it's worth a read, I think.
Now, this seems a bit different from the television show in some details, but it was still fun to read. I think it was actually more cohesive as a novel than on telly, but that might just be because I sat down and read it all in one.
I will warn you: this is a bit... okay, yeah, it's racist. There's some racist shit in here, and we can all blame it on the times, but, eesh.
Anyway, it's worth a read, I think.
December 30, 2019
A novelisation of the 1967 TV story starring Patrick Troughton as the Doctor, 'Doctor Who' and the Tomb of the Cybermen' is a fairly run-of-the-mill Target adaptation for such an iconic and well-regarded tale. The things that make the TV version so memorable don't really translate to the page, and what we're left with doesn't quite impress in the same way. It's solid enough though, if a little dated in some respects, and ultimately pretty enjoyable.
July 7, 2020
It's always been one of my favourite Troughton stories, and this is so close to the televised story it's easy to imagine it as you read it. My main gripe is that Davis doesn't seem to know what to call the central character - some of the time he's The Doctor, while others he's 'Doctor Who', and often both on the same page! Thankfully, this is my last Gerry Davis novel as I'm reading them in order.
October 11, 2021
The best of the 3 Gerry Davis target novelisations of Cybermen stories. The TV serial is, of course, known for its visual atmosphere and, especially, the scene where the Cybermen emerge from their hybernation. But it is also a good story and this novelisation captures the tension and suspense of the TV serial. Gerry Davis' writing is at its best here, given enough space in the 140 pages, though there are a few clunky terms, such as various everyday items described using 'space' as a prefix.
December 19, 2021
This is probably Davis's best novelisation so far, a fact that I'm slightly put out by, because it also does absolutely nothing to resolve the blatant racism of the original. It's perhaps slightly easier to stomach than on TV, since I'm not constantly reminded of it every time I open my eyes, like in a visual medium. It does make it impossible to recommend wholeheartedly, so I'll only say that I enjoyed the parts of it that weren't pre-existing problems I had with the serial.
May 19, 2020
2, Jamie and Victoria encounter a human expedition to find the long 'deceased' Cybermen entombed on an inhospitable planet. They find them, strangely and as with all good tomb stories this results in bad things happening. It all works out in the end but only following several deaths, a 'conversion' and some near misses.
August 28, 2020
A splendid retelling of one of Doctor Who's best TV adventures. I clearly remember reading this when I was 9 or 10 and being terrified by the idea of Cybermen rising from the icy tombs of Telos. Gerry Davis is in superb form with this one. Want to keep a younger member of the family quiet for a while during Lockdown? Pop this in their hands and leave them enthralled for a few hours.
October 20, 2023
Victoria makes this book: her perspective makes this a very modern-seeming story and a lot more thoughtful than it might have been. There’s a fairly large supporting cast and they’re all given distinct personalities and roles and there’s also a bit of decent body horror as there should be in a Cybermen story.
August 22, 2018
I'm sorry, but this book was awful. I like the story well enough from watching it - hooray for found missing episodes, even if Tomb of the Cybermen has some issues and isn't the instant classic fan-wisdom made it out to be. But the style and writing of the book kept throwing me out of the story over and over again.
When the second paragraph includes the line "a small, moon-like planet pitted and scarred by light-centuries of astral bombardment", it's a pretty good sign there are going to be issues with the book. If you're not a science buff (in which case, you're quite probably not interested in this book), a light-century is a measurement of distance, not time.
Two paragraphs later, Victoria's dress is taking up "a great deal of room in the confined space aboard the TARDIS". Since the TARDIS is infinite, or nearly so, and the 1960s control room was shown to be a decent size and largely empty, I was starting to worry.
The we have "'He appears to have been electrocuted,' said Doctor Who". I know the character was called "Dr. Who" in the on screen credits in the 60s, but beyond one latterly-admitted mistake from a different story, I don't believe he was ever called that on screen.
At this point I'm keeping going from determination because I'm going to listen to the relevant episode of the Doctor Who Target Book Club Podcast and I will have finished the book first, dammit!
But the regular occurrences of "space-torches", "space-time watches", a "space-tunic" and a "space-gun" almost did me in. I got to the end. I did. I made it. Go me!
The best bits were those that game directly from the script, especially the moment between Victoria and the Doctor where they discuss family. But the book added nothing to what I had already seen on TV and what it did add was the stuff like I've mentioned above, that made the story so very hard to read. If I want to share Tomb of the Cybermen with anyone, I'll be sitting them in front of the TV, not giving them this book.
Please, let the next one (Doctor Who and the Abominable Snowmen) be better.
When the second paragraph includes the line "a small, moon-like planet pitted and scarred by light-centuries of astral bombardment", it's a pretty good sign there are going to be issues with the book. If you're not a science buff (in which case, you're quite probably not interested in this book), a light-century is a measurement of distance, not time.
Two paragraphs later, Victoria's dress is taking up "a great deal of room in the confined space aboard the TARDIS". Since the TARDIS is infinite, or nearly so, and the 1960s control room was shown to be a decent size and largely empty, I was starting to worry.
The we have "'He appears to have been electrocuted,' said Doctor Who". I know the character was called "Dr. Who" in the on screen credits in the 60s, but beyond one latterly-admitted mistake from a different story, I don't believe he was ever called that on screen.
At this point I'm keeping going from determination because I'm going to listen to the relevant episode of the Doctor Who Target Book Club Podcast and I will have finished the book first, dammit!
But the regular occurrences of "space-torches", "space-time watches", a "space-tunic" and a "space-gun" almost did me in. I got to the end. I did. I made it. Go me!
The best bits were those that game directly from the script, especially the moment between Victoria and the Doctor where they discuss family. But the book added nothing to what I had already seen on TV and what it did add was the stuff like I've mentioned above, that made the story so very hard to read. If I want to share Tomb of the Cybermen with anyone, I'll be sitting them in front of the TV, not giving them this book.
Please, let the next one (Doctor Who and the Abominable Snowmen) be better.
August 19, 2023
The best Cyberman book i ever read!!!
February 5, 2024
Now THAT was a lot of fun!
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