ThereВ’s no question that David TennantВ’s portrayal of Dr. Who is remarkable and enjoyable, hopefully harkening back to the days of Tom Baker by the time Series Two comes to an end. Emotionally moving stories like В“The Girl in the Fireplace,В” В“School ReunionВ” and well-written stories such as В“Tooth and ClawВ” have firmly established TennantВ’s reign, further enhanced by the production quality and overall look and feel of the show. Unfortunately, В“Rise of the CybermenВ” and В“The Age of SteelВ” are embarrassing blemishes on a pristine second season.

Problematic and clumsy, both episodes are predictable and plodding, with the lead characters enticing about as much viewer emotion as the Cybermen display. The clichéd beginning of the first half of this two-parter—the unimaginative “It’s alive!” and death of John Lumic’s assistant Dr. Kendrick after his objections—“I’ll shall have to tell them”—asks the obvious question: why didn’t the assistant state his objections earlier on, before things got out of hand? Why didn’t the earpiece controllers affect the assistant? Lumic’s Almighty Creator reference to the (seemingly) first Cyberman “[you are] my child… we are blessed” is so unconvincing and predictable it’s almost embarrassing to watch. Old school viewers of the show probably have more empathy for Davros in “Genesis of the Daleks”. No doubt Davros’ return in the last episode of this season will be far-more exciting.

With the new series of Dr. Who weВ’ve come to expect quality writing and production, both of which are elusive in these stories. The intimidating and eerie voices of the original Cybermen are long gone, replaced with a diminutive, softly-spoken ring-modulated whimper. A massive В“machineВ” deserves an equally impressive voice, not something regurgitated from a Korg Triton. The producers and visual designers also missed their mark in a rather major way, relying on plastic costumes for the Cybermen, rather than allowing a great opportunity for The Mill to show off their stuff. Imagine how much scarier, robotic, and quick CGI Cybermen would have been! LetВ’s face it, most viewers have a hard time accepting CGI when it does not look good; in both these episodes, CGI would have been far better than the fake looking costumes. No doubt the production team was kicking itself after the episodes completion for not utilizing their creative resources. Simply put, the Cybermen costumes are ineffectual, and pale in comparison to other modern CGI villains, such as the robots in В“I, RobotВ” or the dated В“T2В”.

In order to appease continuity and perhaps out of respect for the original series, both these stories take place on an Parallel Earth, another premise that further distances the viewer. VerisimilitudeВ—a suspension of disbeliefВ—often used to describe film, is all but В“deletedВ” in these stories. LetВ’s face it, itВ’s tough to feel sorry for Earth when it is constantly being invaded, and even tougher to be concerned when itВ’s really just an В“alternateВ” Earth. Having characters meeting themselves (Mickey runs into his more Masculine self В‘RickyВ’) or meeting their alternative family membersВ—and IВ’m not talking about queer brothers and sisters, simply does not evoke any viewer sentiment or connection. For example, RoseВ’s alternative mum is a dog-coddling socialite who takes dismisses Rose after she attempts to resolve a failing marriage. ItВ’s hard to imagine, and even harder to convince viewers, that Rose would be so worried about her parents who really were not here parents, just good Xerox copies or Dolly-the-Sheep-type clones.

And so the first part of this story marches on like the incessant metal march of the Cybermen, taking us from their creation to crashing of a security-less dinner party. The episode trails out with the Cybermen surrounding the Doctor and company, with the menacing and impotent line В“Maximum deletion! Delete! Delete!В”. ThatВ’s what the script editor shouldВ’ve told writer Tom MacRae. Older viewers may have heard a similar phrase back when the Apple II computer with Sam Say It came out.

The second half of this two-parter, В“The Age of SteelВ” never passes enough time to even come close to being an В“ageВ”. It barely passes a day, yet alone credibility. The title sounds nice, though. The plastic Cybermen begin the conversion process of the humans on В‘parallelВ’ Earth, while the Doctor struggles to find screen time in the background, sometimes walking around as though planning a grocery list in his head. One of the stories better moments, or at least scary moments, occurs when the Doctor passes through the underground cooling tunnels and past hundreds of dormant Cybermen. It is interesting to note that the scariest moment of screen time from the Cybermen occurs when they are static.

The Doctor saves the day along with help from Mickey and the Cybermen are eventually В“deletedВ” by means of deactivating their emotion-supression c

Well it was a tense week, waiting for the resolution of episode fiveВ’s cliff-hanger. How would the Doctor and company successfully escape / defeat the army of marauding Cybermen? Rather too easily, it turned out. I found it somewhat hard to stomach that the crystal absconded from the TARDIS would really have the power to В“zapВ” all of the Cybermen, in fact В“dissolveВ” them as they literally appeared to melt away. Maybe we were supposed to think that the crystal possessed some kind of supernatural, life-and-death power (like the heart of the TARDIS in Series One) but if so, this wasnВ’t sufficiently explained. Could Tom MacRae not come up with something more credible than this?

Opening reservations aside, overall this was an above competent sequel to the first episode. With hindsight I donВ’t think it can be ranked as a В“classicВ”, but on the whole it delivered the goods, whilst not quite following up on the promise of В“RiseВ”. This was certainly more of an action-based episode; with less emphasis on characterisation and an attempt to resolve the issues / problems established in the preceding instalment. And how successfully did it do thisВ…?

Well just as I suspected (though I guess it was kind of predictable), the ear pieces were quickly utilised by Lumic in order to bring the population of London under his control, and send them to his Cyber factory. Again we got some nicely sinister scenes on the streets with people being taken over and walking, zombie fashion, toward Battersea. Were we meant to assume that all of London was wearing the ear pieces though? And what about people living outside the capital? Had they been issued with the pieces? We were also told, via a newsreader and other characters, that the В“whole of London had been sealedВ” off and that the Cybermen were invading the city. However at this stage, were there really enough converted Cybermen to invade the whole of London? Perhaps slightly hard to credit. Nevertheless the sense of apocalypse and idea of humanity being led to their doom came across generally well and IВ’m glad that the ear piece idea was followed through logically.

We also got to hear about the CybermenВ’s origins, albeit in a rather throwaway fashion, via the DoctorВ’s comment that in this parallel universe, this particular race of Cybermen had been В“started from scratchВ” right here on Earth. Given that this was a different universe to the one of other Cybermen stories, this was credible, but it was still never explained how Lumic had happened upon the idea of their design. I donВ’t know, maybe it didnВ’t need to be but I did feel that a little more back story was required here.

The majority of the episode concentrated on the efforts of the Doctor and the others to infiltrate the Cyber factory and stop the controlling machines. We got the slightly hackneyed В“split into groupsВ” scenario, which at least allowed for focus on different sets of characters and their own respective attempts to throw a spanner in the works.

First off from the groups, we had Mickey and Jake, В“RickyВ” being bumped off quite early into the proceedings. As I said in my review of В“RiseВ”, I found Ricky to be more amusing than convincing and canВ’t say I was particularly sorry about his fate, electrocution by nasty Cybermen or not. The scene before his death, when he and Mickey both stand next to each other, saying virtually the same things, is clearly meant to portray them as being of similar ilk but I found it pretty cringe worthy, especially their jointly uttered В“Split up!!В” Yeeuch!! The disposal of Ricky paved the way for Mickey to be set up as his replacement, with Jake as his (reluctant) partner. MickeyВ’s speech, prior to the factory attack, about wanting to prove himself and not be the tin dog В– В“those days are overВ” was one of Noel ClarkeВ’s better scenes and quite convincing В– itВ’s true that Mickey hasnВ’t really had much to do in the previous stories, and in the light of this his comments were understandable. The sense that the Doctor and RoseВ’s relationship is one he canВ’t compete with was also nicely conveyed in their В“good luckВ” hug, something Mickey is denied, and his backward glance suggested regret and highlighted his isolation and loneliness. Later on we got to see Mickey fulfilling his promise when he helps to sabotage the controlling signal and also break the emotional inhibitor code, more of which IВ’ll discuss further on.

I didnВ’t actually mention Jake in my last review. In both episodes Andrew Hayden Smith makes a fair stab at playing him, given the fact that heВ’s not a particularly memorable character, more of a token В“rebelВ” and probably there to provide a bit of sex appeal for the youngsters too. One of his main functions in the story is to form a partnership with Mickey but a few lines aside, I just didnВ’t find him that special (well perhaps he could have been given a bit of kit-off action a la Mickey, but it wasnВ’t expedient to the plot and thatВ’s just me grasping at straws now, besides which I didnВ’t actually find him that attractiveВ…personal choice really.)

Our second group of factory infiltrators were Rose and Pete, and this pairing allowed for a bit more development in their relationship. The idea of them using the ear pods to walk into the factory undetected was rather flawed В– if they put them on surely they would have been hypnotised like all the other humans? The scene when they both met the converted Jackie-Cyberman (woman?) was chilling and Shaun Dingwall showed appropriate grief for the loss of his wife. We also got to see that the Cybermen apparently can control their В“deleteВ” ability В– as they grip Pete and Rose and lead them off В– so clearly they must be able to switch off those electrocuting hands!

The final group was the Doctor and Mrs Moore, the latter coming over in this episode more (pardon the pun) as a person in her own right. It was interesting to hear about her background as an ex employee of Cybus Industries and the fact that her husband didnВ’t know her whereabouts, but alas there wasnВ’t enough time for further exposition. The scenes in the cooling ducts, when the Cybermen came to life and chased the Doctor and Mrs Moore, were quite tense. Even better was the moment when they encountered the dying Sally Fielder/Cyberman:

В“Why am I so coldВ…whereВ’s GarethВ…he canВ’t see meВ…itВ’s unlucky the night beforeВ”.

This was a truly sad and powerful moment that brought a tear to my eye, conveying the idea that the CybermenВ’s emotional inhibitor can be turned off, confronting them with what they have become В– horrible! Having the converted В“SallyВ” refer to something as normal and universally recognisable as her own wedding, in a flat robotic monotone, heightened the horror and impact of what had happened to her. I couldnВ’t help but be reminded of last seasonВ’s В“DalekВ” when the Dalek starts to develop its own emotional responses В– the incongruity of something apparently alien and ruthless experiencing emotions and feelings. Indeed, the whole emotional inhibitor idea was an interesting one which I will explore a bit later.

We then progressed to the final climatic scenes within Cyber control and Mickey and JakeВ’s infiltration of LumicВ’s zeppelin. It was good to see Mickey coming into his own and attempting to override the В“lockВ” on the zeppelin controls, but a little too fortunate that the re-awakened В“exhibitВ” Cyberman should put its fist through the right piece of machinery, so cancelling the signal that was controlling the humans. God IВ’m so critical arenВ’t I?

Meanwhile we saw the Cyber-controller unveiled for the first time, or rather, the converted John Lumic. In contrast to last time we only got to see the human Lumic in a couple of scenes in this episode but I donВ’t think this was a great loss, given my previous remarks on Roger Lloyd-PackВ’s acting. As the Cyber-controller I actually think he was better (he still had LumicВ’s voice albeit Cyber-style) and the look of the controller was pretty good (IВ’m not quite sure why the brain was displayed so prominently though).

The DoctorВ’s confrontation with Lumic/Cybercontroller was well handled with some good dialogue about the usefulness of human emotions, something the Doctor has defended before (remember his exchange with the Cyberleader in В“EarthshockВ”?) All of this was a lead up to him feeding Mickey with the information needed to locate the code that would disable the CybermensВ’ emotional inhibitor. As I said I thought the emotional inhibitor concept was a good one, particularly the idea that when switched off, the Cybermen would be faced with what theyВ’d become and this was an apt method of defeat. However the way in which this was achieved was just too easy and frankly, unrealistic. Would the Cybermen really have allowed the Doctor to go on talking in such a free fashion so he could supply Mickey with the necessary this information? Ricky managed to crack LumicВ’s database with remarkable speed В– well I suppose to give him credit he was meant to have computer skills. Having the code sent to RoseВ’s phone and then plugged into a convenient socket really beggared belief though В– how thoughtful of the Cybermen to arrange exactly the right-sized hole in their control panel!! It also didnВ’t make sense that the factory then started to explode В– just because the emotional inhibitor was turned off? Why does this always have to happen at the end of a story? Okay so lots of explosions make for a more dramatic ending but it was hardly logical.

The escape via LumicВ’s zeppelin was quite exciting, although the sudden reappearance of the Cybercontroller, trying to climb up the ladder did smack of В“AliensВ”.

Which left us with the farewell scene by the Thames. Life appeared to have got back to normal pretty quickly considering the amount of traffic we saw in the background! It was nice that we got a final Rose and Pete scene, picking up on their previous conversation at the Tyler party. It was touching to see Rose almost getting through to Pete when suggesting that she was his daughter in another world, and PeteВ’s refusal to acknowledge this: В“DonВ’tВ”. And then of course there was MickeyВ’s the decision to stay. This made sense for a number of reasons В– Mickey has now experienced life in the TARDIS, he and Rose are В“overВ” in terms of being boyfriend/girlfriend, he wanted to see his grandmother again and the alternative London had lost its В“RickyВ” and so needed balancing out. Added to that, Mickey now had the chance to be В“the heroВ” and continue the fight against Cybus industries, shutting down the other factories across the globe. Unfortunately whilst this was an appropriate point for departure, once again Mr ClarkeВ’s acting didnВ’t measure up to the emotionalism of the moment В– his attempts to look sad and choked were equally embarrassing and hilarious. The expression on his face when the Doctor and Rose dematerialised was especially funny and had me in stitches. Poor Noel, he did try, bless him. By contrast Billie Piper was excellent job in portraying the sadness of losing her companion and her grief was believable.

Following on from this, the scene where the Doctor and Rose paid a quick visit to the В“realВ” Jackie was nicely presented, and it was realistic that Rose would want to reassure herself after the В“deathВ” of the other version of her mum. I couldnВ’t help wondering if it would have been so simple for the Doctor to return the TARDIS to the real universe though В– this was glossed over far too easily. After all the Doctor and Romana had a hard time of it getting out of E-SpaceВ…

Just a few other final comments. It was a shame that Colin Spaull was disposed of so quickly after his debut and considering his apparent support of Lumic in В“RiseВ” his sudden decision to turn against (and try to kill) his employer seemed abrupt and unrealistic. It would have been better to have seen him nursing doubts throughout the episode and then making an eventual decision to rebel, perhaps with the DoctorВ’s persuasion and influence.

Talking of the Doctor, David Tennant again had some strong moments, in particular his disgust with the Cybermen for killing Mrs Moore and his dialogue with the Cybercontroller. IВ’m still finding him grating at times though, itВ’s something in his intonation, for example the high-pitched way he uttered В“What the hell was that thing?В” when Mrs Moore uses her bomb against the Cyberman.

Summing up, В“The Age of SteelВ” was an enjoyable enough follow up to В“Rise of the CybermenВ”, whilst being flawed in the ways IВ’ve talked about above. As I said before, I wouldnВ’t rate this as a classic episode but I certainly preferred it to the RTD stories this season. Above all it was fitting vehicle for the CybermensВ’ return and IВ’m looking forward to their second resurgence later this season.

Part two of the New SeriesВ’ mirror universe Cybermen saga . Will the contrived inclusion of Mickey and RoseВ’s parallel bloodlings continue to hamper the otherwise strong return of the metal monsters? Can Rose get any more irritating? Will Robocop sue? All will be revealed in this weekВ’s exciting episode!

В“Age Of SteelВ” is far superior to itВ’s opening episode, В“Rise Of The CybermenВ”. В“Rise Of The CybermenВ” was a rather mixed bag being a stylistic attempt to recapture the classic Doctor Who ambience. The result was a story that fans seemed to utterly love or totally hate. It seems more likely that В“Age Of SteelВ” will be less divisive to Doctor Who fandom yet retaining the retro dramatic elements of itВ’s previous instalment.

The cliff-hanger resolution to В“Rise Of The CybermenВ” had the Doctor and posse surrounded by some rather delete frenzied Cyber troops. The outcome is indeed unforeseen - very much a В“blink and youВ’ll miss itВ” solution. I wasnВ’t over keen on this scene. The DoctorВ’s shock offensive is satisfying, but it does wipe out the surrounding Cybermen a little too quickly. It just seems a little early in the Cybermen debut to see them dispersed out in one brisk action. It would have been nice to see them remain an invincible threat a little longer. The scene just diminishes their presence before the episode has chance to start.

Nevertheless, the script for В“Age Of SteelВ” is far better to the rather plot burdened forerunner. The dialogue in Ricky's van is fast and furious offering elements of humour, plot and drama. It certainly picks the story up and moves it into a new gear as the Doctor starts to take the offensive. IВ’m glad they took the time to explain Ricky's В“LondonВ’s most wanted manВ” stigma - and with a nice slice of humour to boot. Again, Noel Clarke is truly on form in this story.

From here on in there is a lot of monsters chasing heroes and it all works fairly well. The uniform motion of these hoards of Cybermen is effectively staged and is indeed a fun, nostalgic trek down memory lane to all the В“run from the slow moving monstersВ” of the old series.

We also get a glutton of death that is very Doctor Who. The death of Ricky isnВ’t that surprising, but the scene does give the audience pause to wonder if it was actually Mickey who died. After AdricВ’s demise in В“EarthshockВ” there seemed to be a possibility MickeyВ’s fate would be similarly sealed in this tale.

However, while the story certainly moves forward in terms of pace, tension and drama, it does seem to lose a little coherency in the plot. When writing a retro story, there is a fine line between capturing the spirit of the old concept and slipping into itВ’s nostalgic failings. ItВ’s the difference between being retro friendly and, well, retro naff. Pulling the TARDIS through a random and never explained rip in time is very series retro. Running around London under the threat of the Cybermen is again, very series retro. Sneaking into the enemy stronghold by pretending to be an emotionless drone seems ill fitting in these more technologically aware times. You would think Cybermen would have some sort of motion sensors that would be a little more adept at catching two people sneaking into line, or at least, using dummy Earpods, but like classic dummy monsters, they seem blissfully unaware of these none too sneaky trespassers. It makes for dramatic tension, but as a plot movement, itВ’s rather uninspiring and the Cybermen become a little less threatening. These arenВ’t plot holes IВ’m complaining about - there is no limit to the possibilities why anything happens in fiction - but in the context of this story, some plot directions feel like tired formula.

IВ’m certainly a little confused as to why the Jackie Cyberman would take Peter and Rose to the leader. Peter does have a connection to Lumic - fair enough - but why Rose? Maybe as the viewer you can conjure a good reason, but on screen it just comes across as ill thought out.

However, such plot creaks are fairly well camouflaged by the injection of the emotional drama that was slightly amiss in В“Rise Of The CybermenВ”. The Jackie Cyberman itself was a surprise. I must confess to being fooled by last weekВ’s ending - I thought Jackie was the secret spy Gemini and her escape into the cellar was not the planned move I anticipated, but a desperate gambit. Having her pop back into the story half way through as a Cyberman is truly chilling.

Another minor gripe is how quickly Lumic and Crane are despatched - particularly Crane who had a lot of potential. Nevertheless their final scene - fairly early on in the story - is a good bit of character resolution. Indeed Lumic does return, but he lacks that megalomaniac presence in cyberform.

Grumbles continue IВ’m afraid with Mickey and JakeВ’s attack on the Zeppelin. The single two guards seems tediously formula - again a throwback to old Who which simply creaks noisily here. At least the moment is juxtaposed by an beautifully claustrophobic scene with the Doctor and Mrs Moore wedged in tunnel of brick and Cybermen.

This is the problem with В“Age of SteelВ”. When itВ’s good, itВ’s very good; mixing classic Who with contemporary drama, but when it hits an off note, it really resonates. Another painful blend of formula and the technology archaic is Mickey hacking into the Cyber computer. Yes heВ’s hacked into computerВ’s on his Earth, but using a keyboard to hack into a system owned by the most powerful man in Britain in minutes feels laboured, old hat and totally out of date. ItВ’s a very poor piece of plot driving. On the upside, this wooden scene is countered by the traumatic revelation of how human the Cybermen actually are. This was a nice reworking of the Cybermyth and certainly a candidate to become a classic Who scene.

And the finale? Well again, a mixed bag. Cyber Controller is revealed in his grandeur, as is his ridiculously oversized and pipey chair. Quite why Cyber Controller requires a seat let alone a pipey one is a slightly beyond me, as is his eternal patience as the Doctor waxes philosophy and then cunningly rambles in blatant code to an eavesdropping Mickey. Tennant dominates the scene which is what keeps it engaging, but it does smack again of old school formula; the enemy stand around and let the hero waffle on until he gets a chance to counter strike.

From here on the pacing goes out of the window, with Cyberheads exploding and, well, everything exploding, the drama seems to get a little confused. I certainly felt no tension as Mickey wrestled valiantly with the Zeppelin controls in an attempt to keep it close to the roof. It just didnВ’t visualise for me and felt faintly superfluous to the plot. While admittedly it did highlight the change in MickeyВ’s character, fighting at the controls of a sluggish and undermanned Zeppelin didnВ’t seemed to offer any kick to the build up.

I wasnВ’t over keen on CyberleaderВ’s attempt to make it up the rope ladder either; itВ’s been played in films so many times and just didnВ’t inspire any tension.

The epilogue to the story is probably the strongest part. Again, some mixed messages in terms of narrative and character, but still some wonderfully touching moments too. The Doctor takes a bow from the spotlight and the minor characters get a chance to shine for the final time. Piper and Clarke do a truly beautiful farewell scene. While in general, Rose feels a little uninspired this season as she retreads old territory, PiperВ’s acting remains on top form. Shaun DingwallВ’s Peter Tyler has a dignified exit which is both surprising in terms of plot and character resolution.

After this resolution, the final two scenes seem a little unnecessary. Neither are bad per se, but the episode feels it could have ended on a far more memorable note if weВ’d finished on the TARDIS farewell - arguably more fitting into the old school mode the story is trying to capture. Furthermore, Mickey and JakeВ’s last scene seems to contradict MickeyВ’s motivations to stay in his previous one; he says earlier he wants to stay for the sake of his mirror grandmother then in this scene he goes shooting off to life threatening adventures in Paris. Again, as with many of the gripes I present, they arenВ’t major problems, just niggles, but the niggles are frustrating when the general drive of the story is so good.

Overall, itВ’s a fun watch. Some over formulaic moments - as with part one - but while it does embrace retro naff, it does find the retro cool. В“Age Of SteelВ” feel like old Who and that to me is a mixed blessing. I love classic Who, but I now want to see the show push itВ’s boundaries and prove to me it can move forward rather than reflect the past. В“Rise Of The CybermenВ” and В“Age Of SteelВ” both look back at the show with not quite enough looking forward. There are touches of genius in there; red herrings, dramatic action, emotional dialogue and a dab of humour really do echo the new series, but the story feels as if itВ’s suffocating under the trappings of the past.

However, the audience appreciate figures show the public enjoyed part one, so IВ’m sure theyВ’ll enjoy part two. As long as the majority are happy, I am happy to suffer an attack of the grumbles on these very odd occasions. After all, Doctor Who - by itВ’s nature - is a diverse beast and itВ’s bound to touch on styles that donВ’t sit well for all of us. Fan reaction seems to imply the Cyber Saga appeased many fans who were turned off by the emotion tempest of В“The Girl In The FireplaceВ”, so even if I wasnВ’t over enthused by this tale, IВ’m glad many a fan and casual viewer were. Variety is the spice of life and while I was not as keen on this tale as I was the previous four excellent stories of Series Two, this is still a very watchable bit of science fiction.

В“WhereВ’s Mickey?В”
В“HeВ’s gone home.В”

Much as it was back in the Hartnell days, in the new series episodes have not only an individual title but also an individual identity. Unmistakably Part 2 of 2, В“The Age of SteelВ” is the action-packed follow-up to last weekВ’s В“Rise of the CybermenВ”, but it is also a very different animal. The Cybermen are no longer В‘rising,В’ they are here. We know there are two Mickeys. We know about their Gran and about Pete Tyler being alive in this universe. В“Rise of the CybermenВ” set the pieces up, В“The Age of SteelВ” knocks В‘em down. And whatВ’s more, it does it in style.

I found the episodeВ’s opening hilarious В– after all that hype and all that build up the Doctor just uses that TARDIS battery or whatever it was to disable the marauding Cybermen closing in for the kill. What a cop out! It makes the sonic screwdriver look like a sophisticated plot device! Still, I couldnВ’t really complain as within moments all our heroes were aboard their В“Scooby DooВ” van and things were really starting to kick off. As with last week the surprises kept on coming, although unlike last week, I was quite disappointed them. Having Pete turn out to be the PreachersВ’ informant, working against Lumic, seemed like a bit of an easy way to get Pete over with the audience. I preferred him as an ordinary, money-grabbing Del Boy В– a wide boy, but a wide boy with his heart in the right place. Moreover, having Ricky turn out to be LondonВ’s Most Wanted В“for parking ticketsВ” was equally disappointing, especially considering Noel ClarkeВ’s intense performance in the previous episode. I have to admit that a few minutes into В“The Age of SteelВ” I was losing faithВ… and then it happened. Just like that, heВ’s dead. В“Who?В” I hear you ask. Exactly!

I guess I was being a bit daft for thinking that they might kill Mickey off, but considering how some companions have fared in previous Cybermen stories it isnВ’t unprecedented! When I saw Noel Clarke running down that road, I really didnВ’t know whether it was Mickey or Ricky that had been В‘deletedВ’ by the Cybermen. Thankfully, Mickey hadnВ’t В‘done an AdricВ’ and from that point on we were treated to one of the most nail biting, edge-of-the-seat Doctor Who episodes ever.

The design and cinematography on this episode is outstanding. “Rise of the Cybermen” was set primarily in daylight with night only falling as the Cybermen rose, and although last week’s visuals were technically more impressive, I found “The Age of Steel”’s darker, grittier look much more appealing. The Zeppelin hovering above Battersea Power Station is a particularly powerful image; it looked like something torn out of the pages of a graphic novel. Even more disturbing were the scenes of London’s inhabitants willingly walking like cattle into the Power Station; into their doom! As for the Cybercontroller – wow! As it was shot in 1967 most of us can forgive the original, quite feeble Cybercontroller that we met in “The Tomb of the Cybermen,” but by 1985 the show’s producers should have learned their lesson. A gigantic dome on the top of a normal Cyberman’s head looks atrociously bad. A Cyberman with eyes of blazing light and his gigantic brain visible, however, is far more effective. It’s a pity that we didn’t get to see as much of Roger Lloyd Pack in the flesh this week, but at least we had the consolation of having him voice the Cybercontroller that Lumic is ‘upgraded’ to.

В“Why am I cold? Why so cold? WhereВ’s Gareth? He canВ’t see me. ItВ’s unlucky the night before.В”

Ouch. As well as being an episode absolutely crammed full of action, В“The Age of SteelВ” is also a very moving story. The Doctor realises that the key to bringing down these Cybermen is to find that code that deactivates their emotional inhibitor chips, driving them mad with the knowledge of what they have become. Of course, if he did that he would be dishing out immense suffering on what are, at the end of the day, innocent victims. ItВ’s an intriguing dilemma, but in the end the Doctor has to save the world В– no matter what. The death of the female Cyberman really tugs on those heartstrings В– of all the nights to be robbed of her humanity, she became a Cyberman on the eve of her wedding. ItВ’s heart breaking. The story of Angela Price В– Mrs. Moore В– is equally sad. Mrs. Moore didnВ’t do much last week, but in this episode she really gets drawn into the action and enjoys a fantastic adventure alongside the Doctor before her inevitable demise. Characters like this are what really make this new series of Doctor Who so special В– they could so easily be written as throwaway parts; red-shirts who you arenВ’t ever really meant to care about; characters that are only in the story so that they can die. When they are written (and portrayed) as well as Mrs. Moore, Clive, Jabe, Gwyneth, Lynda with a В‘yВ’ and the like are, we remember each and every one of them, reminding us that it is death В– not Rose В– that is the DoctorВ’s constant companion and that this life that he leads is wrought with danger.

My money was on Pete for the chop after Ricky bought the bullet, but in retrospect I can see exactly why MacRae killed off the alternate Jackie instead. Not only do we have to see her as a Cyberman В– how weird is that? В– at the end of the episode we are left with a widowed Jackie in our universe and a widowed Pete in another. Hmmm. In the old Cybermen stories, whenever a character we knew became a Cyberman (Lytton, for example) we never saw them В‘finishedВ’, for want of a better word. WeВ’d always see their face. Hear their voice. There would always be some clue. В“The Age of SteelВ” comes at things from a completely knew angle В– the В“which one was it?В” angle. We met the Jackie Cyberman, and then she vanished into the crowd and could have been any one of their uniform number. ItВ’s one of the most frightening Cyberman scenes ever В– forget Star TrekВ’s В‘BorgВ’ and the like, the Cyberman represents the complete loss of self. Even your face.

The ending was absolutely fantastic. It was so rewarding to see Mickey absolutely kick ass! He pilots a Zeppelin (all those hours on the Playstation came in handy!), baits a Cyberman, hacks into a computer and saves the world. On top of that, he even demonstrates a different type of courage, standing up to RickyВ’s friend Jake and refusing to leave without the Doctor, Rose and Pete. And so the idiot saves the world. Of course, the Doctor helps В– luckily his spiel about В“ordinary, stupid, brilliant peopleВ… some idiotВ…В” didnВ’t fall upon deaf ears!

In terms of suspense, you canВ’t beat having the Doctor, Rose and Pete dangling from a Zeppelin over an exploding factory with the Cybercontroller grabbing at their ankles! I was sure Pete was dead, especially when the sonic screwdriver didnВ’t work immediately; it was so, so well done. I also enjoyed the shot of the Cybermen looking in the mirror and letting out a painful, mechanical howl. MacRae did everything right with his script. Doctor Who stalwart Graeme Harper, the first classic series director to return, did everything right and more. As for the actorsВ… thereВ’s not a bad performance in there. Tennant, Piper, Pack, Dingwall, Coduri and Helen Griffin (Mrs. Moore) all give 110%, Andrew Hayden Smith (Jake) isnВ’t bad, and Noel Clarke completely steals the show В– just as he should if this is indeed his swansong. Somehow though, I doubt weВ’ve seen the last of Mickey.

В“Dad.В”
В“Just donВ’t.В”

Or Pete, for that matter. Unable to cope with RoseВ’s revelation that she is his daughter (of sorts), В“The Age of SteelВ” concludes with Pete slipping away into the night, his understated exit overshadowed by the departure of Mickey, who decides to stay behind to look after his Gran and fight the remaining Cybermen from his van.

В“Nothing wrong with a van. I once saved the universe with a big yellow truckВ…В”

Out of six episodes this year, half of them have ended on tearjerkers. I have no objection at all to pathos and such В‘soapВ’ elements in Doctor Who; I feel that the В‘real lifeВ’ element they bring to the show only add to the magic and somehow make it all much more real. Rose obviously doesnВ’t want to leave Mickey behind because theyВ’ve been through so much together and probably because subconsciously, heВ’s her backup. В“What if I need you?В” she selfishly asks him, but the time has come for him to stop playing second fiddle to the Time Lord who turned his life upside down.

В“We had something a long time ago, but not anymore.В”

Gags about the CybermenВ’s marching sounding like WallaceВ’s В“Wrong TrousersВ” aside, this two-parter has certainly been handled brilliantly by all involved. To be fair, I was never a massive fan of the Cybermen in the classic series, but after a trip on this phenomenal roller coaster ride I cannot wait until they come back. That final shot of the episode, the shooting star or whatever it wasВ… something following in the TARDISВ’s wake, perhaps? I have a funny feeling that Mickey, Pete and the Cybermen will all be back in our universe before longВ…

Until then, weВ’ll have to make do with В“Gatiss by gaslightВ…В”

ItВ’s such hardship being a Doctor Who fan these days!

What fantastic direction. Hoo boy could I talk about the direction all day. HarperВ’s vision is breathtaking, creating a feel of mechanical hell, highlighting the glistening silver of the Cybermen en mass in the gleaming moonlight. There are thousands of the buggers and they stomp across the screen gathering up the citizens for conversion. I cannot remember when the Cybermen have ever seemed quite as powerful or as totally emotionless, not a hint of (В“Excellent!В”) campness here just more of the horror and dynamism of the first episode. Had the metal monsters been treated as powerfully throughout their entire timeline I could perhaps understand why they are held in such high regard. Lets put it this way the Cybermen from this parallel world kick the shit out of the ones from ours and IВ’m not just talking about their design (which isnВ’t significantly different) but how the writer and director explore their potential.

And yet strangely it is when the Cybermen are doing nothing at all when they are at their scariest. Two scenes spring to mind instantly. The scenes where the Doctor and Mrs Moore exploring the tunnels (brilliantly echoing The Invasion and Tomb of the Cybermen) are marvellously scary. An endless row of motionless Cybermen which the Doctor and Moore have to creep past, with me behind a pillow waiting for one of them to suddenly snatch out and grab them. Secondly the shot of the Cybermen gazing through the metal fence at Mickey after having murdered his counterpoint. He is horrified at watching himself being murder but the Cybermen just freeze and stare through emotionlessly. Absolutely haunting.

However the piece de resistance comes when the Doctor and Moore explore the Cyber emotion chip, which is turned off, and a converted Cyberman wakes up, not remembering anything about being turned into this beast. Humanising the Daleks felt wrong because they are the epitome of evil but exploring the horror of being converted into Cybermen is (frankly) essential and (astonishingly) ignored to this point. Whilst it was disturbing to hear this woman talking about her upcoming wedding with her voice modulated and no expressions on her metal face nothing could hold a candle to the brief scene where a Cyberman stares in a mirror and screams with absolute terror at its image. I cannot explain how happy I was to see some real psychological horror injected into this story; my only regret was that it couldnВ’t be taken even further (and boy could it!). The Doctor standing behind this person realising how he has been a perverted saying В“IВ’m sorryВ” just makes the poor creature even more pitiful. The conversion process is far more graphic here as well, especially the visually dramatic moment when the mask descends on its victim, the lights shining through the eye holes.

I am not sure if it was because this was directed by Graeme Harper but it felt the most Doctor Who-ish story to date. There was the requisite emotional element but for once this feels like the least important aspect of the story. Sorry guys your performances are spot on and the writing is a credit to you but all I wanted to see was Cybermen on the march, people being ripped to pieces and the explosive action as you take them down. It is a credit to Rise of the Cybermen/The Age of Steel that it feels like the old series at its very best (yes I am talking Caves of Androzani), slightly melodramatic, totally absorbing, full of great moments, utterly dynamic and (best of all) a millions times better than anything the competition can think up. I loved Lumic and his over the top dialogue, just the sort of gruff, theatrical villain the series has needed since the startВ…one with a great motive and a fabulous death scene. What more could you ask forВ…and Roger Lloyd PackВ’s much criticized performance is absolutely spot on, slightly jarring but purposely so and with a sinister smile and evil twinkle in his eye. His turn as the Cybercontroller is smashing, visually stunning and with PackВ’s stilted delivery packed with emotion, very disturbing too. Scenes of characters being chased after through the streets by monsters always rate highly in my book, evoking the sort of excited games I would play as a child wishing a fleet of monster would menace me and my friends in my street (and reminiscent of the second Dalek film). Watching the Doctor and his friends do a three-pronged attack on the Cyberman base (hey itВ’s The Daleks!) is really exhilarating television, the sort which this show does so well, old and new.

Tennant gets his most traditional role to date, being offered a great scene where he confronts the Controller and explain why the Cybermen are so totally and utterly flawed in conception. Being the consummate actor he is perfectly willing to take a back seat to his co-stars who are far more important this time around. HeВ’s just there to be the Doctor, to fight the bad guys and save the day (its nice to see this for a change with some sort of terrible emotional experience for the guy) whereas Mickey and Rose are on hand to deal with all the juicy domestic stuff.

Piper is such a star I could watch her in any show. Fortunately she is currently acting in my favourite show which is doubly good and doing a damn fine job of it too. Who would have ever thought we would be seeing В“Because we want to!В” Piper strolling along with a bunch of Cybermen? Certainly not me and it is to her credit that she now fits into this series so totally that it is no longer an issue accepting a celebrity in this science fiction show. I enjoyed the scenes between Rose and Pete because they were so restrained, far superior to the horrid manipulation of FatherВ’s Day. RoseВ’s loyalty to her parents (even in this world) feels right (and her stubbornness when accepting the job of rescuing Jackie is a great moment) and her reaction to the Jackie Cyberman mirrors our own (total horror). It was her final moment with her father on the Embankment which impressed me the most though, Rose desperate to take him back with her (to the point of calling him Dad) but he doesnВ’t want to know the life he has missed out on. Great stuff and all the more emotional for what isnВ’t said (so much work is done with the actors faces).

I think Noel Clarke has come such a long way as Mickey, coming to understand the show and the style of acting it entails. He started off in Rose as something of an OTT buffoon and a bit embarrassing to watch but won our hearts in World War Three where he saves Jackie and blows up Downing Street. He ups his game for Boomtown with a remarkably emotional performance before providing some stability for the show over its change of leading man, his presence proving quite relaxing during that turbulent time. His comic potential is explored in School Reunion and The Girl in the Fireplace in time for Mickey to come of age in this two parter. As I said his scene with his Grandmother in Rise of the Cybermen develops his character beautifully and now he gets the chance to save the world. Watching himself die clearly affects him greatly and it is fantastic to see him finally stand up to the Doctor, telling him he wants to help out and refuses to be the spare part (Tennant plays this scene beautifully too, looking at Mickey as if he has just noticed him for the first time). IВ’m not sure IВ’m as convinced about the ending, which pushes a little too hard to make Mickey the hero and make everyone go, В“ahhh, I really liked himВ” because frankly we all liked him anyway. The chemistry between Rose and Mickey has never been better and RoseВ’s typically selfish comment (В“What if I need you?В”) is rebutted beautifully (В“But RoseВ…you donВ’tВ”) but the last scene with the two guys driving off to invade Paris feels a bit too manipulative. A shame, but most of the work in redeeming MickeyВ’s fortunes is spot on. Clarke is exceptional and the episode belongs to him. Just watch his face, as his other half is killed and then tell me this kid canВ’t act.

It is the first episode ever where I felt Murray GoldВ’s music drowned out the drama. At some points it was agonisingly loud (Simon made me turn the telly down about three times!) but saying that he provided some great stings just shock Cybermen moments to get you jumping out of your seats. Its almost as if Murray is as excited by whatВ’s going on as we are and cannot control his music as a result!

Did I want more action? Yes, because what we get is sooooo good. Did I want more exploration of Cybermen? Yes, because they started it off brilliantly but other matters swallowed up the screen time. Did I love this two parter with a passion bordering on insanity? Oh yes.

The Age of Steel is a mighty fine conclusion to some dramatic set up. It really doesnВ’t disappoint at all and tells us quite a bit about the Cybermen that we didnВ’t already know. Its not quite my favourite two parter (those gas masks are still fabulous) but it is spine tingling television of the highest order and solid proof of why this show got so much recognition at the BAFTAs.

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

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

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

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

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

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