Rise of the Cybermen

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.

Rise of the Cybermen is the first part of a two part story where the TARDIS takes the Doctor, Rose and Mickey to an alternative Earth where Rose's father Pete is still alive and successful but is working for an evil businessman Lumic who has created a parallel universe version of the Cybermen.

Apparently a section of fans dislike this modern take on the Cybermen but I belong to the section of fans who feel that this redesign is absolutely fine. There were many disappointing Cybermen stories in the classic series and many disappointingly represented versions of Cybermen with dodgy voices, unimpressive design changes and illogical plans. I loved the original Mondasian Cybermen and loved their return at the end of the 12th doctor's era. However, despite the occasional great story which kept Cybermen as one of my favourite monsters there were plenty of Cybermen stories over the 60s, 70s and 80s that could have been a lot better.

These 21st Century alternative reality Cybermen are far better than some of the earlier versions with a design that looks good, works well for a modern audience, good voices and a good level of menace. Some of the scenes make them properly scary and threatening again. Lumic is also a suitably unpleasant villain.

The trip to a parallel Earth adds a great extra element into the plot which makes this a fun and interesting 2 parter. There is great humour, some nice pathos and good excitement.

My rating: 9.5/10.

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 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