Introduction
This was the Cybermen's third appearance during Patrick Troughton's tenure as the Doctor.
Original Doctor Who script editor David Whitaker developed the six-part tale based on a story by their creator, Kit Pedler.
The metallic monsters were redesigned once again, adopting a scuba diver's wet suit look and introducing 'tear drop' features to their eye sockets.
Despite a rather simple plot concerning the Cybermen's attack on a space station (although whether two Cybermen constitutes an attack is open to question), the story is notable for other reasons.
The Wheel in Space is perhaps best remembered for introducing us to new companion Zoe Herriot. An astrophysicist, Zoe often infuriated the Doctor by actually appearing to be smarter than he was. She also looked fantastic in a silver cat-suit in later stories. Zoe was played by Wendy Padbury.
The story boasts a couple of 'firsts' too. It was the first to feature both sound effects and incidental music from the BBC Radiophonic Workshop. The department is famous for creating the series' theme tune and turning the sounds of old pianos, tubs of goo and flushing toilets into scary monster noises.
The first ever repeat of a full Doctor Who serial followed The Wheel in Space. Rather than just rerunning the story without explanation, the final scene of Wheel in Space has the Doctor linking to Evil of the Daleks within the story by showing Zoe an example of the horrors they are likely to face by means of a 'thought scanner'. If only we had one of those, how easy it would be to recapture those stories missing from the BBC archives.
Look out for Leo Ryan in the story. He was played by Eric Flynn, the son of legendary Hollywood swashbuckler Errol Flynn.
This is also the first time the Doctor is referred to as John Smith, an alias he would often use during the Jon Pertwee years.
