Telos (Doctor Who)

Telos
The planet as seen in Attack of the Cybermen
Universe	Whoniverse
Notable locations	Cybermen tombs
Notable races	Cryons, Cyberman (adopted)
Genre	Science fiction television

Telos is a fictional planet from the British science fiction television series Doctor Who. It is an arid and mountainous planet, with little sign of vegetation. Beneath its surface, however, are the legendary tombs of the Cybermen.

The planet was featured in the serials The Tomb of the Cybermen (1967) and Attack of the Cybermen (1985).

Telos was originally covered entirely in ice, and inhabited by the Cryons, humanoids who could survive only in the cold. As temperatures rose, the Cryons were forced underground, building giant refrigerated cities as shelter. When the Cybermen entered the Telos system, they took over the planet, using the cities as cryogenic facilities.

The Cybermen disappeared sometime in the 21st century, at least in 2070 (as they knew of the Second Doctor encountering them in The Moonbase), following defeats around human-occupied space. Although the rest of the galaxy presumed them to have died out, they had, in reality, retreated into hibernation in the tombs of Telos to await discovery and reactivation.

Sometime around the 25th century, a team of archeologists, led by Professor Parry and financed by the Brotherhood of Logicians, embarked on an expedition to Telos, believing it to be the Cyberman homeworld and hoping to discover artefacts amongst its ruins. No Cryons were encountered during these events and it is not known what the Cryons were doing during the Cybermen's long sleep.

Uncovering the entrance to the tombs, Eric Klieg of the Brotherhood brought the Cybermen out of hibernation in an attempt to ally the Brotherhood with them. However, the Cybermen were intent on converting all of the expedition and once more begin their expansion. The Second Doctor and companions Jamie McCrimmon and Victoria Waterfield were on hand to help the survivors of the expedition escape the tombs and then reseal them, though a Cybermat was able to escape.