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Doctor Who: Cybermen
"There are some corners of the Universe which have bred the most terrible things. Things which act against everything we believe in. They must be fought." So speaks the Doctor of one of his most daunting enemies. And for more then two decades - in many gripping TV adventures - he has fought them. They are beings dedicated only to survival. Human once, they are more machine then man - creatures motivated by logic and devoid of emotion. They call themselves Cybermen. An exciting celebration of these most popular of DR. Who monsters, Cybermen is arranged in four-self contained How Frankenstein and Dan Dare, cybernetics and spare -part surgery, came together in the minds of two men to create the Cyberman Myth. An epic history of the Cybermen and their encounters with the Doctor told as never before from the viewpoint of an imaginary race - the Archivists. All the facts and the many theories woven together through inspired speculation and dramatic illustration. A mind game and a visual feast. The fullest account yet of the making of the TV programs. Producers, Directors, Actors, Designers and Writers - recall in their own words the changing shape of Cybermen. The story that never made it to the screen. 144 large - format pages, packed with illustrations, many in full color.
144 pages, Paperback
First published November 1, 1990
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About the author
David Banks
115 books9 followersDavid Banks (born 24 September 1951) is a stage and television actor and occasional writer and producer. He is best known to Doctor Who fans for his portrayal of the Cyber-Leader in Earthshock, The Five Doctors, Attack of the Cybermen, and Silver Nemesis. Banks also played Karl in the stage production Doctor Who: The Ultimate Adventure. As Jon Pertwee's understudy in the production, he played the Doctor for two performances when Pertwee fell ill.
He also wrote Iceberg, a novel in the Virgin New Adventures which featured the Cybermen. He wrote the part non-fiction, part speculative Doctor Who: Cybermen, the in-universe portions of which were adapted for audio (with Banks' narration) as The ArcHive Tapes.
Banks also produced a series of audiocassette interviews with Doctor Who actors including The Ultimate Interview (with Colin Baker), Pertwee in Person (with Jon Pertwee), and Who's the Real McCoy? with Sylvester McCoy.
He also wrote Iceberg, a novel in the Virgin New Adventures which featured the Cybermen. He wrote the part non-fiction, part speculative Doctor Who: Cybermen, the in-universe portions of which were adapted for audio (with Banks' narration) as The ArcHive Tapes.
Banks also produced a series of audiocassette interviews with Doctor Who actors including The Ultimate Interview (with Colin Baker), Pertwee in Person (with Jon Pertwee), and Who's the Real McCoy? with Sylvester McCoy.
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Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews
February 9, 2012
Very good book. Written in early 1989, before anyone knew of Who's sad fate,the book goes into the back ground of the Cybermen, both in an in-and out of universe perspective. It doesn't reference the new, crappy Cybusmen, which is always good, but it also doesn't reference Spare Parts or Silver Nemesis, which is a downer. Despite all this; long read, good book.
If I recall correctly, thus was my first Doctor Who book. Now, I'm a huge Whovian, and I was real young when I read this, and nothing could fascinate me more then what was put in front of my plump little nose. People were writing fan fiction... And, then releasing it!
Yeah, I'm just kidding, but I was amazed by it's great theories and ideas. It's a real fun read that everyone should sit down to.
If I recall correctly, thus was my first Doctor Who book. Now, I'm a huge Whovian, and I was real young when I read this, and nothing could fascinate me more then what was put in front of my plump little nose. People were writing fan fiction... And, then releasing it!
Yeah, I'm just kidding, but I was amazed by it's great theories and ideas. It's a real fun read that everyone should sit down to.
April 16, 2024
This was a spontaneous read. I have had this book since 1988. It's a little battered and faded these days but is a monument to what happens when an actor takes his role so seriously. Sod Daniel Day Lewis this is what happens when actors go deep.
It is - as you can guess - a book about Cybermen. David Banks played the Cyberleader in a series of Doctor Who stories in the 1980s. His Cyberleader is best know for slamming his gloved fist in his gloved hand and saying 'Excellent!'. Sometimes those gloves were blatantly obviously cricket gloves. But that's irrelevant. I missed the softer Cybermen a bit. New Doctor Who mostly goes for the hard carapace Cyberman these days and it just isn't the same. They're too easily confused for robots. A bit of flesh or fluidity does wonders.
But again I digress. The book is packed full of illustrations and photographs. It is divided into three sections. The first section describes influences on the creation of the Cybermen by Kit Pedler and Gerry Davis: their fictional and non-fictional antecedents.
The second section - the Watsonian bit if you like - tries to explain all the inconsistency in Cyberman design and history using the fictional ArcHives. A future gang of historians who treat the Doctor Who stories as if they are historical documents and not fiction. It's quite fun and I do like Banks' attempts to pull it altogether. And some of it I will happily take as my head canon.
The third section talks about the actual making of each story and has lots of lovely pictures of sets and props.
It's a work of love I think. And I enjoyed it for that. There is an audiobook version, which is read by Banks himself.
It's an interesting read. I'm surprised no one ArcHived other Doctor Who monsters. Perhaps there's a Dalek operator out there with a burning desire to tell the story of the Daleks in the same way.
It's out of print. Of course. But I think you can get the audiobook on iTunes.
"Excellent!"
It is - as you can guess - a book about Cybermen. David Banks played the Cyberleader in a series of Doctor Who stories in the 1980s. His Cyberleader is best know for slamming his gloved fist in his gloved hand and saying 'Excellent!'. Sometimes those gloves were blatantly obviously cricket gloves. But that's irrelevant. I missed the softer Cybermen a bit. New Doctor Who mostly goes for the hard carapace Cyberman these days and it just isn't the same. They're too easily confused for robots. A bit of flesh or fluidity does wonders.
But again I digress. The book is packed full of illustrations and photographs. It is divided into three sections. The first section describes influences on the creation of the Cybermen by Kit Pedler and Gerry Davis: their fictional and non-fictional antecedents.
The second section - the Watsonian bit if you like - tries to explain all the inconsistency in Cyberman design and history using the fictional ArcHives. A future gang of historians who treat the Doctor Who stories as if they are historical documents and not fiction. It's quite fun and I do like Banks' attempts to pull it altogether. And some of it I will happily take as my head canon.
The third section talks about the actual making of each story and has lots of lovely pictures of sets and props.
It's a work of love I think. And I enjoyed it for that. There is an audiobook version, which is read by Banks himself.
It's an interesting read. I'm surprised no one ArcHived other Doctor Who monsters. Perhaps there's a Dalek operator out there with a burning desire to tell the story of the Daleks in the same way.
It's out of print. Of course. But I think you can get the audiobook on iTunes.
"Excellent!"
October 24, 2021
Probably 2.5.
For clarity, this is a re-read, although I don't remember reading the book when it was first released. Also, there's no truth to the rumour that it lost a point due to being signed by the author, but dedicated to both me AND my ex-wife.
Mostly, it's very dry, especially in sections one (a sort of history of cybernetics and logical thinking which reads like a slimmed-down thesis) and two (a re-telling of the Cybermen stories transmitted up to the time of publication, in internal, rather than broadcast, chronology, with a few speculations - this made me want the whole thing to be told in one, long, epic science-fiction book series).
There are some interesting stories and revelations in part three (behind the scenes of the transmitted stories, drawing on anecdotes from people who were there) and nice artwork dotted throughout, but this isn't the best book on Who ever written.
For clarity, this is a re-read, although I don't remember reading the book when it was first released. Also, there's no truth to the rumour that it lost a point due to being signed by the author, but dedicated to both me AND my ex-wife.
Mostly, it's very dry, especially in sections one (a sort of history of cybernetics and logical thinking which reads like a slimmed-down thesis) and two (a re-telling of the Cybermen stories transmitted up to the time of publication, in internal, rather than broadcast, chronology, with a few speculations - this made me want the whole thing to be told in one, long, epic science-fiction book series).
There are some interesting stories and revelations in part three (behind the scenes of the transmitted stories, drawing on anecdotes from people who were there) and nice artwork dotted throughout, but this isn't the best book on Who ever written.
August 10, 2021
Its Cyber-canon can read as a bit eccentric (even at the time), and much was rendered obsolete and redundant by 21st century "Doctor Who". But there is no doubt that this is a labour of love, from the mind of the best actor ever to play a Cyber Leader, and one of the two best artists in the Whoniverse. Professional fans bequeathing quite the gift on a happy Who fandom.
November 19, 2024
Great book, very informative - My copy was signed by David Banks himself
Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews