Rise of the Cybermen

They look fake!' my sister scoffed a couple of hours before I sat down to watch 'Rise of the Cybermen' tonight. I rolled my eyes at her, content in the knowledge that Doctor Who is very much 'in' and she was one of the few unfortunates who hadn't 'got' it yet. There was a small knot of worry in my stomach, though - mostly as I didn't 100% disagree with her.

Not that I have any problem with the design - the steel-clad, art-deco look is a beautiful piece of work, well-realised. The thumping sound of their feet crunching the ground was a nice addition, too. It's just that, well ... where the alien look of the Daleks really didn't need much of a rethink, I had hoped from the very beginning that the production team would get to the heart of what the Cybermen are and come up with something a little more horribly blank cyborg and less bulky toy soldier. Even in the 80s the design was starting to look just a bit man-in-suit silly ...

As for the story, it's hard to call at this stage. As a part one story last season, 'Aliens of London' had me cringing throughout. 'Rise' is a vastly superior piece of work. I'm curious, though, to see what others think of it - particularly the '45 minutes is too short' brigade who have bemoaned the brisk pace of recent episodes. Even as a long-time Doctor Who fan, I can't help but think that 45 minutes as set-up really only leads to a rather plodding pace.

The character work was, as ever, lovely, although I do wonder if Rose-wants-to-see-Pete isn't a bit redundant after a whole episode was devoted to the idea last season. I mean, she almost ripped all of time apart last time around. Hasn't she learned anything? Mickey's contribution helped add some freshness to the proceedings, however, and his meeting with his grandmother was very touching, demonstrating just how far he has come since 'Rose'. Unfortunately, Noel Clarke does himself no favours when it comes to portraying his alter-ego, Ricky. Apparently 'Mickey talking permanently through a snarl' is enough to show how different he is from our own boy.

Roger Lloyd Pack, hailed by many leading up to this episode, is a little patchy, too - his slow enunciating villain shtick wearing a little thin come the episode's end.

It's as if the team (or perhaps simply RTD) felt that the core idea was too shocking for the timeslot and softened the whole thing up to compensate. A prime example of this being the superb scene where the imprisoned homeless are sliced and diced by a nasty-looking contraption, screaming the factory down (a real Cyber moment), ruined by the insane choice of 'The Lion Sleeps Tonight' as a soundtrack. Classical music, opera, even a ballad would have had the same softening effect over the scene without making it completely ridiculous.

Tennant, Piper and Clarke (as Mickey) keep things tight enough to hold the episode together, however, and the parallel spins on Pete and Jackie are entertaining.

All in all, a hard episode to rate until the second part has been seen. I'm hoping a little more menace in next week's Cybermen will lift the story. A move away from the present-day-looking party in a fancy house (which made the Cybermen look even more like guys in costume) should help, as would some death and mayhem on the streets.

Good call not spoiling next week with an immediate trailer, right enough.