The first two part story of the second series of Doctor Who, В‘Rise of the CybermenВ’/В‘The Age of SteelВ’ sees the return both of the seriesВ’ second most popular monsters, and director Graeme Harper, returning to the series after a break of nineteen years. And for the most part, itВ’s a successful return for both.

В‘Rise of the CybermenВ’/В‘The Age of SteelВ’ takes place in a parallel universe, which has two effects. The first is that it allows writer Tom McRae to introduce the Cybermen to a new audience without having to explain Mondas, as a result of which he is able to write a contemporary origin story for them without any baggage (although the story acknowledges the past with Rose recalling the Cyber head in Van StattenВ’s museum back in В‘DalekВ’ and the Doctor explaining that there are Cybermen in their universe). The second is that, as in В‘InfernoВ’, all bets are off, and whilst we donВ’t get the end of the world here, we do get the conversion of a regular character into a Cyberman. This concept is explored a great deal in В‘Rise of the CybermenВ’, as Rose discovers that her Dad is still alive and Mickey goes off to find his grandma, but whilst there are several scenes in this first episode that worryingly threaten to lead to a trite and happy conclusion and cover the same ground as В‘FatherВ’s DayВ’ but with diminishing returns, it actually pays off. RoseВ’s interest in and concern for her parallel parents is understandable and gives her an emotional stake in the fate of this alternate world, but it is handled in unexpected ways: JackieВ’s conversion into a Cybermen is dealt with swiftly and in a matter-of-fact way that emphasizes the horror that they represent, and at the end of the story Pete discovers that Rose is his daughter and, to her obvious disappointment, beats a hasty retreat.

But more importantly, as noted, the parallel universe is a crucible in which to recreate the Cybermen without contradicting the past, but whilst thrusting them into a recognizable world and thus doing exactly the sort of thing that Russell T. Davies sort to do in series one. This story acknowledges В‘Spare PartsВ’ as an inspiration, and when I reviewed that story I noted that Big Finish, unconstrained by a Saturday teatime time slot, could exploit the body horror represented by the Cybermen in ways that the television series had never really been able. В‘Rise of the CybermenВ’/В‘The Age of SteelВ’ has the same constraints, but comes closer than any television Cyberman story to really exploiting the horror of the creatures. В“The Lion Sleeps TonightВ” seen, as facile pop music is played over the screams of people being forcibly converted and the whirring of electric saws, manages, in the hands of Graeme HarperВ”, to become chilling. Then there is the issue of emotion; given DaviesВ’ approach to the series, I was half-expecting some kind of Kroton the Friendly Cyberman type rubbish once the Doctor and Mrs. Moor discovered the emotional inhibitor, but McRae instead uses an approach more akin to the idea of the Cerebraton Mentor of В‘The InvasionВ’, the Doctor understanding, В“TheyВ’d realize what they areВ… I think it would kill them.В” And indeed it does, as the emotional inhibitors are switched off thanks to Mickey and the Doctor and the Cybermen scream and convulse before exploding. McRae also uses the notion to emphasize again the nightmarish nature of the Cybermen; the pitiful sounds of the damaged Cyberman, with its emotions restored, asking why it is cold is quite unpleasant, especially since there is obviously no way of reversing its fate. Likewise, when the Cyberman that approaches Pete and Rose tells them that it was Jackie Tyler, the episode momentarily threatens to tread the tiresome route of the Star Trek: The Next Generation episode В‘I, BorgВ’. Instead, all that happens is that the Cyberman recognizes Pete and has them sent to Cyber Control before blending back into the crowd, their lack of individuality made plain as Rose hollowly states, В“They all look the same.В”

It helps considerably that the Cybermen are at their most scary since the nineteen sixties. When I first saw a still photograph of their new costumes, I had some sympathy with the argument that they looked worryingly like the Tin Man from The Wizard of Oz. On screen though, they work extremely well. Throughout В‘Rise of the CybermenВ’, Harper keeps them out of sight until the end, either showing them out of focus in the background, or just allowing the viewer glimpses of parts of them. When they do appear in full focus as they attack the TylersВ’ mansion, they are enormously intimidating; the moon suits of the eighties are long gone, and these Cybermen look like metal juggernauts, powerful and virtually unstoppable. They lumber less than in the past, instead marching remorselessly and unspeaking, Harper filming them from low angles to make them look bigger than they are. There are admittedly moments in В‘The Age of SteelВ’ as they march around London rounding up victims when they look like they are touching cloth, but in the confines of the factory or on the zeppelin, they are terrifying. Harper gets some great edge of seat moments out of them, including their chillingly silently presence in the tunnel and the sudden thrill as they start to jerk into life, and the Doctor and Mrs. MoorВ’s narrow escape through the hatch. The Cyber ControllerВ’s pursuit out of the Doctor, Rose and Pete at the end blatantly rips off Aliens, right down to the creature pulling itself free of its moorings as fire starts to consume its lair, but it provides a final adrenalin rush for the episode as the trio narrowly escape.

В‘Rise of the CybermenВ’/В‘The Age of SteelВ’ also features some effective characterisation. Obsessive Cybermen creator John Lumic is the sort of ranting madman that used to be a staple of the series, and Roger Lloyd-Pack hams up the role for all that heВ’s worth, especially when delivering lines such as В“I suppose a remark about crashing the party would be appropriate at this point, aha-ha-ha!В” Opinion is divided as to whether this sort of thing is wise, and several fans have criticized Lumic already, but IВ’ve always found ranting megalomaniacs in Doctor Who entertaining, and I find Lloyd-PackВ’s performance rather enjoyable. McRae also gives him some reasonable characterisation, his megalomania motivated by an understandable need to survive, which his colossal ego inevitably transforms into world domination. This is hardly Earth-shatteringly original, but it is sufficient to meet the storyВ’s requirements, and when he is inevitably forced to submit to an upgrade of his own, Lloyd-Pack conveys his obvious fear convincingly, as he impotently protests, В“IВ’m not ready.В” Once he becomes the Cyber Controller, he also serves as a villain with whom the Doctor can spar, thus stepping into the role previously filled by David BanksВ’ charismatic Cyber Leaders, as the Doctor gives a defence of the need for emotion and the Controller makes the case for the prosecution.

Other supporting characters include the President, portrayed as a wise and thoughtful leader and made all the more commanding by Don WarringtonВ’s superb performance. Although heВ’s little more than a henchman, ???В’s Mr. Crane is an oddly memorable character too, and his sudden realization that heВ’s in out of his depth results in the oddly satisfying scene in which he manages to wreak LumicВ’s life support system before a Cyberman dispatches him. The Preachers also work quite well as rebels who turn out to include a middle aged woman who keeps weapons in her handbag, and В“LondonВ’s most wanted for parking ticketsВ”. Shaun Dingwell returns as Pete Tyler and gives a solid performance, making him as likeable as he was in В‘FatherВ’s DayВ’ but a great deal more capable and confident, and pairs up with Rose in В‘The Age of SteelВ’ to enter the factory; both actors make their characters look suitably terrified this point. Harper even manages to get a decent performance out of Camille Coduri, which I wouldnВ’t have believed possible, although the trite coda with the В“realВ” Jackie is an unpleasant reminder of what we usually get.

All of which brings me to the regulars. David Tennant is much the same as he usually is here, although he does start to smell slightly of ham when heВ’s confronting the Controller. But worthy of particular note is his performance at the end of В‘Rise of the CybermenВ’, as the Doctor realises just what heВ’s dealing with. Tennant makes him look terrified, as he grabs Rose and legs it out of the house, and this significantly contributes to the effectiveness of the Cybermen at this point. His repeated attempts to surrender have an air of panic underlying them, and it is important I think that the resolution to the cliffhanger, dismissed by some as a shameless McGuffin, sees him risking his means of getting home to save their lives. Billie Piper too manages to look frightened quite a lot, and McRaeВ’s script requires her to show how Rose is feeling through facial expressions and body language than some previous scripts. For the record however, the moment when she jealously asks the Doctor, В“WhoВ’s Lucy?В”, is profoundly irritating.

But in many respects, В‘Rise of the CybermenВ’/В‘The Age of SteelВ’ is MickeyВ’s story. Mickey, and Noel Clarke, have come a long way since В‘RoseВ’, which gave us a frightened and ineffectual buffoon via the medium of slightly wooden acting. Clarke has really made the role his own however, and in this, his final story, all of his hard work pays off. He might snarl his way unconvincingly through the role of Ricky, but as Mickey heВ’s brilliant. The touching scene in which Mickey meets the parallel version of his grandma implies that Mickey still feels guilty that he didnВ’t repair the torn carpet that caused his gran to fall down the stairs and kill herself, and Clarke lets all of this show on his face. В‘Rise of the CybermenВ’ sees him indignantly realize, В“You just forgot me!В” when heВ’s been holding down a button for half and hour, and then, with a mixture of triumph and regret, head off to find his gran in defiance of the Doctor, knowing that the Time Lord will follow Rose, not him. This sows the seeds for В‘The Age of SteelВ’, as Mickey refuses to carry on being В“the tin dogВ” and insists on joining JakeВ’s raid on the transmitter. Interestingly, the real turning point for Mickey here seems to be the moment when Ricky grudgingly shows him approval, perhaps seeing Mickey literally happy with who he is, and in the latter half of the episode he comes into his own. He convinces Jake to spare the guards, asking him, В“If you kill В‘em, whatВ’s the difference between you and the Cybermen?В” On board the zeppelin he proves extremely brave, tricking a Cyberman into destroying the transmitter, before he gets to save the day, with a little help from the Doctor, by hacking into the Cybus Corporation systems and finding the code to deactivate the emotional inhibitors. He also gets to come to the rescue of the others, holding the zeppelin steady over the burning factory. His decision to stay behind, bid goodbye to Rose and step out of the shadow of the Doctor, is a fantastic departure from the series, and the DoctorВ’s heartfelt, В“Good luck, Mickey the idiotВ” is actually more touching than his last hug with Rose. His final scene in the program is lovely, as he tells Jake, В“LetВ’s go an liberate Paris.В” В“Just you and me? In a van?В” В“ThereВ’s nothing wrong with a van. I once saved the universe in a big yellow truck.В”

So overall I think В‘Rise of the CybermenВ’/В‘The Age of SteelВ’ works extremely well, not only as a return for the Cybermen and Graeme Harper but also as a farewell to Mickey. I do however have one major criticism. IВ’ve given this a brief mention in previous episode reviews, but by now Murray GoldВ’s music is reaching a point where it is actively starting to drive me insane. Ladled like treacle over nearly every scene, it simultaneously manages to be both bland and yet impossible to ignore, endlessly recycling the same saccharine riffs during emotional moments in an attempt to tell the audience what to think. Even Keff McCullochВ’s worst excesses irritated me less than this, perhaps because however bad his scores were, someone different would punctuate his audio manure when the next story came along. GoldВ’s role as series composer though means that we get the same tepid music week after week after week. And there is no end in sight.

One thing the new Doctor Who can certainly hold claim to is its complete unpredictably.

Trying to guess whether a writer, actor or director will be good bad or indifferent is becoming ever harder. For every individual with a proven track record, often comes the huge crushing disappointment that they haven’t lived up to expectations. While on the other hand individuals with somewhat dubious credentials can often yield startling results. I would never have expected Paul Cornell’s story from last year to be my personal favourite, nor would I have thought that Russell T Davies scripts would be some of the worst, likewise I wasn’t prepared to be so completely bowled over by Billie Piper’s portrayal of Rose and at the same time so underwhelmed by Christopher Eccleston’s Doctor.

On the surface Rise of the Cybermen/Age of Steel had hit stamped all over it: a stellar cast, the return of one of the original series greatest directors, in Shaun Dingwall’s Pete one of the best actors from series 1 and last but not least the return of those silver giants. Quite how with so much going for it, this story could turn into such an underwhelming, flat and at times amateur affair is beyond me. Needless to say after a run of three enjoyable and well executed adventures (New Earth was a bit of a mixed bag, but it was only the first episode so I’ll let it off), much like series 1 the new series has again hit that mid season lull and produced yet another 2 part clunker.

Many fans have complained about the deficiencies in the 1 part 45 minute adventures, but I would say if anything the problem is with the two parters. With the exception of the 2 part Dalek finale from last year, all the 2 parters so far have been somewhat turgid and been amongst the worst structured and dull of the whole run (and yes I include fan favourite the Empty Child in this). That 2 weeks have been wasted on such a shallow piece of television let alone Doctor Who is a crying shame, when often more worthy ideas could be expanded way beyond their 45 minutes.

Okay this is going to be a bit of a whingeathon, so I’d better start giving some justification as to why I thought this story was so much of a damp squib.

In a nutshell, unfulfilled potential, all the elements for success were there but each one was so completely unexploited and lacking in execution that the result was just dull, dull, dull.

Firstly Tom Macrae’s script felt like a first draft and one that needed several rewrites to toughen it up, all the basic ideas for a good yarn were there, but as written very little in the way of drama, excitement or suspense was evident. Cliched charcters, twee plot revelations and a rather poor structure could have been ironed out if the desire had been there. Nevertheless some decent direction would have probably papered over the cracks and at least produced something superficially watchable.

Well welcome to some of the most leaden, uninspiring and at times almost fan film like direction since Keith Boak’s Aliens of London. That this story has come from Graeme Harper is frankly astonishing. As the director responsible for Caves of Androzani and Revelation of the Daleks, his work on these stories was revolutionary for the time. On an eighties hopelessly studio bound drama he introduced a kinetic energy into proceedings which was rarely seen on television, and there is no doubt that Caves of Androzani stands as the classic it is mainly due to his influence. One would have expected with the new series increased budget and all the tools now at his disposal, that Harper would have produced a televisual spectacle, dripping with grit, pace and atmosphere. Well unfortunately the years have not been kind to Harper and any flair or energy he may have had seems to have been slowly ebbed away by years of working on studio based talking heads shows (I last saw him credited on an episode of Coronation street). Rise of the Cybermen/Age of Steel felt lifeless and stilted and I would say that lays squarely at the door of the director. As a general at the top of a chain of command, the directors work can be seen reflected right down through the ranks with everyone from David Tennant to Murray Gold, producing work that is far below their usual standard.

In essence this story was the long awaited Genesis of the Cybermen, so if you’re going to try and give Davros a run for his money you might at least try and create something at least a fraction as memorable. In Roger Lloyd Pack’s John Lumic we got the most hammy, one note performance I think I have seen so far in the new Doctor Who. What could have been a memorable tortured genius, again compare with Chris Cable’s portrayal of Sharaz jek in Caves, ended up as a forgettable OTT turn from a respectable actor who obviously thinks Doctor Who is an opportunity to do a pantomime turn.

The only really memorable performance to come out of the story was Don Warrington as the president, who gave a dignified and studied performance and one the other cast members should have aspired to. Unfortunately all the performances were of such wildly differing tones that it often felt that the cast had wandered in from separate shows, Colin Spaull’s henchman was the CBBC version of a cockney gangster, Andrew Hayden Smith was the bland pretty boy, and amidst all this Shaun Dingwall’s Pete seemed lost and wondering what he was really doing there at all.

The main raison d etre of the story of course was to reintroduce the Cybermen, and a tough challenge it was. Lacking the simplicity of concept of the Daleks, and unfortunately with the baggage of a second hand idea, due to the very similar concept of the Borg used in Star Trek throughout the nineties, it was always going to be a tough cookie. The revised origin that the Cybermen were born not out of a need for survival, but the human races obsession with technological upgrades was a sound one, but as with so much of this story lacking in its relaisation While not an outright disaster the realisation of the creatures is only partially successful, and should maybe like their sixties forebears be considered a work in progress. The design itself has attracted controversy and is one of those things that looks good at certain angles or under particular lighting conditions. The Cybermen of old were quite obviously men in costumes, with the silver jumpsuit being the best that could be managed to suggest the creatures machine like nature, the new Cybermen are designed to look mechanised and the reasoning behind that is sound. Unfortunately the heftiness of the costumes makes movement in them look very awkward and they come across as somewhat clunky and ungainly, suffering from similar movement problems as the Slitheen costumes last year. Some shots particularly in part 2 of this story looked unintentionally comical. The rhythmic marching was also way overdone, it is not easy to put your finger on how they should have been done, but the whole approach had a hackneyed almost Bill Baggs video feel (Bill Baggs for those who don’t know makes commercially available Doctor Who fan films). Then of course was the voice, there seems to be a general belief among a certain contingent of fans, that the eighties Cybermen were a write off, and the sixties models were the true model that should be aspired to. With the reintroduction of the electric warbling tone and the tear drop, it is obvious the production teem felt this too. Unfortunately the choice of voice was poorly realised and rather than making the creatures sound sinister, it just added to the impression of a rather generic sci fi robot, sounding halfway between the Candyman and a Dalek.

Certain moments such as the Doctors voyage through the Cyberman lined corridor provided hints at what could have been, but as with most of the story there was so much unrealised potential. Where were the Cybermen’s feats of stength, why didn’t we see a conversion in progress. There could have been so much dramatic potential drawn from a slow rove around the Cyberfactory, with little hints as to what was going on. But as with so much about this story, the Cyber conversion was a pathetic CGI’d computer game effect totally lacking in any feeling, tension or drama.

I feel sorry that this was Noel Clarke’s last story as he deserved a much stronger exit, the reasons for Mickey staying were sound and his story has probably reached its natural end, but when a story is as bad as this it reflects on everyone.

I wont even go in to the stories complete lack of internal logic regarding the whole parallel universe scenario, surely Mickey staying would contravene some sort of law, and for such a universe shattering event the Doctor seems remarkably confident about getting back with no hassle whatsoever. Just as with so much I have outlined above, ideas that were ripe for exploitation are half developed then discarded. Imagine if we’d gone the whole story thinking the Tardis had died and everyone was stranded, wouldn’t that have been a lot more involving than a quick fix after five minutes.

So no I wasn’t impressed by this story at all, yes there have been worse Who stories and a lot worse stuff on television in general, but at a time when the new series has been on something of a roll, this story was a massive retrogade step. For all its surface gloss and CGI, it really was just a 2006 Battlefield, a story with big ideas and ambition, but saddled with a shoddily written script and clunky direction. I just hope that lessons were learnt on this and things will be ironed out for the 2 part Cybermen finale which Harper is helming.

Maybe time will be kinder on this story, once the weight of expectation has been lifted from its shoulders, but when the best thing about the episode is the next week trailer you know there’s something wrong. So Roll on Idiots Lantern, who would have thought that big quiffs and Maureen Lipman doing watch with mother,could look so much more exiting than Cybermen.

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.

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.

ItВ’s quite hard to find much to say about this story initially, despite the obvious В‘big eventsВ’ it covers (IВ’m sure IВ’ll manage to anyway!). The departure of Mickey, the return of the Cybermen and particularly the return of Pete Tyler are oddly underwhelming, although it must be said that the first two are very well handled, and the Cybermen contribute greatly to the very classical, retro feel of this two-parter (which is the most Doctor Who-ey story in the new series so far). It was replete with references to original Cyberman stories, particularly The Invasion В– the escape up a rope ladder hanging from a helicopter of that story turning into an escape up a rope ladder hanging from an airship. International Electromatics also got a mention.

В‘Rise of the CybermenВ’ and В‘The Age of SteelВ’ have things wrong with them, but they are very familiar things. The episodes contain some fairly shocking performances from some of the guests, and the plotting is quite untidy with regard to the seemingly random way in which various characters are killed off (John Lumic at least does return as the Cybercontroller, which was a nice surprise, and very faithful to the original series В– a superior return to that of the Emperor Dalek in В‘Parting of the WaysВ’). But Trigger from Only Fools and Horses is great as a neo-Davros, and his method of transportation, a giant airship, is wonderful В– it exemplifies the kind of creative romanticism that has been missing from the new series so far, and is a step in the right direction.

MickeyВ’s decision to leave at the end, however, is very harsh on the poor boy, who I have never liked very much, but has come on in leaps and bounds in the recent run of non-RTD stories and this one especially. Basically, he decides to stay in a parallel universe to hunt down the Cybermen because the Doctor is closer to his girlfriend than he is to Mickey. The Doc doesnВ’t even tell him at the end that he didnВ’t actively want him to leave, and that there would have still been a place for him on board the TARDIS, which he could easily have done without changing MickeyВ’s mind. I thought this was very unfair on him. Noel Clarke however, while playing В‘RickyВ’ abysmally (you canВ’t have everything), turns out his finest performance yet as the hapless В‘tin dogВ’ in RoseВ’s life.

Still, we at least are treated to the sight of Jackie Tyler being Cyber-converted!! The Cybermen had some very effective scenes in the second episode, and all in all this was a very good outing for them. Despite the various Cyber-deaths we see, from the bomb Mrs Moore uses (in another overly-convenient piece of plotting) to the Cyberman who accidentally punches out the transmitter) the impression is still one of power and invulnerability. Design-wise they are a little dodgy from the waist down, but have the greatest of all Cyber-heads, teardrops and all (I love the teardrops).

In fact, the teardrop design was especially appropriate for this story, in which the tragedy of Cybermen is brought to the fore in two or three excellent scenes. First there is JackieВ’s aforementioned conversion, and PeteВ’s subsequent inability to tell which is her; best of all is the scene with the dying Cyberman, who just a few hours ago, it is implied, was excitedly looking forward her wedding (the best evocation of the tragedy of the Cybermen that I have ever encountered, surpassing even the horrendous reunion of father and daughter in В‘Spare PartsВ’); and lastly the DoctorВ’s destruction of the converted by making them self-aware, which even he has qualms about to begin with, resulting in the Doctor opening a door and finding Cybermen writhing in agony in a flame-filled room like damned souls in hell.

Oddly Marc Platt gets a credit in the end titles (and, apparently, was even paid!). Given that the only resemblance in В‘Rise of the Cybermen/The Age of SteelВ’ to his В‘Spare PartsВ’ is the tragic treatment of the Cybermen, this seems more than a little gratuitous. It isnВ’t as if he invented that aspect of the Cyber-race; itВ’s just that nobody had done it well before. This credit seems to have been inserted for no other reason than that В‘Spare PartsВ’ is, according to Russell T Davies, В“some of the finest drama ever written for any genre, in any medium, anywhereВ”, which is frankly ridiculous (ever seen any Shakespeare, Russell? Ever read В‘The Lord of the RingsВ’? Ever watched В‘Apocalypse NowВ’?) I donВ’t want to denigrate Marc Platt, who is great, but В‘Spare PartsВ’ doesnВ’t deserve half the adulation it gets В– it isnВ’t even amongst the strongest Doctor Who stories, let alone В“the finest dramaВ… anywhereВ”!

The other thing to note about the story is that it gives us the first cliffhanger of series two. And a great cliffhanger it was, even if Graeme Harper didnВ’t cut away soon enough, and the Cybermen fell into the stereotypical В“villains repeat their threats ad nauseam rather than just GETTING ON WITH IT!В” mold. David Tennant played it extremely well, at least, and itВ’s one of those cliffhangers which really does leave you wondering В“how on earth are they going to get out of that?В”. Unfortunately the resolution was rubbish, the Doctor simply using a magic gizmo and running away, which rather makes a nonsense of his earlier panic, however well-conveyed it was. The ideal resolution as far as IВ’m concerned would have been the arrival of a parallel-universe Doctor to save them all; then we could have had an episode with two versions of David Tennant!

(Regarding Tennant, it has to be said that he still hasnВ’t really made his mark on the role as the Doctor, although his acting ability is not in doubt. He just isnВ’t in it enough.)

One final thing; it has been suggested that there was a Fascism/Nazism theme running through these episodes, the Final Solution, in particular, being referenced in the shots of people being led into chambers for Cyber-conversion. Not only the curious goose-stepping walk practiced by the new Cybermen, but the fact that the woman shown walking calmly into an incinerator was Asian rather than white, recalling Nazi racial policies, have been suggested as evidence. While I do not for a moment believe that the modern BBC would broadcast a television programme in which even the villains are seen to regard Asians as inferior stock, this interpretation is rather tempting. Anyone else noticed it?

This story's like a pop music cover version of a fantastic song first done as a demo by an independent band. It waters down what made the original so fantastic, and yet might still go to number 1 on the pop charts because some of the basic ideas that were so good are still basically there and because the production is so stylish.

The most basic idea that is so good is the emotionless Cybermen themselves, and their plans to forcibly turn you into one of them. This comes from the original TV series. The next step after that, the idea that the reason Cybermen make themselves emotionless is to avoid scaring themselves to death and preserve sanity after what's been done to their bodies, that comes from an audio story made by Big Finish in 2002 called "Spare Parts," written by Marc Platt, who is given a thank you credit on the close of both of these TV episodes. Other bits of "Spare Parts" that made sort of made it in were seeing a procession of the population being frog-marched into Cyber-processing plants, and seeing the process happen to someone we knew and cared about, in this case Jackie Tyler. All of the above are very scary things to think about and to see happening on your TV screen, and the story is to be commended for showing this.

The way we see all that happen, with the marching squads of Cybermen moving in formation with that relentless mechanical thumping sound... with the CGI enlarged crowds being herded into the plants... the inventive and almost always moving camera angles...the Zeppelins over London... it all has a look and a gloss to it worthy of a feature film. Graeme Harper always shot the hell out of the stories he worked on in the 1980s, and he's lost none of that touch here. I'm really looking forward to seeing what he does with the season finale now.

And then the story gives us a lot of original material. The alternative Earth stuff is a mixed bag. On the good side of the bag, and it's very, very good, is the alternate Mickey (Ricky) and how he's leading a small resistance unit, and how his grandmother is still alive. Where Mickey tends to shy away from danger, Ricky's much more involved and pro-active, and though it's never explicitly said, it's plain to see why. It's simply because his grandmother is still alive. Our Mickey apparently became very afraid of death after it claimed his grandmother, but for Ricky, to whom that never happened, death and danger aren't going to cow him. I can also completely buy that our Mickey would stay behind and replace dead Ricky so that he can tend and be with his grandmother, and that he finds his bottle knowing that the world he's helping to save is one that has her in it. This is wonderful stuff, and wonderfully played by Noel Clarke. The scenes of he and his grandmother together, and of he and Rose saying goodbye at the end, are quite heartbreaking, and that's totally down to his talent.

On the not-so-good side of the bag is what's been done to Rose's alternative family. Rose's reactions (and Billie Piper's acting) to it are all fine and spot on given what she's been presented, and a successful, living Pete Tyler is also nice to see, but he's just _there_. They never have a payoff like we saw last year in "Father's Day," and while in one sense that's quite right because we already saw that big story last season, it's quite wrong at the same time, because if all you can do with having him there is to, well, have him there, then what's the point? Even worse off is Jackie, who is so different and so nasty a person in the alternative world that we're almost glad to see her get converted into a Cyberman. As the Doctor says numerous times, "she is not your mother," and because she is so not her mother, the whole punch of the scene where we see Cyber-Jackie is completely absent.

And in the really-not-good-at-all stinky, wet, rotting corner of the bag, we have this alternative origin story for the Cybermen of this alternative dimension. The only saving grace we're given is a line in the second episode where the Doctor tells Rose that there were Cybermen from our universe too and that they were from another planet, thus preserving the Mondasian origin story we're used to from the original series as still being valid, and even allowing "Spare Parts" to not come into conflict with what we're told here on TV. That's a saving grace because this alternative is a pathetic bunch of cliches recycled from either 1980s science-fiction films or from different stories in the TV series (chiefly "The Invasion" and "Genesis of the Daleks"). In this universe, the Cybermen are the creation of a madman called John Lumic, an 80s-style businessman confined to a life-supporting wheelchair. Sound like anyone we already know from the original series? That's right, he's a more charismatic Davros, or at least he would be if he were played by a better actor than Roger Lloyd-Pack, who chews scenery in a way that the most cartoonish villains of the original series would've been proud of. Witness how his opening catchphrase "FROM BEYOND THE GRAVE" has already entered into the lexicon of silly lines fans like to quote at each other like "oh no, not the mind probe." I also can't buy into the idea that, even in an alternative universe, that any one businessman could engineer a project on such a grand and horrible scale as this and get away with it as easily as he seems to, at least not without some enormous pressure on that society for it to have to undergo such a change. The origin story of "our" Cybermen, the originals, had that, which was that their entire planet was dying since it had been hurled out of its normal orbit around the sun, and the only way the people could survive the increasingly harsh conditions was to cybernise. Their story is a tragedy of circumstance that was inevitable for those poor people. This alternative story is nothing more than a poorly written comic book or action movie. I can get emotionally involved in the former, and not the latter, and unfortunately, the latter is what the masses have been given in this story.

Fortunately for the masses, they do still have David Tennant as the Doctor to save the day and the story, and he does both, effortlessly bounding around the sets and unravelling the Cybermen's plans without them even noticing.