Attack of the Cybermen takes a lot of flak from fandom, but from this episode it's honestly hard to see why, as there are a lot of good moments throughout this first episode. Although Colin Baker still seems much more brusque than Peter Davison was, his portrayal has been moderated with more subtle moments and a more even temperament. Or maybe it's just that there's less squabbling between him and Peri. Either way, it's a positive change, and watching him try to repair the TARDIS is also rather fun. This also leads to a running gag regarding the TARDIS's appearance, as it first changes into an ornamental cabinet of some sort and then a pipe organ. It's a fun little bit, particularly as the Doctor is increasingly exasperated at these failed attempts to blend into the surroundings. There's also a little in-joke as the TARDIS materializes in 76 Totter's Lane -- the location of the very first episode of Doctor Who -- and since this isn't dwelt on in any manner it's considerably more effective than some of the other, more labored continuity references we've gotten recently. I also rather like the (unseen) fight between the Doctor and the fake policeman, which suggests that this Doctor is willing to get his hands dirty but isn't too overtly violent. It's another nice way of distancing Colin Baker's Doctor from Peter Davison's without taking things too far.
And while the Doctor and Peri are investigating a distress signal somewhere on 1985 Earth, we get another returning character in the form of Lytton, the Dalek Task Force commander who survived Resurrection of the Daleks. It seems he's turned to robbing banks and has put together a gang to help him with the next heist -- a gang that includes Brian Glover and Terry Molloy (the former a well-known actor -- you may have seen him in Alien³ -- and the latter the man who played Davros in Resurrection of the Daleks). Except what Lytton's actually doing is meeting up with the Cybermen, who have a secret base in the sewers of London. And (chinplates painted silver instead of being clear aside), this might be the first time the Cybermen have remained the same between stories.136 Well, except for the "stealth" Cybermen who are painted matte black, roaming the sewers and killing off trespassers. Interestingly, though, we get some nice shots of people being converted into Cybermen (as well as a few on Telos (which is officially the whole planet now) who appear to be half-converted -- Bates and Stratton look like they have Cyber-arms) -- an idea that hasn't really been explored since The Tomb of the Cybermen. Rather less successful, though, is the appearance of the Cyber Controller on Telos (also last seen in The Tomb of the Cybermen), the helmet of which looks frankly stupid (yes, I know they were trying to imitate the Tomb design, but with the addition of the Cyber-earmuffs the end result is terrible) and (sorry to get personal here, but) the body of whom is noticeably, ah, larger than last time. And if we're discussing outfits, why on Earth, as About Time points out, has Peri decided to wear a tight pink Lycra (spandex) top?
Really, this episode has been quite entertaining the whole way through, with some really nice moments (including our first occurrence of Nicola Bryant's running joke, "These _____ all look the same to me" ("tunnels" in this case)) and a decent storyline (what we know of it). It's got some solid acting and some fine direction. So why is everyone so down on this story? Part two can't be that bad, can it?
136 Earthshock and Five Doctors Cybermen differ in the boots they're wearing, so if you want to count that as being the same (or the painted chinplates here as being different), then fair enough.