Rise of the Cybermen / The Age of Steel

В“SheВ’s not really your mother.В”
В“I know.В”

Therein lies the problem with stories set in an alternate universe.

Forgive the ramblings of an ignorant American (a redundant term for some) who is not familiar with all of Russell T. DaviesВ’ other work. What has impressed me from the start of his work on DOCTOR WHO is the emotional reality he has brought to a show that, in its classic form, was often devoid of authentic human reactions and interactions.

ItВ’s not just RoseВ’s family and extended friendships, although they are a great example. Instead of Tegan just sauntering into the TARDIS on the side of a highway, walking off a Concorde a few years later, then rejoining the DoctorВ’s crew in Amsterdam without a word to her family or friends, Rose visits home. She calls home. Her family misses her. Jackie slaps the Doctor В– and more importantly В– gives a boffo speech where she maternally dismisses the DoctorВ’s life as В“coolВ” and В“not safeВ”.

Even the villains have real-world reasons for their badness. The Slitheen didnВ’t try to take over the Earth just to be another Race Who Wants to Rule the Earth. They wanted to turn it into an intergalactic Wal-Mart of radiation. The Gelth wanted our pity because they had no home, but saw a way to have one through the rift. Even the Sycorax had some sort of mineral they wanted from the earth (I was never really clear on that one).

Which brings us back to this Cybermen story. Setting it in alternate universe immediately removes the emotional connection to our main characters. They have the same names and some of the same relationships, but we are constantly reminded that В“this is not your worldВ”.

Which then begs the question, okay, why should we care?

In a show built upon the reality of time travel, what really is an В“alternate worldВ”? IsnВ’t it just a different time stream? A different chain of events brought about by the slightly different decisions of even one person at one time? In the first series, the Doctor noted where В“history was wrongВ”, but that wasnВ’t identified as an alternate universe. INFERNO worked in the context of the Doctor being exiled on Earth without a properly working TARDIS. You can forgive a trip into a parallel universe after the Earth had been invaded by the umpteenth alien race in early 70s rubber suits.

In the context of the new series, where CGI and big bucks for location shooting allow writers to truly stretch their imaginations (as they did with THE GIRL IN THE FIREPLACE), landing somewhere and then announcing it as an В“alternate worldВ” is pure laziness. It allows you to haul out the Tyler family saga again for another maudlin repeat. FATHERВ’S DAY was simply brilliant as a poignant emotional drama, even devoid of any science fiction or time travel. To rehash the exact same sentiments in a В“different universeВ” is the dramatic equivalent of bringing in a cute kid to boost the ratings of an aging family sitcom. Been there, done that.

I so kept hoping that the В“realВ” Cybermen were somehow also trapped in this alternate universe. That somehow they were using John Lumic to build and then expand the cyber-race as a means to find a way out of their parallel existence. If things really are as much of a mess as the Doctor describes after the Time War, then time travel could be getting more difficult for everyone.

Or perhaps the Cybermen were trapped in this alternate universe and were setting a trap for the Doctor, knowing that only the last remaining Time Lord could free them from the В“alternateВ” Earth. Anything other that what transpired would have been blessedly welcome.

By presenting John Lumic as a Man Who Wants to Rule the World, we are catapulted back into the worst of classic DOCTOR WHO. We are given utterly predictable storytelling that lacks true human emotion and motivation, which usually leads to untelegraphed surprises.

For someone as mega-wealthy as Mr. Lumic, what does he have to gain by cyber-izing the world? He wonВ’t get any richer. He has already found a way to prolong his own life by becoming the CyberLeader. So what is the purpose behind frittering away his fortune on a race of Cybermen? ItВ’s a very socialist turn for a brutal capitalist.

HereВ’s the germ of an idea for what could have been a more real-world return for the DoctorВ’s number two enemy:

Mickey realizes he will always be the В“tin dogВ” and never be as close as Rose and the Doctor. So he asks to go home.

Returning to London, they find much of the city under quarantine and empty (shades of THE DALEK INVASION OF EARTH). They find Jackie huddled in their apartment and learn about the deadly flu virus sweeping across the earth.

Jackie informs them that RoseВ’s best friend Cherie (sp?) has the flu and is not expected to live. Visiting Cherie and her dad, they learn that there are rumors of a В“cureВ”. ItВ’s extremely expensive, but CherieВ’s Dad is willing to put his retirement savings towards anything that will cure his daughter.

The В“cureВ” means a trip to some remote arctic climate and being gone for months. There are rumors that no one has come back from the cure, but they do communicate thru email and phone calls.

The DoctorВ’s hackles are up, so he accompanies Cherie and Rose and Mickey to the arctic. The В“cureВ” is being run by the Cybermen, who are responsible for the flu. The Cybermen are killing two birds with one stone, wiping out humans and getting their twin planet back for good. They also realize how easy it is to spread fear and panic in the human race where the possibility of death is concerned. For a race that has almost cheated death, itВ’s an important weapon in the CybermenВ’s arsenal.

Before they learn the truth about the В“cureВ”, Cherie is transformed into a Cyberman, being horribly afraid of death. When Cherie realizes she will never be human again, she begs Rose to kill her.

The Doctor tries to remain detached. Rose lashes out at him for not understanding what itВ’s like to be human. Turning the tables on his boo hoo, I have to live for 900+ years speech (from SCHOOL REUNION) Rose confronts the Doctor on his cavalier attitude toward death. Death always follows him. DoesnВ’t that ever bother him?

Of course it does, but their fight only deepens their friendship. It also re-ground their adventures after the goofy heights of saying things like, В“I just want to say, werewolves!В” (TOOTH AND CLAW). It brings their meddling and destruction back down to a very tangible level for each life lost, the way it was in the first series.

Rose couldnВ’t kill a Dalek, but she does help her best friend pass away peacefully. In the end, the Doctor defeats the Cybermen and the flu, but Rose loses her best friend. Mickey has had enough and decides to stay on Earth for a while.

In a story like that В– I hope В– you have characters you care about in a world you care about. The Cybermen are transforming people you know for a specific reason (to get a planet to call their own). EveryoneВ’s motivation is clear and collides with each other.

The first new series of DOCTOR WHO gave us our beloved show with a heart. Not a sappy EASTENDERS heart, but a heart attached to the brain catapulted through space and time. One can only hope that the depths of that heart can be plumbed by examining the reactions of our main characters to new adventures, and not В“alternateВ” characters to bland happenings.