Ascension of the Cybermen

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

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.

You have to contrast, penultimates past, the last one just wasn't a blast (the oratorical frog). Alas, while this gave us more, you couldn't give it a score, that would indicate close to top drawer. Although, it leaves the boundary open, albeit shaded by a curtain, outcome still dubiously uncertain (the past suggests). Let's wait and see, where the Master takes thee, while he chuckles away tee hee hee!

Where the HELL has THIS Chris Chibnall been!? Why can't we see more of him instead of the writer we're usually lumped with? I'm floored.

"Ascension of The Cybermen" was surprisingly BRILLIANT.

Phenomenal direction, stunning production design, uncharacteristically impressive writing, great cinematography & cinematic visual effects; this is what we've been wanting from the show for SO LONG but never got until now... A story with character, great science fiction, heightened personal stakes, a genuinely threatening villain; if anything, this episode has proven the creators ARE CAPABLE of pulling off this sort of thing so why it's taken them this long, I have no idea but let's hope from now on, it'll continue - & just savour this moment of bliss while it lasts...

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.