Bodysuit Comparison
 
Examination of the Longleat Cyberman now became virtually a Cyber autopsy.
Every detail was checked, analysed, and compared. Rather than just trying to prove that it was the Controller, I worked just as hard trying to prove that it wasn't - pre-judging the outcome would not be helpful.
A major feature of the Mark II Cybermen was the tubing on the arms and legs. As previously noted, the tubes were not cut and placed consistently between costumes, so a discrepancy between the Controller and the Longleat costume would disprove any connection.

The resolution of the DVD image is generally not sufficient for counting the rings on sections of tubing. Fortunately, high quality photographs of the costume taken during filming make it possible to confirm that the Cybercontroller's leg and arm tubes exactly match those of the Longleat Cyberman. The photos also show that other Tomb costumes had different numbers of rings on their sections of tubing, confirming that the costumes varied.

The Cybercontroller was the only TV costume to ever be given the extra shoulder tubes. Comparing the number of rings on the shoulder tubes of both costumes gives an exact match. It is also possible to discern idiosyncracies of the tube ends, and once more these match. The pictured examples show the Controller's right shoulder as it appears in the TV episodes, and the Longleat Cyberman's right shoulder as it appears today; the final ring has been cut through diagonally halfway down on both.

shoulder tube in Tomb

shoulder tube today
Cybercontroller with extra shoulder tubes, neck piece, and no strap slits.

alteration at neckline

The Longleat costume has had the collar altered. The original neat round neckline has been less carefully cut down at the front into a V-shape and a new piece of fabric stitched and glued behind it. The same alteration is visible on the original Controller costume in front of the mask's lower edge.

In The Moonbase it is possible to see strap slits in the fabric of some costumes. The costume adapted to become the Cybercontroller obviously had no such slits in it or they would have been seen on screen.

There are no slits for chest unit straps on the Longleat costume. This in itself does not prove it was used as the Controller, but their presence would have proved that it was only ever a regular Cyberman.

(At least one unit had presumably been attached with external straps on The Moonbase, or another method which left the costume unharmed. This may have been done to keep a costume or two undamaged for use in close-ups of the chest units.)

As well as the shoulder tubes, the Cybercontroller had second rows of leg tubes and balls added to distinguish it from the regular Cybermen. Although these extra tubes are now absent, the Longleat costume has slight damage and thread remnants along the back of the legs exactly corresponding to where the tubes would have once been attached. ankle ball threads
The detachment of these joins at the ankle was through wear and tear. Damage at these points matches similar damage on the front ankle balls' original fixing points (later repaired).

The hip and knee joins were detached less violently. There are no tears or holes; some attachment points have threads still in the suit, some have none. It appears that these attachments were deliberately cut to allow removal of the extra leg tubes from the costume at some point after its TV use.

rear left ankle tear and threads
Another important point of similarity is that the ankle balls are still in place on the Longleat costume. Their relatively high placement matches with the Cybercontroller, and after The Tomb of the Cybermen was made only three costumes would still have had them; the Controller, the dummy Controller, and the weapons robot.

With the dummy Controller and the weapons robot already eliminated, I was running out of reasons to doubt that my Cyberman costume actually was the Cybercontroller.

front left ankle repaired

After every possible check showed a positive match, I finally accepted that the costume's identity was established beyond any reasonable doubt. I sent a summary of the evidence to several Doctor Who fans knowledgable in the area of original props and costumes, and was relieved to hear that they all agreed with the conclusion. The Tomb of the Cybermen's Cybercontroller had been lying in my attic for twenty four years without my realising it!

Patrick Troughton faces the Cybercontroller

The costume's role in Doctor Who now confirmed, my attention returned to the search for a link between the Longleat Cyberman's head and a specific on-screen appearance.

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