Earthshock: | ||
 | ep 1 – | Watch the scene when the last soldier in the search party hears a noise down in the caves and turns around. By the time he does so, the androids have disappeared down a side corridor, but the shadow of one of them can clearly be seen moving along the cavern wall. The soldier would have had to have been blind to miss it! |
 | ep 1-4 – | Listen out for Lt. Scott's amazing changing accent! It changes inexplicably between the location scenes in episode 1-2, and his later-recorded scenes in the studio.
[OK, it's not really that inexplicable — obviously actor James Warwick forgot what accent he was supposed doing when coming back a couple of weeks later to film the studio scenes!] |
| ep 1-4 – | The Cybermen's mouth/chin pieces were originally clear plastic, but were later sprayed lightly with silver paint to avoid showing too much of the actor's mouth inside. Due to the order of filming they tend to swap back and forth during the story. See if you can spot the changes! |
| ep 1-2 – | In the Episode 1 reveal shot of the Cybermen, we see three of the metal meanies gathered around their viewing console. However, after the reprise in Part 2, the third Cyberman disappears from Cyber-control and is not referred to or seen again until well into Part 3, when he gets the job of continuing the reactivation as the two "main" Cybermen go off to attack the bridge.
[Did he go for a cigarette break?] |
| ep 2 – | As the Cybermen are going through the various clips of the Doctors, before each new Doctor clip comes on, slow the tape down and you'll see a frame of the Cybermen looking at themselves in their viewing ball!
[This is certainly true on the video release — can anyone confirm if the Restoration Team fixed it on the DVD?] |
| ep 2 – | Just before he receives a message saying that the freighter has received security clearance, the Cyberleader tries to press a button on his console — and misses. But we hear the appropriate sound effect anyway! |
| ep 3 – | After one of the first battles, as the Cybermen are walking up some stairs through the dead bodies, one of them stumbles. |
| ep 3 – | As Tegan complains that she's exhausted and Scott tells her to keep her voice down, look in the shadows behind them — something that looks like a white baton is moving in the darkness. This is actually the edge of a script being held by a production crew member: as Tegan and co. climb the stairs on their way to the bridge, you can see her more clearly in the background. |
| ep 3 – | At one point, the Doctor explains the Cybermen's vulnerability to gold by stating that it "clogs their chest units — suffocates them". But later on, after the Captain says she could evacuate the the air from the hold, the Doctor says, "Unfortunately, Cybermen don't need it" — er, if they don't need air, how can they "suffocate"? |
| ep 3 – | The two Cybermen observed by Scott, Tegan and co. must be having a lovely chat, judging by some of their animated hand gestures! |
| ep 3 – | We have multiple problems with the scene on the bridge when the Cybermen explosively burst through the bulkhead. First, notice that the Doctor and Adric already have their arms poised to react, even before the explosion occurs! Secondly, the Cybermen sets four explosive charges around the outside of the wall, yet only the middle part of the panel is damaged... Then, the hole gets magically bigger between the explosion and a moment later when the Cybermen actually step through. And finally, as they walk through, they brush against the bulkhead which bends as if it was made of cardboard!
[Obviously if that was true they wouldn't have needed explosives in the first place — just a scissors!] |
| ep 3 – | When Lieutenant Scott kills the second Cyberman on the bridge, he starts falling down way too early. |
| ep 3 – | During the cliffhanger, it's blatantly obvious that the three columns of advancing Cybermen are merely mirror images — watch the middle one's right hand disappear! |
| ep 4 – | Look at the scene after the troopers and Tegan are separated, when the troopers return to the TARDIS. There are four of them remaining at this point: the commander, a man with straight hair, a man with curly hair, and a woman. As they enter the TARDIS, a Cyberman grabs the female trooper. In the next shot (inside the TARDIS) the commander, the straight-haired man and the woman make it inside, closely followed by the Cyberman, but the curly-haired man is missing! After they leave the TARDIS and are evading Cybermen in the freighter's hold, the female trooper has disappeared, and the curly-haired bloke is back! |
| ep 4 – | In the last scene of the Cyber Lieutenant in Cyber-control, the close-up of his hand operating the console doesn't match the wide shot. Look at the position of that T-shaped lever (the one that later swings down on its own after he leaves) — in one shot it's down, in the other it's up. |
| ep 4 – | As the Doctor and Tegan are being led away from the bridge, the Cyberleader loses his footing when he gets to the bottom step. |
| ep 4 – | The continents of 65 million years ago look strangely familiar...
[Hasn't the BBC effects department heard of continental drift??] |
| ep 4 – | Watch Adric as he's trying to type in the final code on the keyboard — he tentatively taps a key or two, then flinches away from the console. This is because Matthew Waterhouse knows it's going to blow up any minute, thanks to the final remaining Cyberman — though of course Adric isn't supposed to know this! |