Ascension of the Cybermen

That which is dead can live again, I hope that applies to this as a two parter, and the show in general, it's a real shame the viewing figures have declined so much, there have been some much improved episodes.

Whatever your thoughts on Series 11, I'm sure many would agree that the finale, The Battle of Ranskor Av Kalos was a subdued finale, and far from dynamic. Ascension of The Cybermen sees a return to the more traditional epic two part finale.

Finally in the first attack Jodie is animated, she's energetic, emotional and engaged, it's taken a while, but it was great to see, just a shame at the end of the scene she had her usual perplexed, open mouthed look. She also finally shows some concern for her companions.

Plain to see a good proportion of the budget was used on this, it looks terrific, it's also very well produced. The awakening of The Cyver Army looked amazing. I loved the mix of Cyberman styles.

This felt like it could have been written by Steven Moffat, it had that kind of vibe, it was somehow complicated, with different threads seeming to not be connected, but I'm sure they will next episode, I mean of course Brendan.

I am really looking forward to next week. 8/10

Going to reserve a proper critique until the next part. But a positive has to be the Cyberman treatment. They actually seem quite menacing. Which lets face it has been hard to pull off from previous stories. We will see if they can pull together a finale worthy of the Doctor Who name after the final part.

Solid first half of a two-parter. I'd give it a 7/10 because I think that's the most accurate, but in the system I'm giving it an 8 because of the inevitable review-bombing.

Not the best thing ever, awkward moments as always, third companion made useless again (in this case, Ryan). Whittaker's Doctor has become slightly less stiff with every passing episode, as they have given her more emotional moments as well as characterisation. Her happy-go-lucky persona has been clearly an overcompensatory charade and it's been steadily breaking down over this season, and she is snapping more at her companions and other characters, which hopefully paves the way for 13 finally coming into her character in the following series. I liked the segments with the Irish Guard -- was the cliff scene a nod to Chris' work on Broadchurch? I certainly got that impression. Doctor Who has never LOOKED this good -- we HAVE to hand it to the sfx team, and the prop designers, and cinematographers and other crew, even if the scripts and direction are still awkward in places.

Solid episode -- like Fugitive and Villa Diodati, shows great promise for the show going forward and moving past the stiff, bland and poor series 11. I was worried about this finale after the unmemorable and poorly-constructed Ranskoor, but I am hopeful going forward. Not a perfect story -- people must remember that even the episodes of Doctor Who they remember most fondly are definitely far from perfect; the show always has been (except for Heaven Sent which is absolutely without flaw ;) Some stiffness remains but it's been noticeably allieviated. Sacha's cameo as the Master was very abrupt but he plays the role well and I can't wait to see more of him in the series.

My only complaint is that I didn't get to see my girl Ruth -- I hope she isn't just reintroduced and discarded in this final episode; I'd love to see more of her going forward (anyone else want her to be a future Doctor? Anyone...?) and I think her arc is much bigger than what two episodes could ever conclude meaningfully.

Great episode, far superior to any of the others this season, the Cybermen are at their terrifying best

Blimey! Another solid episode - everything is shaping up for an excellent finale...hopefully the quality is maintained.