Rise of the Cybermen / The Age of Steel

I can still remember how Dalek blew my socks off when it first went out, and as a consequence when I heard the Cybermen were coming back I expected no less than an equally successful revival. In this context, Rise Of The Cybermen and particularly The Age Of Steel are major disappointments; they both have their moments, like practically everything in this season does, but they suffer from the kind of common failings that crept into the new series in increasing quantity in 2006.

In a sense the pre-titles sequence is representative of the entire story. ItВ’s brilliantly made, as Graeme Harper is still streets ahead of every other director going after twenty years; the shots of the prototype Cyberman in the background, blurred by the light, are chilling and their voices are very well done by Nicholas Briggs, harking back to the impassive monotone of their glory days. But my word, my stomach ties up in a knot every time I see it, as John Lumic seems to be an extreme example of the ranting megalomaniac.

While Michael Wisher as Davros perfected this character type, the by-the-numbers performance from Roger Lloyd-Pack makes the scene feel like a parody, which it might actually be. I canВ’t allow myself to believe that the dialogue (В“and how will you do thatВ…FROM BEYOND THE GRAVE?!?!В”) is serious, but that isnВ’t the point as the show should always have a sense of humour. But this is the lead character ordering a death here, and such immature dialogue is a far cry from Julian GloverВ’s suave Scarlioni. It boils down to this: one thing thatВ’s pretty much guaranteed to get on my nerves are writers who play the irony card left, right and centre as a way of passing off any old rubbish, and thatВ’s what I feel is being done here. ItВ’s a bad line. ItВ’s a bad line that knows itВ’s a bad line. Postmodernism and self-awareness only go so far though, becauseВ…itВ’s still a bad line.

IВ’m getting off to quite a negative start here, especially since the first episode at least has a fair bit to recommend it and almost pushes an above-average rating. But I canВ’t lighten up quite yet as the opening TARDIS scene features more of the usual enforced goofiness from David Tennant and Billie Piper, whose characters are becoming increasingly smug know-it-alls, dropping stories about alien worlds (remember when we used to actually see stories like that?) that might be better suited to Red Dwarf than to Doctor Who.

I can start to de-grinch a bit now though, since thereВ’s always the ever-dependable Noel Clarke to keep things light and some seriously well-staged pyrotechnics as the TARDIS falls into the parallel universe, and in a time where the eccentricities of the machine are often hammered home (on one occasion literally) in an В“oh look, itВ’s powered by a bicycle pump, tee heeВ”

kind of way, the falling oxygen masks are a delightfully quirky addition that work by not being mentioned. The parallel Earth makes a similarly impressive first impression, with the Mill producing some excellent work for the Zeppelins. Tennant actually manages to handle a scene well, as he warns Mickey and Rose not to interfere with this new world.

Camille CorduriВ’s permanently out-of-control performance as Jackie is much better suited to her alternative character, who is rich and flamboyant enough to make it seem appropriate; back in В“ourВ” universe thereВ’s the sense that a council flat isnВ’t quite big enough for her. Shaun Dingwall, as usual, puts in a good performance as the genuinely likeable Pete Tyler.



Mr CraneВ’s В“recruitment driveВ” is a very dramatic scene, but entirely lacking in plausibility, as characters are so gullible that being promised a cup of soup is sufficient to entice them into climbing into the back of a van thatВ’s appeared out of nowhere. This is hardly the worst example of this sort of thing going in either the original or this series, but itВ’s still a factor here as something entirely lacking in believability prevents me from really engaging with whatВ’s supposed to be going on in any meaningful way; I end up saying things like В“whatВ’s supposed to be going onВ” instead of В“whatВ’s going on.В” If these moments are major plot points then they have a knock on effect.

Don Warrington puts in an unsurprisingly excellent performance as the President, but this highlights the problematic nature with the storyВ’s central concept of the parallel universe. ItВ’s difficult not to compare Rise Of The Cybermen with Inferno, Doctor WhoВ’s other excursion to a parallel universe (as opposed to the E-Space trilogy, in which the universe is a different one but not apparently a parallel one). The right-wing Fascist state is going for the most obvious route imaginable, but at least Inferno grabbed the bull by the horns and gave its setting a strong identity. Rise Of The Cybermen tries to take elements from all sorts of places В– a nice idea in principle, but the episode fails to synthesise its disparate elements into a cohesive whole and the result if something of a jumble. Is it a dystopia? The President calls it a В“sick worldВ” which carries a multitude of inferences as well as the purely literal meaning. Yet there seems to be a happy (outwardly at least) middle class and thereВ’s no sense of ordinary people living in terror of the authorities. It seems to be a capitalist state, but while itВ’s officially a republic the rich take on the role of aristocrats, holding official functions for politicians and possibly acting as honorary figureheads to the masses. The politicians are seemingly benevolent (the President certainly is) but apparently the government are in thrall to a multinational corporation. The strong class divide demonstrated by the soldier Mickey encounters veer off to left-wing principles of dissatisfaction with the social structure, and the Cybermen have obvious Communist similarities. People are connected up to propaganda broadcasts, an idea that crosses a thematic spectrum, and yet nobody seems to be really oppressed; meanwhile, the reference to В“New GermanyВ” is deliberately loaded. Out of this muddle shudders the universe of Rise Of The Cybermen, and it feels incoherent (like that paragraph) and unsatisfying.

ThereВ’s been almost no plot progression up to this point, although the scene where Mickey meets his grandmother is elevated by Noel ClarkeВ’s performance and unusually we have a character-driven scene that doesnВ’t feel like its usurping the storytelling drive. ItВ’s nice to see International Electromatics namechecked from a fan point of view and Helen Griffin is very good as Mrs Moore, even though the sudden appearance of a Welsh Annie Lennox lookalike is a bit of a surprise at first. ThereВ’s the continuity problem, of course: Mickey seems to have been orphaned some time after the events of Rose, and Tony Blair is mentioned instead of Harriet Jones, but then again, continuity is for sad fanboys, right? ItВ’s all about the journey.

The scene where the President denies Lumic permission to create the Cybermen is very well written, but again it suffers from the confused portrayal of the world, making it difficult to fully appreciate the meaning of what the President says. For example, an В“ethics committeeВ” is mentioned, but without any idea of what perspective this universe has on the concept of ethics it doesnВ’t mean very much.

ItВ’s a funny touch having the Doctor and Rose masquerading as servants, although it does lead to one of the most significant scenes of the new series: RoseВ’s bitter jealousy of Lucy, another maid. The shift in her character over the course of the series is notable for me to be able to track it quite clearly, and for me this is the moment she irrevocably ceased to be the likeable and identifiable character she finished the first series as.

Although sheВ’d get worse still, this was the moment that I realised she had become a selfish and insensitive brat; itВ’s rumoured that this may have been deliberate, but personally I donВ’t see the sense in wrecking one of the lead characters even if she is going to leave eventually. In any case any idea of irony would be lost on a large section of the programmeВ’s core audience for whom Rose remains В– shudder В– an identification figure. Meanwhile Clarke is always on hand to lend things a certain style, even if he does go for the Sylvester McCoy acting technique of using a single scowl to portray a whole range of intense emotions.

HereВ’s where the episode suddenly manages to turn things around and leap in an instant from a disappointing muddle of poorly thought-out characters, settings and themes into a whole string of five-star moments. ItВ’s Graeme В“Set PieceВ” HarperВ’s time to shine, and he creates more iconic shots of the Cybermen silhouetted against the mist as they march inexorably towards the house. ItВ’s so well done that IВ’m prepared to overlook the way they make the same sound going over grass as they do over metal or concrete. The shots of them smashing into the Tyler household are fantastic, as is their initial confrontation with the President.

It does show up their habit of referring to everything in computer terminology, which makes them seem geekier than I remember them being. I canВ’t overlook their dreadfully cheesy catchphrase, which seems to be an attempt at cashing in on the popularity of the Daleks. Even accounting for their flaws though, these new Cybermen are the best the monsters have been since The Invasion, which admittedly isnВ’t saying much.

Despite the long scene where Rose talks to her В“motherВ”, (another example of the plot stopping in its tracks to allow for character moments) which might have worked if she hadnВ’t just lost all my sympathy two minutes beforehand, the end of the episode still works for sheer exhilaration.

The cliffhanger is silly though, harking back to the pre-titles sequence in that the only way I can explain the В“approach the target, stop, and repeat the catchphrase again and againВ” set-up is another half-baked attempt at irony. The resolution is a major disappointment, as the deus ex machina gets cracked out again. The TARDIS power cell may as well be a magic talisman in this scene.

Rise Of The Cybermen was unexceptional but basically tolerable and at least ended on a major high; The Age Of Steel squanders that undoubted potential completely, however, becoming forty-five minutes of clichГ©d characters, contrived set pieces and bad dialogue (thereВ’s a drinking game to be had in the number of times a character says В“what the hell?В”). Comparatively then the opening scene in the van does quite well for itself, with good witty dialogue, let down by TennantВ’s charisma-free Doctor locked in В“intenseВ” mode. As long as the Cybermen are in the background (as they were in the previous episode) they look fantastic, but their silly walk really lets them down here. When I see a squad of them go past, legs akimbo and waddling in unison, I keep feeling that there should be one out in front twirling a baton.

There are some very good set-pieces in this episode, like in the tunnels and the conversion chambers, but thereВ’s so little else here of substance that they ultimately donВ’t add up to much. HereВ’s what really hurts though В– the sheer cynicism of the emotional manipulation. We are supposed to feel sympathy for the Cybermen, and to be horrified at the concept of whatВ’s been done to them. But this is self-evident, and even there mere sight of a mechanical arm grafted onto TobermanВ’s body is infinitely more shocking and evocative than having one Cybermen start telling us its life story because the Doctor switched its emotions back on. The original series asked В“wouldnВ’t it be horrifying if it happened to you?В” while the new just expects us to cry because itВ’s happened to them, and itВ’s so overwritten that it ends up missing the point completely and just pays lip service to what the Cybermen actually are.

The same old hokum permeates the episode, with the Doctor making a big moralistic sermon from his soapbox while the villains just sit and listen attentively, and the final resolution (with the Cybermen being taken on an emotion journey, as I might have guessed) takes the episode into kidsВ’ show territory and leaves it there, with cries of В“nooooooo!В” and an Under Siege 2-plagiarising death for Lumic.

PeteВ’s rejection of Rose is very well done, but MickeyВ’s leaving scene is utterly ruined by RoseВ’s character. The first official leaving scene of the new series, their chance to prove that they can do better than the cursory В“right, that was fun, bye thenВ” of episodes like The Faceless Ones, and Rose comes in with В“what about meeeeee?В”, a line that sums up her character in this series. ItВ’s undignified.

I wasnВ’t expecting to like New Earth or Love & Monsters, but I had high hopes for Rise Of The Cybermen and The Age Of Steel.

As such, despite managing to claw onto an okay rating, they still stand as possibly the second seriesВ’s biggest disappointments, and flat characters and shaky storytelling. ItВ’s far from the worst moment of the new series, but itВ’s undoubtedly the blandest. Much as I like the new Cybermen, they deserved better than this.