Rise of the Cybermen / The Age of Steel

I loved this story. ItВ’s perhaps the best synthesis of old and new Who weВ’ve had so far В– it contains the same vaguely ridiculous monsters and contrived chase-and-escapes that fans have always enjoyed, but it also brings in the new sentimental elements that Russell T. Davies has made an emphasis in the show, and explores emotional pain in ways that are at times poignant and at times almost unbearably horrifying. ItВ’s fast-paced, fun, literate, and very, very scary В– in other words, itВ’s great Doctor Who.

First things first В– the Cybermen. Their reinvention works much better than that of the Daleks in 2005, in part because they were more in need of a tune-up in the first place. Wisely, the production team have turned back to the Troughton-era concept of the race. These Cybermen arenВ’t generic, boasting Doctor Who villains like the ones in В‘EarthshockВ’; in fact, before the Cyber Controller makes its appearance, they donВ’t say much at all, and when they do, their bland utterances and monotone voice reinforce the idea of them as uniform blanks, void of *any* human qualities, good or bad.

When I heard the new series was revisiting this popular monster, and saw their new design, I wondered whether the production designers shouldnВ’t have gone back to a more organic, В‘Tenth PlanetВ’-type form, and also whether much of the CybermenВ’s thunder wouldnВ’t be stolen by the Star Trek franchiseВ’s Borg, which are so much fresher in the publicВ’s memory (at least in the U.S.). But now having seen this story, I am sure they made the right choice В– the idea of these creatures not as В‘assimilatedВ’ human bodies, but rather as unstoppable machines with grotesque physiological vestiges (the intact nervous system is a nice, yucky touch) works perfectly, and sets them apart from their fleshier Star Trek cousins. The new Cyberman form is extremely effective В– the much-mocked flares are a misjudgment, perhaps, but overall they give a sufficient impression of the silver giants of old; besides, the originals were redesigned so many times that an В‘upgradeВ’ hardly seem out of line (as it might have with the Daleks, who changed so little over 26 years). The impression given by the CybermenВ’s face plates is more ghostlike than it appeared in still photos, and the ingenious stomping sound effect has to rank with EXTERMINATE! and the TARDIS dematerialization as Doctor Who sounds for the ages. (I bet it has children all over the British Isles driving their parents crazy, too.)

Still, that the new Cybermen should work better than the new Daleks is a bit funny, for while Tom MacRaeВ’s script does include some nice nods to Cybermen continuity (keeping them in deep freeze is a good touch), it actually seems to have turned to two of the better *Dalek* stories from the old series for inspiration В– В‘GenesisВ’ (crippled scientist creates idealized version of self in machine creature В– more on this below) and В‘RevelationВ’ (human bodies are hideously dismembered and conditioned to become monsters). Either way, it captures the true horror of the Cybermen in a way the old series rarely (if ever) did, and this is even more remarkable considering how little onscreen violence the story contains. Consider the first factory scene, in which Mr. CraneВ’s homeless В‘volunteersВ’ are converted . . . itВ’s amazing how awful it manages to be, as it contains no actual gore whatsoever, and thatВ’s all on account of the stylish direction. The banality of В‘The Lion Sleeps TonightВ’ blasting over agonized screams is just one inspired example, and perhaps itВ’s not such a surprise that we find ideas from В‘Revelation of the DaleksВ’ here, since that was director Graeme HarperВ’s last work on the program. At any rate, HarperВ’s direction is as good as anything in the new series so far (and itВ’s also nice to see he hasnВ’t lost his interest in an art-deco visual aesthetic).

But one shouldnВ’t suppose that all the horror comes from ironic pop songs and other directorial tricks. A lot of it comes directly from MacRaeВ’s script, which manages a surprising depth of emotion considering its firm grounding in the monster-chase Doctor Who formula of the past. The script almost gleefully manipulates our feelings for both characters we know well (RoseВ’s rejection by both her parents is stinging, especially given what weВ’ve seen of her past, and MickeyВ’s guilt at finding his dead grandmother alive is believable and deeply sad), and the new ones as well (Mrs. Moore is just one example, and her brief but effective backstory makes her death all the more potent). In fact, many of the minor characters are full of life В– even the President and Mr. Crane show original, if small, touches of characterization that bump them out of the realm of clichГ©.

But most astonishing of all is the awful sympathy the story inspires for the Cybermen themselves В– from the amusing В“ItВ’s alive!В” exchange in the prologue, MacRaeВ’s script obviously has В‘FrankensteinВ’ and В‘Bride of FrankensteinВ’ very much in mind, and, indeed, this time the Cybermen capture much of the pathos of the great monster/victims of the horror genre. Perhaps even more than the Daleks, the Cybermen are *made* monsters, true victims who never chose their fate, but had to be dragged screaming to their В‘compulsoryВ’ transformations. (Even Lumic does!) And MacRaeВ’s idea of defeating the monsters by removing their emotional blinders is a stroke of genius, even if it causes the viewer perhaps too much pain. The death of poor Sally is almost unwatchable, as is the uninhibited CybermanВ’s piteous moaning as it sees its reflection (with the Doctor saying В“IВ’m sorryВ” behind it), and yet itВ’s fitting В– and brilliant В– that this story should explore human pain and rejection so deeply. After all, thatВ’s exactly what the Cybermen have sought to eliminate in themselves, isnВ’t it?

The acting is largely excellent. Some writers have criticized Roger Lloyd-PackВ’s performance as hammy; I couldnВ’t find this odder, especially compared to turns weВ’ve seen so far by Anthony Stewart Head, Zoe Wanamaker, Corey (cringe) Johnson and others since this revival began. I actually find Lloyd-PackВ’s interpretation of Lumic to be rather understated, if anything В– heВ’s stiff and appropriately breathless (hardly a ranter), and the actor brings surprising touches of humanity to the character (I liked his warm smile after crying out В“Set sail for Great Britain!В”). The script does a nice job of characterizing Lumic too В– as I mentioned, there are definite echoes of Davros here (the stuff about peace through conformity, and the implication that this mad scientist sees a genuine nobility in the Cyberman project В– I found it oddly touching that he wrote a paper for the Ethical Committee), but by and large heВ’s his own character. About the worst thing you can say about Lloyd-Pack is that at times he seems to be channeling Christopher Lee В– and given the context, one could probably do worse than that.

The Doctor, oddly, sort of disappears into the mix in this story; both his companions abandon him for their own pursuits, and he actually has to snarkily introduce himself to the uninterested Preachers at one point! Despite this fact (or perhaps because of it?), David Tennant gives one of his better performances here, toning down the silliness to the point where we take him seriously for once. Probably his best moment is when he tells Mickey heВ’ll see him back at the TARDIS if they survive В– the look on his face speaks volumes about how the relationship between these two characters has grown, and captures whatВ’s great about Doctor Who companionship in ways that his stupid giggling with Rose at the beginning of the story never could. And of course, itВ’s MickeyВ’s story.

Noel Clarke has been criticized for being unconvincing as MickeyВ’s badass doppelganger, and while heВ’s certainly better as Ricky than he was as Auton Mickey, thereВ’s some merit to the complaint. But heВ’s so good as the real Mickey that it scarcely matters, and his magnificent leaving scene provides a rich, satisfying climax to a story that hasnВ’t been afraid to push us to emotional extremes. It took a while, but IВ’ll miss him.