Part I, Chapter VI: "Neon Lights"
“It was scary back then, not just as a producer, but as a fan. We had come back so strong with Back to the Future, and for all that to be thrown up in the air once again, but this time to be in the middle of it, it really made you wonder if this was going to be the end after all.”
- Steven Spielberg, on the release of
Doctor Who: The Cyber Invasion, taken from
An Adventure in Space and Time.
Doctor Who: The Cyber Invasion was released on November 21 1986, and was met with mixed reviews. While many fans of the classic series enjoyed the return to a more familiar story, yet still with much of the comedy that had given
Back to the Future its charm, for general audiences, the change was too drastic. [1]
Plot Synopsis of Doctor Who: The Cyber Invasion:
The Doctor, Marty and Elyse arrive in 2045, immediately after the events of
Doctor Who: Back to the Future. While Elyse comes to terms with the dimensions of the TARDIS, the Doctor warns that the world they are about to enter is far more dangerous that of their 1985, but that the mission that they are about to embark on is to save the human race.
Upon exiting the TARDIS, it is revealed that the Hill Valley of 2045 is a war torn landscape, with a large complex visible in the near distance. The Doctor explains that in late 2044 a race of beings known as the “Cybermen” invade, and set about conquering Earth, and “upgrading” humanity to become like them. [2]
While exploring, the group are discovered by a Cyberman patrol, who apprehend them, intending to take them back to the facility to be upgraded. En route, the patrol is attacked by a group of humans stylising themselves as “The Resistance”. Some of the Cybermen escape, still holding the Doctor captive.
The members of the Resistance take Marty and Jennifer back to their base of operations, an underground facility. They enlist Marty and Jennifer, and tell them of their plan to take out the Cybermen by hacking into their systems and breaking the communications network they have established, allowing for the humans to rise up and take the Cybermen down.
Meanwhile, the Doctor is taken to the Cybermen’s facility. They soon recognise him, after scanning him and seeing that he is a Time Lord. Their plan of taking over Earth was in fact a plan to lure the Doctor in, so that they could capture him, and take the TARDIS. With the TARDIS, they would be able to conquer many more planets, and expand to be able to upgrade other races than humanoids. The base at Hill Valley is situated on top of a “rift” in space-time, which is how the Cybermen arrived. Since their arrival, they have been harnessing it as a source of near-unlimited energy to fuel their invasion.
The leader of the Resistance, Barnes, prepares a group to raid the Cyberman base. Both Elyse and Marty volunteer, hoping to find and rescue the Doctor. They are joined by a few others, including a young woman called Eve, and begin the journey to the Cyberman base of operations.
The group travels through a set of secret tunnels underneath Hill Valley in order to avoid the Cyberman patrols. They emerge close to the Cyberman base, and break their way in, utilising makeshift weapons that capitalise on the weaknesses of the Cybermen, namely their aversion to gold. They make their way in, reaching a terminal, though they trigger an alarm, resulting in their capture.
The group are taken to be converted, with the exception of Marty and Elyse, who the Cybermen realise are the Doctor’s companions. The Cybermen hold them hostage in order to get the Doctor to co-operate and tell the Cybermen where the TARDIS is located, as their numbers are too few at the base to launch a full search.
While being interrogated, the Doctor is able to activate his sonic screwdriver, and frees himself. He evades the Cybermen, managing to free Marty and Jennifer as well. They tell the Doctor of the Resistance’s plan, which he approves of. They rush to the conversion chambers to rescue the resistance members, but all but Barnes and Eve have already been converted.
The group rushes to a terminal, pursued by a group of Cybermen. They manage to disrupt the network in time, which results in the Cybermen becoming unorganized, with some beginning to remember their pasts. In the confusion, the Doctor, Marty, Elyse, Barnes and Eve are able to escape.
The Doctor remarks that the world will likely recover from “the Cyber Invasion”, and that if not he will “be back”. He offers Barnes and Eve the chance to travel with him, though they turn it down, preferring to stay behind to rebuild.
The Doctor, Marty and Elyse return to the TARDIS, the Doctor thanking them for their help. He asks them if there was anywhere they had ever wanted to visit. Marty simply says “I’ve always wanted to see what the West was really like back in the frontier days”. The Doctor replies with “say no more”, and they depart.
Main Cast of Doctor Who: The Cyber Invasion:
- The Sixth Doctor – Christopher Lloyd
- Marty McFly – Michael J Fox
- Elyse Parker – Melora Hardin
- Barnes – Thomas F Wilson [3]
- Eve – Jill Schoelen [4]
The reception of
Doctor Who: The Cyber Invasion was lukewarm. Most who went to see the film enjoyed it, but many came out disappointed, having expected a film much more like
Back to the Future. It ended up making its budget back, though it did not produce large profits.
This, combined with the tense atmosphere on set, resulted in Christopher Lloyd deciding to leave the role of the Doctor. He had previously enjoyed the role, but found that it was increasingly becoming a burden. He would stay on for the third film that was to begin shooting shortly after the release of
The Cyber Invasion, as his contract demanded, though he wished for little involvement in the franchise afterwards.
The loss of Christopher Lloyd would have large scale repercussions. Shortly after deciding to retire from the role, Universal would decide that it did not want to distribute any films beyond the upcoming third. When no other studios expressed interest, Amblin would decide to sell the rights to produce
Doctor Who media after the third film. [5]
Things were looking grim for
Doctor Who once more, but help would soon come... [6]
[1] To clarify, it will be seen as a decent story by most of the fan base, but even with Zemeckis and Gale's rewrite, the story is just too different to the previous film for most audiences to really get into it.
[2] The Cybermen of this story look like those of Davison's era but with a bit more "Hollywood shine" on top.
[3] I cast him because I could really see him as a gruff freedom fighter. Plus, with him having been considered for Biff, he'll be in the minds of the producers already.
[4] Another actress originally considered for the role of Jennifer.
[5] It's not that they don't want to make more, they just don't think they'll turn a profit. So Spielberg sadly lets the rights go.
[6] Help will come in a couple of updates. Next update is an overview of pop-culture from the POD until now (November 1986), pretty much everything I've wanted to put in, but wasn't important enough for its own update. Pretty soon, we'll see the subjects of the updates diversifying somewhat.