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.

When Rusell T. Davies became head writer of the revived Doctor Who, he dictated that the stories be kept as simple as possible in order to avoid alienating new audiences. In particular, no space travel unless it involved humans settled on another planet. Rise of the Cybermen, which comes shortly after that continuity-embracing yarn that was School Reunion, dares to break that rule by taking our characters to a place never before explored, even in the original series.

Still "stuck" with Mickey, the Doctor and Rose witness the impossible - a TARDIS malfunction that causes them to end up in a parallel world. They're on Earth, all right, but it's a bit different: Rose was never born, her father Pete (Shaun Dingwall) is still alive, and Mickey's counterpart is called Ricky (a nice reference to Eccleston's name-calling in the first season). Most notably, though, there's been a significant evolution in the field of cybernetics, with one John Lumic (Roger Lloyd-Pack, last seen playing David Tennant's father in the fourth Harry Potter film) determined to use the new technology to create a new robotic body that will contain his brain once a terminal disease has disposed of him. Inevitably, the gang is drawn to Cybus Industries: Rose is eager to meet her long lost "father", while the Doctor suspects something evil is lurking in the shadows...

While the title pretty much gives away the plot (especially if you're an old school fan), this remains an entertaining and thrilling story that effortlessly blends old mythology and new story lines, using the classic "alt-world" gimmick (see Star Trek and Buffy) for great dramatic and comic effect. On the minus side, Mickey is more annoying than usual, and Lloyd-Pack is the show's most wooden villain so far. But hey, the cliffhanger is a surefire guarantee the conclusion will be worth watching.

The TARDIS all but discharges, in a parallel world like our own, so the Doctor, Rose and Mickey find some time to have a roam (while the TARDIS repowers, phew!). Micky goes his separate way and bumps into his double, while the other two are hired help at a party where there's trouble (although Micky is in a spot of bother too). The Cybermen surround the place and things are looking bad, not just for our three travellers, they're at Rose's mam and dad's (in a parallel world sense at least).

Knowing this was going to be the first part of a two part arc, I held off on reviewing it until I saw the whole story. Then I got a bit lax and am behind reviewing not 2, but 3 episodes (This 2 parter as well as Idiot's Lantern). Needless to say, I seem to have my work cut out for me, so let's get to the nitty-gritty, right? The Doctor, Rose, and Mickey find themselves stranded on an alternative Earth after the TARDIS breaks down after the time vortex suddenly and inexplicably disappears. Rose is excited at the prospect because her long deceased father is still alive in this reality and very successful to boot. The Doctor is quite adamant about her not seeing her alternate daddy, but fate has other plans in store, as he works for a baddie who is creating a new version of old Doctor Who enemies, the Cybermen. As a rule, I'm not really fond of 'Alternative Reality' stories, as more often than not they usually have no lasting repercussions and no real sense of any danger (stemming from no vested interest in any but the main characters) I'll get more into that in my review of the second part, but suffice it to say this episode felt more like an episode of the now defunct "Sliders" than a true Who episode. Still very watchable though.

My Grade: B-

After a slightly uncertain start to this episode, featuring the long awaited return of the second most iconic Dr. Who monsters, it gets into its stride. The Doctor,Rose and Mickey find themselves in an alternate London, sending both Rose and Mickey on the trail of relatives that have long since died in their reality. Finally, we start to get an idea of what makes Mickey tick as his back story is filled in. Rose's desperation to see her father is a rerun of Father's Day from Series 1 and covers much of the same ground, which gave this episode a score of 9 rather than 10. The Doctor is almost a peripheral figure for most of the episode, but David Tennant makes the most of every line, look and gesture. The villain, Lumic, was a muted character compared to Davros but quite effective. When the Cybermen arrived, their previous risible portrayals in Doctor Who were completely removed from the memory. These are Borg like monsters. This, in effect, returns the favour as the Borg were originally based on the Cybermen, as their first appearance in the episode entitled 'Q Who' makes clear! They even have their own catchphrase to rival the Daleks' 'exterminate!!'. The new Who goes from strength to strength.