And so this year we had to wait a little bit longer for our annual Mark Gatiss episode, but was it worth the wait?

В“The IdiotВ’s LanternВ” certainly has a lot going for it. The Coronation being broadcast live on TV is an inspired basis for a Doctor Who story, both in terms of the solid sci-fi / horror story that could be told by the writer and also in terms of the great fun that the cast and crew had in producing the episode, which ultimately translated into the great fun that we, the audience, had in watching the episode. The period costumes, the Doctor changing his hair (unprecedented!), sparkling dialogue В– В“I should have known your Mother would be a Cliff fanВ…В” etc. В– and best of all, the very dark, very human, very wonderful characters that only Mark Gatiss can write. If anything, theyВ’re too real!

If you look back through Mark GatissВ’ quite extensive Doctor Who contributions (as a writer) over the years, it is clear that he is at his absolute best when heВ’s writing a period story with human characters. When he does what heВ’s good at, without doubt heВ’s one of the nationВ’s best writers. In В“The IdiotВ’s Lantern,В” he uses the extremely effective В‘gimmickВ’ of having TV sets that suck your face off В– they quite literally eat you В– combined with some superbly written character drama and of course, his trademark black humour.

В“Are you sitting comfortably? Good. Then weВ’ll beginВ…В”

Gatiss seems to have a great handle on the fifties, best represented I feel by two of his characters В– Eddie Connolly and The Wire. The latter is an alien life form that we donВ’t know all that much about (and to be honest we donВ’t actually need to know that much about!) that has become trapped in TV signals and needs to feed on humanity in order to restore herself. She (it?) is represented by the prim and proper visage of a textbook 1950s BBC presenter (as portrayed by the outstandingly unnerving Maureen Lipman), and it is one of these cases where all those well-meant and exceedingly polite clichГ© one-liners take on a whole new darker meaning - it makes for some great television: В“Goodnight children, everywhere...В”

Eddie Connolly, in contrast, is a very human character. HeВ’s not evil; heВ’s not even a В‘baddieВ’ as suchВ… heВ’s just incredibly misguided and incredibly unlikeable! Jamie Foreman is superb in his performance. The way he speaks (all those overemphasised В‘HВ’s because heВ’s trying to sound posh), the way he dominates his familyВ… heВ’s just such a believable character. It is a testament to GatissВ’ skill as a writer that I actually felt sorry for him at times, especially when the Doctor and Rose are tearing him to shreds with their В‘radicalВ’ views on feminism and all the В“Union FlagВ” (Doctor Who is still educational!) stuff. There is one scene in particular which completely encapsulates EddieВ’s character. He is arguing with his son, Tommy, saying things like В“I fought a war just so little scum like you can call me a cowardВ”, and his son basically says, yeah, thatВ’s the whole point! I can say what I want; youВ’ve become like a Nazi! By the end of the episode I was glad that the Doctor and Rose encouraged Tommy to try and make up with his Dad!

I really enjoyed the scene where Rose cockily struts into Mr. MagpieВ’s shop, confronts the Wire and ends up getting her face sucked off and her brain wiped! I didnВ’t see that one coming! Once again, it shows us just how dangerous this life that the Doctor and Rose lead is, and just how complacent they have become. Seeing RoseВ’s face on TV calling for the Doctor is quite disturbing! Getting Rose out of the way also allowed the impressive youngster Tommy (Rory Jennings) to become more involved in the story, taking on the companionВ’s mantle and helping the Doctor to save the world, really helping to freshen things up a bit.

The episodeВ’s climax set on the Alexandra Palace transmitter had me thinking about the fourth DoctorВ’s demise in В“Logopolis,В” so I found it quite amusing when it was revealed on Confidential that the DoctorВ’s line about not liking big transmitters because heВ’d В“fell off one onceВ” had been cut at the last minute! I can just imagine Gatiss sat writing the episode, chuckling to himself and wondering if heВ’d get away with sticking it in there! I also liked the DoctorВ’s solution to the Wire problem; trap her on video, then rub over her! And on Betamax no less! Trust the Doctor! Unsurprisingly, I think В“The IdiotВ’s LanternВ” is definitely the funniest episode of the season so far В– the Betamax; the Doctor getting knocked out; his being mistaken for the King of Belgium; the way Rose cartoonishly ducks under EddieВ’s arm; the line about Jackie and her sailor boyfriend; В“You canВ’t wrap you arm around your elbowВ…В” et al. - Fantastic!

Just over a year ago when I reviewed В“The Unquiet DeadВ” I simply wrote В“WOW!В”, and then there wasnВ’t really much intelligent comment after that. Now I donВ’t think that В“The IdiotВ’s LanternВ” is as good as В“The Unquiet Dead,В” but I really canВ’t say why. I just didnВ’t enjoy it quite as much. It could have been Eccleston. It could have been Dickens. It could have been that a year ago it was all so new and IВ’ve got rose-tinted glasses on. That said, I canВ’t really think of a bad word to say about this episode. The cast, the designВ… everything is just flawless, really. For some reason though, I just canВ’t bring myself to write that В“WOW!В” Maybe IВ’m getting spoilt by having one amazing episode after another! I think I could do with a В“Paradise TowersВ” or something next week just so that I can learn to appreciate just how good each episode is!

One of my passions is the history of British television, from its dark and murky beginnings in the nineteen-thirties through to the explosion of popularity in the fifties, the great days of the sixties, seventies and eighties through to all thatВ’s happened over the past twenty years. So an episode that deals, or at least touches upon, those great and glorious days of the fools on the hill at Alexandra Palace was always like to be a winner with me. The fact that it comes from the pen of Mark Gatiss, author of The Unquiet Dead, which was one of my favourite episodes of the 2005 run, was an extra bonus, so all-in-all itВ’s safe to say that I sat down to watch this one with high hopes.

Afterwards, I must admit I was disappointed В– but only a little. This is not a spectacular episode of Doctor Who, not one of those epic В‘eventВ’ episodes that will lodge themselves in the memories of even casual viewers. But it is a nice little slice of enjoyable television, and perhaps a little lighter and frothier fare than some of series two has been to date, which is no bad thing at all. Never taking itself too seriously or feeling too laboured, The IdiotВ’s Lantern is the filling in a two-parter sandwich, and slots into place as a breathing space for the series quite nicely.

WeВ’re in the nineteen-fifties, so itВ’s slightly exaggerated theme park history time again, although the show has pretty much always worked this way with its historical settings, perhaps arguably excepting only the very earliest В‘pureВ’ historicals, and painting the background with such broad strokes at least helps to ground us quickly in where weВ’re supposed to be. Once again, however, the TARDIS has gotten it slightly wrong, taking the Doctor and Rose to where thereВ’s trouble in store rather than to where they actually intended to be, which always gives you the impression that the rusty old ship knows more about whatВ’s going on in the multiverse than itВ’s letting on.

ItВ’s the right decade though, which means the Doctor and Rose donВ’t seem to stand out too much in all their fifties get-up, and Tennant and Piper seem to relish getting into the feel of the decade as much as their characters do. I thought that Tennant in particular was rather good this week, being the wise-cracking, moralising kind of a Doctor that Tom Baker was always so good at playing, although of course he does it in a rather different way to Baker. You can see, however, the direction in which Gatiss writes the Tenth Doctor from, and itВ’s very much a fannish one В– once again, no bad thing at all.

Piper, curiously, isnВ’t actually in the second half of the episode very much В– perhaps they wanted to give her some time off, which with the gruelling schedule they have to work on this show would be no great surprise. She does get a great scene where she goes investigating on her own at MagpieВ’s shop В– although perhaps Rose ought to have learned the dangers of wandering off on her own by now! В– but as soon as she has her face sucked off, sheВ’s pretty much written out of the episode just as she was when being locked in a room for the last third of The End of the World. ItВ’s not an entirely satisfying way of dealing with too many characters and lends the episode a somewhat unbalanced feel at times, although on the other hand it does provide some genuine drama for the audience В– if this thing can do this to one of the regulars, then it must be scary!

ItВ’s funny how the blank face effect isnВ’t actually light years ahead of that used in Sapphire & Steel Assignment Four, which clearly inspired it, despite twenty-five years having passed between the two productions. ThatВ’s not to say that the effects on the faces here were in any way bad, because they werenВ’t, just goes to show how impressive the ATV make-up people were all those years ago.

The blank faces give the episode one of its genuinely creepy moments, when the Doctor is in the cage with them all and they begin to move around. ItВ’s a shame there wasnВ’t a bit more menace, really, but most of this I am afraid can be put down to Maureen Lipman as The Wire. An intriguing concept, albeit not exactly an original one, IВ’m afraid I just wasnВ’t sold on LipmanВ’s performance at all, which is a shame as sheВ’s normally quite likeable. She just overdid the cackling villainess business for me, and she wasnВ’t helped by some lines which put you more in mind of The Little Shop of Horrors than anything more Quatermass-tinged.

However, she wasnВ’t the only guest star, and this weekВ’s other main guest turn was the ever-excellent Ron Cook. Never, sadly, a leading man, Cook is one of British television and filmВ’s finest supporting players, and the veteran of many a classic production from The Singing Detective toВ… ermВ… Thunderbirds. Ahem. But seriously, heВ’s as excellent as ever as the tortured Mr Magpie, and seeing him crop up in Doctor Who was a real treat. Danny Webb next week, too! They really are getting the solid guest actors in this series, and no mistake.

The family stuff was a bit naff, although it gave a good excuse to break out the archive coronation footage as the residents of Working Title Street gathered to watch the tiny grey pictures. But why does it already look like a telerecording if itВ’s going out live, hmmmm, hmmmmmmmm? ThatВ’s sloppy, that is. (And thatВ’s humour, just in case youВ’re worried IВ’ve been hanging around Doctor Who websites for too long). Mind you, I bet that episode of Animal, Vegetable or Mineral wasnВ’t even broadcast until 1955 or something, tooВ…

I did like young Tommy, mind, the В“pretty boyВ”, В“mummyВ’s boyВ” who evidently wants something В“beaten out of himВ”. Wonder what that could be? Matthew Graham has talked about his forthcoming episode involving his fascination with the idea that the TARDIS could materialise on your street corner and you could get involved in the adventure, and thatВ’s exactly what happens to Tommy, becoming a pseudo-companion for the Doctor and even getting to save the day into the bargain. All because heВ’s a bit of a saddo electronics geek. Hurrah for anorakism!

Euros Lyn В– when will he be allowed into the present day? В– took charge of the cameras again, and while he mostly did as excellent a job as ever, he did seem a bit overkeen on the slanty camera angles. Anybody whoВ’s ever seen Russell T DaviesВ’s Dark Season will know that some directors think they have to make something seem a bit sci-fi by constantly tilting their tripods to thirty degrees to make stuff look a bit weird, which is a cheap trick that succeeds only in irritating, as far as I can tell. But apart from that it all seemed to be directed with a flourish, and all the other behind-the-scenes departments seemed to be as on-the-ball as ever. Even a bit of a retro feel in some respects this week, given that there didnВ’t appear to be huge amounts of CGI involved. Maybe theyВ’re saving it all up for Gabriel WoolfВ’s comeback.

Speaking of which, didnВ’t the trailer for The Impossible Planet look great? Oddly, the Tardisode for it is pretty pants, but IВ’m really looking forward to this two-parter. WeВ’ve had a bit of fun with The IdiotВ’s Lantern, now letВ’s go into the deep dark depthsВ… of outer space!

The return of the Cybermen and these episodes really rattled along.

The trouble isВ…Cybermen shouldnВ’t rattle!

IВ’m sad to say I found the whole thing to be an exercise in superficiality. Glossy looking but a complete lack of investment in the characters or the storyline. Fast food Sci-Fi which is definitely not what I was expecting from Who.

Perhaps, like Aliens of London / WW3 it was geared for 5-12 year olds with its pace and thin veneer plotlines. They go for that, seven year olds...bombs over banter, speed over script. You can certainly guarantee that school playgrounds across the country will be heaving with marching children this week all trying to В‘DELETEВ’ their class mates.

But the real crime here is that this two parter was not allowed to reach its potential. This COULD have been great. Hell, it could have been bloody fantastic. There were elements of production; the cyber design, the lighting, the camera angles, the special effects etc. which were some of the best weВ’ve seen. There were also some wonderfully inventive ideas and concepts within the story, but they somehow lacked the cohesion necessary to make it work. The result is a really messy story line, some mismatched acting and a shallow selection of easy fix plotlines that wouldnВ’t be out of keeping in the В‘straight to videoВ’ shelf of my local rental store.

There were brief moments that workedВ…when they were being chased I felt a slight inkling of tension, the underground chamber scene was spooky and the brilliant nod to В‘The Five DoctorsВ’ with the line В“WeВ’ll attack on three fronts, above, between and belowВ” were all well done but otherwise things were distinctly flat.

IВ’m still struggling to put my finger on what it was. I was strongly reminded in both look and feel of the Paul Mcgann Movie. You can see where the money has been spent. It LOOKED greatВ…and yet, I just wasnВ’t emotionally involved at any level. Being cinematic isnВ’t enough, there still needs to be some originality.

A huge problem for me were all those В‘convenientВ’ moments. The death of the Tardis...surely the Doctor would have been utterly broken...they are almost the same being. All we got was a look of disappointment and a bit of nostalgia about it being the last of it's kind. And yes...didn't it sort its self out rather quickly. What's the point in having a catastrophic event if it isn't actually catastrophic? It would have been much better to think they were genuinely trapped on this Earth...far more powerful considering we knew what they are going to be trapped with. Alfred Hitchcock once said..."Show an audience a bomb hidden in a desk two seconds before it goes off and you get two seconds of suspense. But show them the bomb two hours before and you get two hours of suspense." All I'm saying is...we KNEW the Cybermen were coming from the start, wouldn't it also have been better if we thought there was no possibility of escape. And then thereВ’s the moment when the Doctor just happens to be able to use the Tardis energy cell as a weapon ( not really a cliff hanger then !!!) and just happens to know somehow that Mickey is in the control room listening in so he can relay instructions, and Mickey just happens to be able to crack the computer and find the volume and locate the rope ladder and on and on and on В…pleaseВ…this is just lazy writing. And the whole creeping up on the guards on the roof was the biggest pile of unbelievable nonsense IВ’ve seen since the final season of Buck Rodgers in the 21st Century. В‘Excuse me, you may be highly trained guards, but if you could just look straight ahead while we run right up to you in plain sight from 500 yards making a huge amount of noise and stick a small bottle of slow acting chloroform up your nose. Will you let us do that?В… you will !. Thank you so much , thatВ’s so helpful.

These are the sort of QUICK FIXES you expect from a single 45 minute episode where I accept you might have to sacrifice a little reality for the sake of the plot running to timeВ…but thereВ’s just no excuse in a two parter.

And the Cyber controllerВ…what a triumph of design. It looked brilliant, the brain, the chair, the potential to scare the pants off a whole new generation В…he appeared in a cloud of smoke and I shouted, yes, at last, a real villainВ…so why oh why was he only on for the last ten minutes and why did he just sit there doing nothing. He had the brain of an evil genius, the power of a super machine, the potential to plug in to every mind in the world...and what do they actual do with him...they drop him out of a blimp above an exploding building in an effects shot so over used by Hollywood it's a clichГ©. The Cybermen themselves also looked amazing. They really did look like they could knock a house down with one arm and would pull your head off as soon as look at you. Did they scare me...no. They seemed unable to convey any sense of real menace beyond sheer brute force. And of all the things to test their might on, crashing a dinner party wasn't really what I'd have gone for as an impressive show of force. I suddenly realisedВ…these arenВ’t Cybermen at all, theyВ’re just tin men, robots, automatons. They didnВ’t have the history, mentality or resilience of real Cybermen. They were just a tin pot armyВ…and therefore, I didnВ’t care and I wasnВ’t scared. OK, you could argue that on this parallel earth this was their first outing, their birthВ…and yet, this was definitely no where near being a В‘Genesis of the CybermenВ’.

The worst failing of both Rise and Age of Steel was that I just didn’t care about the characters. This wasn’t Roses dad…it was just a bloke who looked like him. Her alternate reality mum was a shallow bigot so who cares if she’s been upgraded or not. Lumic’s side kick does a sudden turn around, Mickey and Ricky are suddenly wearing the same clothes, except Noel Clarke doesn’t portray a significant difference between the two characters…so you don’t know which is which or care about either of them. In fact, the only character we got any background on at all was Mrs Moore the Preacher Techi…and just as we were starting to get interested in her and her Cyber killing gadgets…she gets killed. Even the attempt at giving the Cyber victim pathos fell flat. OK…so she was cold and missing her fiancé…but she still said it in an emotionless monotone, even though the emotion inhibitor was switched off. And I know it wasn’t her voice box, , but I would gladly have traded technical correctness for the empathy instilled in a human voice. To have heard a terrified human female voice emanating from within that metal casing would have been far more powerful at portraying the idea of a ‘TRAPPED SOUL’. Perhaps even a partial obscured view of part of a face inside the cracked helmet. The fact that the rest of the body was mechanical would have made that quite chilling.

Well lit, well shot, well designed and produced.

Badly written, badly directed ( yes I dared to say it and sorry to all those Androzani fans ) and badly acted at times.

I have to say bad direction because although it was well shot and paced etc, ultimately it is the director ( and the editor ) who determines the real impact of the shot in terms of timing and emotion. I donВ’t think Rose ( episode one, season one) worked as well for the same reasons. Its saving grace was some decent monologues which these episodes sadly lacked. In fact, there was nothing clever about the speech at all. Some of the lines were so banal it was the sort of thing you expect from the A-teamВ…В”Yeah, come on manВ”, В“LetВ’s do it!В” В…and that all importantВ… В“Run !В”

I feel like IВ’m being overly harsh, after all, many shows would probably have taken the single premise of this two parter and run it for the entire season, which would no doubt have given ample opportunity to flesh out both characterisation and storyline. But isnВ’t that the point? IsnВ’t that the failure of the writing? If you only have two episodes В…you write to make it work for those two episodes.

Tooth and Claw, Unquiet Dead, Fathers DayВ…beautiful compact self contained little gems which still contain emotional drive throughout the storyline.

This didnВ’t.

My finger hovers tentatively over the video recorder. DELETE! DELETE! DELETE!

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.