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Doctor Who: Return of the Cybermen

That could even lead to the biggest bang in history.

One of the many moments that it appears Robert Holmes inserted into Revenge that Gerry Davis hated. Which, frankly, I can't blame Davis for after re-watching the TV version recently.

Sounds like one of those ones where at some point someone will mash both versions together and tease out the best of each.

It would be an interesting experiment, though someone's going to have fun creating visuals for the stuff that's only in the original script/audio version. But given the nature of Doctor Who fandom, I would not be at all surprised if someone took a crack at it at some point in the future.
 
It’s an interesting point that Letts and Dicks set things up for their successors by commissioning a Dalek and a Cyberman story. I’ve often felt that each Doctor is given a Dalek story (starting with Power of the Daleks) to convince viewers that he really is the Doctor. Hinchcliffe and Holmes reacted to this by not having any Daleks or Cybermen during their run. And yet Genesis of the Daleks did set the tone for the remaining Dalek stories of the classic series - they all had Davros as the central character, with the Daleks as his rebellious henchmen.

On another point, I did like Sadie Miller’s performance in Return of the Cybermen. She didn’t sound exactly like her mother, but she did sound like Sarah Jane. Hopefully we’ll hear more from her in future.
 
It’s an interesting point that Letts and Dicks set things up for their successors by commissioning a Dalek and a Cyberman story. I’ve often felt that each Doctor is given a Dalek story (starting with Power of the Daleks) to convince viewers that he really is the Doctor. Hinchcliffe and Holmes reacted to this by not having any Daleks or Cybermen during their run. And yet Genesis of the Daleks did set the tone for the remaining Dalek stories of the classic series - they all had Davros as the central character, with the Daleks as his rebellious henchmen.

It is interesting that, and how maybe that's what was missing from the 80s years. Davison didn't get one until his final season, McCoy his second. On the other hand, Baker had both Daleks and Cybermen and The Master and the Sontarans and a multi-Doctor in his first season... maybe shows just how much the cards were stacked against him. Would be interesting to imagine how he might have been received without The Twin Dilemma having the unenviable task of following The Caves of Androzani. Characterisation and costume would still be an issue, of course.

On a related point, I do think the combined influence of Letts/Dicks and Hinchcliffe/Holmes is really what makes season 12 stand out, Revenge of the Cybermen is the only misstep, and even then that same production season saw Terror of the Zygons which didn't air until season 13. We get a great mix then of what the outgoing team had got down pat and the incoming team beginning to make their presence known even if the High Gothic had yet to properly assert itself. An interesting blend of the two best behind-the-scenes eras in the history of Doctor Who.
 
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