The Age of Steel

The main problems with this episode was that every tight spot the Doctor and chums found themselves in was solved by a device handily pulled from someoneВ’s pocket В– whether it be the sonic screwdriver, that convenient cyber-killing TARDIS component, RoseВ’s mobile phone, various items in Mrs. MooreВ’s bag of tricks or the Geordie ladВ’s even more convenient knock-out-drops.

The cliffhanger resolution was pretty weak, and lessened the menace of the cybermen. There were a couple of other unintentionally funny moments too: the cybercontroller in his big metal JimВ’ll Fix It sofa, and MickeyВ’s hacking skills (Hollywood ClichГ© #21 В– one cannot hack into complex mainframes just by randomly clattering the middle few keys on a keyboard as quickly as possible. These days there is such a thing as a mouse). And would The Doctor really be such a big fan of hot dogs? I had him down as a vegetarian, personally,

But there were good bits too. The body count was admirable, and the two female cybermen were great moments that to my knowledge have never been exploited before В– the cyberJackie recognising Pete was brilliantly chilling, and Sally Cyberman worked better than the friendly Dalek, her final moments genuinely moving and existentially horrifying.

This was replicated on a huge scale when The Doctor overrode the emotion suppressors, and while Pete and Rose celebrated, our hero looked on grimly. A very strange and grotesque ending В– real human people trapped in metal bodies dying of madness, nightmarish stuff for Saturday teatime, and this is treated as a victory В– though the cybermen did look like they were at a disco, and the exploding head was silly (I have it on good authority that peoplesВ’ heads donВ’t actually explode when they go crazy).

We all knew Mickey was staying on Alternate Earth the moment Ricky bought the big one, but itВ’s a shame to see him go. Still, it might mean Rose comes back to life nowВ… sheВ’s been very quiet for the last few episodes and it would be nice to see her back in the foreground.

All in all, a good fun action-adventure story in the Troughton mould, with themes and ideas that should delight the ghoulish kiddies and horrify the parents.