4D2 - Revenge of the Cybermen 2

How can a story with such notable actors as Ronald Leigh-Hunt (who was great in The Seeds of Death), William Marlowe (who was magnetic in The Mind of Evil), David Collings, Michael Wisher, and Kevin Stoney (the latter three having had, or will have, superb performances in Doctor Who) manage to give none of these fine gentlemen anything to work with?

Stoney, who was simply glorious as both Mavic Chen in The Daleks' Master Plan and Tobias Vaughn in The Invasion, is totally wasted in this story, buried in a fibreglass mask that only serves to obscure most of his dialogue. Wisher, who would, in production terms, give life to Davros in Genesis of the Daleks, is an unimportant lackey of Vorus, as played by David Collings. Leigh-Hunt's and Marlowe's characters, Stevenson and Lester, respectively, are directionless nobodies, there purely to be someone for The Doctor to relay the plot to while Harry and Sarah become involved in the local civil war on Voga.

Speaking of that civil war, it seems to want to be the main thrust of this story instead of the titular Cybermen, which is a shame as the civil war plot is quite dull. Meanwhile, we've waited seven years to see the Cybermen again, and they're given what can best be described as a "soft launch" back into the world of Doctor Who. Barely involved in the plot halfway through the story, as least they finally show up to shoot everyone on Nerva Beacon down (oh, don't worry - they're only stunned) in a mildly impressive fashion.