Doctor Who Classic Reviews #11: Earthshock

This is the Eleventh review in this series. For the most recent article in the series click on the link here: Vengeance on Varos

Earthshock by Eric Saward

Earthshock reintroduces the Cybermen after a 7 year absence. It also features the 3rd death of a companion, in this case Adric. This is Doctor Who's explanation to the extinction of the dinosaurs.

Earthshock is certainly a good story but not a classic. The send off for Adric was more likely more dramatic at the time then is now. The cybermen are too emotional.

Doctor Rating

Doctor Rating: 8/10

Peter Davison's reaction to the death of Adric was very good. He may be my list favourite Doctor but he is a good doctor.

Companion Rating

Adric: 7/10
Tegan Jovenka: 6/10
Nyssa: 6/10

Adric is better than usual but Tegan and Nyssa are just so wooden and their reaction to Adric's death is very fake.

Enemy Rating

Cybermen: 7/10
Androids: 7/10
Gathway: 6/10

Gathway was pointless and the Cybermen were too emotional

Story Rating

Story: 7/10
Scariness: 8/10
Humour: 3/10

Limited if any humour. The story about the reason for the Cybermen's motives were explanned too late.

Total: 65/100

1. The Aztecs: 73.5%

2. The Moonbase: 81.8%

3. The Ark in Space: 82.5%

4. The Sontaran Experiment: 78.7%

5. The Brain of Morbius: 87.2%

6. The Tomb of the Cybermen: 82.73%

7. The Web of Fear: 85%

8.  Arc of Infinity: 66.3%

9. The Monster of Peladon: 66%

10. Vengeance on Varos: 76.25%

11. Earthshock: 65%

In the end Earthshock gets my lowest score yet, highly unexpected on my part. I enjoyed this story a lot more than what my result shows. 

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