Doctor Who: The Five Doctors - REVIEW - Cybercember 

"Splendid fellows, all of you." CyberCember takes a detour as we take a day to talk about the biggest and most ambitious event of the Classic Series. Please be sure to "like" the video and leave any comment to appease the almighty algorithm!

Fun Fact: Eric Saward kept going on at Terrance Dicks to include more bits with Cybermen. Terrance Dicks got tired of this and so wrote the Raston Warrior Robot and wiped out a whole squad of them in horrible ways Malicious Compliance at its finest

19:48-19:54 "Why not, After all that's how it all started!" That will always be my favourite endind line in the classic series.

I think it's a mistake to not acknowledge the tragedy of Borusa's... I don't want to call it an arc, but that's really what it is. Borusa has been a constant presence throughout all previous Gallifrey stories since the Baker era, usually as the Doctor's ally. Let's not forget he was also the Doctor's tutor at the academy. His devolution into corruption and a lust for power is really sad to me.

Huh...turns out I've been mis-pronouncing the Raston Warrior Robot's name for 15 years. I always heard the 3rd Doctor say "Ranston". Uh-oh...I was wrong about something on the internet so I better just leave forever in shame.

Terrance Dicks has explained a lot of the “issues” that hamper the characters are actual nods to inside jokes like Susan’s ankle is a “Terry Nation sprained ankle” (because he did that in a lot of his scripts). Too many interviews to link to, but have a hunt about and just absorb his genius and love of the show.

Really hope Carole Ann Ford's Susan is given a proper send off in a future story. I think she deserves more respect.

There are so many firsts in this story, first time Sarah Jane meets The Master, first time The Third Doctor meets the Cybermen, first time The Master meets the First and Second Doctors, first Time The Master teams up with The Cybermen etc.

Anyone else think it was weird that the 1st Doctor felt the need to introduce his granddaughter, Susan, to his 5th incarnation?

I like The Day of the Doctor, but it’s more a celebration of the modern show then the show as a whole. Imo, The Five Doctors is a better anniversary special. I get these happened under two different circumstances, but they could have done more to celebrate all of Doctor Who’s history for the 50th anniversary.

8:10 A team up that would get massively over used decades later. 9:24 - 10:08 No wonder why Cyber-Steve was reluctant to star in the 20th anniversary.

What kills me is Tom Baker refused to show up to this decent and fun anniversary special but totally came back to do the god awful Dimensions In Time in the 90's!!!! Let that sink in

mastercember for next year plz

Glad I'm not the only one who thinks this is a cybermen story.

Such a pity that the first two multi-Doctor stories don't really live up to their titles, one never being on screen with the rest and all.

Eventually, I'm gonna binge watch both Dalek and Cyber cember

I love that The Timeless Children kept the aspect of the Cybermen being extremely out of their depth compared to Gallifrey, and the Master just running circles around them for his own goals. Those scenes really sold me on Sacha's Master, because it felt exactly like what the Master would do.

It’s a shame we’ll probably never see this sort of event again in DW. I’d have loved to see 8-12 and their companions on screen in a story like this.

I never actually noticed that Cyberman basically threw up But yeah I remember the Warrior Robot scene being fairly just let’s have fun doing stuff to Cybermen we haven’t before

"The warrior robots are the perfect killing machines!" Shows a clip of them missing a shot

"Why not, thats how it all started" (Tears up yet again) And just to put the record straight yet again, I was not the one who made the chest board figures. They were all made by a member of the VFX workshop. I have no idea how that old rumour even started in the first place. LOL

Susan injuring her ankle is one of her most memorable character traits!

I'm guessing that because the Yeti costume use in The Web of Fear wasn't in the best shape, The costume has to be in the dark inside the cave in order to hide the damage.

This story has one of my favourite Bloopers, where the lone Dalek says "Bugger, I lost them!"

I remember when this special first aired -- the Raston warrior robot was literally the coolest thing the fandom had ever seen, and the special was warmly received and honestly, an absolute blast. :-)

They did fix that cybermen voice error in the re-mastered and extended version of this special, so they sound deeper pitched like their ment to

I was always confused as to why we never saw the Raston Warrior Robots again. 13 needed to pick up a couple of those before she arrived in Ascension of the Cybermen.

7:39 He still had that seal in the Time of the Doctor so I guess he never did return it

Favourite quote of the day 'And it's probably my favourite ending line in the whole of the classic series' "Why not, After all that's how it all started!"

I heard JNT directed the Warrior Robot scene where the Cyrbermen got their comeuppance. Best thing he ever did for the show,

Head canon that the Black Scrolls of Rassilon contain knowledge of the Timeless Child. Would make sense "Dark Timelord Secrets". :Thonk: One of my favourite episodes. Watched the special edition ALOT as a kid. Raston Warrior Robot Vs Cyberman scene on repeat. I would recommend the Special Edition, not usually one for improved effects, but I just prefer the the changes in this myself.

Also I love the "not the mind probe" line. It really gets across a being who's not experienced fear in thousands of years suddenly confronted with being tortured. He has no idea how to react and his tone is all over the place.

It's a huge testament to his ability that Jon was able to make his Doctor so charming when the outtakes for the serial show him to have been in a pretty poor mood, particularly in the Rassilon's tomb scenes.

I bet Cyber-Steve will get his big break that wasn’t in this story cause I have high hopes that he got the role of the Cyber Controller in Attack of the Cybermen. Jeff would be proud.

The Five Doctors was one of the first Doctor Who episodes I ever saw. While Day of the Doctor is the better multi-Doctor anniversary special, The Five Doctors is truly a masterpiece of showmanship, of taking a problem-ridden production and making the most of it. It is by no means perfect, but it is about as good as it can be given all the trouble it faced, and it's one of my favorite episodes to rewatch. Also, I like that after Destiny of the Daleks had implied that the Daleks had become completely robotic, the Dalek in this story is shown to have a creature inside it after it is destroyed.

Next time on Cybercember: Tomb of the Cybermen 2: Fanservice Boogaloo

If you think what happened to Barusa here was dark, you should see what happens to him in Engines of War.

I could see them brining the Bryan Cranston warrior robot back as I think it would make a very elegant antagonist, like the T1000 almost.

18:37 Given what Timeless Children sets up, I think moments like these may take on a new angle in hindsight. If S13 and beyond does go further in that direction, does that mean a new Doctor-Rassilon dynamic? Could there maybe be a sort of jealous sept-sibling thing going on with the Doctor's real nature being so thoroughly erased and Rassilon bigging himself up as to rewrite the entire history to be about him? Did he do something to Tecteun? How much did she create that he took credit for? I wonder if Chibbs is setting us up for a confrontation. I mean, The Doctor would probably want to face him - he stole her entire life and legacy, possibly murdered her only family, destroyed her adoptive people during the Time War and left them weak enough for the Master, and indirectly contributed to the deaths of several companions.

The Raston Warrior robot fight scene was directed by JNT himself.

I fully expected to see the Raston Warrior Robot scene intercut with Monty Python's Killer Rabbit Scene.

I've just stumbled across this and it's wonderful to see that so many people are enjoying it. I was one of two humble Visual Effects assistants on this show and have fond memories of its making. I was only 26 and it was huge fun for a young man. I have lots of gossip which, of course, I couldn't possibly divulge!

I’ve heard Tom Baker somewhere say he now regrets not being involved in this production.

9:06 Raston, not Ranston

I've always enjoyed the Raston Warrior robot, and wished it had shown up in some other stories. Really enjoyed him against the Cybermen.

According to Elisabeth Sladen, Richard Hurndall died before his pay-cheque for The Five Doctors came through. Whether that's true or not, he certainly didn't live long after this, sadly passing away in the Spring of 1984.

Richard Hurndall was a good fit for the First Doctor in 'The Five Doctors', because he played a doctor-like character in Blake's 7, I believe

Also, really, really liked the ending: "Why not? That's how it all started." - a very good ending to this celebration of 20 years.

All these years later I still remember my excitement waiting to see this on the day it was broadcast.

I thought the Rastan Warrior robot was the coolest thing ever when I saw it wreck those cybermen as a kid. Also - the Dalek design was my favourite of of the brilliant classic grey 70s type - making the top voice activated dome lights red was perfect to complete the look, and I'm pretty sure it was a unique one-off for this story.

Interestingly I remember watching this right before the first lockdown, either on the Saturday or Sunday I can’t remember, and while the plot has never fussed me it was so deliriously fun that it just made me so happy and forget about the strange circumstances. Really cool to see you covering it.

I think this was the first episode I actually saw of Dr. Who and a year or two later I found myself watching the ones with Tom Baker. For many Saturday Nights I would watch this series on public TV, and it was an amazing series to watch.

The death zone may have been the first conception of the battle royale genre

The 5 Doctors blew my mind when I saw it back in 1983. The PBS station I was watching Doctor Who on was just up to Underworld. So then next week came this look into the future (and the past) of a show I just had started watching from Robot. Then I realized I had watched the Pertwee season back in the early 1970s. The combo of unlocking childhood memories and the thrill of looking forward to the future was something that really cemented my love of the show at that time. To this day just thinking about that reaction gets me a little teary eyed.

This was my favorite Doctor Who episode for the longest time. There is so much to love about it

Plot hole: the 5th doctor questions the master’s credentials after the 3rd doctor takes them. But it is later shown that the 11th doctor still has the seal. And he remembers where it came from. Therefore the 5th doctor should have the seel and remember taking it from the master.

The Five Doctors has to be included in the 10 best classic episodes

Strange to look back and think that the most diverse thing about Doctor Who was a companion with Ginger hair

I never usually count this one as a Cyberman story personally, although obviously that's not an exclusive viewpoint. They're *in* it, and are an active threat, but it's not really *about* them. It's like treating The Big Bang as a Dalek story. BUT, it's a great story so I would be happy for it to be counted as it gives them another great episode considering the hit and miss nature of Cyberman stories, particularly in the later years of Classic Who. The Raston Warrior Robot needs to return - such a good concept that should be given another spin.

I think watching this just after your Earthshock review kinda hammers home just how gruesome the dismembering of the Cybermen is. They're not robots - they're humans inside metal suits, and it's flesh and bone underneath the metallic limbs being cut off! There are so many beheadings, and it's real human heads within the helmets! The vomiting Cyberman is just the tip of the iceberg. Lucky we're not asked to think too deeply about such things, eh?

I love the ending theme, the mashup of the original and the current them at the time.

Nice stuff! I think it's pronounced Raston but that's a nitpick. There was a reason why Borusa couldn't just teleport in, there was a force field round the Tower that prevented him arriving until 3 reversed the polarity. But overall it's a great story, a lot of fanservice.

Born in 1993 and my first ever Doctor Who story. Went to Snowdonia this summer to visit the slate mountains where this was shot - really surprised that kind of location hasn't been used in other science fiction films and shows

Also the brigadier’s replacement was played by david saville who played LT carstairs in ‘the war games’

The Five Doctors is "Day of the Doctor of the 80s". The Raston Warrior Robot is awesome.

While you wouldn’t recommend it, it was my first classic who story. And while some would find the lore and continuity references too much and maybe off putting, for me it just made me want to know more about classic who. Of course I owned the special edition dvd which came with the booklet giving small bios on all the doctors and characters, so that helped a lot. It was almost like a crash course into classic who.

Thank you for your awesome videos!!

Terrance seems to have had more fun with this story that the actors on-screen. Sure it would have been stressful to write so quickly, but what an incredible brain-dump of ideas! The story does hang together, and seeing squads of Cybermen is impressive, even if they stand around most of the time!

You do wonderful coverage of classic Who

Next Time: 'For real this time' The start of Season 22, The hater of DW and BBC Controller Michael Grade, The Doctor returns to Telos to battle the return of the Cyber-Controller, The violence within a man's hand, More references and continuity, And it will all end with a powerful note.. Be ready for the Attack of the Cybermen, There is logic to I said!

Great Review! I really enjoyed this episode too, it was one of the first episodes of classic who I watched and I think it is a good introduction to classic doctor who as it has a lot of doctors, the master, and conic monsters.

I remember seeing this when I was young and wondering why they gave Tom Baker's Doctor such a small part. He was, and still is, my all-time favorite Doctor, so I was a bit annoyed. This, of course, was before the days of the internet so I was blissfully unaware of the behind-the-scenes drama until much later. Looking back on it, I don't really see how they could have had more of him in it. They would have had to further divide up the already stretched thin screen time each Doctor was allotted, plus given Tom's, shall we say "larger than life", performance in the role, I'm not sure how well his incarnation would have meshed with the others.

Due to the fact that this was one of only two Doctor Who VHSs I had as a kid in the 90s I think this might be my most rewatched Doctor Who story.

Tom Baker was my first Doctor, and was more or less happily watching the Peter Davison episodes when I first saw The Five Doctors, and loved it. It was my first introduction to the earlier doctors, and while Hurndall wasn't a perfect fill-in for Hartnell, I think he did a good job nonetheless. And there are so many good beats and lines and fun interactions throughout the story. Since at the time I wasn't familiar with the first three Doctors, I rather thought that the Raston Warrior Robot was also part of that past history--it seemed like a really good opponent for the Doctor to deal with. The Master really is a lot of fun in this story. And I especially liked the fact that it was the first Doctor who was 'first' to realize what Rasilon's plan was, and to say that Borusa deserved it. It really is amazing how well they juggled so many characters in the story without any big continuity gaffes. And how they just rolled with the punches and included a plot point to explain why the 4th Doctor wasn't involved. The Five Doctors remains a favorite of mine.

I like the idea of Branston some time in the future moving from making pickle and relish to warrior robots 🙂

This has one of my favourite Cyber Leader lines: "Promises to aliens have no validity."

This serial was my introduction to the 5th Doctor. It's a fantastic introduction!

Was really hoping that the 'Excellent' tally from yesterday would carry over into today (as in, we're counting all the 'Excellents' from across the show instead of individual stories). Still love these videos though!

This story has such a roller coaster of pros and cons. It's amazing that they got such a large cast. It's disappointing that Tom Baker couldn't be bothered to show up. Although perhaps it was for the best because there were too many characters and subplots going on anyway. It's disappointing that Ian couldn't show up. But of course, if he did then he wouldn't have broken the world record recently for largest gap between television appearances of a fictional character. It's disappointing that they couldn't have had Victoria as the Cameo instead of Zoe, so that the second doctor would to do so they were illusions by Victoria referring to the Brigadier as such when she only ever knew him as a Colonel. But this was just one of the many supports for the Season 6B theory which always opens up the idea for more content.

I remember having this on DVD as a kid. I got it as a bonus from this magazine series that came with DVDs for the reboot series. It was pretty fun, first classic who I saw lol

The 9 year old me was absolutely loving this in 1983.... LOVING IT!

It sucks Tom Baker didn't show up for this, but at the same time the episode is already full, and I don't think it needs another main character on top of everything else happening

This anniversary show may have been my introduction to the Doctor, and thank you to the local library!

I'm the original version of The Five Doctors not only are the time scooping effects different, but Rassilon's voice, I remember being lowered and slowed down in pitch, so to hear his voice normally feels odd

“It’s that sort of woolly thinking that’ll bring about their destruction” Well this aged poorly. Or, I guess, well, depending on how you look at it.

I am looking forward to your review of Attack Of The Cybermen, I remember watching your original review of it back in the day. Plus do you think the Death Zone's use in Galifrey's dark times was just the Time Lord version of professional wrestling.

My favourite Doctor Who story, I hope the Raston Warrior Robot(s) reappear in new Doctor Who, I had a story idea for them along with the War Chief (with a fun twist & a cameo of another old enemy)

Another great review for one of my absolute favourite stories, MrTARDIS, but I have some nitpicks. Firstly, it's the Raston Warrior Robot, not the 'Ranston' Warrior Robot. Secondly, with regards to your comments as to how Borusa just so happened to teleport into the Dark Tower, that was because the Doctors lowered the forcefield. And finally, I take issue with you referring to Doctor Who as a "kids' show," when you yourself have stated multiple times in the past that it is a family programme.

I can't lie that dude in the morphsuit is going crazy 😂

I just realised that this story is the Doctor's "Raiders of the Lost Ark". Even without him being involved the outcome would still be the same. Fun viewing though.

I also thanks Ricard Hurndall for give us the First Doctor again and to start the idea of having other actor playing the role that wasn't the original actor to play the part and is such a shame he pass away in April of 1984 not even one year after give such amazing contribution to the show and us and is curious to remember that Terrance Dicks have to fight his way to put the Dalek on the special everyone else didn't wanna do it even the Daleks been very popular since they were first introduced to the show.

When the master got to the death zone he found a another version of him dead which is weird and there is a big finish audio story called the five companions set during the five doctors with the companions Ian Chesterton,Steven taylor, Nyssa ,Sara kingdom and polly wright fighting daleks and Sontarans

Tom Baker not showing up for the photo shoot is just sad. I knew he didnt want to be tight-cast but the least you could do is be honest about not wanting to be involved at all

The Five Doctors is just so awesome. Great review 😎. When I want a fun show from the classic era, this is the adventure I watch, and I’ve watched it so many times.

Also, on a more serious note, Wendy Padbury was pregnant at the time they had her film her cameo as Zoe, meaning that she had to wear a massive dress, covered in bubble wrap to hind the bump in her own words. Unfortunately, Padbury miscarried her child not long after this story was broadcast.

I remember watching the Five Doctors on broadcast night in the USA (which I’d find out many years later was 2 days earlier than in the UK!) and was utterly enthralled! I had never seen the earlier Doctors at that point-Perteee’s series wouldnt air for a couple more years with the B&W 1 & 2 Docs a couple after that). Seeing Sarah Jane and K9 was probably the biggest “throwback” for me but I was as disappointed that K9 didn’t go with Sarah as I was that he was with Sarah in the first place (K9 & Co wasn’t known of in the States til much much later, at least in my area and remember this is before you could immerse yourself in the internet, (tho I dreamed of having a “computer tied into God’s brain”). But maybe the first K9 would be with Leela who surely would appear this Gallifrey story...I was relieved that the 4th Doctor and Romana obviously were in it despite rumors...but then they weren’t. Shada was also something we simply didn’t know so totally thought this was filmed for the special...when I found out about it years later I finally FINALLY had the answer to just what that freaking question in the quiz book about Cambridge and some TimeLord called Professor Chronotis was referring to since I knew all Tom Baker stories by heart having seen them each 20 times and knew this had never ever been mentioned in any story! I was extremely disappointed Leela didn’t pop up for a visit -yet again - since she was on Gallifrey, had already missed the Doc during Arc of infinity and now did so again! K9 should at the very least have shown up but WTF was he doing with Sarah? The 2nd Doctor remembering things from his personal future stuck out immediately to me...was he plucked from mere moments before his regen? Or did he stop on his way to exile on Earth to see the future Brig for some reason as this obviously was right before he got back in the TARDIS, regenerated and fell out the door in Spearhead from Space (still a better explanation than S6b mind). And wait - since all the Doctors were here and the 1st Doctor figured it all out...then they all freaking knew what was going on the Whole damn time! He can’t be that forgetful, he remembers his companions and- (as you said) NONE of the Doctors were touched to see Susan??? And no Ice Warriors or Sontarans? And apart from the Ranston (sorry, being a jerk) Raston there were no unknown aliens or sneak peaks at upcoming aliens...and how awesome would platoons of OLD Cybermen models be? And I swear David Banks was the other CyberLeader later, like it’s been pitch shifted since but I swear that’s still him....no River Song (that’s future me obviously, the Doctor’s Wife was rumored next season and would the TARDIS getting destroyed before the Doctor regenerated into a woman!)...anyway, loved it but had as many scratch your head wtf ?’s the many long hours I’d think about it afterwards!

It's a good celebration of Doctor Who. It may also be the most released story in the show's history -- multiple VHS and DVD releases. And I fully expect it on BluRay any time now.

The first time I watched the Five Doctors was amazing. It took my breath away.

I remember being around , watching these. Was very young.

As an idea for next year what about a 'Master Month'??