History Recap / DoctorWhoS5E7TheWheelInSpace

'''Production code:''' SS

Written by Creator/DavidWhitaker. This six-episode serial first aired from April 27 to June 1, 1968.

-> '''Jamie:''' Just you watch your lip or I'll put you across my knee and larrap you.\\

%% One quote is enough. Others can go in Doctor Who's Quotes page.

Zoe stows away on the TARDIS, but is discovered by the Doctor who asks if she really wants to come with them, and shows a clip of [[Recap/DoctorWhoS4E9TheEvilOfTheDaleks a previous adventure]] to demonstrate the dangers. She still seems keen, so they agree to let her come along.[[note]]On the original broadcast, this was followed immediately after by a re-run of [[Recap/DoctorWhoS4E9TheEvilOfTheDaleks "The Evil of the Daleks"]] in its entirety, with linking narration by Creator/PatrickTroughton and Creator/WendyPadbury establishing that this is meant to be the full extent of what the Doctor showed Zoe.[[/note]]

The first ten minutes of it were reconstructed in (colour) animation in 2018, as an audition piece for the animators of [[Recap/DoctorWhoS4E7TheMacraTerror "The Macra Terror"]], and can be found on that DVD.

The one with gyrating Cybermen.

-> '''Jamie''': Just you watch your lip or I'll put you across my knee and larrap you.\\
'''Zoe''': Oh, this is going to be fun. I shall learn a lot from you.

-> ''Logic, my dear Zoe, merely enables one to be wrong with authority.''
-->-- '''The Doctor''' delivers a TakeThat to rival show ''Series/{{Star Trek|TheOriginalSeries}}''...

Zoe stows away on the TARDIS, but is discovered by the Doctor who asks if she really wants to come with them, and shows a clip of [[Recap/DoctorWhoS4E9TheEvilOfTheDaleks a previous adventure]] to demonstrate the dangers. She still seems keen, so they agree to let her come along[[note]]on the original broadcast, this was followed immediately after by a re-run of [[Recap/DoctorWhoS4E9TheEvilOfTheDaleks "The Evil of the Daleks"]] in its entirety, with linking narration by Creator/PatrickTroughton and Creator/WendyPadbury establishing that this is meant to be the full extent of what the Doctor showed Zoe[[/note]].

** To demonstrate the danger he faces on his travels to Zoe, the Doctor shows her the cliffhanger from Episode One of [[Recap/DoctorWhoS4E9TheEvilOfTheDaleks "The Evil of the Daleks"]]. On the original broadcast, the end of this serial was directly followed up by a complete re-airing of "Evil" from front-to-back, one of the few reruns ''Doctor Who'' ever got during its original run, with Creator/PatrickTroughton and Creator/WendyPadbury [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SuNjK422V6Y voicing over]] the opening moments in-character as the Doctor and Zoe to explain that, although "Wheel" only showed a brief excerpt (for runtime purposes), in actuality the Doctor really did show Zoe the full events of his last confrontation with the Daleks.

* AllThereInTheManual: Later expanded universe sources, ''Doctor Who: Cybermen'' and its audio adaptation ''AudioPlay/TheArcHiveTapes'', have InUniverse historians identify these Cybermen as the "Late [=CyberFaction=]"[[note]][=CyberFaction=] being the Cybermen who took their upgrades UpToEleven and left Mondas behind.[[/note]] following the Early [=CyberFaction=], who appear in "[[Recap/DoctorWhoS6E3TheInvasion The Invasion]]". The [=CyberFaction=] later upgrades to [[Recap/DoctorWhoS4E6TheMoonbase yet another form]] which [[Recap/DoctorWhoS5E1TheTombOfTheCybermen settles on the planet Telos]], becoming the [=CyberTelosians=].

* CostumeEvolution: This story features a one-off redesign of the Cybermen that makes them even sleeker-looking and puts large thimbles on the ends of their once-pointy fingers. Most significantly, it ditches the simplistic facial design that had been in place since [[Recap/DoctorWhoS4E2TheTenthPlanet "The Tenth Planet"]] in favor of the "teardrop" design that would become commonplace for most future versions of the Cybermen (barring the "hazmat suit" rendition used throughout the '80s).

Written by Creator/DavidWhitaker. This serial first aired April 27-June 1, 1968.

The spaceship also releases some Cybermats which travel to the station and begin to prepare for an attack by the Cybermen. Meanwhile the Doctor and Jamie meet the crew, including a young teenage mathematical genius called Zoe Heriot. Most of the rest of the crew are being hypnotically controlled by the Cybermats, and the Doctor sends Jamie and Zoe to fetch a piece of phlebotinum from the TARDIS which will allow him to beef up the station's laser enough to destroy the approaching cyber-fleet.

* ComplexityAddiction: So, the Cybermen's plan: Capture the ''Silver Carrier'' and have the Servo-Robot pilot it towards the Wheel. When nearby, it releases tiny pods across space that go into the Wheel and hatch Cybermats. The Cybermats then consume the Wheel's stocks of bernalium. Meanwhile, the Cybermen ionise a star to (somehow) divert an asteroid storm towards the Wheel. The crew of the Wheel will notice this, but be unable to use their defensive laser without bernalium. They will then discover that the ''Silver Carrier'' has plenty of bernalium on board, so will go over to get it. Concealed in the bernalium are large egg-like pods which, when on the Wheel, will hatch Cybermen. These Cybermen will then deactivate the Wheel's oxygen supply, killing the crew. The Cybermen will then be able to use the Wheel as a beacon for their fleet. All of which raises the question: if they want a beacon, why not just build one? [[http://siskoid.blogspot.com/2012/06/doctor-who-210-wheel-in-space-part-5.html Siskoid's Blog of Geekery]] sums it up pretty well.

* {{Retirony}}: Zig-zagged with Flannigan. He's attacked almost immediately after declaring he's eager for a year's leave back on Earth, but manages to fight and even kill one of his attackers. He's then subjected to Cyberman control. Later he's the first to be removed from Cyberman control, ultimately subverting the trope.

* LineOfSightAlias: Jamie coins the long-running "[[MrSmith John Smith]]" alias for the Doctor from a piece of medical equipment.

* AbsenteeActor: The Doctor is absent from the second episode in order to give Creator/PatrickTroughton a holiday.

* BookEnds: Season 5 [[Recap/DoctorWhoS5E1TheTombOfTheCybermen begins]] and ends with a Cybermen story.

* AllThereInTheManual: Later expanded universe sources, ''Doctor Who: Cybermen'' and its audio adaptation ''AudioPlay/TheArcHiveTapes'', have InUniverse historians identify these Cybermen as the "Late [=CyberFaction=]"[[note]][=CyberFaction=] being the Cybermen who took their upgrades UpToEleven and left Mondas behind.[[/note]] following the Early [=CyberFaction=], in who appear "[[Recap/DoctorWhoS6E3TheInvasion The Invasion]]". The [=CyberFaction=] later upgrades to [[Recap/DoctorWhoS4E6TheMoonbase yet another form]] which [[Recap/DoctorWhoS5E1TheTombOfTheCybermen settles on the planet Telos]], becoming the [=CyberTelosians=].

* EarlyInstalmentWeirdness: The Doctor offers Jamie a lemon sherbert rather than a jelly baby.

Zoe stows away on the TARDIS, but is discovered by the Doctor who asks if she really wants to come with them, and shows a clip of [[Recap/DoctorWhoS4E9TheEvilOfTheDaleks a previous adventure]] to demonstrate the dangers. She still seems keen, so they agree to let her come along[[note]]on the original broadcast, this was followed immediately after by a re-run of [[Recap/DoctorWhoS4E9TheEvilOfTheDaleks "The Evil of the Daleks"]] in its entirety, with linking narration by Creator/PatrickTroughton and Wendy Padbury establishing that this is meant to be the full extent of what the Doctor showed Zoe[[/note]].

** To demonstrate the danger he faces on his travels to Zoe, the Doctor shows her the cliffhanger from Episode One of [[Recap/DoctorWhoS4E9TheEvilOfTheDaleks "The Evil of the Daleks"]]. On the original broadcast, the end of this serial was directly followed up by a complete re-airing of "Evil" from front-to-back, one of the few reruns ''Doctor Who'' ever got during its original run, with Creator/PatrickTroughton and Wendy Padbury [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SuNjK422V6Y voicing over]] the opening moments in-character as the Doctor and Zoe to explain that, although "Wheel" only showed a brief excerpt (for runtime purposes), in actuality the Doctor really did show Zoe the full events of his last confrontation with the Daleks.

* AllThereInTheManual: Later expanded universe sources, ''Doctor Who: Cybermen'' and its audio adaptation ''The [=ArcHive=] Tapes'', have InUniverse historians identify these Cybermen as the "Late [=CyberFaction=]"[[note]][=CyberFaction=] being the Cybermen who took their upgrades UpToEleven and left Mondas behind.[[/note]] following the Early [=CyberFaction=], in who appear "[[Recap/DoctorWhoS6E3TheInvasion The Invasion]]". The [=CyberFaction=] later upgrades to [[Recap/DoctorWhoS4E6TheMoonbase yet another form]] which [[Recap/DoctorWhoS5E1TheTombOfTheCybermen settles on the planet Telos]], becoming the [=CyberTelosians=].

* EarlyInstallmentWeirdness: The Doctor offers Jamie a lemon sherbert rather than a jelly baby.

* AllThereInTheManual: Later expanded universe sources, ''Doctor Who: Cybermen'' and its audio adaptation ''The ArcHive Tapes'', have InUniverse historians identify these Cybermen as the "Late [=CyberFaction=]"[[note]][=CyberFaction=] being the Cybermen who took their upgrades UpToEleven and left Mondas behind.[[/note]] following the Early [=CyberFaction=], in who appear "[[Recap/DoctorWhoS6E3TheInvasion The Invasion]]". The [=CyberFaction=] later upgrades to [[Recap/DoctorWhoS4E6TheMoonbase yet another form]] which [[Recap/DoctorWhoS5E1TheTombOfTheCybermen settles on the planet Telos]], becoming the [=CyberTelosians=].