Rise of the Cybermen / The Age of Steel

My feeling after 'Rise' was that this series just keeps on getting better. I was quite convinced that the concluding episode would keep up the almost impossibly high quality. While the conclusion was indeed very good, it did not ultimately make for a classic.

Bringing back the iconic cybermen was always a challange. So often in the past, the metal meanies had been invoked seemingly to boost ratings. One area where I wholeheartedly agree with RTD is that bringing back past characters/monsters should mean a suitable story - much like "Dalek" last year or "School Reunion". So what we have is essentially Reinvention Of The Cybermen.

Given that the adventure takes place in an alternative universe, I have little problem with the new origin of the cybermen. Playing cleverly on modern reliance on (and fear of) technology, and using bluetooh-like earpieces the first installment cleverly establishes that mobile communications are not benign in the alternative London. We also have time to be properly introduced to the villian of the piece, John Lumic.

Obviously there will be comparisons to Davros, in that both "give birth" to a race of monsters and both are in wheelchairs. Also like Davros in the original "Genesis" story, Lumic isn't simply a mad, evil, twisted mastermind. Although what he is doing is quite obscene, we are given the chance to see that he has his motives - and that he has achieved much in the past that has benefitted mankind. I do feel it is important that Doctor Who continues to show that there is rarely black & white, that often life has shades of grey in between. Lumic is the perfect villian in that sense, in that although we disagree with him...we can understand what motivates him.

Wheelchair-bound and dying before his time, John Lumic seeks government approval for his Cybermen project - which allows the human brain to live in an artificial body. The President of the UK (wonderfully played by Don Warrington) naturally refuses, and Lumic feels he has no choice but to go ahead anyway.

Direction, as one would expect from Greame Harper, is amazing. The Cybermen themselves have never looked more effective or frightening. That is down to their new design, and to Harper's vision. The scenes of an apparent army of metal marching on the Tyler residence, and then breaking through the windows could have been much less effective than they were. And later in "Age oF Steel", the scene with the Doctor and Mrs. Moore in the dark tunnel creeping past a row of deactivated cybermen was top notch. And there perhaps lies the only problem I have with this story. I will remember not the whole, but certain images and scenes.

Very much on the plus side, perhaps for the first time ever the true sadness and horror of the cybermen's condition is properly and dramatically explored. Always implied in the past, we now see before our eyes the anguish of the human mind which realises it has been "upgraded". And why use blood and gore when you can show whirring saws and other apparatus, backed by screams and "The Lion Sleeps Tonight"? I felt that was another particularly effective scene. I was also impressed by the whole look and feel of the story, with the airships and industrial London.

A word for the supporting cast. Really this year the guest stars have been outstanding. In this adventure we had stellar performances in the roles of Lumic, Mrs. Moore, Mr Crane (lumic's henchman) The President and Pete Tyler. Ah and Mickey... what a surprise that he leaves the TARDIS! And what a transformation of his character. But handled well in both writing and acting. Mickey has gone from an occasionally annoying presence to somebody I shall miss.

But overall something was missing. Yes the Doctor, Rose and Mickey all helped save the day, but in the end perhaps the whole password thing was too simple. Not quite the epic end to what had been one of the most impressive build-ups in Doctor Who's entire history. And like others, I disliked the five minutes of soap at the end.

So I give this 7.5/10 in the end. Doctor Who hasn't looked this good for ages, but the writing wasn't quite there. However, a good reinvention of the concept of the cybermen, and overall a very good story...just not destined to be a classic. And with the astoundingly high quality of this year's stories so far, we can be happy if this is a "low" point.