Attack of the Cybermen

Cybermen! In the TARDIS!

Two episodes (Part One, Part Two)
First broadcast Jan 5 to 12 1985
Average audience for serial: 8.05m

REGULAR CAST

Colin Baker (The Doctor) Born Jun 8 1943 Click here for Colin Baker's entry on Arc of Infinity

Nicola Bryant (Peri Brown) Born Oct 11 1960 Click here for Nicola Bryant's entry on Planet of Fire

GUEST CAST

John Ainley (Cyberman)
Career highlights
6ft 3in John's other work includes Operation Julie (1985), The Bill (1985), Dead Head (1986), Dempsey and Makepeace (1986) and Metropolis (2000).
Facts
John's uncle is Master actor Anthony Ainley. He got the job of playing a Cyberman when the actor originally contracted to play Stratton - Trevor Raymond - had to withdraw after breaking his arm, which led to original Cyber Lieutenant actor Jonathan David taking his role, and original Cyberman actor Brian Orrell stepping into the Cyber Lieutenant's moonboots.

Michael Attwell (Bates) Jan 16 1943 to Mar 18 2006
Doctor Who credits
Played: Isbur in The Ice Warriors (1967)
Played: Bates in Attack of the Cybermen (1985)
Career highlights
Doctor Who was Michael's first credit, after which he appeared in The First Churchills (1969), Turtle's Progress (1979-80), Bergerac (1983), Oliver Twist (1985), Are You Being Served? (1985), CATS Eyes (1987), Buster (1988), Westbeach (1993), The Scarlet and the Black (1993), Bugs (1995), Wycliffe (1997-98, as Stevens), My Family (2001), Daniel Deronda (2002), Dinotopia (2003), Trial and Retribution (2004), Hotel Babylon (2006) and Agatha Christie's Marple (2006). He may be best remembered as Kenny Beale in the soap EastEnders (1988).
Facts
Michael, 6ft 4in, was also a political cartoonist for the News of the World, The People and The Sun in the 1980s, using the name Zoke, and also drew comic strips for the likes of Bunty, Hotspur, Whizzer and Chips and Buster. His son is TV producer Jake Attwell.

David Banks (Cyber Leader) Born Sep 24 1951
Doctor Who credits
Played: Cyber Leader in Earthshock (1982), The Five Doctors (1983), Attack of the Cybermen (1985), Silver Nemesis (1988)
Career highlights
David, 6ft 3in, made his acting debut in Keep It in the Family (1980), then made appearances in Bret Maverick (1981/82), The Bill (1991), A Time to Dance (1992), EastEnders (1994), Canary Wharf (1996) and Doctors (2006). Between 1991-92 he had a regular role in soap Brookside as Graeme Curtis.
Facts
In 1989 he played Karl the mercenary in the stage play Doctor Who - The Ultimate Adventure (a role he reprised for an audio adaptation in 2007). On April 29th 1989, Pertwee fell ill and was replaced for two performances by David, who wore a white suit, t-shirt and Panama hat as the Doctor. In the late 1980s David got involved with Cyber-lore, writing the biographical work Doctor Who - Cybermen in 1988, which he adapted into audio cassettes and narrated as Origins of the Cybermen (1989-90). In 1984 David submitted a script to the Doctor Who production team called FlipBack which was steeped in Cyber-continuity, and was ultimately developed into his New Adventure novel Iceberg in 1993. David would have been cast as the Auton leader if the aborted Season 23 Doctor Who story Yellow Fever and How to Cure It had been filmed.

James Beckett (Payne) Born Dec 26 1940
Career highlights
James's other work includes The Push Over (1963), Thorndyke (1964), Poor Cow (1967), UFO (1970), Paganini Strikes Again (1973), Crown Court (1976), Angels (1981), Dempsey and Makepeace (1985), Shadow of the Noose (1989) and Byker Grove (1992).

Sarah Berger (Rost) Born Mar 19 1959
Career highlights
Debuting in The Crucible (1980), Sarah's CV includes Ladykillers (1981), An Inspector Calls (1982), Praying Mantis (1982), The Green Man (1990), Josie (1991), The Scarlet and the Black (1993), Fatherland (1994), Castles (1995), Jeffrey Bernard is Unwell (1999), The Scarlet Pimpernel (1999), New Tricks (2003), Murphy's Law (2004), 1320 (2011) and Casualty (1993/2013). Sarah played Moya McQueen in daytime soap Doctors in 2003.
Facts
Sarah is the founder of the So and So Arts Club, a networking resource for actors, directors, writers etc. Here she is, on Twitter!
In 2016 Toby Hadoke released his Who's Round interview with Sarah here.

Faith Brown (Flast) Born May 28 1944
Career highlights
Faith is best known as a comedienne and impressionist, debuting on Who Do You Do (1976), then Ken Dodd's World of Laughter (1976), The Faith Brown Chat Show (1980), Nice to See You! (1981) and Emu's Pink Windmill Show (1984). She also played Anne Bradley in the soap Brookside in 1996, and played The Voice in children's series Trapped! (2009-10). Faith has also appeared as a participant on I'm Famous and Frightened! (2004) - which she won - Hell's Kitchen (2004), I'm a Celebrity, Get Me Out of Here! (2006) and Loose Women (2007-09).
Facts
Known for her buxom appearance (her vital statistics in 1976 were 35D-23-36), Faith (real name Irene Carroll) is well remembered for her impressions of singer Kate Bush, poet Pam Ayres, actress Eartha Kitt and ex-British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher. In the 1960s she was in a band called The Carrolls with her brothers Lee, Ron and Mike, and in the 1970s released several solo records, including Lock Me In (1970). She was also one of the performers on the single Doctor in Distress by Who Cares? in 1986.
This is Your Life: Faith was the subject of Thames TV's This is Your Life on January 20th, 1982, surprised by host Eamonn Andrews while she was appearing as a guest on Game for a Laugh. Fellow Doctor Who actor Ken Dodd was a guest on the show.

Stephen Churchett (Bill) Apr 10 1947 to Jan 11 2022
Career highlights
Stephen's career began with Up Pompeii (1970), then The Shadow of the Tower (1972), Notorious Woman (1974), Jubilee (1977), A Bridge Too Far (1977), Mackenzie (1980), Codename Icarus (1981), The Old Men at the Zoo (1983), CATS Eyes (1985), Rockcliffe's Babies (1987), 'Allo 'Allo! (1987), Hannay (1988), Rockcliffe's Folly (1988), Campion (1990), The Object of Beauty (1991), Moon and Son (1992), Agent Z and the Penguin from Mars (1994), Bugs (1996), Photographing Fairies (1997), McCallum (1998), The Scarlet Pimpernel (1999), The Cazalets (2001), The Brief (2005), Law and Order UK (2009), Lucan (2013), Lewis (2013) and Churchill (2015). Stephen's recurring roles include Joseph Wint in The House of Eliott (1992-94), Cllr Jack Druggett in sitcom The Brittas Empire (1994-97), the coroner in a handful of Agatha Christie's Marple adaptations (2004-13) and Marcus Christie, solicitor to the Mitchell family, in over 70 episodes of soap EastEnders (1990-2015). Stephen also wrote stage plays and TV scripts, numerously for The Bill (1991), Kavanagh QC (1999/2001), Hornblower (2003), Agatha Christie's Marple (2004-08) and Lewis (2006-13).
In 2016 Toby Hadoke released his Who's Round interview with Stephen here.

Maurice Colbourne (Lytton) Sep 24 1939 to Aug 4 1989 (heart attack)
Doctor Who credits
Played: Lytton in Resurrection of the Daleks (1984), Attack of the Cybermen (1985)
Career highlights
Maurice's debut came in Cry of the Banshee (1970), then Churchill's People (1975), The Littlest Horse Thieves (1976), The Duellists (1977), Bloodline (1979), The Onedin Line (1979), Hawk the Slayer (1980), Strangers (1980), The Day of the Triffids (1981), Johnny Jarvis (1983) and Hitler's SS: Portrait in Evil (1985). He secured early success playing John Kline in the Play for Today Gangsters (1975) and its resultant series (1976-78), but found his biggest fame as Tom Howard in 61 episodes of the maritime drama Howards' Way (1985-89).
Facts
Before becoming an actor Maurice (born Roger Middleton) was a ghost train operator in Manchester and a waiter in London. He adopted his stage name after seeing an obituary (in 1965) for an actor called Maurice Colbourne, who coincidentally shared his birthdate. In 1972 Maurice co-founded the Half Moon Theatre Company (named after an alley near the rented building they used), but the company folded in 1990 (a Wetherspoon's pub is named after it, the Half Moon in Stepney Green, London. Maurice died in his wife's arms in Brittany, while there renovating a holiday home, shortly after returning from a sailing trip. He was due to return to the UK the following week to complete filming series five of Howards' Way (his character's disappearance was explained as a sailing accident).

Jonathan David (Stratton)
Career highlights
Further credits include Death or Glory Boy (1974), Intimate Reflections (1974), Intimate Games (1976), Crown Court (1977), The Professionals (1978), Strangers (1980), Blake's 7 (1981), Just Our Luck (1983) and Love is Like That (1993).
Facts
Jonathan was originally cast to play the Cyber Lieutenant, but when original Stratton actor Trevor Raymond broke his arm and had to pull out, Jonathan took his role.

Esther Freud (Threst) Born May 2 1963
Career highlights
Esther's acting career was short; prior to Doctor Who she had appeared in The Bill and The Comic Strip Presents... (both 1984). Her greatest claim to fame is writing the novel Hideous Kinky (1992), which was turned into a feature film starring Kate Winslet in 1998. Subsequent books include Lucky Break, Love Falls and Mr Mac and Me.
Facts
Esther is married to actor David Morrissey (who appeared in Doctor Who's 2008 Christmas special The Next Doctor); her father was the eminent painter Lucian Freud, her great grandfather the psychiatrist Sigmund Freud, her uncle the politician and writer Clement Freud, her sister fashion designer Bella Freud, and her cousins the broadcaster Emma Freud (script editor of Vincent and the Doctor, and wife of its writer Richard Curtis) and public relations guru Matthew Freud. The Freuds are an ever-expanding family of talent - Esther's dad Lucian fathered 14 children with different women! Other children include novelist Susie Boyt and sculptor Jane McAdam Freud. Who would have thought a Cryon could be part of such an influential artistic family?

Brian Glover (Griffiths) Apr 2 1934 to Jul 24 1997 (brain tumour)
Career highlights
Brian made his memorable acting debut in the 1969 film Kes as the sports teacher Mr Sugden, then took roles in Paul Temple (1971), Coronation Street (1972), Sez Les (1972), Whatever Happened to the Likely Lads? (1973), Porridge (1974), Shades of Greene (1976), Jabberwocky (1977), The Great Train Robbery (1979), Sounding Brass (1980), An American Werewolf in London (1981), Educating Marmalade (1982), Foxy Lady (1984), The Company of Wolves (1984), Last of the Summer Wine (1985), The Les Dennis Laughter Show (1991), Alien³ (1992), Anna Lee (1993-94), Rumble (1995), Bob's Weekend (1996), Snow White: A Tale of Terror (1997) and Stiff Upper Lips (1998). Brian had regular roles as Art in a few Play for Todays (The Fishing Party, Shakespeare or Bust and Three for the Fancy (1972-74)) and Magersfontein Lugg, valet to Peter Davison's title character in Campion (1989-90). His broad Yorkshire accent will forever be associated with the Tetley TV adverts ("Tetley make teabags make tea") and Allinson's bread ("wi' nowt taken out"). Brian was also a writer, credited on Sunshine in Brixton (1976), Summer Season (1976), Send in the Girls (1978), Hazell (1979), Singleton's Pluck (1984) and Rumble (1995) - he is also believed to have submitted a script to Doctor Who in the 1980s...
Facts
Before becoming an actor, Brian was a professional wrestler in Barnsley in the 1960s, first going by the name of Erik Tanberg, the Blond from Sweden, then Leon Arras, the Man from Paris. His father Charlie was also a wrestler, the Red Devil. Brian worked for a time as a schoolteacher between 1954-70, teaching English and French. His second wife was Tara Prem, producer of TV series such as Two Up, Two Down and Love Hurts.

Sarah Greene (Varne) Born Oct 24 1958
Career highlights
Sarah is best known as a TV presenter, although her other acting appearances include Together (1980), The Swish of the Curtain (1980), Casualty (2004), Suburban Shootout (2007) and Hotel Babylon (2008). She is most famous for being a presenter on the children's show Blue Peter (1980-83), as well as Eureka (1983), Saturday Superstore (1984-87), Going Live! (1987-93), Antiques Roadshow (1991), Happy Families (1993), Collector's Lot (1997) and This Morning (2005). In 1992 she played herself in the one-off drama Ghostwatch, which became one of the most controversial programmes in the BBC's history after some viewers mistook the supernatural fiction for fact. She competed in the celebrity ice skating series Dancing on Ice in 2008.
Facts
Sarah met her presenter husband Mike Smith while they were both running the 1981 London Marathon. In 1988, both Sarah and Mike were seriously injured when the helicopter Mike was piloting crashed in Gloucestershire; Mike broke his back and ankle, Sarah both legs and an arm. They made full recoveries. Sadly, Mike died following heart surgery in 2014. Sarah's parents were television DIY expert Harry Greene and actress Marjie Lawrence, who spoke the first words ever said on ITV in the UK, while her sister Laura has also been a TV presenter.

Michael Kilgarriff (Cyber Controller) Born Jun 16 1937
Doctor Who credits
Played: Cyber Controller in The Tomb of the Cybermen (1967), Attack of the Cybermen (1985)
Played: Ogron in Frontier in Space (1972)
Played: Robot K1 in Robot (1974-75)
Career highlights
6ft 6in Michael's other appearances include Whack-O! (1959), The Golden Spur (1959), We Joined the Navy (1962), Taxi! (1963), UFO (1970), Aquarius (1972), Men of Affairs (1974), The Upchat Line (1977), The Moon Stallion (1978), 3-2-1 (1979), The Borgias (1981), Artists and Models (1986) and Tipping the Velvet (2002). Michael has also done a lot of voice work, including Obelix in the English version of The Twelve Tasks of Asterix (1976), the General in The Dark Crystal (1982), various voices in The Storyteller (1987-88), Watt's uncle in Watt on Earth (1991), Mr Crotchit in Oscar's Orchestra (1995), the Ogre in the English version of Snow White: The Sequel (2007), God in Albert's Speech (2008) and Lenigrast in the video game Dark Souls II (2014).
Facts
Michael, who is 6ft 6in tall, is a music hall enthusiast, and wrote what is considered the definitive guide to music hall songs, Sing Us One of the Old Songs: A Guide to Popular Song from 1860-1920 (1998), as well as Grace, Beauty and Banjos (1999) and various children's joke books in the 1970s and 80s. For 36 years Michael was Mr Chairman at the Players' Theatre Victorian music hall. Michael also once established a theatre company specialising in corporate work as well as music hall, with fellow music hall enthusiast Johnny Dennis (who himself appeared in Delta and the Bannermen (1987) - indeed, Johnny was best man at Michael's wedding to his wife Sarah in 1968).
In 2017 Toby Hadoke released his Who's Round interview with Michael here.

Terry Molloy (Russell) Born Jan 4 1947
Doctor Who credits
Played: Davros in Resurrection of the Daleks (1984), Revelation of the Daleks (1985), Remembrance of the Daleks (1988)
Played: Russell in Attack of the Cybermen (1985)
Career highlights
Debuted in God's Wonderful Railway (1980), then Radio Phoenix (1982), Connie (1985), Oliver Twist (1985), A Sort of Innocence (1987), Crossroads (1987), French and Saunders (1988), Tales of Sherwood Forest (1989), Chalkface (1991), Dangerfield (1998), Urban Gothic (2000), Kingdom (2008), In Love with Alma Cogan (2012), Kosmos (2015), ChickLit (2016) and Anoraks (2017). Terry has been playing Davros for Big Finish audio productions since 2003. His voice will be well-known to fans of BBC Radio 4 soap The Archers as that of Mike Tucker since 1973.
Facts
In the 1960s, Terry played saxophone in a soul band called The T-Bunkum Band in Liverpool, even appearing at famous Beatles venue The Cavern Club.

Brian Orrell (Cyber Lieutenant) Born Sep 26 1948
Doctor Who credits
Played: Cyber Lieutenant in Attack of the Cybermen (1985)
Played: Cyberman in Silver Nemesis (1988)
Career highlights
Other credits include The Union (1981), Ladykillers (1981), Young Sherlock: The Mystery of the Manor House (1982), Icebound in the Antarctic (1983) and Work! (1992).
Facts
Brian was originally cast as a generic Cyberman, but was upgraded to Cyber Lieutenant when that part's original actor Jonathan David was upgraded to play Stratton. In later years Brian became a key figure in the UK Liberal Democrat party, becoming London Candidates Chair having overall responsibility for the approval and selection of all LibDem election candidates in London for 73 constituencies, as well as London Mayor. He is also a former Chairman of the LibDems' London Region, and inaugural Chairman of the English Candidates' Committee and Chairman of the English State Party. He also served on the Federal Executive for eight years, and also coaches party members in voice skills.

Stephen Wale (David)
Career highlights
Stephen's other credits include Headmaster (1977), Days at the Beach (1981), Agatha Christie's Partners in Crime (1983), Mr Palfrey of Westminster (1984), Much Ado About Nothing (1984) and The Bill (1991).
Facts
Here he is, on Twitter!

CREW

Paula Moore (writer)
Paula Woolsey was script editor Eric Saward's former girlfriend at the time of this story's production. Much controversy surrounds the authorship of Attack of the Cybermen - Doctor Who fan and historian Ian Levine, who worked as a continuity advisor to the series at the time, claims he developed the story based upon series mythology, while Saward insists he wrote it based upon Woolsey's draft contribution. Saward could not be credited on screen for authorship under then BBC rules, and Levine's deal with the production office meant he was not allowed an on screen credit either, so it was decided to credit the story to "Paula Moore". It is Paula Woolsey who still collects the residuals from the story, although it was intended to have been just 10%. The disagreement between Saward and Levine over authorship of the story still rages today; Saward claims he no longer speaks to Woolsey.

Matthew Robinson (director) Born Jul 27 1944
Doctor Who credits
Directed: Resurrection of the Daleks (1984), Attack of the Cybermen (1985)
Career highlights
Matthew started out directing Beryl's Lot (1975), Z Cars (1975-76), Crown Court (1976/79), Sally Ann (1979), Angels (1980-81), Coronation Street (1977/82), The Practice (1986), Howards' Way (1987), EastEnders (1985-87), Byker Grove (1989-92) and Taste of Life (2004). He also graduated into producing, such as Byker Grove, EastEnders (1998-2000), Servants (2003) and AirWaves (2010).
Awards
1999: BAFTA TV Award for Best Soap (EastEnders)
1999: British Soap Award for Best Storyline (EastEnders) - shared with Martine McCutcheon
2000: BAFTA TV Award for Best Soap (EastEnders)
Facts
Matthew's brother is musician, DJ and former gay activist Tom Robinson. Matthew was head of drama for BBC Wales between 2000-03. In 2003, his career took him to Cambodia, where he subsequently set up a film and TV production company in Phnom Penh called Khmer Mekong Films. He even has his own poetry website.

John Nathan-Turner (producer) Aug 12 1947 to May 1 2002 (liver failure) Click here for John Nathan-Turner's entry on The Leisure Hive

Eric Saward (script editor) Born Dec 9 1944 Click here for Eric Saward's entry on on Castrovalva