4 out of 5

Directed by: Morris Barry

Yes, Doctor Who up to this point hasn’t ever really been hard sci-fi, but generally – very generally – the serials will stick to their own inherent loose set of rules.  Moonbase doesn’t bother with that so much, and thus is pretty fun as long as you don’t think about it so much.  As far as the criticism that it’s essentially just The Tenth Planet redone on the moon (I mean, that was the intent of the producers), that’s not such a crime: also up to this point, most Whos are just variations on similar themes, and if anything, Moonbase is superior to a lot of “monster of the week” style eps in that it sports some pretty good costumes and sets.

Though I’d hesitate to call this a Cybermen episode, as my main gripe – besides a ridiculous “all’s well that ends well!” type ending – is that it strips away any definition for the race, making them somewhat Dalek-esque in their blank-faced annihilation conquests.  The setup: Who crew land on the moon in the future, and are questioningly welcomed by the Earth crew who’re working in their weather control station.  In fact, the Doctor might be of some use to help figure out what’s plaguing the men, causing them to randomly collapse, veins a’turnin’ black.  This first half of the serial plays the best, with elements of mystery and the shadow of the Cybermen looming in foreshadowing scenes.  It’s also nice that we’re not falling back on the trope of locking the Doctor up because he’s a stranger, although the scriptwriters did workaround the last-minute insert of Jaime by having him be unconscious for most of this.  When the Cybermen bust through a hole in the wall in episode 3 and reveal themselves as the source of some technical problems on the station, it’s a silly reveal but a welcome return – the costumes are pretty nifty and the ‘men come across as credible threats.

The ‘credible’ part crumbles a bit as we go into the fourth part, which has Ben and Polly once again being awesome companions (although Polly is marginalized more directly than usual by all the menfolk; quite an unfortunate reminder of the times) and the Doc doing his investigative bit, but the “logic” by which all of this is tied together feels a bit forced, and the resolution incredibly short-sighted.  So overall it’s another case of the enjoyable cast elevating the material to something more entertaining than it might be otherwise.  And thankfully the crew – and the viewer – get to slink out of there before we get the chance to think about things too much.