Editing Cyberman (section)

== Creation ==
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The name "Cyberman" comes from [[cybernetics]], a term used in [[Norbert Wiener]]'s book ''Cybernetics or Control and Communication in the Animal and the Machine'' (MIT Press, 1948). Wiener used the term in reference to the control of complex systems, particularly self-regulating control systems, in the animal world and in mechanical networks. By 1960, doctors were researching surgical or mechanical augmentation of humans and animals to operate machinery in space, leading to the [[portmanteau]] "cyborg", for "cybernetic organism".

In the 1960s, "spare-part" surgery began with the development of gigantic heart-lung machines. Public discussion included the possibility of wiring amputees' nerve endings directly into machines.<ref>{{Cite book|author=Donald Longmore|title=Spare Part Surgery – The Science of the Future|publisher=Aldus|year=1988}}</ref> In 1963, Kit Pedler discussed with his wife (who was also a doctor) what would happen if a person had so many prostheses that they could no longer distinguish themselves between man and machine.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.radiotimes.com/tv/sci-fi/doctor-who-guide/the-invasion/|title = The Invasion ★★★★★}}</ref> He got the opportunity to develop this idea when, in 1966, after an appearance on the [[BBC]] science programmes ''[[Tomorrow's World]]'' and ''[[Horizon (BBC TV series)|Horizon]]'', the BBC hired him to consult on the ''Doctor Who'' serial ''[[The War Machines]]'' (1966).<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.radiotimes.com/tv/sci-fi/doctor-who-guide/the-war-machines/|title = The War Machines ★★★}}</ref> That eventually led to him writing, with Gerry Davis, ''[[The Tenth Planet (Doctor Who)|The Tenth Planet]]'' (1966) for ''Doctor Who''.

Pedler, influenced by the logic-driven Treens from the ''[[Dan Dare]]'' comic strip, originally envisaged the Cybermen as "space monks", but was persuaded by Davis to concentrate on his fears about the direction of spare-part surgery. The Cybermen were originally imagined as human but with plastic and metal prostheses. The Cybermen of ''The Tenth Planet'' still have human hands, and their facial structures are visible beneath the masks they wear,<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.radiotimes.com/tv/sci-fi/cybermen-doctor-who-history-background/|title = To Mondas and back again: A brief history of the Cybermen in Doctor Who}}</ref> but over time they evolved into metallic, more fully mechanized designs.

A variety of specialized forms of Cybermen have been shown, in particular Cyber Leaders and Cyber Controllers, with power to command other Cybermen.