The last William Hartnell story - "The Tenth Planet" introduced an enemy which would plague the Doctor time and time again - The Cybermen. The Tenth Planet proved a major rating success and before the last episode of that story had been broadcast, Innes Lloyd went to writer Kit Pedler and told him that he wanted the Cybermen to feature in a second story - even if they failed to catch on with the public in their first story.

Letters came flooding in for the Cybermen to re-appear and its sequel, The Moonbase, came four months later in February 1967. Gerry Davis, the script editor at that time, wanted to have a situation similar to The Tenth Planet and set the story on the Moon inside a weather base and manned by a handful of scientists. Gerry Davies helped Kit Pedler to write the scripts but couldn't be credited because of BBC Policy at that time.

The Cybermen's look was updated and most of the actors who played the aliens in 10th Planet was brought back and their voices was made more robotic.

Frazer Hines, in his second story as Jamie, originally wasn't supposed in be in the story, and while re-writes was carried out, he was knocked out and was sick with fever for most of the first three episodes.

Sadly only Parts Two and Four currently exist in the BBC vaults and these two are available on the BBC Video: CYBERMEN - THE EARLY YEARS.

The Date: 2070
The Place: The Moon

Attempting to go to Mars, The Doctor (Patrick Troughton) takes his companions, Jamie (Frazer Hines), Polly (Anneke Wills), and Ben (Michael Craze) to the Moon instead where they find a Moonbase in trouble.

It seems that a plague is breaking out and that the base is being watched and the plague's victims are disappearing. Hobson, the controller, suspects the Doctor and his friends but the Doctor investigations lead to the fact that some creatures he has met before is carrying out the sabotage but why? And how can he convince the scientists that his old enemies is back when they were supposed to be destroyed 84 years ago?

CAN YOU HELP?

In scene 4 of Episode 2, Benoit spouts some French, in anger, at the Doctor. I couldn't make it all out (it's a few years since I did my G.C.S.E.).

Many thanks to Serge Després for sorting out this French!