The Cybermen are a fictional race of cyborgs who are amongst the most persistent enemies of the Doctor in the British science fiction television series, Doctor Who. They were created by Dr. Kit Pedler, the unofficial scientific advisor to the programme in 1966, first appearing in the serial, The Tenth Planet, the last to feature William Hartnell as the Doctor. They have since made numerous reappearances in their bid for world or galactic conquest.

The race originated on the planet Mondas, Earth's twin planet in prehistoric times, which was knocked out of solar orbit and drifted into deep space. The Mondasians, fearful for their race's survival, sent out spacecraft to colonise other worlds, including Telos. On Mondas, the native inhabitants installed a drive propulsion system in place of the planet's core.

Cybermen were originally a wholly organic species of humanoids that began to implant more and more cybernetic parts into their bodies. This led to the race becoming coldly logical and calculating. Emotions were only shown when naked aggression was called for.

As the original race was limited in numbers and were continually being depleted, the Cybermen became a race of conquerors who reproduced by taking other organic beings and forcibily changing them into Cybermen (a process known as cyber-conversion). The origins of the Cybermen were further elaborated on in the Big Finish Productions audio play, Spare Parts, starring Peter Davison as the Fifth Doctor.

Their major weakness is the element gold. Initially, it was explained that due to its non-corrodable nature, gold essentially chokes their respiratory systems. For example, the glittergun, a weapon used during the Cyber Wars in the future fired gold dust at its targets. However, in later serials, gold appeared to affect them rather like silver affects werewolves, with gold coins or gold-tipped bullets fired at them having the same effect. Other weaknesses include solvents and excessive levels of radiation.

The Cybermen also used small cybernetic rodent-like creatures called Cybermat s as weapons of attack. Cybermats have been used as individual attack units and as carriers of plagues. Cybermen are typically credited as Cyber Leader, Cyber Lieutenant, and Cyber Scout. However, one Cyberman exists with a name, the Cyber Controller. The Cyber Controller has appeared in multiple forms, both humanoid and as an immobile computer. The Controller seen (and destroyed) in various serials may or may not be the same consciousness in different receptacles.

The Cybermen can be seen as a slightly more individualistic forerunner of Star Trek's major enemy, the Borg. Similarities include converting their victims into their likeness and the use of the catchphrase "Resistance is useless/futile".

Cyberman design

The costumes worn by the Cybermen acted almost as a guide to prevailing fashion at the time of transmission. They were always silver in colour and included material as cloth, rubber, PVC, chest units, tubing and cricketers' gloves. Unlike the Doctor's other foes, the Cybermen have changed substantially in appearance over the years, looking more and more modern, although retaining certain commonalities of design.

Early Cybermen had a somewhat sing-song voice constructed by putTING the INflecTION IN the wrong PLACES (sic). In their first appearance, the effect of this was augmented by the special effect of having a Cyberman abruptly open his mouth wide and keep it open, without moving his tongue or lips, while the separately recorded voice would be playing, and then shut it quickly when the line was done. Later the BBC used special effects from its Radiophonic Workshop by adding first an electropharynx, then a vocoder, to modify speech to make it sound more alien.

Other appearances

The BBV audios Cyber-Hunt and Cybergeddon and the BBV video Cyberon feature the Cyberons, which are a race of cyborgs not dissimilar to the Cybermen. The Cybermen have also been featured in the Virgin New Adventures novel Iceberg, by David Banks , and the Big Finish plays The Sword of Orion, Real Time (produced as a webcast for BBCi), and The Harvest.

Cybermen have also been the subject of parody. Examples include the Dead Ringers comedy series, which featured a suburban Cyberman family struggling to balance galactic domination with everyday domestic crises, and a segment in The Real McCoy which showed a clip from Earthshock with the Doctor and the Cyber Leader dubbed in "Jamaican".

Serials featuring the Cybermen

• The Tenth Planet
• The Moonbase
• The Tomb of the Cybermen
• The Wheel in Space
• The Invasion
• Revenge of the Cybermen
• Earthshock
• The Five Doctors
• Attack of the Cybermen
• Silver Nemesis