Introduction
Since the first appearance of the Cybermen left the poor Doctor in such a state that he had to regenerate, it seemed only fair that a swift rematch should be arranged.
The massive public response to the metal meanies' initial outing was a major factor in their return too.
Story Editor Gerry Davies stepped in to help Cybermen creator Kit Pedler complete the scripts for the provisionally titled The Return of the Cybermen, when the latter fell ill. However, because of BBC policy at that time, Davies couldn't be credited.
The Cybermen underwent a complete redesign for The Moonbase, the first of many costume updates that would include wetsuits, Wellington boots, transparent jaws and flares. The redesign was partly to prevent a rerun of the situation on The Tenth Plant, with actors fainting in their overly cumbersome suits.
Frazer Hines, in only his third story as Jamie, found he had little to do other than lie unconscious for the first three episodes: his character hadn't featured in Pedler's original scripts.
The Moonbase features the first appearance of optical effects in Doctor Who - the Cybermen firing their big laser cannon. The laser cannon and the laser beam elements were filmed separately, then combined.
Assistant Floor Manager Lovett Bickford went on to direct the visually stunning Fourth Doctor adventure The Leisure Hive. Unfortunately, he overspent the budget on that story and was never allowed to direct one again.
Another familiar Doctor Who name also makes an appearance in The Moonbase. Future script writer and story editor Victor Pemberton plays the part of Jules.
Episodes 1 and 3 are sadly no longer in the BBC Archives. Episodes 2 and 4 exist as 16mm telerecordings in the BBC archives and were released on the BBC video Cybermen: The Early Years.
