Cybermen are better than Daleks?

There, I’ve said it. But can you believe it’s been 50 years since they first stomped into the Antarctic to menace the Doctor and his companions?

With their never-ending quest to convert everyone they can (and destroy anyone who they can’t), the Cybermen are remorseless, emotionless and the stuff of nightmares. Here are just some of their finest moments from five decades of television…

1. First Encounter (The Tenth Planet, 1966)

This was our first look at the metal monsters – only back in 1966 they were a little less metal and a little more monstrous. The brainchild of Kit Pedler and Gerry Davis, and designed by Alexandra Tynan, the Cybermen embodied contemporary fears of surgical enhancement even as they rampaged across the Earth trying to drain it of its energy. (They also sounded rather like a Speak & Spell, which really was creepy.)

2. Suspended Animation (Tomb Of The Cybermen, 1967)

The Second Doctor interrupts an archaeological expedition on the planet Telos, where a group of explorers uncover a huge chamber containing scores of deep-frozen Cybermen. It’s all going well, until somebody hits the ‘thaw’ button. (They’re basically ripping through clingfilm, but the budget was limited, so I think we can let that go.)

3. Cybermen In London (The Invasion, 1968)

Patrick Troughton faced down the Cybermen on no less than four occasions. On the last of them, they were marching on London, appearing near St. Paul’s Cathedral in one of the show’s truly iconic moments…

4. Adric’s Noble End (Earthshock, 1982)

Apart from a couple of token appearances, the Cybermen spent most of the 1970s travelling and listening to Pink Floyd. They bounced back with a vengeance the next decade, making a surprise appearance in an early Fifth Doctor story. Earthshock is renowned for its dramatic ending, which saw Adric frantically solving a series of logic puzzles in order to stop a spaceship from crashing – but is he too late?

5. The Enemy Of My Enemy Is My Frenemy (The Five Doctors, 1983)

It’s not often you see the Doctor and the Master working together – but in anniversary special The Five Doctors, on the slopes of Wales Gallifrey, an attack from marauding Cybermen forces them into an uneasy alliance. (Don’t worry, it doesn’t last.)

6. Talk To The Hand (Attack Of The Cybermen, 1985)

Gustave Lytton (played brilliantly by the late Maurice Colbourne) was one of the most interesting and morally ambiguous characters in 1980s Doctor Who. Initially working with the Daleks, he appeared to have switched his allegiance to the Cybermen by the time the Sixth Doctor caught up with him – but in reality Lytton was a double agent plotting against them. Unfortunately the Cybermen found out, partially converted and eventually killed him, but not before torturing him first.

7. Pre-Nuptial Jitters (The Age Of Steel, 2006)

In a parallel universe, the Doctor and Mrs Moore (real name Angela Price) examine a damaged Cyberman and make a distressing discovery. And the Doctor is sorry. And then he’s so sorry

8. The Ghosts Revealed (Army Of Ghosts, 2006)

Oh, Britain, Britain, Britain. You get an infestation of weird ghost-like creatures and you thought they were friendly? You didn’t see them for the lethal invasion force they really were? Then you deserve your miserable fate. Shame on you, Britain. SHAME. ON. YOU.

9. Ape Escape (The Next Doctor, 2008)

Stopping off in Victorian London, the Doctor finds himself embroiled in a manic chase with a Cyber…gorilla, accompanied by a well-dressed gentleman who appears to be a future incarnation. Or is it? (Spoiler: it isn’t.)

10. The Underhenge (The Pandorica Opens, 2010)

Exploring the caverns beneath Stonehenge, a terrified Amy finds herself face to face with a lone Cyberman, who seems mostly to be in bits – which is more or less how it ends up, once Rory’s finished with it.

Not that we can think of a good use for a disembodied Cyber head. Can you?

11. ‘Would you like me to repeat the question?’ (A Good Man Goes To War, 2011)

OK, the Cybermen don’t actually do anything in this scene, but it’s the moment Rory stopped hiding in the shadows and became a full-blown hero, and we love it. The Eleventh Doctor blows up an entire fleet simply to prove a point, and all the blank-eyed monsters can do is stand and watch.

12. Handles & The TARDIS Phone (The Time of the Doctor, 2013)

Unaware that he’s about to be granted a new set of regenerations, the Doctor sees out his final years in the company of a reconfigured Cyber head. Handles was known to take things rather literally – seriously, I’ve had conversations exactly like this with my children – but he was a splendidly loyal companion, and his death scene is among the most unexpectedly poignant of any character in the show’s history. Or, as the Doctor would say, ‘Well done mate’.

And the bonus ball…

Wondered what the Brigadier got up to after he was resurrected as a Cyberman? Now you know.