History Recap / DoctorWhoS22E1AttackOfTheCybermen

Our story starts out in the sewers of London, where a pair of workers are attacked by an unknown alien force... which has its name in the title. Unfortunately, this is [[Recap/DoctorWhoS11E3DeathToTheDaleks NOT]] [[Recap/DoctorWhoS12E5RevengeOfTheCybermen the]] first time that the reveal of the monster has been spoiled by the title.

->Written by Paula Moore[[note]][[AlanSmithee Pseudonym]]. Actual author(s) unknown, but most likely written primarily by Creator/EricSaward.[[/note]]\\

'''Production code:''' 6T

This serial was written under the [[AlanSmithee pseudonym]] Paula Moore. The actual authorship is disputed, with conflicting accounts regarding the roles of Creator/EricSaward, Paula Woolsey, and Ian Levine [[note]]Contrary to one might think, the problem here was less that nobody wanted to take credit for this story and more so that ''too many'' wanted to, with official BBC rules about script editors not being allowed to commission stories by themselves also complicating matters here[[/note]]. This two-episode serial first aired from January 5--12, 1985.

* AdiposeRex: The Cyber-Controller. It makes as much sense as it sounds (i.e. [[FridgeLogic none at all]][[invoked]]; it's primarily down to the actor having gained weight over the past eighteen years.

* AdiposeRex: The Cyber-Controller. It makes as much sense as it sounds (i.e. [[FridgeLogic none at all]][[invoked]]; it's primarily down to the production team hiring the same actor who played him nearly 20 years ago).

* BigBad: The Cyber Controller.

Our story starts out in the sewers of London, where a pair of workers are attacked ''(and presumably killed)'' by an unknown alien force... which has its name in the title. Unfortunately, this is [[Recap/DoctorWhoS11E3DeathToTheDaleks NOT]] [[Recap/DoctorWhoS12E5RevengeOfTheCybermen the]] first time that the reveal of the monster has been spoiled by the title.

* TwoOfYourEarthMinutes: The Doctor informs Peri that they are in "the year that ''you would calculate'' as 1985".

* TwoOfYourEarthMinutes: The Doctor informs Peri that they are in "the year that ''you would calculate'' as 1985".
* WhatHappenedToTheMouse: The two policemen that accost the Doctor and end up handcuffed to the wall for their troubles are gone by the time he gets back. The only explanation offered is “Cybermen”.

The one with a fat Cyberman.

* TwoOfYourEarthMinutes: The Doctor informs Peri that they are in "the year that ''you would calculate'' as 1985".

--> '''The Doctor''': Didn't go very well now, did it?\\
'''Peri''': Well, Earth's safe, and so is the web of time.\\

* NiceHat: The Doctor temporarily dons a custodian helmet. He's not fooling ''anyone'' into thinking he's a copper with that flashy getup of his, however.

* FailsafeFailure: The Doctor has finally managed to repair the front line of the TARDIS' failsafes: the chameleon circuit! Hurray! If only it could figure out what forms actually blend in with its surroundings, or have a more obvious means of entry.
** Just as well that the failsafe fails again by the end of the story, ironically, into its familiar and infinitely more reliable police box shape.

* GambitPileup

* KillEmAll: The most likely qualifier after "[[Recap/DoctorWhoS15E1HorrorOfFangRock Horror of Fang Rock]]". It's left unclear whether the surviving Cryon resistants might survive the explosion at the end, but given the tone of the story they might not have. However, the Doctor does warn them about the explosion well in advance, so if they could get clear, they would have done.

* SuspiciouslySimilarSubstitute / ReplacementArtifact: The Doctor's sonic lance makes its one and only appearance.

** "[[Recap/DoctorWhoS21E7TheTwinDilemma The Doctor decides to find a pleasant destination as a break from 'the bleakness of Jaconda']]".
** [[Recap/DoctorWhoS6E3TheInvasion The Cybermen once again utilise the London sewers]].

Season 22 was an oddity for ''Doctor Who''. Beginning with this serial and continuing for the remainder of Season 22, episodes were 45 minutes in length (as opposed to previous episodes which were 25 minutes long), leading to many two-parters and one three-parter. This format would return 20 years later when the series resumed in 2005 with "[[Recap/DoctorWhoS27E1Rose Rose]]".

* TheXOfY: The last of three classic-era Cybermen stories -- the others being "The Tomb of the Cybermen" and "Revenge of the Cybermen" -- to have its title in this format.

This serial was written under the [[AlanSmithee pseudonym]] Paula Moore. The actual authorship is disputed, with conflicting accounts regarding the roles of Creator/EricSaward, Paula Woolsey, and Ian Levine [[note]]Contrary to one might think, the problem here was less that nobody wanted to take credit for this story and more so that ''too many'' wanted to, with official BBC rules about script editors not being allowed to commission stories by themselves also complicating matters here[[/note]]. This serial first aired January 5-12, 1985.

This serial was written under the [[AlanSmithee pseudonym]] Paula Moore. The actual authorship is disputed, with conflicting accounts regarding the roles of Creator/EricSaward, Paula Woolsey, and Ian Levine. This serial first aired January 5-12, 1985.

The Doctor, having greatly calmed down since [[{{Recap/DoctorWhoS21E7TheTwinDilemma}} trying to kill Peri with his bare hands]], has randomly decided to try and repair the TARDIS, specifically the Chameleon Circuit that's been malfunctioning since 1963. This involves those "roundels" of the control room being taken off and revealing the circuitry behind them. [[StatusQuoIsGod For now,]] it doesn't work, but the TARDIS is tossed about and our pair of travelers are also tossed about. Luckily, the Doctor manages to land the TARDIS in 1985 and uses the scanner screen to show off [[SpecialEffectFailure Halley's Comet]]. Peri, somewhat understandably considering this Doctor's track record so far, is more concerned about crashing into the comet rather than going "ooooh" over it.

Landing in a car repair shop, the TARDIS decides to turn into a pipe organ. It's nice to see the TARDIS has somehow inherited this incarnation of the Doctor's sense of dress perfectly. Our time traveling heroes muck about and are nearly ambushed by [[{{Recap/DoctorWhoS21E4ResurrectionOfTheDaleks}} a random pair of policemen toting guns]].[[note]]The episode gives us no reason for their appearance, it just assumes that you remember they're the two guys who escaped with Lytton at the end of ''Resurrection'', but of course there's no particular reason that you ''should'' remember this. According to the ExpandedUniverse, they're Lytton's bodyguards. This does make some sense, but not much.[[/note]] Soundly trouncing them, Peri and the Doctor decide to also go into the sewers for... some reason.

* AdiposeRex: The Cyber-Controller. It makes as much sense as it sounds (i.e. [[FridgeLogic none at all]]; it's primarily down to the production team hiring the same actor who played him nearly 20 years ago).

* AvoidTheDreadedGRating: A consequential example. Eric Saward's knack for writing copious amounts of violence into his stories begins to shine here, as this story was so violent that Australia slapped it with a "M" rating, which they had only done once before many years earlier with the 1970 Third Doctor serial "[[Recap/DoctorWhoS7E3TheAmbassadorsOfDeath The Ambassadors of Death]]".

* DistressCall

* LaResistance: The Cryons

* AllThereInTheManual: Later expanded universe sources, ''Doctor Who: Cybermen'' and its audio adaptation ''The [=ArcHive=] Tapes'', have InUniverse historians cement a connection between this story back to "[[Recap/DoctorWhoS19E6Earthshock Earthshock]]", with that story beginning a galactic war against the Cybermen ([=CyberNeomorphs=]) which leds to their desperate gambit to abandon their adopted homeworld and change history here. As well as that, some Cybermen survive in the 20th century and will [[Recap/DoctorWhoS25E3SilverNemesis resurface later]].

* ReverseMole: One of the gang is actually a police officer. And it turns out that Lytton was using the Cybermen to get to his real employers and help them against the Cybermen.