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.

The Age of Steel was well crafted and highly enjoyable. There was so much detail to tonight's episode. It was very different in nature to "Rise of the Cybermen", tied up all the loose ends, and even had the emotional farewell of Mickey. The deadly cybermen were fantastic and suitably scary and menacing. Loved the scene were the cybermen re-awakened and came to life. At first, I was a bit unimpressed with how the cliffhanger resolved but when it was explained that it was the Tardis section from Rise of the Cybermen which saved the day for the Doctor and Rose, I could see the link and it was well done.

I liked Lumic suddenly being overpowered by his assistant who actually showed a bit more gumption that last week. It was a neat touch and Lumic being converted into the cyber controller was logical and a scary moment.

The loss of Mickey's parallel character was a dramatic death sequence and the quick development of his character and how he saved the day in the end all added to a gripping finale. The episode really flew by which is perhaps the highest tribute. There was so much packed into this episode, though I did harbour a secret hope that the cybermats might have made their first return since the 1974! It was not to be!!

The Doctor came across as a bit uncaring towards Mickey in the last few episodes and I think it was perhaps a mistake to lose his character at this juncture. It left me thinking about the loss of Captain Jack after just a handful of episodes. I think there is definitely room for another member to the Tardis crew as it adds that little bit more friction between the Doctor and Rose.

I was really impressed with the cybermen and I thought the realisation that Jackie had been converted was a harrowing moment for Rose and her father. The fact that the cyberman actually recognised them was also highly dramatic. I know that Russell T Davies was wanting to emphasise the steel nature of the cybermen, but maybe they were a wee bit to clunky. There was a smoothness about the old cybermen which added to their calculating natures but it is a very minor gripe, as I think their design, voices and stature were first class.

Even the cyber leader trying to make a dramatic last gasp escape up the ladder to the Zeppelin provided a fantastic finale. But as we know the cybermen do return for the big finale and it is not all over.

Overall, a smashing way (quite literally in places!) to bring back the cybermen for a new more modern generation but still the scary steel monsters which became such an iconic symbol of Who!

Yeah, well.

This one was BETTER, but not only is that not too much of an accomplishment but it's also not saying much. I gotta be frank here, a lot of the Cybermen bits were more or less rewrites of "The Parting of the Ways." Come to think of it, there was a lot of "Parting of the Ways" here. Lumic as the Emperor Dalek, the Cybermen as the Daleks, Mickey leaving instead of the Doctor...

And about that. Yeah, well, I guess we shoulda seen it coming. Mickey was gonna get a better shake in this universe than the "real" one anyway. And is it just me or is it the first time in a while that there was kind of an implicit "F-You" to the Doctor and Rose? Rose, for the obvious reason of, you know, breaking his heart and all that; but to the Doctor too, cuz, you know, he saved the world but blew up its essential Lumic-made infrastructure but off we go to points unknown toodlepip! Riiight... Although I wonder how long til we see Mickey/Jake slash eh.

It was good that they acknowledged that Rose had seen a Cyberman before, and that these ARE indeed a different version of the Cybermen than what we'd seen previous. So all you Continuity A-HOLES can now SHUT UP about how this doesn't fit in with the PRECIOUS AND AIRTIGHT Cybermen History or whatever. Oh yeah, and can we please quit with the "This rips off Spare Parts!" complaints now, Marc Platt only GOT A FREAKIN' CREDIT AND ALL.

When the Cybermen were suddenly realizing what they were, am I the only one who actually wanted to see one of them rip their own head off in horror? ... Yeah, thought so.

And who smiled just a little at seeing at least A Version of Jackie Tyler die a horribly violent death? C'mon, hands up, I know yer out there.

But maybe this is a good thing overall. Maybe Rose will grow up just a little bit more, realize she's not always going to be the center of the Doctor's universe. Realize her actions do indeed have consequences to those around her. Realize that Pete Tyler is dead, and needs to remain so, and quit trying to make it unhappen. Maybe.

You know, maybe this woulda been better overall without the Cybermen. Because there really was some good stuff here, but it's just...the Cybermen, yeah? Oh well. It's over now, and next week's looks pretty interesting. Yes.

So we had ninety minutes of a very trad Dr Who story in many ways. Parallel Earth, Cybermen, evil supervillain but so much more than that. No previous Cyberman story has gone into such detail about the mechanics of the monsters and what happened to the people who become them. And Cyberwomen! The poor woman who became a Cyberman the day before her wedding and Jackie. You should have been able to spot the CyberJackie from the lashings of make up.

There were minor problems like the fact it was difficult to make out what the Cybermen were saying without subtitles and the usual James Bond thing about the baddies HQ blowing up for no particular reason but as usual with new Who the plot and everything else is subordinate to character development.

Roger Lloyd Pack didn't have much to do in The Age of Steel. His assistant Colin Spaull sabotaged his wheelchair and off he went to be converted. Battersea Power Station looked like the head of a Cyberman in one shot. The moon as a theme showed up again. A bright red moon was visible behind the Cybermen at one point.

The episode was apparently Mickey's swan song. Despite everyone doubting him he came good and saved the day. It's nice to see an assisstant having an arc and developing. Not many characters have. Sarah Jane and Leela did but all that happened to Mel was that she turned from a shrieking mororn to a shrieking moron who ran off with a mercenary and Adric developed from a live idiot to a dead one.

The episodes looked great, all grey and black. It was also genuinely creepy as the doctor and Mrs Moore walked through the tunnel. The cybermen stamping about was brilliant. I wouldn't like to see too many more trad stories this season because I would prefer to get thrown another curve ball like The Girl in the Fireplace. Anyway thank god for a decent Cyberman story at last. As a homage to the old stories they should have had one of the Cybermen with a beer belly but you can't have everything!