Cybermania!

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Publication: TV & Satellite Week
Date: 2006-04-22
Author:
Page: 12
Language: English

We go behind the scenes as Doctor Who's enemies the Cybermen make their long-awaited comeback

We're inside a bleak warehouse on a cheerless Cardiff industrial estate, ringed by forbidding snow-capped mountains in the midst of a teeth-chatteringly freezing November cold snap. But that's the least of our problems — heading straight towards us is a platoon of one of Doctor Who's most deadly foes: the Cybermen.

The scary, expressionless silver automata boasting the trademark jug-handle ears march menacingly in our direction, clanking across the floor of the 'Cyber factory' in which they are being secretly constructed.

The pitiless silver robots, recently voted the all-time second favourite Doctor Who baddies after the Daleks, made their first appearance 40 years ago and return this week in a disturbing two-part story called The Rise of the Cybermen and The Age of Steel.

It might be their first appearance on our TV screens since 1988, but the Cybermen's aim remains the same: total world domination.

The episodes see the Doctor and Rose enter a parallel universe where they team up once again with Rose's long-lost dad, Pete (Shaun Dingwall), and do battle with the evil automaton empire commanded by the ruthless John Lumic (Roger Lloyd Pack).

'The villainous Cybermen are as much a part of Doctor Who heritage as the Daleks, and so it's a huge thrill to see them back,' says the episodes' producer, Phil Collinson. 'I hope that the evil silver giants will terrify a whole new generation of viewers as they confront the tenth Time Lord.'

The said Time Lord, David Tennant, who is relaxing after a hard day fighting the metallic enemy, has his own views on why the Cybermen are timeless villains.

'What is inspired about the Cybermen is that you have the sense that human beings have been turned into vicious machines. There's an organic heart to them. That's what's really chilling about them: inside the metal carapace, it's us. The Cybermen are just a hair's breadth away from reality. It's that, above all, that makes them the stuff of nightmares.'

HEADS UP

The impersonal silver visage gives the Cybermen a truly menacing demeanour. Matt Savage, a member of the team responsible for designing them, says his main brief was to give the updated Cybermen an art deco look. 'They have to look like something that has come off the production line. They are scary because they are cold and completely emotionless,' he says, adding with a smile that 'my biggest joy has been drawing Cybermen all day for a living. It's what I used to do all the time in school, but now I'm paid for it!'

INSIDE A CYBERMAN

Cyberman Ken Hosking, seen taking a relaxing stroll between scenes, says the hardest part of portraying the metallic monsters is 'putting up with the excruciating pain of wearing this heavy costume all day. Think of someone sticking a knife in your back for eight hours, and you're halfway to imagining what it feels like! Having said all that, this costume is very effective because it's so scary. I think it's the bee's knees!'

LIGHTS, CYBERMEN, ACTION!

The Doctor (David Tennant) and Rose (Billie Piper) go undercover as a waiter and a maid to take on the tyrannical Cybermen, who, says Piper, live up to their terrifying billing. 'I've never watched the old episodes of Doctor Who, so the first time I was faced with the Cybermen on set, I found them absolutely terrifying. They are massive and really threatening. Whenever anyone sees one, they completely freak out and I can quite understand why.'

TAKING DIRECTION

The episode's director, Graeme Harper, seen here (below, right) with Billie Piper and David Tennant, is a Doctor Who veteran. He helmed two episodes more than 20 years ago: The Caves of Androzani (1984) and The Revelation of the Daleks (1985). He believes the Cybermen have remained worthy adversaries of the Doctor because 'you don't know how much they're human and how much they're robots. Because they're recognisable, they're more frightening'.

THE VOICE OF EVIL

Nick Briggs (below left) provides the metallic tones of the Cybermen and the chilling voice of the Daleks. 'For the Cybermen, I use a Ring Modulator, the same device I use for the Daleks. It creates a robotic buzz for the Cybermen which makes them sound monstrous. It's integral to their scariness because it shows their total lack of feeling.' Standing next to Briggs is veteran Doctor Who baddie Paul Kasey, who played a Slitheen, a Tree Person and an Auton in the last

FIVE THINGS YOU DIDN'T KNOW ABOUT THE CYBERMEN

The Cybermen, who originated on Earth's evil twin planet Mondas, first appeared in a 1966 episode, The Tenth Planet.
Their appearance brought about the demise of the first Doctor, William Hartnell, who regenerated into Patrick Troughton.
The Cybermen were the only Doctor Who baddies conceived by a genuine scientist. Dr Kit Pedler, who created them with Gerry Davis, dreamt them up as he was anxious about the direction in which 'spare-part surgery' was heading.
The design of the Cybermen has been through many changes. Their outfits have incorporated a washing machine hose, plastic golf balls and Wellington boots. During the 1970s, the Cybermen matched the fashion of the times by wearing flares.
Many of Kylie Minogue's dance moves owe a debt to the robotic gait of the Cybermen. Her choreographer is imp! reportedly a devoted fan of Doctor Who.

Cybermania!

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