Doctor Who Magazine 504

Costume designer Alexandra Tynan gave the original Cybermen their distinctive look for their first appearance in The Tenth Planet in 1966:

People often come up to me and say, ‘I think your Cybermen were the most frightening,’ I looked at them yesterday, when I re-watched The Tenth Planet, and I thought, ‘I suppose they are a bit scary.’ At the time, they got a lot of press, some of it very negative. Angry parents said that we were scaring the bejesus out of their kids. Am I personally responsible, with my Cybermen, for a whole generation of disturbed people? The number of adults who have come up to me and said, ‘Your Cybermen terrified me when I was a child,’ and I have apologised a thousand times…

Despite this, 50 years on in 2016, the Cybermen are still going strong…

At the time, I had no idea that my Cybermen would prove so iconic – none of us did – but I am overwhelmed by the fact that they became such an icon, and I’m really glad that I didn’t know at the time. I look back now and think how privileged I am to have had the opportunity to do something that has lasted for so long, and I enjoy every minute of talking to people about it. It makes me laugh. I think on my tombstone it will say, ‘She designed the Cybermen,’ and I’m okay with that. Cyber-Mum! Yes, I like it. I do love the Cybermen,” she concludes, “and I thank them for what they did for me.

Also inside this issue:

  • CYBER-PLANS – Discover the inside story of the Cybermen’s many campaigns…
  • EVOLUTION OF THE CYBERMEN – We examine the changes in Cyber-evolution, including some variants that were barely glimpsed on screen.
  • JAMI REID-QUARRELL – We chat to Colony Sarff actor Jami Reid-Quarrell about playing a physically demanding role.
  • MOVING IN – The Doctor goes domestic in our brand-new comic strip adventure, Moving In, written by Mark Wright and illustrated by John Ross.
  • STEVEN MOFFAT – Readers ask the Doctor Who showrunner their burning questions.
  • TIME TEAM – There’s a mystery to solve in nineteenth-century France as the Doctor and Amy have a brush with history when they meet Vincent van Gogh in this month’s episode, Vincent and the Doctor.
  • SILVER NEMESIS – The Cybermen return for Doctor Who’s silver anniversary in this issue’s Fact of Fiction.
  • COMING SOON – Previews of all the latest Doctor Who CD and book releases.
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