Many of the Doctors enemies are scary, but the Cybermen, and also the Daleks are enemies who keep reappearing and never loose their scare factor.

The Dr Who Cybermen strength

The Cybermen are also known as men of steel. Their metal frame makes them significantly stronger than the humans which they were made from, probably the strength of ten men. The Cybermen have hands like humans and are very dexterous and hence able to utilize their strength effectively. The tough metal exo skeleton also helps to protect them so they can face their enemies when attacking without needing cover or protection.

The Dr Who Cybermen emotions

The Cybermen have had all their emotions removed. They are therefore unable to comprehend the effect that they are having on people or to empathize in any way with others beings. This lack of emotions also means that Cybermen cannot feel pain, not only are the unable to understand suffering, but they cannot suffer. These robotic bipeds are either in fully functioning order or not, there is no in-between.

The power of the cyber controller

Since the Cybermen have no emotions or pain all their decisions are based either on facts, or they are following orders. The Cybermen are capable of analyzing facts and then deciding on their action, but this information needs to be fed to them and hence they need to have a master controller. The cyber controller will decide on orders and the actions Cybermen take when they have analyzed data. For example it will be the cyber controller who will decide either on request or through preprogramming if someone will fit the criteria to be converted or deleted. The cyber controller is all powerful.

How to stop a cyber world

A brief skim through modern history can easily show the effects of a dictator, the successes and pitfalls have been well analyzed. The difference with the cyber world would be the lack of emotions. Every dictator has had opposition either openly or as a part of an underground movement. But this opposition is driven by a desire for change, usually to make a place happier and to reduce its misery. The determination of the opposition is fuelled by the suffering around them. Without the emotions of happiness and sadness why would anyone stand up to a dictator? What would be the purpose of change if you were never aware of being happy or sad? Equally what would be the purpose of progress if you had no emotions? For progress to happen, sacrifices are usually made, and a sacrifice is a risk based on an evaluation of both the associated emotions and the possible outcomes.

So, perhaps the reason the Cybermen are such a successful creation is that they represent our world with the removal of everything which is important to us. But most importantly, it would be a world without hope. If the Cybermen were successful then there would be no one left to oppose them and their actions would become irreversible. The Cybermen scare us not just because of their strength and ability to delete, but because they are the cog in a system which terrifies us.

Dr Who Cybermen is a post from: The Master And The Universe

Dr Who Cybermen is from The Master And The Universe

The doctor Who cybermen may have been around for a while, originally men in loose silver suits, they are now technologically advanced and creatures to be admired as well as feared. It is a well know fact that many episodes of doctor Who are watch by peaking out from behind the sofa, and with the return of the cybermen in the parallel universe this will certainly be continuing. The history of the cybermen has been explained and we know that they were originally created on the planet Mondas. They left Mondas to move to Telos, but Mondas was twinned with the Earth and hence there has always been a link between cybermen and planet Earth. This linked is the reason for their reappearance in the parallel universe, an Earth which the Doctor, Rose and Mickey accidentally visit.

What makes the Cybermen special?

The doctor Who cybermen, like the other arch enemy of the Doctor – the daleks, have had all their emotions and pain receptors removed. The insane John Lumic believes that this is an upgrade for the average human being! The cybermens lack of emotions means that they cannot make judgment decisions and therefore need to be controlled by a leader. This means that the whole force of the cybermen is designed to be under the control of one mind. Obviously this is not going to be a caring, generous mind.

What is the difference between the cybermen and their controller?

The cyber controller is more powerful than the cybermen, he also looks slightly different. The cyber control has a visible brain and also sockets on his front to allow pipes to be fixed to feed nutrients to him. The idea of the cyber controller was originally introduced in 1967.

This very cleverly devised cyber world setup means that orders will be carried out without question, and hence ultimate control can be achieved by one person. A quick glance at modern history will remind us of the dangers of dictators in one country, let alone a planet! The thought which the BBC team put into the story continuity and the amazing way of interlinking between different episodes of different series shows the extent of care to detail which can be found, especially in the new revived doctor Who.

The BBC design team worked flat out for a month to create the new cybermen and the results certainly paid off. The cybermen are a great success with the new generation of fans.

Doctor Who Cybermen is a post from: The Master And The Universe

Doctor Who Cybermen is from The Master And The Universe

For the current generation of Dr Who fans the sonic screwdriver seems indispensable, but is it really?

What do we know about the Dr Who sonic screwdriver?

We know that the Tradis can make a new sonic screwdriver, this is implied in the episode “Smith and Jones” when the Doctors sonic screwdriver is burnt out and at the end of episode he reappears with a new one and invites Martha on a trip with him. So we know where the screwdriver comes from, but what can it do? The sonic screwdriver is pretty versatile, it can open deadlocks, can be brandished as a weapon (even in situations when it will not actually work as a weapon). As a rule of thumb, if something needs a little help then the Dr Who sonic screwdriver will rise to the job.

Has the Dr Who sonic screwdriver ever been out of favor?

The Doctor first brought a sonic screwdriver to our screens in the nineteen sixties, but it has had it time away from the small screen. When John Nathan-Turner was the producer of Dr Who he decided that the sonic screwdriver was being used to get the Doctor and his assistant out of too many sticky situations which could have been solved by other means.

John Nathan-Turners solution was to destroy the sonic screwdriver at the hands of the Terilepril in 1981 during the Visitation. The sonic screwdriver was not replaced for another fifteen years as John Nathan-Turner thought that this would make the writers think a bit harder for other solutions.

Is the Dr Who sonic screwdriver unique?

There have been several different designs to the sonic screwdriver and one of the Doctors assistants, Romana, designs her own sonic screwdriver which the doctor takes a liking to and tries, unsuccessfully, to obtain. The Doctor also gives Sarah Jane Smith a sonic lipstick. This seems to be pretty similar to the Doctors screwdriver, but with the feminine touch. Captain Jack has a sonic blaster which he tries to impress Rose with during “The Empty Child”, this seems fundamentally similar, but the flourish with which Captain Jack uses his device is significantly more impressive.

The other important appearance of a sonic screwdriver is in the “Silence in the Library” episode when another sonic screwdriver appears, which the Doctor has apparently given to River Song, in a future which the Doctor has not yet lived. In this case the sonic has been adapted to be suitable for the end which River Song is to face. The Doctor knows that there must be an importance to the sonic screwdriver as he would not have given River Song this gift unless it was for a specific purpose or for a specific event in time.

Over all the Dr Who sonic screwdriver seems to be able to rise to the occasion, and certainly it is an essential for any new generation fan. So let the Doctor keep his sonic as it keeps all our imaginations active as we wonder what else it can do and how.

Dr Who Sonic Screwdriver is a post from: The Master And The Universe

Dr Who Sonic Screwdriver is from The Master And The Universe

The doctor who sonic screwdriver is a little bit of a mystery and we will probably never know all that there is to know about it. But with a little look into the doctor who history we can put together the information to discover quite a bit about the doctor who sonic screwdriver.

Where does the doctor who Sonic Screwdriver come from?

Back in the nineteen eighties the doctor who sonic screwdriver is destroyed by the Terileptil and the writer, Eric Saward, originally wrote an extra scene at the end of the episode where the TARDIS provided the Doctor with a replacement. John Nathan-Turner scrapped this scene as he wanted to get rid of the sonic screwdriver because he thought that the writers were getting too dependent on it as a solution to any situation. The Doctor does however get a replacement when his is destroyed during the episode “Smith and Jones”.

What can the doctor who sonic screwdriver do?

There seems to be no end of uses for the sonic screwdriver, but maybe it is more defined by what it cannot do. We are told that the sonic screwdriver cannot kill, wound or maim. For those of you who are now thinking of all the instances when the sonic screwdriver was used to beat an evil force, you need to think carefully. In these situations the sonic screwdriver is used to create a weapon from something else, or to enable or disable equipment essential to a life form.

Does anyone else have a sonic screwdriver?

The Doctors assistance Romana builds a sonic screwdriver. The Doctor likes this so much that he actually tries to switch his with hers! The Doctor gives Sarah Jane Smith a sonic lipstick, which seems to be a feminine version of his own. The Doctor also give River Song a sonic screwdriver, but as we learn at the end of the episode, this was because he know what would happen and he gave her this to deal specifically with an incident in her future. We know from the jokes made by the likes of Captain Jack Harkness that a sonic screwdriver is not a tool held by most time travelers.

However, despite Captain Jacks jokes, he carries a sonic blaster which does seem to have some similar properties. We also discover, on the return of the Master, that he has a laser screwdriver. The Masters laser screwdriver has almost nothing in common with the doctor who sonic screwdriver. The laser screwdriver is specifically designed to kill and maim, exactly what the Doctors does not do. He also uses his laser screwdriver to age the Doctor. The laser screwdriver is certainly not designed with helping or saving in mind.

So is the doctor who Sonic screwdriver indispensable?

Certainly not! Any doctor who fan will tell you that the Doctor is resourceful and intelligent and he could not possibly be dependent on any one piece of equipment!

Doctor Who Sonic Screwdriver is a post from: The Master And The Universe

Doctor Who Sonic Screwdriver is from The Master And The Universe

For those of you who have recently rediscovered Dr Who, it has all changed. Christopher Eccleston and David Tennant have been the Doctors of the newly revived BBC Dr Who. But it is more than just the writing, acting and special effects which have improved, wait till you discover some of the toys!

The most popular of the Dr Who figures are the five inch size. These figures are fully poseable, so everything moves and they can run, stand and sit. Their hands, feet and heads even move, assuming that they have these body parts.

If you are looking to start a Dr Who figures collection you will have to start somewhere, and that is not as easy as you may think. The characters are divided up into the different series. The doctor is obviously in all the series, but even when the actor does not change the figure will. For example the David Tennant character can be brought with either red baseball shoes or white baseball shoes, also the pin stripe on his suit changes. Of course there is also the ‘other Doctor’ who eventually goes off with Rose to live a normal life with only one heart, and he wears a plain blue suit. The Doctor can also be bought with the adipose babies, and in a suit when heading into the black hole.

Where should you start your collection?
Every collection has to have a Doctor and an assistant of your choice. Quickly followed by a cyberman, a dalek and probably an ood. Once you have these you can then build up a collection based on the favorites from the episodes. Character make the five inch action figures and they sell them separately or they also group some of them so they can be purchased together if you find this a good starting point.

The Five Inch Tardis
One of the real gems of the five inch Dr Who figures range is the TARDIS. This is very well designed, the sound effects are great. There are different sounds for take off and landing which are activated by a button being depressed when the Tardis is put on a surface. When lifted up the button is released and the flight sound is started. There is also a clever place to put your finger to allow the tardis to spin as it moves through the air. This is a really well though out addition for your Dr Who figures and even has a small opening in the front to access the original police phone.

The five inch Dr Who figures are sufficiently well designed to be fairly indestructible. This does not mean that a younger toddler will not be able to pull the limbs off them, but on the whole they will not and if they do, you can put them back together without much grief. The whole design of these toys seems to be made to be suitable for the whole family. The only real drawback is that once you have bought a couple you will almost certainly be going back for more.

Dr Who Figures is a post from: The Master And The Universe

Dr Who Figures is from The Master And The Universe

When the BBC decided to revamp Dr Who, they presented us with Christopher Eccleston, great scripts and special effects we could never have imagined. But this was only the beginning. The Dr Who revival was more successful than most people could have predicted. A whole new generation were converted and became avid Dr Who fans. Cowering behind the sofa became cool again. But this generation of fans are different. They have different expectations, the merchandising machine was set in motion to fulfil the expectations of these new fans.

With every new trend there is a merchandising frenzy, and Dr Who was not going to be any different. The great success of this was the doctor who action figures. These are fabulously made. If a toddler manages to detach a limb then it can even be reattached without glue or tears. These are well made, well designed toys which stand up on there own merits.

These toys are the perfect size, they fit the hands of even small children. They are small enough to take out and have when Dr Who comes on television, and large enough to not get lost too easily. They have also cleverly designed the Tardis to fit two Dr Who figures into. So the Doctor and his assistant can travel off to have many adventures in your living room.

The Dr Who figures are great, but the Tardis is the icing on the cake. It is a very well though out design. There is a button on the bottom of the tardis which is depressed when on a flat surface, and as it is pushed in the tardis makes a landing sound. Equally, when you lift the tardis up it makes a taking off sound. And to add that little extra there is a spot on the bottom where you can place your finger and spin the tardis around so that you can pretend it is flying.

The Tardis even has a nineteen fifties police phone on the inside which can be accessed through the hatch from the outside. Is there nothing which these people didn’t think of? Or perhaps they had the sense to have the toys designed by true fans who understood the importance of the details.

So where do you start your collection? Every Dr Who fan will need a figure of the Doctor, it is a good idea to give him an assistant. The next must be a few characters for him to save the world from. The obvious bad guys are the daleks and the cybermen. Once you start looking into the Dr Who figures you will see that there are even more choices.

The Doctor can be purchased with the Adipose babies, with red baseball shoes, with white baseball shoes (he does change his shoes in the first episode with Martha Jones), in a suit from the Black Hole episode, all accurate to the BBC productions. So don’t worry too much where you start your collection, because you will soon find that you are constantly checking for more and looking for your next purchase.

Doctor Who Action Figures is a post from: The Master And The Universe

Doctor Who Action Figures is from The Master And The Universe

The Dr Who Ood are a fascinating alien race. Over the two episodes in which they have featured we have learned a lot about their characteristics and their history.

The physiology of the Dr Who Ood tells us a lot about them. The Ood are humanoid. They all dress alike and there are no obvious male and female differences. The lower part of the Oods face is covered in tendrils, with no visible mouth. The Ood communicate telepathically so their mouths were not a central part of their facial anatomy.

All the Dr Who Ood carry something in their hand. When the Ood are enslaved by the humans the humans have fitted a translator device. When the humans did this, they removed the Oods external brain. This brain contained all the Oods personal information and their identity. Without their external brain the Ood were the perfect slave race as they became all alike without individuality.

The Dr Who Ood are clearly a peaceful alien nation. We know this for several reasons, firstly their clothing is not the clothing of soldiers. But most obviously they have evolved in such a way that their communication is superior, but they have visible physical vulnerability which a fighting nation would not. They carry an external brain, this means that they only have one hand free for physical actions, and they have some of their most important information vulnerable to attack, they also have unprotected tendrils on their face.

We learn that the Ood come from a planet called the Ood Sphere, which is close to the Sense Sphere planet. The Sense Sphere planet is inhabited by the Sensorites who we are told are similar to the Ood. The Doctor could not save the enslaved Ood in the episode The Impossible Planet, but in the second encounter with the Ood we discover that there is a hive mind.

This hive mind has been captured for over two hundred years, and has changed and evolved to control the Ood in such a way to instigate its release. To achieve the desired end the hive mind had to turn some Ood feral and vengeful. This is another sign of the Ood peaceful mentality, the hive mind was prepared to wait as long as necessary to get back to freedom, there was no immediate fight, the Ood were not called to arms and sent into to fight for the hive mind, it was a long and slow process which the hive mind knew would ultimately work.

By the end of the second appearance of the Dr Who Ood we are all fairly attached to these helpful and accepting creatures. The Dr and Rose help to free the hive mind and to return the Ood to their home, for this the Ood will always in indebted to the Doctor. This clever story line means that the Doctor has an ally who will probably be there to help him at some time in the future. If the Ood are prepared to wait two hundred years for freedom they will probably remember a friend for a long time.

Dr Who Ood is a post from: The Master And The Universe

Dr Who Ood is from The Master And The Universe