No longer needed for exhibition or publicity duties, the redundant Cyberman costume was available to join other unwanted relics for sale at the BBC's upcoming Doctor Who anniversary event. There is currently no information on exactly what happened to the costume in the approximate eighteen months between its departure from the exhibition and the day of the auction. The following is therefore educated guesswork...
The extra neck and hip tubes added for the exhibitions were removed. This may also have been when the second rows of leg tubes were removed; they had still been present only a couple of years earlier. Possibly the restorers were working with photos of Tomb Cybermen and trying to match their appearance; if so, they missed the shoulder tubes. Alternatively, if already partly detached - as the ankle balls almost certainly were - it would have been simpler to remove some rather than repair them all, leaving a single row on each leg.
After these adjustments the costume was ready to join the other BBC cast-offs for their final public appearance - and destined for a very fortuitous encounter with a former star of Doctor Who.
Longleat 1983 Auction Catalogue
(Click a page to open in a new window.)
N.B. Final sheet is missing. It mainly listed various guard costumes from later Tom Baker stories.
My own copy of the auction listing shows that I had only marked Lots 11, 12, and 13 as of interest; all three were Cyberman heads from The Tomb of the Cybermen. Easy to guess what my sixteen year old self hoped to come away with!
Jon Pertwee later took charge of proceedings. He expressed a little dismay that so few items from his own years on the series figured in the auction. Almost the only piece on the list from Pertwee's era was an old oil lamp used in Death to the Daleks, the vast majority of lots were from much more recent seasons.
In any event, "Lot 210: Cyberman Costume" was about to cause a bit of a stir...
On seeing the costume, Jon insisted that it was incomplete and should not be sold without a head. The auction organisers did not agree; "Lot 13: Cyberman Head" was to be sold seperately. However, Jon Pertwee was a rather forceful character at any time, and at a Doctor Who event his word was law.
The costume gained a head.
After going their own ways for sixteen years, the three pieces were now reunited quite by chance and an old Doctor Who monster was restored to virtually its original form. In the process, and again by chance, the unique Tomb Cybercontroller costume was preserved.
The Cybercontroller mask also went under the hammer that day. The organisers apparently hadn't spotted the Controller's costume hiding in their collection as well, or else I suspect the lot descriptions may have looked a little different.
After winning the auction I asked Jon if he would autograph the costume for me and on the inside near the collar he wrote:
1983 Best Wishes Jon Pertwee Dr Who No.3
Something new to accompany my old Cyberman felt like a good idea, and Arc of Infinity had been broadcast only three months earlier. Thanks to a hastily negotiated loan, I won this too. (Within a couple of years, the prospect of looking after a lump of deteriorating latex was no longer quite so appealing, so it was sold on.)
Before leaving the auction, Peter kindly added his signature to my Cyberman costume, writing on the outside near the neckline:
Peter Davison Doctor V
Having entered that tent just hoping to win a Cyberman head, and content to pick up something small as a consolation if it didn't work out, I left with a whole Cyberman which two "Doctor Who"s had signed for me.
And you can't often say that.
Once back at home I naturally tried it on, but 5'10" doesn't really cut it as a Cyberman. With no one else tall enough to wear it convincingly, I resorted to hanging the costume and head from cupboards for some photos. Although hanging a few inches higher off the floor than it would have stood, allowing for the boots means there's not a great deal of difference. And as the Controller, the high domed head would have added height. Comparison to the adjacent door gives an impression of the size - "monster" is the right word.
