Editing Cyberman (section)

=== Television ===
==== Classic series (1963–1996) ====
[[File:Doctor Who Experience series 10 (35604690953).jpg|thumb|left|A "primitive" Mondasian Cyberman, on display at a Doctor Who exhibition]]
The Cybermen first appear in the serial ''[[The Tenth Planet]]'' in 1966, set in 1986. This story explains how, millions of years ago, Earth had a twin planet known as Mondas that was knocked out of solar orbit and [[rogue planet|drifted into deep space]]. The Mondasians, already far in advance of Earth's technology and fearful for their race's survival,<ref>Parkin, Lance & Pearson, Lars (2012). ''A History: An Unauthorised History of the Doctor Who Universe (3rd Edition)'', p. 48. Mad Norwegian Press, Des Moines. {{ISBN|978-193523411-1}}.</ref> replaced most of their bodies with cybernetic parts. Having eventually removed all emotion from their brains (to maintain their sanity), the natives installed a drive propulsion system to pilot the planet itself through space. As the original race was limited in numbers and were continually being depleted, the Mondasians – now Cybermen – became a race of conquerors who reproduced by forcibly changing other organic beings into Cybermen. The [[First Doctor]] ([[William Hartnell]]) opposes these Cybermen when they attempt to drain the Earth's energy to make way for Mondas' return to the [[Solar System]]; in this encounter, Mondas absorbs too much energy from Earth, destroying it and all Cybermen on Earth. The adventure takes its physical toll on the Doctor, forcing him to [[regeneration (Doctor Who)|regenerate]] for the first time, becoming the [[Second Doctor]] ([[Patrick Troughton]]).

The Cybermen next appeared later in the same television season in ''[[The Moonbase]]'' (1967) opposite the Second Doctor. In 2070, the Cybermen attempt to remotely destroy the Earth by affecting its weather patterns with a device called the Gravitron. However, the Gravitron is used against them, hurling them into space. In the following season, ''[[The Tomb of the Cybermen]]'' saw a 25th Century human expedition discover sarcophagi containing hibernating Cybermen on the planet Telos, where the creatures arise and attack. This episode introduced the cybermats, small mechanical scouts used by the Cybermen, as well as the Cyber Controller. In ''[[The Wheel in Space]]'' (1968), the Doctor and his crew face off against the Cybermen on a marooned Earth space station in the 21st century. This episode introduces the Cyber-Planner, an immobile unit which directs the Cybermen. The Cybermen plan to take over the space station, after which their fleet will invade Earth. The Doctor uses an x-ray laser to destroy the Cybermen. In the next season, ''[[The Invasion (Doctor Who)|The Invasion]]'' has the Doctor and his companions visit late 20th century England, where he discovers an army of Cybermen are hidden on Earth and working with magnate Tobias Vaughn ([[Kevin Stoney]]) to invade Earth. Their invasion is defeated by the Doctor and the military support of the newly formed [[UNIT|United Nations Intelligence Taskforce]].

The Cybermen did not face the [[Third Doctor]] ([[Jon Pertwee]]) during his era, but one is shown as part of an exhibit in ''[[Carnival of Monsters]]'' (1973). The Third Doctor would however face Cybermen in the 20th anniversary special "[[The Five Doctors]]" (1983).

The [[Fourth Doctor]] ([[Tom Baker]]) is next to encounter a group of Cybermen in ''[[Revenge of the Cybermen]]'' (1975). These Cybermen are depicted as the wandering remnants of a fallen empire, ravaged by the so-called Cyber-Wars against victorious humanity, which had exploited the Cybermen's weakness to gold. These Cybermen attempt to restore the glory of their race by destroying the gold-rich asteroid Voga.

Cybermen were not seen again until ''[[Earthshock]]'' (1982), in which the [[Fifth Doctor]] ([[Peter Davison]]) encounters Cybermen in Earth in the year 2526. The Cybermen plan to destroy the planet with a large bomb while alien dignitaries visit Earth to discuss the ongoing Cyber-Wars. After the Doctor foils this plan, they decide to crash their freighter into the planet to achieve the same result. The freighter is hurled back in time, however, and the Doctor's companion, boy genius [[Adric]] ([[Matthew Waterhouse]]), is trapped on board as the freighter crashes into prehistoric Earth, killing Adric and triggering the [[Cretaceous–Paleogene extinction event|K-T extinction event]]. The Cybermen appear once more in the Fifth Doctor's era, alongside the four previous Doctors, in "[[The Five Doctors]]" (1983), when they are transported to the Doctor's home planet of [[Gallifrey]] by the [[Time Lord]] President [[Borusa]] ([[Philip Latham]]).

''[[Attack of the Cybermen]]'' (1985) is set after ''Tomb''. The Cybermen attempt to use a time machine to avert the destruction of Mondas by causing [[Halley's Comet]] to crash into the Earth. Their plan fails and, due to the intervention of the [[Sixth Doctor]] ([[Colin Baker]]), they also lose their adopted homeworld of Telos to its original inhabitants, the Cryons.

The Cybermen appeared for a final time in the classic series in ''[[Silver Nemesis]]'' (1988), in which a fleet of Cybermen warships assemble to convert Earth into a new Mondas. A Cybermen scouting party is sent to Earth in search of the legendary Nemesis statue, a Time Lord artefact of immense power, made of the "living metal" validium{{Typo help inline|reason=If spelling is correct, please put word in "not a typo" template|date=February 2024}}. The intervention of the [[Seventh Doctor]] ([[Sylvester McCoy]]) and his companion [[Ace (Doctor Who)|Ace]] ([[Sophie Aldred]]), however, ensures that the Nemesis destroys the entire cyber-fleet instead.

Between the series' cancellation and subsequent revival, the Cybermen make one brief appearance, in the 1993 [[Children in Need]] special ''[[Dimensions in Time]]'', as one of several enemies used by evil Time Lady [[Rani (Doctor Who)|the Rani]] ([[Kate O'Mara]]) to hunt the Doctor.

==== Revived series (2005–present) ====
[[File:Cyberman from Doctor Who (529659465).jpg|150px|thumbnail|right|The 2006 redesign of the Cybermen]]
''Doctor Who'' was revived after a long hiatus by new showrunner [[Russell T Davies]] in 2005. By then, development of [[computer-generated imaging|CGI]] enabled large numbers of Cybermen or [[Dalek]]s to be featured in stories. In the [[Doctor Who (series 1)|first series]] of the revived programme, the Cybermen do not appear except for the inactive head of one, which is seen in a private museum of alien artefacts on Earth in the episode "[[Dalek (Doctor Who episode)|Dalek]]". For [[Doctor Who (series 2)|Series 2]] in 2006, Cybermen were reintroduced with a new [[origin story]] set in a [[Parallel universe (fiction)|parallel universe]].<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.radiotimes.com/news/tv/2019-11-23/doctor-who-cybermen-return/|title = Doctor Who: The Cybermen will return in Jodie Whittaker's second series}}</ref> In the "[[Rise of the Cybermen]]" and "[[The Age of Steel]]" two-part story, the [[Tenth Doctor]] ([[David Tennant]]) and his companions, [[Rose Tyler]] ([[Billie Piper]]) and [[Mickey Smith]] ([[Noel Clarke]]), crash land in a parallel London where the Cybermen are being created on modern-day Earth. The Cybermen are created by the owner of Cybus Industries, the dying [[transhumanism|transhumanist]] [[mad scientist]] John Lumic ([[Roger Lloyd-Pack]]). Lumic's Cybermen successfully convert much of the world's population by placing their human brains into robotic shells. The Doctor and his friends free London from their control. A human resistance group, the Preachers, then sets about to clean up the remainder of Lumic's factories around the world. The Cybermen reappear in the 2006 two-part finale "[[Army of Ghosts]]" and "[[Doomsday (Doctor Who)|Doomsday]]", exploiting a breach between universes to invade the Doctor's Earth. This breach is caused by a transport device belonging to the [[Dalek]]s, who reveal themselves and trigger all-out war between the two species. The Doctor ultimately re-opens the breach, causing the Cybermen and all but a few Daleks to become trapped inside before it is re-sealed. Cybermen next appear in the 2008 ''Doctor Who'' Christmas special "[[The Next Doctor]]", emerging in 1851 London after the Daleks damaged the walls of reality in the previous episode, "[[Journey's End (Doctor Who)|Journey's End]]". They attempt to raise a new army on Earth [[steampunk|using period technology]], but are again foiled by the Doctor.

After [[Steven Moffat]] took over the role of executive producer in 2010, Cybermen of essentially the design introduced by Davies continued to appear. No explicit reference is made to their origin, but generally the stylised 'c' (for Cybus Corporation) on their breastplate had been replaced by a plain circle, implying that they were not from the parallel universe. They appear in "[[The Pandorica Opens]]" (2010) alongside many of the Doctor's recurring enemies as part of an alliance dedicated to stopping him, arriving in cyber ships in 102 [[Common Era|CE]]. They appear again in "[[A Good Man Goes to War]]" (2011), when the [[Eleventh Doctor]]'s ([[Matt Smith]]) companion [[Rory Williams]] ([[Arthur Darvill]]) demands the location of a secret asteroid base in a quadrant of space which they monitor in the 52nd century. The Doctor destroys a large fleet of their spaceships to indicate their seriousness. In "[[Closing Time (Doctor Who)|Closing Time]]", an ancient slumbering cyber ship is awakened in 2011 [[Colchester]], and the Doctor and his friend Craig Owens ([[James Corden]]) work together to repel a Cyberman invasion. This episode also reintroduces cybermats to the series. [[Neil Gaiman]]'s episode "[[Nightmare in Silver]]" (2013) depicts the re-emergence of the Cybermen in the distant future, following what was believed to be their complete eradication by humankind. These redesigned Cybermen have discarded many of their limitations, exhibiting increased speed, rapid upgrading to overcome weaknesses, and the ability to convert any biological organism into their ranks. The Eleventh Doctor undergoes a partial cyber-conversion, and mentally duels with a Cyber-Planner for control of his body. The emperor of the galaxy ([[Warwick Davis]]) orders a planet's destruction to wipe out the Cyberman, but one intact {{Not typo|cybermite}} (new, minuscule cybermat variants) is later seen floating through space. A dead Cyberman head is briefly shown in the [[UNIT]] Black Archive in "[[The Day of the Doctor]]", and in "[[The Time of the Doctor]]" they are among the many species which besiege the planet Trenzalore for centuries. In the latter episode, the Doctor also uses a disembodied Cyberman head, devoid of any remaining organic parts; named "Handles", he serves as the Doctor's personal assistant and confidant for several centuries until his eventual 'death' brings the Doctor to tears.

[[File: Doctor Who Experience (14896771949).jpg|150px|thumbnail|right|A Cyberman in its 2013 redesign]]
In the two-part finale of the 2014 series, "[[Dark Water (Doctor Who)|Dark Water]]" and "[[Death in Heaven]]", the [[Twelfth Doctor]] ([[Peter Capaldi]]) learns too late that the Cybermen have formed an alliance with a female incarnation of [[The Master (Doctor Who)|the Master]], Missy ([[Michelle Gomez]]), who is converting the stolen bodies of the dead into an army. A  {{Not typo|cyberconversion}} process begins on all of Earth's dead. Missy offers the Doctor control of the Cybermen army so they can rule the universe together, but her plan is foiled when [[Danny Pink]] ([[Samuel Anderson (actor)|Samuel Anderson]]), the cyber-converted boyfriend of the Doctor's companion [[Clara Oswald]] ([[Jenna Coleman]]), resists his programming and destroys himself along with all the other Cybermen. Cybermen are next seen in "[[Face the Raven]]" (2015), among the various alien refugees hiding in London, and in series finale "[[Hell Bent (Doctor Who)|Hell Bent]]", in which a rusted Cyberman is imprisoned in the Cloisters of Gallifrey. The origin of another group of Cybermen is told in the two-part [[Doctor Who (series 10)|Series 10]] finale "[[World Enough and Time (Doctor Who)|World Enough and Time]]" and "[[The Doctor Falls]]", when a Mondasian colony ship is stuck escaping the gravity of a black hole for many years. The human-like Mondasians, assisted unknowingly by [[Master (Doctor Who)|the Master]] ([[John Simm]]), begin upgrading their population to adapt to life aboard the decaying ship. The Doctor reflects on all the societies that have created Cybermen and concludes that the Cybermen is an example of [[parallel evolution]]; the Cybermen will always arise and be developed on human-like species across the universe. Ultimately, this encounter with the Cybermen proves brutal: the Doctor's companion [[Bill Potts (Doctor Who)|Bill Potts]] ([[Pearl Mackie]]) is {{Not typo|cyberconverted}}; two incarnations of the Master (Simm and Gomez) kill one another in a disagreement over standing alongside the Doctor; and the Doctor's companion [[Nardole]] ([[Matt Lucas]]) is left behind on the ship to look after human colonists, for whom inevitable {{Not typo|cyberconversion}} has been delayed but not averted, though the Doctor manages to destroy most of the Cybermen in a massive explosion. The Doctor, exhausted and wounded to a point of nearing death, awakens in his TARDIS and begins to regenerate. At the same time, the {{Not typo|cyberconverted}} Bill is saved by her old flame Heather who turns her into the same sort of being Heather became after being infected by a sentient liquid.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/doctorwho/entries/adff0629-5ce5-4a0e-b81a-69693d489745 |title=Original Mondasian Cybermen return to Doctor Who! |author=The Doctor Who Team |date=6 March 2017 |website=BBC Latest News – Doctor Who |access-date=8 May 2017 }}</ref>

Cybermen feature heavily in [[Doctor Who (series 12)|Series 12 (2020)]]. In "[[Fugitive of the Judoon]]", experienced companion [[Jack Harkness|Captain Jack Harkness]] ([[John Barrowman]]) sends a message to the [[Thirteenth Doctor]] ([[Jodie Whittaker]]): "do not give the lone Cyberman what it wants". In "[[The Haunting of Villa Diodati]]", the Doctor encounters this Cyberman, the sole survivor of the Cyber-Wars, partially-converted Ashad ([[Patrick O'Kane]]). She ignores Jack's warning and gives him the Cyberium, the total knowledge of the defeated Cyberman empire, to save human history. This leads to Ashad rejuvenating the Cyber-Empire in season finale "[[Ascension of the Cybermen]]" and "[[The Timeless Children]]", intending to end all organic life in the universe with a "Death Particle" once he transforms the Cybermen into a purely technological race. However, the Master ([[Sacha Dhawan]]) intervenes, promising an alliance only to swiftly betrays Ashad, confiscating the Cyberium and converting the massacred Time Lord civilisation into "CyberMasters" &ndash; a new race of infinitely [[regeneration (Doctor Who)|regenerating]] Cybermen. This army is seemingly defeated by a miniaturised version of the Death Particle. A Cyberman is later seen in the 2021 New Years Special "[[Revolution of the Daleks]]" as one of the Doctor's cellmates in a [[Judoon]] prison. The CyberMasters and a clone of Ashad return alongside the Master in a daring scheme alongside the Daleks to steal the Doctor's body in "[[The Power of the Doctor]]" (2022), narrowly defeated only when the Doctor's companions succeed in bringing her back to life.