Rise of the Cybermen

So finally one of the most-talked about stories of the new season is upon us. And on the whole I found it to be pretty good in most areas, not least a successful debut from a new Dr Who writer. Certainly it made for a very promising opening episode of a two-parter, weВ’ll have to wait and see if part two fulfils its promiseВ…

Where to start then? Well in terms of setting, I thought the whole parallel earth concept worked really well, and showed an interesting В“alternativeВ” reality whilst not perhaps portrayed so В“darklyВ” as it might have been. The zeppelins looked quite impressive (although a bit obviously CGI in some scenes) and were a nice metaphor for the rich and privileged, literally living В“aboveВ” the masses. I also liked the idea, mooted by the Doctor, that parallel universes are not necessarily a good thing and to be avoided. MickeyВ’s references to movies and comics, where people can В“hopВ” from one alternative world to another and the DrВ’s subsequent dismissal of this idea, was a nice bit of rubbishing of such science fiction concepts В– fun!

Another excellent and sinister idea was the use of the Cybus corporation ear pieces. Receiving news and other information via personal computer is now such an integral part of our everyday lives, so the concept of having all of this downloaded directly to the human brain instead is actually pretty plausible. The scene where the Doctor and Rose witness all of the people halt robot-fashion on the street, to receive their latest В“downloadВ”, illustrated this in an eerily effective way and the DoctorВ’s remark В“You lot are obsessedВ…anything for the latest upgradeВ” was a suitably wry comment on the way technology is taking us. A real indication of the potential dangers of the ear piece technology was the scene where John Lumic tapped JackieВ’s brain in order to find out about the security arrangements for her party. I hope we get more of this in the next episode and the idea isnВ’t forgotten В– it would be kind of pointless building it up like this otherwise. Could the ear pieces play a major part in the next stage of LumicВ’s plans to brainwash/convert humanity? We shall seeВ…

What about the plot? On this occasion it was quite slow moving but thatВ’s surely to be expected in the first instalment of a two part story. Personally I have a bit of a problem with the one part stories and feel that the 45 minute format doesnВ’t always allow for decent development of ideas or character, as well as plot exposition. В“New EarthВ” was a prime example of this with too many concepts jammed into one episode and too many things going on at once В– the cat people, the return of Cassandra, the sick patients etc. By contrast the pace of В“Rise of the CybermenВ” allowed more than enough time for development of storyline and introduction of characters, themes and ideas and was successful in this respect. For instance, introducing the differences that the alternative version of home brought with it (especially from the point of view of Rose and Mickey); introducing us to the В“newВ” Jackie and Pete and their privileged lifestyle; showing brief glimpses of the Cybermen being constructed under LumicВ’s orders until their final unveiling, and so forth. Now that the Cybermen have finally been unveiled and the cat (monster?) is out of the bag, maybe weВ’ll get a more faster-paced second instalment, no bad thing now that a firm background to whatВ’s going on has been established.

And the characters? The regulars all do a pretty good job. Whilst I still prefer Christopher EcclestonВ’s more serious, darker incarnation, David Tennant is, in my view, slowly improving as the Doctor. He gets some more in depth moments here as opposed to the В“all over the placeВ” flippancy we saw in some of the previous episodes. HeВ’s particularly affective in the scene where he and Mickey talk in the (apparently dead) TARDIS console room.

Billie Piper is excellent in conveying the bewilderment one would feel on being confronted with an alternative version of their own home and family. SheВ’s even better at portraying the emotional turmoil of seeing her (dead) father all over again. RoseВ’s desire to want to see Pete and her pleading with the doctor are genuinely convincing. The scene when she finally sees and meets Pete at the party is very well played В– a normal conversation on the surface but one with a definite undercurrent for Rose, as she (sort of) knows him but he knows nothing about her, making it all the more poignant. For some reason IВ’ve found Rose quite annoying this season which is a shame as on the whole sheВ’s a likeable character, some of her scenes with the Dr in the first two episodes particularly were quite cloying and В“kid-likeВ” but in this episode she came across a lot better.

Noel Clarke gets a chance to branch out playing two versions of the same person. As one of the dissidents fighting Lumic, В“RickyВ” is a potentially interesting character, but unfortunately as I donВ’t find Noel Clarke to be the most gifted of actors, this is a rather two dimensional, cardboard performance. The evil, sneery expression that Ricky constantly wears on his face is clearly meant to indicate the difference between him and the more familiar Mickey we all know, however this signposting comes across as just corny. As one of my friends said Ricky doesnВ’t look so much nasty as В… constipated. В“NormalВ” Mickey did get some quite decent scenes though, the best of all being the В“reunionВ” with this grandmother which was moving and well acted, Mona Hammond putting in a strong performance. A pity we only got to see her for one scene. And I canВ’t resist mentioning the shot of Mickey in his pants which was an added bonus, just a shame it was a long shot В– couldnВ’t Rickey and the others have given him a full strip and body searchВ…? Okay, IВ’ll stop right thereВ…

Regular characters aside, there are some mixed performances from the guest cast. First and foremost is Roger Lloyd-Pack as John Lumic. ItВ’s clear that heВ’s been written as a new generation Davros В– an evil genius and creator of a new race (incidentally IВ’m not sure how В“newВ” the Cybermen in this story are meant to be, a point I will debate further on). I wasnВ’t really taken with Roger Lloyd-PackВ’s performance though В– all wide eyed, with a very artificial and strained sounding voice, he came across as too OTT, like Davros in his most excruciating moments. Okay, so the character is meant to be suffering from some kind of terminal illness which might partially explain his odd mannerisms, but I still didnВ’t find him the subtlest of villains. Personally I think casting В“TriggerВ” from В“Only Fools and HorsesВ” was not the wisest of moves, surely the production team could have made a better choice of actor for the role?

It was great to see Pete Tyler again and Shaun Dingwall slipped seamlessly back into the role, again playing Pete as a more successful variation on his wide boy persona from В“FatherВ’s DayВ”. I loved the twist that he and Jackie had become rich, thanks to the success of Vitex and the references to the В“Trust me on this thisВ” slogan were amusing. (Although I did think that it was rather too much of a coincidence that the Dr, Rose and Mickey would just happen upon an advert for Vitex within minutes of landing on the alternative Earth, so allowing Rose to find out that her dad was В“aliveВ” and clearly signposting where the story was going). We saw some of the customary Pete Tyler humour again, for example in a conversation between him and Lumic:

Lumic: If the President of Great Britain can make this meeting then so can you.
Peter: I donВ’t know, heВ’s not married to Jackie is he?

It was also nice how we saw a suggestion of the old relationship between Pete and Rose as in В“FatherВ’s DayВ”, when he tells her: В“You seem so rightВ”, obviously feeling an affinity with her, but because in В“thisВ” reality she is not his В“realВ” daughter, heВ’s unable to define why he feels this way.

Camille Corduri was decent enough as the В“alternativeВ” Jackie, although not quite the venomous, super-bitch that DWM made her out to be. Interesting to see what money can do to a person though and an amusing touch having В“herВ” Rose as a pet dog. The scene where Jackie confides in Rose and then wonders why the hell sheВ’s been talking to a servant, was nicely done and highlighted the differences in Pete and JackieВ’s attitudes and snobbery.

Colin Spaull made a good В“right hand manВ”, a seemingly normal fellow who had the job of rounding up and collecting the homeless for conversion. The down to earth casualness of his character contrasted nicely with the sinister aspect of his job.

Don Warrington portrayed the President with appropriate gravity and his concern with Lumic and his work was well conveyed: В“YouВ’re a fine businessman John, but youВ’re not GodВ”. He was good when facing down the Cybermen at the end and his subsequent death all the more horrible because of it.

Which leaves me to mention just one other aspect of the episodeВ…the return of a certain race of cybernetic men. The revival of the Cybermen this season has surely been as eagerly anticipated as that of the Daleks in Season One and consequently, there has been some major hype to live up to. However I feel pretty confident in saying that it has been justified! Rather than hitting us full on with the Cybermen straight away we were treated to a number of brief tantalising scenes throughout the episode. For instance, when LumicВ’s factory began production of the new race of metal men (incidentally I loved the juxtaposition of Tight Fit with the shots of the factory machinery in motion and human screams - some might say this trivialised it but I think it just emphasised further the horror of what was going on - whoВ’d really want to listen to people being butchered?) We also had deliberately out of focus shots of the Cybermen marching in the background, and shots of their feet walking down the gangplank of a lorry В– all of which worked well to establish a sense of mystery and viewer expectation. When they finally arrived properly at the end of the episode it was an impressive and frightening entrance В– striding across the lawn and then breaking their way through the windows into the room to terrorise the humans.

In terms of design the Cybermen also look very impressive and this has been a well thought-out design. Compared to previous Cyber incarnations this generation look much more tough and machine-like, with strong metal bodies and a very В“hardВ”, industrial appearance. I liked the new headpieces and the use of the heavy stomping sound effect whenever they walk really reinforces their strength and power. However the fact that they make such a noise whenever they walk is also a potential disadvantage В– how can they sneak up on someone unawares if they make such an infernal racket?? Mmm.

It was interesting too that the CybermenВ’s form of weaponry has been re-invented again. In previous stories they had hand guns and guns in their heads, now in 2006 they can kill with a touch of the hand. Again maybe thereВ’s a drawback to this idea В– what if they accidentally В“touchВ” someone they shouldnВ’t? Or maybe they have some kind way of В“switching offВ” this function when they need to.

One other thing I mentioned earlier В– how this race of Cybermen fit into their already established history / chronology within the programme. Are we meant to think that Lumic has created an entirely original race of creatures / machines? Surely not, as the Doctor says at one point: В“ItВ’s happening againВ…IВ’ve seen them beforeВ”, so implying these are not the original Cybermen. In which case how did Lumic happen upon the idea of their design? Hopefully more back story and explanation will be given in the next episode.

All in all then I found “Rise of the Cybermen” to be generally successful and very entertaining. Good cliffhanger too, and it will be interesting to see how the Doctor and co get out of being “deleted”…well, they always find a way don’t they?