Rise of the Cybermen

Finally, the return of the Cybermen, last year we had the return of the Daleks, this time around we get the long awaited appearance of the other cult villain, the Cybermen. We've had a trio of wonderful episodes ending with the Girl in the Fireplace, the next trio would be slightly less good.

The Doctor, Rose and Mickey are marooned on a parallel London after the TARDIS explodes and dies. Parallel London is different in many ways (echoes of Inferno,) Pete Tyler is still alive, the sky is full of zeppelins. Pete and Rose are a success, Rose is a Yorkshire Terrier. John Lumic appears to be behind the creation of the new Cybermen, he tries with the help of the Cybermen to build on his Cybus industries. Not getting it Lumic proceeds anyway attacking at Jackie's 40th Birthday celebration, all are cornered.

I think Noel Clarke is really good in this one, I enjoyed the part where he meets up with his Gran, and finally the Ricky question is answered, and he's really good in the Ricky role. It pains me to say it but I really disliked Roger Lloyd Pack's characterisation of John Lumic, I've loved him over the years, but he is rather terrible, as is Don Warrington, who almost seems uncomfortable, he is very wooden.

The imagery of people being turned into Cybermen is very well done, it's very macabre and nasty, and the sound they make when they march fits in really well. The cliffhanger is a brilliant one, very satisfying, seemingly no way out.

I liked the link back to The Invasion, Cybus Industries, International Electromatics etc.

7/10 it's good, but it should have been fantastic.

Aaaarrrgghhh!!!!!! The first episode in the new Dr Who that made me want to hide behind the sofa!!!!!!!!!! Aaaarrrrggghhhhh!!!!!!!!! I literally screamed out in terror at the end!!!!!! You know Doctor Who is back when you get this spooked! New Cybermen - so evil and villainous! Are they back for good? Are the gang all stuck in an alternate dimension??!?!!?!? Will other villains be coming back cos of this alternate dimension?!?!?!? Seriously, way more scary than the Borg. I know they have the whole special effects and Star Trek angle - but I don't think they can beat monochrome evil! And think about it - Cybermen vs Borg? Who'd win - really?

The first two parter of season two is a long anticipated return for the second highest profile characters in the Doctor's rogues gallery, the Cybermen. It's also a return for Director Graeme Harper, who became the first person to oversee an episode of Classic "Doctor Who" and "Nu-Who".

The TARDIS accidentally crashes through to a parallel Earth and to a London that is recognisable, but with some differences, like a fleet of Zeppelins that populate the sky. Despite The Doctor's (David Tennent) warnings Rose (Billie Piper) and Mickey (Noel Clarke) head off to see how their alternate lives are shaping up. Mickey's gran is still alive in this universe, but as he having an emotional reunion, freedom fighters sweep him up. For Rose, her father (Shaun Dingwall) is still alive and a rich and successful businessman but he and Jackie (Camille Coduri) never had any children. These stories intersect when tech mogul John Lumic (Roger Lloyd Pack) introduces his latest creation to the world.

The first thing that struck me about this episode is how much we've caught up with the "futuretech" of this one. Bluetooth headsets did exist in 2006, but nothing like in the volume that they are used now, since the growth of the airpods. So the city scenes, of vacant Londoners lost to their own worlds don't look as odd as they did then. Also the receiving of TV quality video on a mobile, was fiction then, but very much the norm today.

As it is, this is a decent start to the two-part episode but nothing too amazing. It's nice to see alt-Jackie, alt-Pete and "Rickey" but really, only Noel Clarke is doing anything to distinguish much between the characters. He also acts with himself in scenes that are visually OK, but a little lacking in the interaction you'd see in a similar set of scenes today. The human villains, played by Lloyd Pack and Colin Spaull feel like a bit cliché - though maybe the Dr. Frankenstein and Igor parallels are deliberate. The crippling and the resolution of the issues with the Tardis are a bit flimsy, logic wise.

It's an OK episode, don't get me wrong - but the second half will have a lot to do to drag this into comparison with the first season's two parters.

The episode is truly gripping. You see it build throughout as the Doctor, Rose and Mickey don't quite know who the villains are yet, until later on in the episode. I thought this approach better suited this episode, and worked really well with it's premise. And right from the get go we see the Cyberman in the scariest form, already murdering someone inside 2 minutes. I like the idea behind this episode to as it perfectly sets up the Finale, we have a parallel universe to Earth, where everything is slightly different. We see Mickey going and exploring, and finding his own way around, as well as Rose and the Doctor. Mickey finds his grandmother who he so dearly misses. Then gets taken. The Doctor and Rose then go and see Pete and Jacky. Roses mother and father. They then encounter the villains, as the tension and suspension builds. Which leads to the Iconic line, "I've seen them before, Cyberman" which was a great line. And this leads perfectly into the next episode where the Doctor and the gang are surrounded by the Cyberman.

This is a strange episode where the Tardis travels to an alternative universe where everything is the same but different . One in which Rose Tyler was never born , her would be father is very much alive , where everyone travels via blimps and where a megalomaniac is trying to reach immortality via cybernetics .

If you ignore one of the all time classics from the original series ( inferno from 1970 ) then this is a fairly entertaining two part story . Director Harper makes the best asset of night filming , something seen only very rarely in the original show . Some of the acting is superb especially from Camille Coduri as Jackie Tyler and even David Tennant is impressive especially in the cliffhanger that'll have you gasping as to how the Doctor and his friends will get out of that one !

Despite the positives there are some negatives . Despite some good performances Noel Clarke is once again terrible while Don Warrington is wooden but Roger Lloyd Pack gives just about the worst performance ever seen in the show's revival as a cross between Trigger and Davros ( Trigos ? ) . I suppose we should be charitable and say that children watching this won't notice the acting or the fact previous continuity has been totally ignored and they begged their parents to be allowed to watch this show simply to see the Cybermen . Fair enough . You can't help thinking it could have been just a little bit better though