Revenge of the Cybermen ( TV story ) Revenge of the Cybermen was the fifth and final story of season 12 of " Doctor Who " . The story saw the return of the Cybermen as lead villains for the first time since " The Invasion " in 1968 and their only appearance ( barring flashbacks and cameos ) until " Earthshock " in 1982 . It was not originally intended as the finale of season 12 . The next story to air ( " Terror of the Zygons " ) was originally filmed as the finale of season 12 , but it did not air until the following thirteenth season . It was further significant for being the first " Doctor Who " story released on home video and inaugurated the franchise ' s VHS , Betamax , and Laserdisc ranges . The story was partially filmed at Wookey Hole Caves , a location renowned for bad luck . As if to confirm local superstition about the site , an electrician broke his leg , Elisabeth Sladen ' s motorboat went out of control , and stuntman Terry Walsh was injured getting her out of the water and ended up in hospital . ( DWM 297 ) Synopsis . Arriving on Space Station Nerva in its distant past , the Doctor , Sarah and Harry find its crew threatened by a mysterious plague . Discovering that things are not as they seem , they stumble upon a plan to commit genocide , devised by the Doctor ' s old enemies , the Cybermen . Plot . Part one . The Fourth Doctor , Harry and Sarah Jane spin through time and space back to Space Station Nerva . They land in the control room they left when they last beamed down to Earth , but Sarah notices the TARDIS is not there . The Doctor says the TARDIS is drifting back in time towards them and they just need to wait for her to catch up . He leaves the Time Ring behind , prompting Harry to claim ownership of it . Before Harry can even touch it , the Time Ring vanishes , returning to its place of origin with the Time Lord s . A door slides open , revealing a dead body and many more beyond , littering the outer ring of the station . In a communications room , crewman Warner warns off an approaching spaceship from Nerva Beacon , which is under plague quarantine . Professor Kellman , a planetary surveyor , asks Commander Stevenson how long they can run a fifty - man station with three men , but the other officer , Lester , thinks they can manage . Nerva is on a thirty - year assignment to warn ships away from Voga , the new asteroid it is orbiting , until its presence is updated on all the starcharts of inbound ships . The time travellers find a sealed door leading to Section Q . The Doctor surmises that this is the same station they left , but thousands of years in the past , before solar flare s devastated Earth . As the Doctor tries to get through the door , the trio fail to see a silver , snake - like creature — a Cybermat — crawling around the bodies behind them . Somewhere else , an alien tries to contact Nerva and barely gets through to Warner before he is shot by two more of his own kind . The only place the signal could have come from is Voga , but Kellman tells Warner that he set up the transmat station there and spent six months cataloguing its rocks . Voga had drifted into the solar system fifty years before and had been captured by Jupiter ' s gravity . An asteroid of that size drifting between star systems could not support life , he says , and he warns against going down to Voga and spreading the plague . Warner logs the call anyway . The Doctor opens the sealed door , which activates an alarm . On Voga , Vorus , leader of the Guardians of the mines , orders his men to bury the dead Vogan that was shot earlier . Magrik , his aide , tells him that the dead Vogan was frightened of Vorus ' s plan . Vorus tells him that they can trust their agent on Nerva . Gold buys humans , and they have more gold on Voga than in the rest of the galaxy . The reason the agent had not contacted them is probably because the Cybermen are monitoring transmissions . In the communications room , the Cybermat attacks Warner , biting him before it is thrown off . Warner collapses , glowing veins appearing on his face , while Kellman enters and pulls the magnetic log tape from the console . Meanwhile , the Doctor , Harry and Sarah have reached the forward control room mere seconds before Lester and Stevenson enter , levelling their weapons at them . The door behind them slides open to reveal the communications room , and Kellman brings Stevenson to Warner ' s fallen form . When Stevenson sees that his crewman has the plague , he prepares to shoot Warner to halt the infection ' s spread , but the Doctor stops him . The Doctor lies , saying that they are a medical team sent from Earth , and convinces Stevenson to let Harry examine Warner . They take Warner to the crew quarters as Kellman returns to his own room and spies on the Doctor and Stevenson in the communications room using an assembled device . Stevenson tells the Doctor about the asteroid , formerly Neo Phobos , but renamed Voga by Kellman . The Doctor recognises the name , Voga , the Planet of Gold , and realises that Cybermen are involved . Stevenson says the Cybermen died out centuries before , but the Doctor points out they merely vanished after attacking Voga at the end of the last Cyber - War . Hearing all this , Kellman contacts a Cybership nearby , its crew commanded by a Cyber - Leader with a black helmet . The ship moves towards Nerva . Warner is dead . When the Doctor examines the body , he finds two puncture wounds , indicating that Warner was injected with poison and confirming the Doctor ' s suspicion that there is no plague . The Doctor says that if he had seen Warner earlier he might have been able to use Nerva ' s transmat to filter out the poison from his system . The Doctor has another suspicion ; investigating Kellman ' s quarters , he finds the communications device as well as some gold . The Doctor hides when Kellman returns , but Kellman realises that someone has been inside the room . He sabotages the room , electrifying the floor and sending gas pouring up from it . Keeping off the floor , the Doctor reaches the door to open it with his sonic screwdriver . Meanwhile , Sarah turns off a monitor she has been watching and turns around , only to be attacked by the Cybermat . Part two . The Doctor escapes Kellman ' s room and hears Sarah scream . He throws the Cybermat to the floor and kills it with gold dust , but Sarah has already been bitten . The Doctor carries her to the transmat chamber , handing her to Harry , and prepares to beam them down to Voga and back . However , Kellman has taken the transmat ' s pentalium drive . The Doctor reconfigures the transmat to bypass the sabotaged system while Stevenson and Lester go to confront Kellman . On Voga , Vorus sees a giant rocket , the Sky Striker . He tells Magrik his agent has informed them that the Cybermen are heading for the beacon . Vorus wants the Sky Striker fitted with its bomb head in four hours . The Doctor jury rigs the transmat , and Harry and Sarah beam down to Voga . With the poison filtered out , Sarah instantly recovers . As Harry notices that the cavern floor is littered with gold , Vogans arrive and capture them . Harry and Sarah are brought before Vorus , who wants to know who is still alive on Nerva . However , the answers will have to wait . Harry and Sarah are taken away while Vorus answers a call from Councillor Tyrum , who arranges for them to meet . Lester and Stevenson capture Kellman . The Doctor explains that the Cybermen fear Voga because gold , a noncorrosive substance , plates their breathing apparatus and suffocates them . The Doctor cannot get Harry and Sarah back without the pentalium drive , but Kellman feigns ignorance , trying to buy time until the Cybermen arrive . The Doctor uses a control box he found in Kellman ' s room to activate a Cybermat , threatening Kellman with it until he reveals that the drive is around his neck . Harry and Sarah are chained in a cave . Harry notes that the chains are solid gold , soft metal through which they may be able to file . Meanwhile , Tyrum tells Vorus that he knows that aliens have come to Voga . He also knows that Vorus wants Voga to emerge as a trading power again and not hide from the Cybermen , who apparently disappeared centuries ago . Tyrum no longer trusts Vorus or the Guardians and will send his militia to take over the mines . Vorus is furious , but Tyrum says his troops have orders to crush any resistance . Fighting breaks out in the mines between the Guardians and the militia . Vorus tells Magrik to keep Tyrum from finding out about the Sky Striker and to kill the two humans immediately . Harry and Sarah have freed themselves , however , and get away before the execution team arrives . They are pursued by more Guardians , who fire at them . Harry and Sarah are cornered and about to be shot when militia troops appear , forcing the Guardians to stand down . The Doctor has repaired the transmat but cannot lock onto Harry and Sarah as they have left the receptor circle . Lester detects an incoming ship , but it does not respond to their signals . As the Cybership docks , the Doctor recognises it for what it is but cannot lock the hatch . The Cybermen enter , as if in a funeral march or procession . Lester and Stevenson shoot at the Cybermen , but the Cybermen return fire and shoot sizzling balls of light from their head ports on their foreheads that take Lester and Stevenson down . The Doctor tries to sneak away , but the Cybermen shoot him several times and he lies on the floor , looking dead . One of the Cybermen reports that all resistance is overcome . The leader then proclaims , " The Beacon is ours ! " Part three . The Cyber - Leader tells Kellman that the three men are not dead , merely neutralised ; they are necessary to their plan . Kellman set the transmat receptors mere yards from a shaft that leads into the core of Voga . The environment is hostile to Cybermen . The three men will carry explosives to Voga and destroy the asteroid . Kellman insists on going down to Voga first to check that the transmat is functioning properly , and the Cyber - Leader beams him down . There , he runs into some militia . Not realising the distinction between them and the Guardians , he demands to see Vorus and is taken away while trying to warn them that they are all in danger . Meanwhile , Harry and Sarah are brought before Tyrum and tell their story . When Harry mentions the cybermats , Tyrum asks Harry and Sarah to accompany him to confront Vorus . The Doctor wonders what Kellman ' s reward is , if it is not Voga ' s gold . He taunts the Cyber - Leader , saying that the Cybermen were finished once humans discovered their weakness to gold and ended the Cyber - Wars . The Cyber - Leader tells the Doctor that is why Voga must be destroyed before the Cybermen resume their campaign . The Cyber - Leader says Kellman was promised the rule of the solar system after the Cybermen have conquered it . With Cyberbombs strapped to their backs , the Doctor , Lester and Stevenson are briefed . They are to plant the bomb s in the core of the planet , after which they have fourteen minutes to return and escape via transmat . If they try to remove their harnesses before they reach the target zone , a secondary explosion will kill them . Their progress will be followed by radar . They beam down , accompanied by two Cybermen . Militia arrive and start to fire on the Cybermen , who make short work of the Vogans . None of the three men believe that the Cyber - Leader will keep his word and let them escape , but they have to keep moving towards the target zone as they are being monitored . On Nerva , the Cyber - Leader declares that Kellman is of no further use to them . Tyrum questions Kellman , who tells him that he and Vorus were working to lure the Cybermen to the beacon , which Vorus has targeted with a rocket . At that moment , a militia man arrives to tell Tyrum about the arrival of the Cybermen , and their weapons are useless . Kellman urges them to use the rocket . Tyrum orders his men to use every weapon they can while he speaks to Vorus . Harry tells Sarah to get back to Nerva to warn the Doctor while he tries to stop the rocket from being fired . When Tyrum tells Vorus about the Cybermen on Voga , he shows Tyrum the Sky Striker , on which he has been working for two years . With the Cybermen already on Voga , they have no time to get it ready . Vorus claims his plans were to free his people from the fear of the Cybermen and bring them back into the light . Tyrum scoffs . Vorus has allied himself with Kellman , a double agent and murderer , motivated solely by the promise of gold . Harry suggests finding another way into the core to stop the bombs . The Cybermen continue their slaughter of the Vogans as the bomb timer ticks . Sarah transmats back to Nerva , where she overhears the Cybermen monitoring the three men ' s progress . However , the deeper the three men go , the more the gold interferes with the radar . The men continue onward to the centre of the asteroid . Harry and Kellman , meanwhile , crawl down a cross shaft towards the same place . With the exit blocked , Harry pushes against the rocks , causing a rock slide . Kellman pushes Harry out of the way , only to be crushed to death by a boulder . On the other side , rocks rain down on the Doctor . Harry exits the shaft and finds the Doctor unconscious . Not knowing the danger , Harry tries to unbuckle the Doctor ' s harness . Part four . Lester recovers and stops Harry from unbuckling the harness . The Doctor then recovers and asks Harry if he caused the rockfall , and Harry replies he must have . The Doctor then yells , " Harry Sullivan is an imbecile ! " , before passing out . Now recovered , the Doctor conceives a plan . Stevenson will go on and create a radar trail , while the rest use the cross shaft to surprise and attack the Cybermen with gold . The Doctor and Harry jump the two Cybermen , trying to push gold dust into their chest plates , but the Cybermen are too strong , and Harry and the Doctor are forced to retreat . Lester leaps onto the Cybermen and undoes his harness , the explosion killing himself and the Cybermen . With the loss of contact , the Cyber - Leader orders immediate detonation . Sarah tries to stop them but is thrown to the floor . However , when the button is pressed , no explosion follows . The Doctor has disarmed the countdown device , which allows him to release his harness safely . With Sarah tied up , the Cyber - Leader now plans to send Nerva , loaded with more Cyberbombs , into Voga ' s centre to destroy it . Magrik tells Vorus that the Sky Striker is ready , but before he can launch it , the Doctor asks them to give him fifteen minutes to transmat to Nerva and deal with the Cybermen himself , armed with a bag of gold dust . If he does not contact them in that time , they can launch the rocket . The Doctor reaches Nerva and frees Sarah while the Cybermen are loading the bombs . He takes the Cybermat and its control box , filling the Cybermat with gold dust . He sends the Cybermat to attack a Cyberman , injecting him with the dust and killing him . As Nerva begins to move towards Voga , Vorus sees this and tries to fire the rocket . Tyrum shoots Vorus , but as the Guardian dies , he triggers the launch . The Doctor and Sarah ' s attack on the remaining Cybermen fails ; the Doctor is forced by the Cyber - Leader to tie himself and Sarah up , and they are left to perish in the crash . However , the Sky Striker is approaching just as fast . The Doctor unties them both and contacts Voga , instructing them to steer the rocket towards the Cybership that is just leaving . The Sky Striker veers away from Nerva and destroys the Cybership instead . However , the beacon is still on a collision course . The Doctor unlocks the gyro controls , skimming Nerva just above Voga ' s surface until they reach the other side of the asteroid and open space . The TARDIS materialises in the control room just as Harry arrives via transmat . The Doctor tells his companions to hurry up ; he ' s received a message from Brigadier Lethbridge - Stewart through the space - time telegraph the Doctor left him , which means it is a grave emergency . Although Harry asks if they should say good - bye to the Commander , Sarah tells him not to argue . The three rush into the TARDIS , and it dematerialises . Home video and audio releases . VHS and Betamax releases . This story was released on VHS and Betamax as " Doctor Who : Revenge of the Cybermen " . This was the first " Doctor Who " story to be released to the home video market . Laserdisc releases . It was also one of the select Doctor Who stories to be released on laserdisc .