Editing Cyberman (section)

== Physical characteristics ==
{{more citations needed section|date=November 2022}}
While the Doctor's [[archenemy]], the [[Dalek]]s, were on the whole unchanged during the original series's 26-season run, the Cybermen were seen to change with almost every encounter.<ref>{{cite web |title=To Mondas and back again: a brief history of the Cybermen in Doctor Who |url=https://www.radiotimes.com/tv/sci-fi/cybermen-doctor-who-history-background/ |website=Radio Times |access-date=10 October 2023}}</ref> The Cybermen are [[humanoid]], but have been altered until they have few remaining organic parts. They retain living [[human brain]]s. In their first appearance in the series, the only parts of their bodies that still seemed human were their hands; by their next appearance in ''[[The Moonbase]]'' (1967), their bodies were entirely covered in their metallic suits, with their hands replaced by three finger claws, but they changed back to regular five-fingered hands in ''[[The Invasion (Doctor Who)|The Invasion]]'' (1968). As they are relatively few, the Cybermen tend towards covert activity, scheming from hiding and using human pawns or [[robot]]s to act in their place until they need to appear. They also seek to increase their numbers by converting others into Cybermen (a process known as "cyber-conversion" or "Cybernisation" in the older episodes and "upgrading" in the newer episodes), an often painful process as body parts are removed and replaced with cybernetic replacements.

It is implied that there are still organic components beneath their suits, meaning they are [[cyborg]]s, not robots: in ''The Tenth Planet'', a Cyberman tells a group of humans that "our brains are just like yours", although by the time of ''[[Attack of the Cybermen]]'' (1985), their brains seem to have been replaced with electronics. Also in this story, two human slave-prisoners of the Cybermen on the planet Telos, named Bates and Stratton, reveal that their organic arms and legs have been removed by the Cybermen and replaced by cyber-substitutes. In ''[[Earthshock]]'' (1982), the actors' chins were vaguely visible through a clear [[perspex]] area on the helmet to suggest some kind of organic matter. In ''[[The Tomb of the Cybermen]]'' (1967), veins and brains were visible through the domed head of the Cyber-Controller, and similarly, in ''[[Attack of the Cybermen]]'' (1985) and "[[The Age of Steel]]" (2006), the Cyber-Controller's brain is visible through the dome. The first is a Mondas Cyber Controller, and the second involves alternative Earth's John Lumic. However, in ''[[Revenge of the Cybermen]]'' (1975), the Doctor says they are "total machine creatures".

The audio play ''[[Real Time (Doctor Who)|Real Time]]'' implies that the converted victim's face remains beneath the Cyberman faceplate, although the audio plays, like all non-televised spin-off media, are of uncertain [[Whoniverse|canonicity]] with regard to the television series. In the 2014's "[[Death in Heaven]]", [[Danny Pink]] removes the faceplate showing his face underneath. The ''[[Virgin New Adventures]]'' novel ''[[Iceberg (Banks novel)|Iceberg]]'' by [[David Banks (actor)|David Banks]] states that some Cybermen experience rare flashes of emotional memory from the time before they were converted; these flashes are then usually suppressed. The Cybermen in the revived series are usually constructed from human brains bonded to a Cyberman exoskeletal shell with an artificially-grown nervous system threaded throughout ("The Age of Steel"), although direct grafting of cyber-components is another method of conversion ("[[Cyberwoman]]"). In "[[The Pandorica Opens]]", a Cyberman head is shown to open up, revealing an entire human skull, not just the brain.
<!-- Missing image removed: [[File:2008-07-12 Dr.Who Cyberman 01.jpg|thumb|right|Closeup of a redesigned Cyberman]] -->

Although the Cybermen often claim that they have done away with human emotion, they have exhibited emotions ranging from anger to smug satisfaction in their confrontations with the Doctor. Some Cybermen in the early stories were even given individual names such as "Krang" (however these names only appeared in the cast listings for "[[The Tenth Planet]]" and were not spoken on-screen). Some parallel Earth Cybermen did retain some memories of their pre-conversion lives, although their emotional response varied. In "Cyberwoman", the partial conversion led to a degree of insanity in [[List of Torchwood minor characters#Lisa Hallett|Lisa Hallett]], which was retained even after she transferred her brain into a fully human body. In "[[Doomsday (Doctor Who)|Doomsday]]", Yvonne Hartman retains at least some elements of her personality (including her voice being heard over the usual Cyberman voice) to prevent the advance of a group of other Cybermen, and is last seen weeping what appears to be either an oil-like substance or blood. In the same episode, the Cyber-Leader expresses clear frustration at the humans' refusal to surrender, although in a later scene he criticises the Doctor for showing emotion. In "[[The Age of Steel]]", the Doctor defeats the Cybermen by shutting down their emotional inhibitors, enabling them to "see" what had become of them. Their realisation of what they had become led them to either simply shut down out of sheer horror, or partially explode. Lastly, when the first Cyber Leader is killed, his head explodes with some white liquid leaking down his body; there are references in that episode to a patented Cybus Industries mixture of chemicals used to preserve the brain. In "Death in Heaven", Danny Pink also retains some of his personality traits, including shock at seeing his reflection and what he's become, but also his love for [[Clara Oswald]]. The Doctor turns it on to gain intelligence and reveal that the Cybermen have developed a way to cyber-convert dead human remains. Only then does the Doctor exploit Danny's keeping of his personality traits, even under the inhibitor, to command the Cyber-Army. In "[[The Doctor Falls]]", the Doctor's companion Bill retains her complete sense of self and identity, even to the point of not initially seeing herself as a Cyberman, as a result of her experiences resisting [[Brainwashing|mind control]] and telepathic suggestions in a [[The Lie of the Land|past adventure]]. However, Cyberman program does manifest in her bursts of anger and she says her mind cannot hold on forever.

The [[Virgin Missing Adventures]] novel ''[[Killing Ground (novel)|Killing Ground]]'', by [[Steve Lyons (writer)|Steve Lyons]] suggests that some Cybermen imitate emotions to intimidate and unnerve their victims. The Big Finish Productions audio play ''Spare Parts'' (set on Mondas in the early days of Cyber-conversion) suggests that the Cybermen deliberately remove their emotions as part of the conversion process to stifle the physical and emotional trauma of becoming a Cyberman.

This motive behind the removal of emotions is made more explicit in "The Age of Steel", where it is done by an emotional inhibitor. In that episode, deactivating their emotional inhibitors causes the converted Cybermen to realise what they have become, driving them insane and killing them.

=== Weaknesses ===
{{more citations needed section|date=November 2022}}
The Cybermen have had a number of weaknesses since their introduction. The most notable weakness of the original Cybermen is the element [[gold]]. Their aversion to gold was not mentioned until they try to destroy the planetoid Voga (the so-called "Planet of Gold") in ''[[Revenge of the Cybermen]]'' (1975). Initially, it was explained that, due to its non-corrodible nature, gold essentially [[asphyxiation|chokes]] their [[respiratory system]]s. For example, the glittergun{{Typo help inline|reason=Should this be a compound word or two separate words?  If correct, please put word in {{not a typo}} template for spell checking reasons.|date=February 2024}}, a weapon used during the Cyber-Wars in the future, fired gold dust at its targets. However, in later serials, gold appeared to affect them rather as silver affects [[werewolf|werewolves]], with gold coins or gold-tipped [[cartridge (firearms)|bullets]] fired at them having the same effect. The revived series's Cybermen have no such weakness, though the tie-in website for the episode mentions it.<ref>The [http://www.cybusindustries.net/lumic.htm Cybus Industries tie-in website] {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120923001724/http://www.cybusindustries.net/lumic.htm |date=23 September 2012 }} refers to earlier prototypes having an "allergy" to gold, stating that this was eliminated after further improvements of the Cyberman body.</ref> Cybermen are also efficiently killed when shot with their own guns, or by a [[Daleks|Dalek]]. Other weaknesses from early stories include [[solvent]]s, [[gravity]] based technology, and excessive levels of [[radioactive contamination|radiation]]. In "The Age of Steel", an [[electromagnetic pulse|EMP]] grenade is shown to disable a Cyberman and shut down its emotional inhibitor. The vulnerability to gold is clearly not present in some early Cyberman types, for example the type seen in the 1968 serial ''The Invasion'' were unlikely to possess it, or perhaps more likely the weakness is not known, otherwise the Doctor/UNIT would simply have used it and not needed the elaborate plan involving the assistance of a [[Russia]]n missile base and the Cybermen's puppet ally, Tobias Vaughn. In "Nightmare in Silver", the Doctor uses gold to slow down though not destroy some circuitry of technologically advanced Cybermen in the distant future. It is unclear precisely how many of the different types, and which types, of Cyberman are vulnerable to gold.

Their armour is often depicted as flexible and resistant to bullets, but can be penetrated by gold arrows and projectiles made of gold. The Cybus Cybermen are bullet-proof and are very resilient, but are not indestructible – they are vulnerable to high explosives, electromagnetic pulses, specialised weaponry and [[Dalek]] energy weapons.

In "[[The Power of the Doctor]]" (2022), [[Tegan Jovanka]] and [[Ace (Doctor Who)|Ace]] fire gold bullets at a group of Cybermen only to be told that they have evolved beyond weakness to gold.

=== Costumes ===
{{fiction|section|date=April 2017}}
For ''[[The Tenth Planet (Doctor Who)|The Tenth Planet]]'', the original Cyberman costumes, including the "handle" shapes on their heads, were designed by [[Sandra Reid]]. The masks and one-piece bodystockings were made from [[Jersey (clothing)|jersey]] fabric, with holes trimmed with vinyl where the Cybermen "eyes" and "mouths" were; the actors' features were darkened to hide their faces. The fabric of the costumes were coloured a faint blue so they could show up on black and white television cameras. Over the top of the stockings, the Cybermen wore polythene suits ribbed with metal wings, along with epaulettes made of metal, and plastic piping. Their boots were short [[Wellington boot]]s, painted silver. In a 2016 interview, Reid, by then going by the name Alexandra Tynan, described the motivation behind her designs was "I had a planning meeting that I had to be at, and I had to have a design drawing with me. My motivation was the clock on the wall!" Although the script specified the Cybermen should keep their human hands, Reid wanted them to wear gloves. However, Reid mistakenly forgot she said she would make special gloves for the Cybermen until the first day in the studio. Instead, make-up designer Gillian James hastily added silver paint to the actors' human hands.<ref>{{cite magazine |last1=Tynan |first1=Alexandra |author-link=Alexandra Tynan |last2=Cook |first2=Benjamin |author-link2=Benjamin Cook (journalist) |date=November 2016 |title=The Cybermum |magazine=[[Doctor Who Magazine]] |location=Tunbridge Wells |publisher=[[Panini Comics|Panini UK Ltd]] |issue=504 |pages=15–17 }}</ref> The chest units and "handles" were built by Shawcraft of Uxbridge. The handles were adapted from lorry headlamps, while the chest units used a lot of clear plastic and had battery-powered flashing mechanisms. The handles were intended as the housing for wires that lit up the lamps, but in a test shot the bulb exploded and the idea was dropped. Tynan explained in 2016, "I indicated that there was going to be a chest unit there, but I didn't do any designs for them, because I knew that the units were going to be a props thing."<ref name="tynan handles">{{cite magazine |last1=Tynan |first1=Alexandra |author-link=Alexandra Tynan |last2=Cook |first2=Benjamin |author-link2=Benjamin Cook (journalist) |date=November 2016 |title=The Cybermum |magazine=[[Doctor Who Magazine]] |location=Tunbridge Wells |publisher=[[Panini Comics|Panini UK Ltd]] |issue=504 |page=17 }}</ref>

Producer [[Innes Lloyd]]'s production team wished to update the Cybermen for ''[[The Moonbase]]'' and make them look more sophisticated and robotic. Sandra Reid designed new costumes for this serial. These were based on a one-piece silver jumpsuit made from vinyl fabric, and the Cybermen were given gloves with three-fingered hands. Their boots were lace-up army boots painted silver. Fibreglass helmets and chest units made from aluminium were built by freelance prop makers Jack and John Lovell. Silver tape was added around the eye and mouth area for emphasis, and on Reid's instruction, the Lovells attached "hydraulic joints" consisting of tubing from a vacuum cleaner manufacturer and plastic practice golf balls. Costume designer [[Daphne Dare]], consulting with Reid over the phone, took over midway through production of ''The Moonbase'' while Reid was recovering from surgery.<ref>{{cite magazine |last1=Tynan |first1=Alexandra |author-link=Alexandra Tynan |last2=Cook |first2=Benjamin |author-link2=Benjamin Cook (journalist) |date=November 2016 |title=The Cybermum |magazine=[[Doctor Who Magazine]] |location=Tunbridge Wells |publisher=[[Panini Comics|Panini UK Ltd]] |issue=504 |page=19 }}</ref> Eight of these costumes were reused, with slight repainting and additions, for ''[[The Tomb of the Cybermen]]'', Reid's final ''Doctor Who'' serial, and a new costume was built for the Cyber Controller, with a red-domed cranium built that was intended to light up, but the lighting mechanism failed.<ref>{{cite magazine |last1=Tynan |first1=Alexandra |author-link=Alexandra Tynan |last2=Cook |first2=Benjamin |author-link2=Benjamin Cook (journalist) |date=November 2016 |title=The Cybermum |magazine=[[Doctor Who Magazine]] |location=Tunbridge Wells |publisher=[[Panini Comics|Panini UK Ltd]] |issue=504 |page=20 }}</ref>

For the filmed inserts in ''[[The Wheel in Space]]'', [[Martin Baugh]] supervised the creation of the costumes, made from a thinner one-piece material. Junction boxes, linked by steel rods, were used at the joints and near the neck to give the impression of something more technological and functional than was seen in ''The Moonbase'' and ''The Tomb of the Cybermen''. The same chest units from before were used, with the lamp at the bottom of the unit. New helmets were cast with simpler handles that extended out further from the head. These introduced a "teardrop" shape to the Cybermen's eyes. An unmodified ''The Tomb of the Cybermen'' suit was also used to swell the Cybermen's numbers during the spacewalk scene, and was positioned at the back to hide the difference from the other two costumes.<ref>{{cite magazine |last=Rymill |first=Gavin |date=November 2016 |title=Cyber Conversion! |magazine=[[Doctor Who Magazine]] |location=Tunbridge Wells |publisher=[[Panini Comics|Panini UK Ltd]] |issue=504 |page=44 }}</ref> Mid-production, the suits were redesigned again for the more extensive recordings of ''The Wheel in Space'' in the studio. Baugh's solution was to spray-paint two padded wet suits to make them look bulkier, with the helmets, junction boxes and rods from the filmed inserts modified or removed to make the actors move more freely. The hands from the earlier ''Wheel in Space'' costumes were cut off and used as gloves for the new costumes. The chest units were turned upside down so the lamps, mounted beneath the Cybermen's chins, could be fired as a weapon in a tighter shot.<ref>{{cite magazine |last=Rymill |first=Gavin |date=November 2016 |title=Cyber Conversion! |magazine=[[Doctor Who Magazine]] |location=Tunbridge Wells |publisher=[[Panini Comics|Panini UK Ltd]] |issue=504 |pages=44–45 }}</ref>

For ''[[The Invasion (Doctor Who)|The Invasion]]'', costume designer [[Bobi Bartlett]] ordered a resculpt of the helmet moulds with more head space for the actors to be done by outside company Trading Post. This included the sculpting of two large "ear muffs".<ref name="invasion dwm">{{cite magazine |last=Rymill |first=Gavin |date=November 2016 |title=Cyber Conversion! |magazine=[[Doctor Who Magazine]] |location=Tunbridge Wells |publisher=[[Panini Comics|Panini UK Ltd]] |issue=504 |pages=45 }}</ref> The helmet was made of a light fibreglass. The costumes featured army boots, and now had five-fingered gloves, rather than three.<ref>{{cite magazine |last1=Pixley |first1=Andrew |last2=Morris |first2=Jonathan |author-link2=Jonathan Morris (author) |last3=Atkinson |first3=Richard |last4=McGown |first4=Alistair |author-link4=Alistair McGown |date=16 December 2015 |title=The Invasion: Pre-production |magazine=Doctor Who: The Complete History |publisher=[[Panini Comics|Panini Magazines]]/[[Hachette (publisher)|Hachette Partworks Ltd]] |volume=13 |page=65 }}</ref> Wetsuits were reused for this serial, and a simpler and sturdier version of the chest units, with the light at the top of the unit as before, was commissioned. At each of the joints there were now domes connected by a set of ribbed rods.<ref name="invasion dwm" />

While production notes in ''Doctor Who: The Complete History'' claimed that the brief appearance of a Cyberman in ''[[Carnival of Monsters]]'' consisted of a diving suit from ''The Invasion'',<ref name="carnival complete">{{cite magazine |last1=Pixley |first1=Andrew |last2=Morris |first2=Jonathan |author-link2=Jonathan Morris (author) |last3=Atkinson |first3=Richard |last4=McGown |first4=Alistair |author-link4=Alistair McGown |last5=Hadoke |first5=Toby |author-link5=Toby Hadoke |date=2017 |title=Carnival of Monsters: Production |magazine=Doctor Who: The Complete History |publisher=[[Panini Comics|Panini Magazines]]/[[Hachette (publisher)|Hachette Partworks Ltd]] |volume=19 |page=71 }}</ref> Gavin Rymill in ''[[Doctor Who Magazine]]'' wrote that this Cyberman was a Cyber Controller costume from ''The Tomb of the Cybermen''.<ref name="invasion dwm" /> Both sources concurred that the helmet originated from ''The Invasion'', and the back of the helmet was left unfastened.<ref name="carnival complete" /><ref name="dwm revenge">{{cite magazine |last=Rymill |first=Gavin |date=November 2016 |title=Cyber Conversion! |magazine=[[Doctor Who Magazine]] |location=Tunbridge Wells |publisher=[[Panini Comics|Panini UK Ltd]] |issue=504 |page=46 }}</ref>

[[Prue Handley]] was the costume designer on ''[[Revenge of the Cybermen]]''.<ref name="dwm revenge" /> The costumes were built by freelance prop company Alister Bowtell, and were again based on wet suits, with rubber tubing along the arms and at the knees and elbow.<ref>{{cite magazine |last1=Pixley |first1=Andrew |last2=Morris |first2=Jonathan |author-link2=Jonathan Morris (author) |last3=Atkinson |first3=Richard |last4=McGown |first4=Alistair |author-link4=Alistair McGown |last5=Hadoke |first5=Toby |author-link5=Toby Hadoke |date=5 October 2016 |title=Revenge of the Cybermen: Pre-production |magazine=Doctor Who: The Complete History |publisher=[[Panini Comics|Panini Magazines]]/[[Hachette (publisher)|Hachette Partworks Ltd]] |volume=23 |pages=60–61 }}</ref> The chest unit props from ''The Moonbase'' returned,<ref name="dwm revenge" /> and included bits of broken television sets. New, larger fibreglass helmets were made, and the costumes had silver gloves and Wellington boots.<ref>{{cite magazine |last1=Pixley |first1=Andrew |last2=Morris |first2=Jonathan |author-link2=Jonathan Morris (author) |last3=Atkinson |first3=Richard |last4=McGown |first4=Alistair |author-link4=Alistair McGown |last5=Hadoke |first5=Toby |author-link5=Toby Hadoke |date=5 October 2016 |title=Revenge of the Cybermen: Pre-production |magazine=Doctor Who: The Complete History |publisher=[[Panini Comics|Panini Magazines]]/[[Hachette (publisher)|Hachette Partworks Ltd]] |volume=23 |page=61 }}</ref>

The ''[[Earthshock]]'' designs by [[Dinah Collin]] included a set of Mk 2C [[RAF]] flight suits with built-in pipes used to pump cool air around. The ''Revenge of the Cybermen'' head was reshaped and recut by Richard Gregory of the freelance company Imagineering to add more details. There was a transparent section in the face through where the actor's moving jaw could be seen. New chest units were made in fibreglass, and they were decorated with ammunition trays. Also worn with the costumes were padded zip-back gloves and [[Tecnica]] [[Moon Boot]]s. For "[[The Five Doctors]]" and ''[[Attack of the Cybermen]]'', the jaw area was sprayed silver, and less ostentatious boots were worn.<ref name="eighties">{{cite magazine |last=Rymill |first=Gavin |date=November 2016 |title=Cyber Conversion! |magazine=[[Doctor Who Magazine]] |location=Tunbridge Wells |publisher=[[Panini Comics|Panini UK Ltd]] |issue=504 |page=47 }}</ref> [[Anushia Nieradzik]] was the costume designer on ''Attack of the Cybermen''.<ref>{{cite magazine |last1=Pixley |first1=Andrew |last2=Morris |first2=Jonathan |author-link2=Jonathan Morris (author) |last3=Atkinson |first3=Richard |last4=McGown |first4=Alistair |author-link4=Alistair McGown |last5=Hadoke |first5=Toby |author-link5=Toby Hadoke |date=4 May 2016 |title=Attack of the Cybermen: Pre-production |magazine=Doctor Who: The Complete History |publisher=[[Panini Comics|Panini Magazines]]/[[Hachette (publisher)|Hachette Partworks Ltd]] |volume=40 |page=67 }}</ref> A specially modified Cyber Controller costume with a tall silver dome on its head was made for ''Attack of the Cybermen''; as with the Controller costume used in ''The Tomb of the Cybermen'', its helmet had no handles.<ref>{{cite magazine |last1=Pixley |first1=Andrew |last2=Morris |first2=Jonathan |author-link2=Jonathan Morris (author) |last3=Atkinson |first3=Richard |last4=McGown |first4=Alistair |author-link4=Alistair McGown |last5=Hadoke |first5=Toby |author-link5=Toby Hadoke |date=4 May 2016 |title=Attack of the Cybermen: Production |magazine=Doctor Who: The Complete History |publisher=[[Panini Comics|Panini Magazines]]/[[Hachette (publisher)|Hachette Partworks Ltd]] |volume=40 |page=81 }}</ref> For ''[[Silver Nemesis]]'', the same head and chest pieces returned with a dappled plastic jaw and the removal of the ammunition trays. A plainer type of flight suit without built-in pipes was used for the bodies, and cable junction boxes with plastic tubes were added to the limbs for more detail. The costumes had cricket gloves sprayed silver, and [[Dr. Martens]] boots.<ref name="eighties" />

The redesign of the Cybermen in "[[Rise of the Cybermen]]" and "[[The Age of Steel]]" was a month-long process involving nearly every part of the design team. The production team decided on an [[Art Deco]] approach, and the final design was handed to [[Neill Gorton]]'s team at Millennium FX, who also built the final costumes. The head was designed to be able to be turned independently from the body; such movement had not been possible in previous helmets. Millennium's [[Martin Rezard]] was the lead sculptor of a full-sized clay Cyberman, from which moulds were taken to create over forty fibreglass pieces to make up the head and body of each costume. Powdered aluminium was added to the final layer of the fibreglass, and each component was hand polished until it gleamed.<ref>{{cite magazine |last=Richards |first=Justin |author-link=Justin Richards |date=March 2014 |title=21st-Century Cybermen |magazine=The Essential Doctor Who |location=Tunbridge Wells |publisher=[[Panini Comics|Panini UK Ltd]] |issue=1: ''The Cybermen'' |pages=81–83 }}</ref> Each of the fibreglass pieces were clipped onto a basic [[Lycra]] suit assembled by Jo Glover. The gloves and neck were cast in a soft silver-tinted silicone by Helen Rowe and Alex Whathey.<ref>{{cite magazine |last1=Pixley |first1=Andrew |last2=Morris |first2=Jonathan |author-link2=Jonathan Morris (author) |last3=Atkinson |first3=Richard |last4=McGown |first4=Alistair |author-link4=Alistair McGown |date=21 September 2016 |title=Rise of the Cybermen/The Age of Steel: Pre-production |magazine=Doctor Who: The Complete History |publisher=[[Panini Comics|Panini Magazines]]/[[Hachette (publisher)|Hachette Partworks Ltd]] |volume=52 |page=84 }}</ref> Ten Cyberman costumes were made, including the Cyber Controller, which had a visible brain and pipes connecting him to his life support systems.<ref name="nightmare">{{cite magazine |last=Richards |first=Justin |author-link=Justin Richards |date=March 2014 |title=21st-Century Cybermen |magazine=The Essential Doctor Who |location=Tunbridge Wells |publisher=[[Panini Comics|Panini UK Ltd]] |issue=1: ''The Cybermen'' |page=83 }}</ref> In "[[A Good Man Goes to War]]" the costumes no longer had the Cybus Industries "C" logo introduced in "Rise of the Cybermen".<ref>{{cite magazine |last1=Pixley |first1=Andrew |last2=Morris |first2=Jonathan |author-link2=Jonathan Morris (author) |last3=Atkinson |first3=Richard |last4=McGown |first4=Alistair |author-link4=Alistair McGown |last5=Hadoke |first5=Toby |author-link5=Toby Hadoke |date=25 January 2017 |title=A Good Man Goes to War: Production |magazine=Doctor Who The Complete History |publisher=[[Panini Comics|Panini Magazines]]/[[Hachette (publisher)|Hachette Partworks Ltd]] |volume=68 |page=23 }}</ref>

The sleeker and more elegant design introduced in "[[Nightmare in Silver]]" was made by the Millennium FX team from flexible polyurethane rubber, painted to look metallic using a new process originally developed for use in the car industry.<ref name="nightmare" />

The "Mondasian Cybermen" in "[[World Enough and Time (Doctor Who)|World Enough and Time]]" and "[[The Doctor Falls]]" were created by the Millennium FX team, and were an updated version of Sandra Reid's 1966 design of the Cybermen for ''The Tenth Planet''. The Chest units and helmets and other like attachments were moulded and constructed by Millennium FX. The costumes themselves were built from a silver latex fabric by costume designer Robin Archer. The Cybermen's hands were covered by rubber gloves. Millennium also created the transitional "patients" that evolve into Cybermen from the two-parter.<ref>{{cite magazine |last1=Walshe |first1=Kate |last2=Pollard |first2=Gary |last3=Ruddock |first3=Martin |date=October 2017 |title=Monsters Inc |magazine=[[Doctor Who Magazine]] |location=Tunbridge Wells |publisher=[[Panini Comics|Panini UK Ltd]] |issue=516 |pages=22–23 }}</ref> Despite the ''Tenth Planet'' Cybermen not having gloves, director [[Rachel Talalay]] said that the reason for adding them to the Mondasian Cybermen in the [[Doctor Who (series 10)|series 10]] two-part finale was "partially an issue because of skintone" with [[Pearl Mackie]]'s Cyberman, but also to "get a scarier feel and something more artificial by putting the gloves on them". She further explained that in ''The Tenth Planet'' it was hard to tell if they had skintone gloves or not to justify their addition.<ref>{{cite magazine|url=http://www.radiotimes.com/news/2017-09-06/doctor-whos-peter-capaldi-had-a-very-nerdy-complaint-about-the-return-of-the-mondasian-cybermen/|title=Doctor Who's Peter Capaldi had a VERY nerdy complaint about the return of the Mondasian Cybermen|magazine=[[Radio Times]]|first=Huw|last=Fullerton|date=6 September 2017|access-date=18 September 2017}}</ref>

Unlike the Doctor's other foes, the Cybermen costumes have changed substantially in appearance over the years, looking more and more modern, although retaining certain commonalities of design, the most iconic being the "handles" attached to Cybermen heads.<ref name="tynan handles" /> Other design elements include their round eyeholes and their chest units.

Aside from these changes, variations in design between rank-and-file Cybermen and their leaders have been seen. In ''The Wheel in Space'' and ''The Invasion'' (both 1968), the Cyber Director was depicted as an immobile mechanism. The Cyber Leader in "[[The Next Doctor]]" sports a transparent brain casing.

Because the Doctor is a time traveller, he meets the Cybermen at various points in their history out of sequence from the order the serials were made. This can be confusing since Cybermen from serials set in "earlier" periods of history can sometimes look more sophisticated than those from "later" periods. [[Lawrence Miles]] suggests in his reference work ''About Time 5'' that the anachronistically designed Cybermen of ''Earthshock'' and ''Silver Nemesis'' are time travellers, like those in ''Attack of the Cybermen''. [[The Doctor Who Role Playing Game]] "Cyber Files" worked around the contradiction by stating that in ''The Tenth Planet'', the oldest designs of Cybermen were used for the attack while the later more sophisticated models remained on Mondas.

The ''[[Torchwood]]'' episode "[[Cyberwoman]]" features a partially cyber-converted woman who lacks the outer plating of a fully converted Cyberman. Her body is encased in metal structures but much of her flesh, including her face, is visible. She also has clearly visible metallic breasts, though it is not clear how much of her own flesh has been replaced and how much is merely covered. Another character speculates she could be 40–45% human, and 55–60% Cyberman.

{{Multiple images
| align = center
| footer = Evolution of the Cybermen. As shown at the Doctor Who Experience.
| total_width = 1000
| image1    = 270811-041 CPS (6277339302).jpg
| width1  = 3056
| height1 = 4592
| image2 = Cyberman (5923236365) (cropped).jpg
| width2  = 1095
| height2 =  1325
| image3 = 270811-042 CPS (6276818245).jpg
| width3  = 3056
| height3 = 4592
| image4  = Cyberman from Invasion.jpg
| width4  = 748
| height4 = 876
| image5  = Doctor Who Experience (16583230081) (cropped).jpg
| width5  = 706
| height5 = 770
| image6  = 270811-045 CPS (6277340332).jpg
| width6  = 3056
| height6 = 4592
| image7  = Doctor Who Experience (13081063864).jpg
| width7  = 3456
| height7 = 4608
| image8  = Doctor Who 50th Celebration - You looking at me (11001105426).jpg
| width8 = 1095
| height8 = 1512
}}

=== Voice ===
{{unreferenced section|date=November 2022}}
Early Cybermen had an unsettling, sing-song voice, provided by [[Roy Skelton]], constructed by placing the [[inflection]]s of words on the wrong [[syllable]]s. In their first appearance, the effect of this was augmented by having a Cyberman abruptly open his mouth wide and keep it open, without moving his tongue or lips, while the separately recorded voice would be playing, and then shut it quickly when the line was finished. Although the cloth-like masks of the first Cybermen were soon replaced by a full helmet, a similar physical effect involving the mouth "hatch" opening and then shutting when the line was finished was used until ''[[The Wheel in Space]]'' (1968).

Later, the production team used [[special effect]]s from its [[BBC Radiophonic Workshop|Radiophonic Workshop]] by adding first a [[mechanical larynx]] used by [[Peter Hawkins]],<ref>{{cite web |url=https://pocketmags.com/doctor-who-magazine/516/articles/198343/original-voices-peter-hawkins |access-date=28 March 2024 |title=Original Voices: Peter Hawkins }}</ref> then a [[vocoder]], to modify speech to make it sound more artificial. In later stories of the original series and in the audio plays, two copies of the voice track were sampled and pitch-shifted downwards by differing amounts and layered to produce the effect, sometimes with the addition of a small amount of [[flanging]]. From ''Revenge of the Cybermen'' to ''[[Silver Nemesis]]'' (1988) the actors provided the voices themselves, using microphones and transmitters in the chest units.

The voices for the 2006 return of the Cybermen are similar to the buzzing electronic monotone voices of the Cybermen used in ''The Invasion''. They were provided by [[Nicholas Briggs]]. As shown in the second series of ''[[Doctor Who Confidential]]'', the timbre was created by processing Briggs' voice through a Moog [[moogerfooger]] ring modulator. Unusually, in "The Age of Steel", the Cyber-Controller (John Lumic, played by [[Roger Lloyd-Pack]]) retains his voice after being upgraded, but it is still electronic. In "Doomsday", a Cyberman which contains the brain of [[Torchwood Institute]] director Yvonne Hartman retains a female-sounding though still electronic voice, as does the partially converted [[List of Torchwood minor characters#Lisa Hallett|Lisa Hallett]] in "Cyberwoman" when her Cyberman personality is dominant. In an effect reminiscent of the earliest Cybermen's mouths snapping open while speaking, the new Cybermen have a blue light in their "mouths" (or "teeth") which illuminates in synchronisation with their speech.

Since "The Next Doctor" in 2008, the Cybermen have had nasally-sounding electronic voices; this continued all the way until "Closing Time" in 2011. Between the 2013 episode "Nightmare in Silver" and 2017 episode "The Doctor Falls", the Cybermen (continuing to be voiced by Briggs) now have deep, almost growl-like voices. Their mouths retain a blue light-up effect but flicker luminously instead of staying lit as opposed to the 2006 design.

The Patients in "World Enough and Time" (Pre Mondasian Cybermen) communicated through speech synthesis keyboards, similar to those used in hospitals for people unable to talk normally or use their vocal cords. These voices were disturbing in that they almost 'replicated' actual human speech, but with stilted delivery