Earthshock
As the TARDIS materialises in Earth's future, Adric argues with the Fifth Doctor about the lack of attention and respect he receives compared to Nyssa or Tegan.
Scott and his men are able to overpower the minimal guard left on the bridge, and Adric immediately starts working to try to undo the control lock.
The TARDIS crew watches helplessly as the freighter collides with Earth in a massive explosion, killing the dinosaurs and Adric in the process.
This was the first Cyberman story since Revenge of the Cybermen (1975), as producer John Nathan-Turner wanted to bring back an old enemy, but resisted using the Daleks.
Nathan-Turner even had the studio observation galleries closed for the duration of recording and turned down an offer from Radio Times to provide advance publicity of the Cybermen on their cover.
After the success of using archive footage for the flashback sequence in Logopolis (1981), Producer John Nathan-Turner consulted with series continuity adviser Ian Levine and asked him to prepare another such montage for this story.
Levine selected one clip from all of the previous Doctors, save for Jon Pertwee who never had a Cyberman story (though they had been briefly glimpsed in two serials from his era).
The Cyberscope prop was built using parts the modelmaker (Martin Bower) had scavenged from the Nostromo set constructed for Ridley Scott's science fiction film Alien (1979).
[4] Although this was his last job on Doctor Who as director, he would write three serials for the Davison era; Time-Flight (which follows on from Earthshock), Mawdryn Undead and Planet of Fire.
It continued, "Peter Grimwade's pacy direction keeps the action and tension levels high, and the Cybermen once again come across as a credible menace, backed by some appropriate marching music courtesy of Malcolm Clarke".
[11] In Doctor Who: The Episode Guide, Mark Campbell awarded it eight out of ten, describing it as "a dynamically directed action story, much praised at the time; although the plot has huge holes and the dialogue is often lousy.
He also criticised the Cybermen, feeling that they did not hark back to their eerie emotionless roots and that when they got involved "the plot starts to bog down in its implausibilities".
He wrote "Saward's script and Grimwade's direction work in unison, delivering pace, momentum, atmosphere and the eponymous shock."
He praised the new look of the Cybermen, guest star Beryl Reid, and the way the story "pulls off the previously unimaginable feat of making us care about Adric".
[14] In 2010, SFX named Adric's death the twenty-ninth best "tearjerker" in science fiction and fantasy, calling it a "tragedy" that managed to make the audience care about him.
[16] For Den of Geek in 2019, Andrew Blair wrote that Earthshock was "atypical Who with its short scenes, regular gunfights, and fast pace.
Its success owed a lot to Peter Grimwade's direction, but also negatively influenced Doctor Who for the next four years with misplaced attempts to bottle lightning twice.
