Rise of the Cybermen

This episode had to be good. The season has gradually got stronger as it's gone along, and then mid way we get the cybermen back, plugged by a radio times cover to boot! Resurrecting a much loved and iconic monster, like DALEK, it had to deliver. Also like DALEK, it resoundingly did.

Alternative timelines haven't been explored too much in TV Who, despite having been done to death in books and audio. This one looked interesting. A sky full of zeppelins, a British President, (I wonder if Mr Blair was jealous...) and, importantly for Rose, some twists with her family. The emotional issues of this were effective because always underplayed. One of the good "tough" moments of last year's FATHERS DAY was the way Pete Tyler was brought back only for Rose to see that her parent's marriage wasn't the loving idyll she'd thought it was. This worked similarly well here with Dad not knowing her and Mum frankly turning her nose up at her. But it was momentary and understated- emotion was never allowed to replace sound plotting here, a lesson some others (including RTD at times) could learn. Mickey was also used well, still the odd man out a la Adric, his journey through this new world was effective. With the confidential hinting that he will be significant in saving the day, who knows what will happen to him? His other world counterpart Ricky was effectively different but his thuggishness seemed overdone at times. Oh yes- in this world Rose is a dog. Unlike some of this season's jokes that was genuinely funny. A dog replacing the child Jackie and Pete never had.

As for the cyber plot itself, well... Roger Lloyd Pack was effective, if melodramatic, as Lumic. A Tobias Vaughan figure changing the world through technology. The satire on downloads and upgrades was sharply done, with the Doctor calling humans obsessed with upgrades, and the scenes of everyone stopping dead whilst downloads arrived was updated. Lumic is making Cybermen in the background to counteract a world seemingly ravaged with disease. International Electromatix got a mention, but I couldn't quite work out whether in this alternative world Cyber technology is being adopted by man after the defeated invasion from THE INVASION or whether in this world Cybermen were just created on Earth instead of Mondas. Whichever, what matters is that the cyberman concept is being effectively taken back to its roots. After an effective start in the sixties, the original Cybermen quickly became just another monster, the humanity of their origins shunted into the background. EARTHSHOCK tried to restore some depth via Peter Davison's scathing verbal battles with the Cyberleader about emotion, and ATTACK OF THE CYBERMEN, muddled as the story was, gave them their moments, but the creatures had lost their clout. They never ever deserved their final outing to be SILVER NEMESIS, in which they land in an already overcrowded and nonsensical plot to be promptly dispatched by a girl with a catapult. It was left to the fan media which filled the gap between season 26 and the new era to give the Cybermen some glory back, and I'm thinking here particularly of Marc Platt's awesome SPARE PARTS which was an origins story to die for. Okay, so there were turkeys like SWORD OF ORION, but ILLEGAL ALIEN, LOVING THE ALIEN and HARVEST were more effective. The Cybermen did well out of the wilderness years, probably better than the Daleks did.

But, in the end, it's the TV show that counts, and now finally the tall steely ones are back on form. A proper story to show them for what they are- converted humanoids- and a great thriller to boot.The idea of the homeless being herded up for coversion was horrific and exciting. Loved the little band of rebels trying to expose Lumic- no doubt the reason why they're called preachers will be revealed. And the execution of the whole thing was pacy and atmospheric. Which brings me to Graeme Harper's direction........it's just been too long since we last had this man on the series. Far, far too long. From that early shot of the voice controlled Cyberman framed in the light, everything shone. Unlike the fast cut editing of many new episodes (and much modern drama), shots were given time to breathe and the pace built up gradually but firmly. The "Cyberhandles" round Jackie's head as Lumic controlled her was one great moment, and those shots of the Cybermen marching were nothing short of breathtaking.

Elsewhere, acting generally good. Tennant, in contrast to some of his more OTT moments this season, gave a reserved perfprmance throughout- his quiet sadness at the apparent death of the TARDIS was good, reminiscent of Davison's resigned horror in FRONTIOS.

So. here's to the conclusion, and more of them at the end of this year's run. Like the Daleks last year, the Cyberman are being kickstarted and restored to full effectiveness.This season is finally starting to acheive greatness.