The one where the genesis of the Cybermen is seen. Or at least, that of the main branch.
An Origins Episode for the Cybermen of Mondas, written by Marc Platt. The story expands on the backstory of the Cybermen as detailed in "The Tenth Planet" and "Attack of the Cybermen".
This story was an inspiration for the Doctor Who episodes "Rise of the Cybermen"/"The Age of Steel", on which Marc Platt got a story credit. One of the story's most powerful scenes (a partially-converted Cyberman doesn't understand what's been done to her) is drawn from this audio. However, rather than contradicting "Spare Parts", this two-parter details the origins of an alternate universe branch of Cybermen which the Doctor compares to those of Mondas. The character of Yvonne Hartman, appearing in the later episodes "Army Of Ghosts"/"Doomsday", is also a Composite Character of this story's Yvonne Hartley and Doctorman Allan.
This story would inspire another television two-parter story eleven years later. "World Enough and Time"/"The Doctor Falls" deals with the origin of a different set of Mondasian Cybermen in a similar way. Probably due to the overwhelming popularity of this particular story, Steven Moffat went out of his way to avoid contradicting it, instead directly acknowledging it and every other Cyberman origin story as equally as "true" — in the episode, the Doctor notes these new Cybermen are a parallel evolution of the race, just like on Mondas, Telos, Earth, Marinus and Planet 14note . That episode also takes some stylistic cues from this one, notably the pseudo-1950s setting.
Beyond that, it's considered an absolute classic Doctor Who story.
Earth's long-lost twin planet, Mondas, drifts through interstellar space, while the nearly extinct human population live in the last populated underground city. Resources are nearly gone, health is poor for just about everyone, and organ replacement — both organic and manufactured — is commonplace. Events are already spiraling towards a final end for Mondasian civilization, but the approaching Cherrybowl Nebula may rip Mondas apart unless they can activate the untested planetary propulsion system.
The Fifth Doctor and Nyssa land on Mondas. By the time the Doctor realises where and when they are, Nyssa has already befriended a sweet young woman named Yvonne Hartley and her family. The Doctor tells her that there is nothing they can do to save this planet, but Nyssa is still traumatised by the events of "Earthshock", and she decides to stay with the family during their final days. She also brings Yvonne's pet Cybermat into the TARDIS, which promptly starts chewing on wires, causing a fire. The Doctor has to really take a moment to step outside and regain his composure.
Yvonne is drafted into the surface crew and taken away from her dad and brother. Since the surface's atmosphere is impossible to stay alive in, she's given a prototype suit and (due to a power failure) only partially converted. Since organ failure is everywhere, people have started upgrading their entire bodies just to stay alive... and then lobotomising the sick to help cope with their constant pain and grief. This, combined with the prototype suits for surface exploration and the police, resulted in the very first Cybermen, who were promptly judged more efficient than ordinary humans by the ruling Committee, who started trying to convert the rest of the population. The Doctor knows he shouldn't meddle, since You Can't Fight Fate, but his Adric-related Survivor Guilt causes him to investigate anyway, leading him to work with an unscrupulous organ dealer he met earlier.
Both are soon captured by Doctorman Allan, the inventor of the Cyber-suits. And when she realises that the Doctor has a body far more advanced than that of a human, she uses him as the blueprint for all Cybermen, which can now be converted with a far greater efficiency and with better chances of survival thanks to Allan's understanding of his Time Lord brain structure. Allan realises that she's dooming her own planet, but she did what she had to do for her country, and now sees it as her duty to at least dull the emotional pain of it all with institutionalised lobotomies.
Horrified about his unwilling contribution to the creation of the Cyber-race, the Doctor gets really very shouty and decides to give the Laws of Time a wide berth. He poisons the techno-organic Mondas Central Commitee (who are several people who were hooked up into a gestalt computer hive mind and became the first Cyber-Planner) by mixing bottles of Allan's booze into its nutrient feed and teaches Allan how to undo the cyberconversion. As the Doctor and Nyssa eventually leave, she asks about the damage he has potentially done to his personal timeline, but the Doctor admits that Rubber-Band History sometimes ends up sorting these thing out. It turns out he is right; Mondas society soon starts to collapse in on itself, and Allan's attempt at restoring the population is overthrown. The story ends and the Cybermen go on to spend the next few centuries planning to invade Earth, leading to the events of "The Tenth Planet".
Tropes:
- AcCENT upon the Wrong SylLABle: Since they're the original Tenth Planet Cybermen, the prototype Cybermen speak in an accented, sing-song tone.
- The Alcoholic: Despite being constantly on call for her services, Doctorman Christine Allan often helps herself to the well-stocked wine cellar of the former regime (before they were recycled for organ parts by the People's Republic of Tyranny that replaced them). This becomes a Chekhov's Gun when the Doctor uses the wine to spike the Committees' nutrient feed.
- All Issues Are Political Issues: It's well known that Terry Nation modelled the Daleks after the Nazis, not so well-known that Kit Pedler modelled the Cybermen after the Soviets. Spare Parts takes this allegory and runs with it, with a completely state-run world where a shadowy "committee" delegates allocation of resources with ruthless efficiency.
- All That Glitters: The Doctor discovers that the gold statues in the palace are merely covered with gold leaf. And later learns that the first generation Cyberman have yet to acquire their vulnerability to gold.
- Anachronism Stew: Mondasian society is stuck in The '50s because the Committee has prioritized all scientific resources to be spent on their own projects.
- Back-Alley Doctor: Thomas Dodd is a shady character running an—at best—quasi-legal business specialising in cut-rate organ and limb transplants. And he's not too fussy about how he acquires his stock.
- Beneath the Earth: Beneath Mondas, in this case. Mondas society has been reduced to a single city located in caves deep beneath the surface of the planet, as the atmosphere on the surface has frozen.
- Big Brother Is Watching You: Sisterman Constant rings up to report Nyssa as a Stranger who refused to show her papers, ordering all police patrols to keep an eye out for other unregistered Strangers. Later the Doctor finds himself Being Watched by a Cybermat modified for surveillance by the Committee, and uses this to escape by bringing the police down on Dodd after he locks the Doctor in his organ freezer.
- Blatant Lies:
- The Doctor trying to convince Nyssa that Mondas is Earth, probably London. Granted, she does come from another planet, but even then Nyssa is fairly sure London isn't in a cave.
- When the police try to herd everyone into the automated cyber-conversion factories, Mr Hartley scoffs at the announcement that they've being taken to a shelter, because the Underground City has been breached and there's nowhere left to take shelter.
- Body Horror/Medical Horror: Aside from this being the core of every Cybermen story, there's Mr. Hartley's user-maintainable artificial heart and Yvonne's deeply upsetting fate.
- Bold Explorer:
- The Mondasians selected as explorers are portrayed as this, even if it's only a pretty lie.
- The trope is played straight with the astronaut in the prologue, who's set forth with amid propaganda broadcasts, a Smooch of Victory from a beauty queen and a personal phone call from the Committee. Unfortunately he dies screaming the moment he steps foot on the surface of Mondas. At first this seems to be due to the harsh cold, but it's later revealed that the Mondasians can't cope with the vastness of an open sky after growing up in an Underground City. This is why the Cybermen have to have their emotions suppressed.
- Brain in a Jar: Played with; the great minds of Mondas selected for the Cyber Planner now have atrophied bodies and swollen brains.
- Brits Love Tea: Even if they're Human Aliens. Mr. Hartley's response to every crisis is to put the kettle on...until the power goes out and he can no longer do so. At the end of the episode, Nyssa gives him a packet of genuine tea leaves as a parting gift (to the Doctor's annoyance as they were a gift to him from the Emperor of China).
- Call-Back: Adric's recent death due to what the Cybermen will become hangs over both Nyssa and the Doctor.
- Catchphrase: The phrase "We. Will. Survive." is used repeatedly by the Cybermen in general, particularly the Central Committee and their Dragon, Cyberman Commander Zheng. It manages to sum up the whole species' character and drive pretty effectively.
- Cold Equation: The government claims to be cyber-converting civilians (A Fate Worse Than Death) to explore the planet's surface. The sacrifice of a few is expected to save their world. Of course, the Committee has more long-range plans.
- Cybernetics Eat Your Soul: The conversion process preserves almost nothing of the actual person.
- Distant Sequel: The story depicts the creation of the Cybermen, long before the First Doctor's encounter with them in Antarctica in December 1986 during "The Tenth Planet".
- Downer Ending: See Foregone Conclusion. It appears as though the Doctor has won the day. The Cyber-Planner is dead, Cyber-Commander Zheng is dead, and Doctorman Allan is working on ways to reverse the process. The Doctor and Nyssa leave Mondas, wondering how things might have changed. Only Zheng isn't actually dead...Zheng: Doctorman Allan, we will begin again.
- Dying Vocal Change: Zheng appears to be undergoing this after being blasted by the Central Committee, his sing-song voice slowing to a drawn-out crawl. Then he turns up at the end, very much alive.
- Early-Bird Cameo: The unseen young man Eric Krailford that the Hartleys mention is better known as Cyberman Krail in "The Tenth Planet", aka the one who introduces the species.
- Emotions vs. Stoicism: The emotional Doctor argues for quality of life against the stoic Mondasians' resolve to survive regardless of the terrible cost.
- Even Evil Has Standards
- Even Dodd thinks digging up graves to recycle what's in them is going too far.
- Doctorman Allan has only been selecting people who are likely to die anyway for conversion. She's shocked on hearing the Committee intends to convert the entire population.
- Commander Zheng helps kill the Cyber Planner when he realises it's prioritizing its own survival over the people of Mondas.
- Fascists' Bed Time: There's a nightly curfew with police patrols who take away anyone caught outside. Even the kindly Mr Hartley doesn't dare open the door for an elderly neighbour who's desperately banging on it after dark.
- Foregone Conclusion: Invoked, as the Doctor spends much of the story wrestling with the conflict between established history (ie. Cybermen) and his own decent nature that's imploring him to help the Mondasians.
- Ghost Planet: Mondas is turning into one, with the population down to a single underpopulated city beneath the surface.
- Grandfather Clause: This being an origin story, some aspects of the concept are explored and played in different ways, for example the name Cyberman is explained by the fact that Mondas affixes 'man' to the end of more job titles than we do, so you also have a doctorman, a sisterman, an electriman and eventually... a Cyberman.
- Have We Met Yet?: The Fifth Doctor meets the Mondasians as they're just becoming the Cybermen. The First Doctor encountered the Mondasian Cybermen after their conversion was complete and they were set to assault Earth, so Five knows exactly what to expect. Or mostly, at least - it turns out the bits that result in the Cybermen's weakness to gold haven't been introduced yet.
- Hive Mind: The Committee, as they give up their individual minds to fuse into a single entity - the first Cyber-Planner.
- Human Resources: The reason for the nightly curfew is because the Committee is secretly digging up graveyards so they can crush up bones for the nutrients. The Doctor exposes this in the hope of starting a revolt, but the subsequent riot is brutally suppressed.
- Incurable Cough of Death: Yvonne; suffering from a chronic lung complaint, she hasn't been able to replace them with cyborg organs, and can only make do with pills. Later, while she's unwittingly waiting for cyber-conversion, Sisterman Constant diagnoses her as an "acute consumptive" reveals that she'll probably be dead in a few weeks anyway.
- Inexplicable Cultural Ties: Mondas bears an unusually strong resemblance to Earth, particularly England, even for a Doctor Who planet.
- It's All About Me: The Committee was formed from the greatest minds on Mondas to come up with pure logical solutions to save the planet, but they end up prioritizing their own survival above everything, deciding that the city's inhabitants are an inefficient drain on resources.
- Leaning on the Fourth Wall: The Doctor complains about the 'tawdry' alien invasion advertised in the deserted picture theatre.
- The Load: The Committee, since in their quest to live forever, they've squandered Mondas' few resources and led to a complete social stagnation.
- Mad Scientist: Doctorman Christine Allan is the Well-Intentioned Extremist version. Like all mad scientists she's shocked to find her own creations turning against her.
- The Man Behind the Curtain: "No-one sees the Committee"...because they no longer exist as people. The Doctor finds an empty room in the former palace where they supposedly reside.
- Mechanical Horse: With shades of Hellish Horse, brrr. The first Policeman the Doctor encounters is riding a horse that has, like its rider, been upgraded with cybernetic technology and recycled organic parts. The Doctor, kindhearted as he is, can only pity the poor animal.
- Mind Probe: The Doctor is painfully scanned by Doctorman Allan.
- Nice Job Breaking It, Hero: As the Doctor goes around trying to help the people of Mondas and avert the creation of Cybermen, he gets captured and a medical examination of him provides information that helps solve critical problems in the Cyberman design - the Gallifreyan regeneration ability provides the key breakthrough that stops the human body rejecting the cyber implants.
- No-One Could Have Survived That: Doctorman Allan is surprised to find the Doctor surviving an electric shock that would have killed anyone else. Unfortunately this only encourages her to have him Strapped to an Operating Table and examined so she can use his regenerative ability as the template for a new improved Cyberman.
- Not Quite Dead:
- The Robotic Reveal of Mr Hartley's cybernetic heart component is when he comes back to life after Nyssa pronounced him dead because he didn't have a pulse.
- At the end of the story Commander Zheng turns out to be alive and still in control of the other Cybermen, and announces their decision to start again where they left off.
- O.O.C. Is Serious Business: The Doctor does not cope well with seeing Cybermen so soon after Adric's death, and gets a whole, whole lot more shouty than usual. He also decides to Screw Destiny. It doesn't take, but he gives it a damn good try.
- Organ Theft: Thomas Dodd deals in recycled organs that he gets from desperate people on Mondas who sell their own or that of recently deceased relatives. He can't resist when the perfectly healthy Doctor turns up and tries to lock him in his organ freezer. Later the Doctor gets his cooperation by promising one of his hearts (he doesn't have to pay because Dodd gets dragged away to be turned into a Cyberman).
- Pre-Mortem One-Liner:"Sorry, Doctor. I just froze your assets."
- Prequel: To "The Tenth Planet" and every other Cyberman story in the original series.
- Removed Achilles' Heel: Inverted. The Doctor tries to use gold dust against a Cyberman, but it just sort of stares at him — the aspect of Cybermen's cybernetics which causes their Weaksauce Weakness to gold doesn't yet exist in the first generation.
- Retraux/Revisiting the Roots: These are the original Cybermen - they have the original singsong voiceboxes, have no aim beyond survival, and still have some small indications of individuality like names.
- Robo Speak: The Cyber-Planner and the Cybermen.
- Saved by the Church Bell: The Doctor ties a Policeman to the bell ropes of the church, to draw the population to the graveyards being desecrated when the Policeman inadvertently rings them trying to free himself. In the Hope Spot at the end of the story, the bells are rung for real after the Cybermen repair the breached roof of the city and save the population.
- Screw Destiny: The Doctor decides to go against what he knows should happen to give the people of Mondas a chance at survival.
- Shout-Out: The alcohol is one to Brave New World.
- Snow Means Death: Mr Hartley is caught up in the beauty of seeing snow for the first time after Mondas is exposed to the outside atmosphere, even through he knows they'll either freeze or starve to death.
- Strapped to an Operating Table: The Doctor when Doctorman Allen is scanning him to improve the Cyberman. Nyssa bursts in and starts relating something before pausing to ask "Why are you strapped to that table?".
- The Swarm: Cybermats swarm the TARDIS, attracted to its energy, and later Mr Hartley (who works as a Mat Catcher) comes up with the idea of drawing them to the enormous power generated by the Committee.
- Take a Third Option: Stuck between using their resources to save themselves or the city, the Committee decide to convert the entire population into Cybermen.
- Take Me to Your Leader: The Doctor can't resist. "Take me to your...Cyber-Leader?"
- Tampering with Food and Drink: The Doctor pours copious amounts of wine into the feeding system of the Cyber-Planner.
- Trojan Horse: Nyssa thinks that Cybermats are just cute little pet robots, and brings one into the TARDIS, with disastrous results.
- Turned Against Their MastersDoctorman Allan: How dare you, Zheng! All this is my work! I created you!
Commander Zheng: And IIIIIII am superior to you. Beeee proud while you still haaaave the capacity. - Unsuspectingly Soused: The Doctor contaminates the nutrient tanks of the Committee with Allen's wine, with the result that the Hive Mind gets increasing drunk and incoherent.
- Voice of the Legion: The Committee, until the moment they decide to cast aside all dissent and fully embrace unity.
- Well-Intentioned Extremist: Doctorman Allan just wants to keep their people alive. By any means necessary.
- We Want Our Jerk Back!: After the Affably Evil organ dealer Thomas Dodd is turned into a Cyberman who is no longer "programmed for deception", the Doctor admits he preferred the old Dodd.
- Wham Line: There's a couple throughout the story, but this has to be
the most shocking one: faaaTHER must seeeee MY UNIfooorm. - What's In It For Me?: Played for Black Comedy when the Doctor gets Dodd's help by promising one of his hearts to the black market organ dealer.
- What Measure Is a Non-Human?: The Doctor considers Cybermen no longer human in any way that matters. The Mondasians don't agree and still view the Cybermen as such.
- Who Wants to Live Forever?: The Committee, to the extent of prioritising their own survival above that of the population.
- You Can't Fight Fate: The Cybermen will still appear in later events despite what the Doctor did to them.
- You Have Outlived Your Usefulness: Doctorman Allan and Sisterman Constant are not happy to find themselves being marched off for processing with everyone else.
- You Mean X Mas: It's never actually named, but a form of midwinter holiday is around the corner, complete with a festive tree and decorating with lanterns. The Christmas tree even receives a Mondasian justification - the star at the top is our own sun that they one day hope to return to, the tinsel represents Mondas' long and winding journey through the void, and the baubles are all the planets they pass along the way.
