DD3 - The Tenth Planet 3

General Cutler really does prove himself to be one of the more inept authority figures in Doctor Who in this episode. Once he finds out that his son is being sent up in another rocket, he becomes obsessed with getting the rocket back down again. Seriously obsessed. This is evident when he does a rundown of the three problems facing Snowcap base at the time, in order of importance :

1) Cutler's son is stuck in a rocket and needs to get down
2) The Cybermen are invading the base
3) Earth might be drained of all its energy

With the absence of The Doctor in this episode (thanks to a last minute sick day for William Hartnell) and, for the most part, the Cybermen, it's up to Cutler to drive the story in a different (and not terribly satisfying) dramatic direction. The rewrite to hand off most of The Doctor's lines to Ben also doesn't work that well, as most of Ben's new lines start with the phrase "The Doctor says..."

The only time we really see the Cybermen is when a further invasion force gets blasted by some of their own weapons wielded by Earth soldiers. It unfortunately sets a precedent for how easily Cybermen are sometimes defeated in stories to come.