A Matter of Time: Earthshock

ORIGINAL BROADCAST: 15/03/1982

Twenty-eight years ago today, the Cybermen appeared in their seventh television adventure, after not having appeared in the show for seven years. This story starred Peter Davison as the Doctor, along with his three companions Adric, Nyssa, and Tegan. This story has remained a classic throughout time, with its surprise revelation of the Cybermen at the end of Part 1, and shocking first death of a proper companion at the end of Part 4.

This was the first Cyberman story since Revenge of the Cybermen, as producer John Nathan-Turner wanted to bring back an old enemy, but resisted using the Daleks. Nathan-Turner was adamant about keeping the return of the Cybermen a secret, so he instructed Eric Saward not to have any reference to the Cybermen in the story's title. He even had the studio observation galleries closed for the duration of recording, and turned down an offer from the Radio Times to provide advance publicity of the Cybermen on their cover.

This was the last story to feature Matthew Waterhouse as Adric. Waterhouse would reprise his role twice, as a brief cameo in the following story ‘Time-Flight’, and an appearance during the Fifth Doctor's regeneration scene in ‘The Caves of Androzani’. Waterhouse has since moved to New England where he teaches theatre. This was the first story to feature the death of a companion since the death of brief companion Katarina in ‘The Daleks' Master Plan’.

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