Much, much better.

With all that plodding set-up out of the way we were left with a far more action and fun. Out of that horribly banal mansion from last week, the Cybermen were far more menacing on the dark streets of London and, especially, the processing factory. With Lumic mercifully dispatched early on they became more consciously driven and far creepier as a result. The 'inhibitor chip' development was welcome also, although more could have been made of the Doctor's choice to remedy matters by driving all of the Cyber-hosts mad.

A couple of things still got my goat, though. Firstly, the get-out from last week's cliffhanger was just horrible. Somehow the TARDIS power crystal can incinerate attackers. Okay, this was how Rose dealt with the Daleks in 'Parting' but I didn't really like it then and it was absurdly convenient here. Also, the sonic screwdriver is becoming an excuse for lazy writing to a far greater extent than previously. I'm all for RTD's argument that it is a plot device that gets us through the potentially boring obstacles of locked doors, but the Doctor using it as a distraction for Cybermen and to detect a control signal? He's almost 1000 years old and massively intelligent. Couldn't he come up with a more clever distraction for the former situation and simply work out the latter? ('Judging by the amount of power required and the area the signal would need to cover, the transmitter must be in the zepellin' - does the job and builds our hero up further in our estimation). The multi-use of the sonic has been an amusing conceit up until now - in this episode it became an irritation. And Tom McCrae can't be blamed fully for this - surely RTD or one of the script editors could have intervened early on?

This aside, the latter half of the episode hurtles along nicely. The convenient way both Rose and the Doctor end up in Cyber Control aside, it's all rollicking good fun.

Then we get to the Cyber Controller. Nice, flashy and more villainous than Lumic, almost spoiled by a daft entrance courtesy of his metallic throne. He's been upgraded! Why would he still need a chair?! Having him hot-wired into a ceiling structure or something would have been far more intimidating. Instead, the dry-ice chair entrance reminded of 'Stars in their Eyes' ...

As far as the conclusion goes, I loved the Doctor's orchestration of the situation to get Mickey working on the code and having Rose toss him the phone to save the day. Tennant really shines when he gets given a speech, although the 'Earthshock'-y face-off with the Cyber Controller could have had a bit more feeling behind it. It was almost as if the Doctor was just irritated that the Cybermen didn't get it. Still, that's probably more in keeping with Tennant's Baker-esque incarnation.

And Mickey left. I was sure he was going to die (doing an Adric), but maybe that happens in the season finale. Do we really believe he's never coming back? If he doesn't, this was a nice enough way for him to go.

Now let's get back to this season's strengths - Rose's doubts about her life with the Doctor (no more family trauma, please - it worked really well last year but it's been done) and the mysterious Torchwood Institute.

Mark Gatiss is on writing duties for the upcoming episode so it should be a blinder.

One thing is for certain - all across the UK (at least) school playgrounds will be full of children clomping round in Cybermen mode - the bew generation monster has been an undoubted instant hit!!

What a rollercoaster of an episode this was - lots of fast paced action, intersesting plot development from Rise of the Cybermen and yet more emotional turmoil as Mickey makes a momentous decision about his future!!! Early into the episode it transpires that the Cybermen's development in this alternative Earth mirrors their past history on Mondas and Telos but this time their creation has implications of the human race. Even more chilling is that these Cybermen retain memories of their human past albeit with emotions and feelings removed via a samll inhibito concealed in their chest units under the Cybos logo. In a strange twist there are female Cybermen - at least in name!

As the defenders of the alternative Earth set about trying to stop the mass slaughter of the citizens of London, Mickey's counterpart Ricky is one of the first to suffer at the hands (litteraly) of the pursuing men of steel. Suddenly Mickey the idiot becomes Mickey the action hero and Noel Clarke gives another fine performance. Rose discovers that the alternate Pete Tyler is not a mole for John Lumic and becomes even more attached to "her father". She sets out with him to rescue Jackie as the Doctor and Mrs Moore discover what makes the Cybermen tick and Mickey and Jake board Lumic's zepplin. The rescue bid however is a failure as Pete and Rose find that Jackie is now a Cyberman. Yes

Visually this story never fails to impress - the Cybos factory (inside and out) is almost Metropolis in feel and the squads of pursuing Cybermen - so relentless in their task - is quite awesome. Roger Lloyd Pack once again turns out a fine performance as Lumic who ends up becoming the new Cybercontoller and regains the life that would shortly be no more. The Doctor confronts him but soon realises that it is Mickey that can save the day. And Mickey does so with some style for once! The Cybermen in London are destroyed but there are other factories across this duplicate Earth which are geared up to producing more metal monsters and Mickey decides that he must stay with Jake and try to find and destroy all traces of them using the code that will cancel out their inhibitors.

The scenes of his departure are moving and well played out. Rose is of course devastated and the Doctor recognises that Mickey has a part to play in this world - not as a replacement for Ricky but as a more meaningful future than he would have on "his" Earth with a grandmother to boot!

So a big thumbs up for this 2 parter - tightly directed by Graeme Harper. The big question is how will these Cybermen transfer into our universe for the season finale? Many of the publicity photos have shown Cyberleaders with their black helmet handles but, and correct me if I am wrong, there didn't appear to be any in this tale so are these a hint of what is still to come?? Oh and it goes without saying that Dvaid Tennant was excellent in his black suit and bow tie!!!

WellВ…that was Doctor Who in summer blockbuster mode. Following the general rules of blockbusters it was cinematic and epic but for me the whole was less than the sum of its better parts. I did feel it was less effective than Rise Of The Cybermen and that might have been down to some slightly uneven pacing and Graeme Harper trying a little too hard to make his compositions over stylish to the extent that some of the visuals were perhaps too self-conscious. A number of the group shots did seem rather artificially posed and that tended to lift me out of the moment at times.

There were also a number of effects shots at the end of the episode which were re-used footage from В‘RoseВ’ and again, this tended to detract from the story. Also, much as I have admired Murray GoldВ’s music for the series, there was a rather gratuitous looping of themes during MickeyВ’s departure scene that took a little of the impact away and could have been more subtly used.

However, there were some astonishingly good scenes in this that more than make up for the odd bits of pacing and visuals. A number of pivotal scenes merit further discussion. The episode really hangs on the moment when Mickey witnesses the death of Ricky. He recognises that he has a destiny and you see him steel himself (no pun intended) for what is now required of him. The hero of Series 2 matures out of the awkward young man of Series 1. This self-recognition is then very cleverly underlined in later pieces of dialogue: В‘Rose, IВ’m coming to get youВ’, echoing the Doctor himself from В‘Parting Of The WaysВ’, and В‘I once saved the universe with a big yellow truckВ’ as a parallel from the same episode. In essence, the Doctor has once again shown someone how to better live their life.

The entire sequence with the Doctor and Mrs. Moore making their way through the tunnels and past row upon row of Cybermen was very atmospheric and unsettling. LumicВ’s own Terracotta Army all waiting to go and each of them forged from the the Promethean fire of his Battersea factory. This was the descent into the Underworld, a symbolic journey to psychologically restore life to the lifeless, to recover and restore the disparate parts of the body and the mind. The scene tests the mettle (pun intended) of our heroes as they enter the literal unconscious world.

Hence, the crucial scene with the Cyberwoman. Some fans found this a little too sentimental perhaps but I saw this, and the less developed scene with the Cyber version of Jackie in the factory, as a really good attempt to show what was happening to human beings and how their emotional lives were being denied to them through LumicВ’s upgrade. The final twist to this was the Cyberman looking in the mirror and grieving for itself. I think these simple detonations of emotional recognition were just as impactful as some of the В‘realВ’ explosions happening elsewhere.

The themes of identity theft, of enforced emotional denial and of self-imposed changes of identity run through the episode. Pete turns out to be Gemini, a shadow version of himself and further highlighting his difference to the В‘fatherВ’ that Rose knew. Again this is underscored in the scene towards the conclusion of the episode where he rejects her as the daughter he never had. A clever inversion of В‘FatherВ’s DayВ’ which for me makes this more than a supposed trivialising of that storyВ’s themes and emotional impact.

Along the way, we again are given nods to В‘Genesis Of The DaleksВ’ moral arguments and it was interesting to witness a Doctor who appeared to have no compunction in resigning these Cybermen to their cruel fate. I found that a rather arresting contrast and IВ’m still not sure I liked the DoctorВ’s decision to turn technology against itself with the effect of shattering the fragile psychological state of the converted humans. A rather disturbing sequence for me.

Overall, the episode owes much to В‘MetropolisВ’ (the factory sequences) and Leni ReifenstahlВ’s В‘Triumph Of The WillВ’ (marching Cybermen). Lots of ladders and stairways in this too, enabling the running around bits to represent a journey from the Underworld (the Cold Store) to Olympus (the Zeppelin). There are also some lovely references to the original series with quotes from The Five Doctors (В‘above, between, belowВ’) and a visual joke at the expense of В‘InvasionВ’ where the Doctor seals the Cybermen in the Cold Store. Get back in your sewer!

Once again, this was NoelВ’s episode and he carried it very well. He will be missed. The ending was very fitting for the character of Mickey. HeВ’s found a sense of purpose with Jake and realises that heВ’s not going to find that with Rose and the Doctor. In effect, В‘heВ’s gone homeВ’ summed up all that the episode was striving to do with the character. Will this change the Rose/Doctor dynamic to any extent? From RoseВ’s selfish reaction at his departure, it would seem not.

And the shooting star? We are often told our destiny lies in the stars and is this conclusion just a visual coda to MickeyВ’s journey or does it have some other sinister connotation to the series conclusion?

Well it seems every episode of new Who has its totemic solecism: Rise of the Cyberman's was - missed out in my review - the typical RTD pop music gimmickery of having a burst of the grating The Lion Sleeps Tonight by Tight-Fit (as homo-erotic a fixture as the strange scene in which Mickey is interrogated bare-chested and strapped to a chair), obviously a belated hit of parallel 2006, serving as yet further confirmation of the producer's truly appalling taste in music (what next, Black Lace?); this week's episode slaps us in the face yet again with the tedious old 'love triangle' of Micky-Rose-Doctor with a really slushy farewell scene in which Mickey brings up the superfluous and ill-scripted hinted-at romance between the companion and her Timelord. Thankfully the Doctor at this point gives nothing away in his rather distant expression, solipsistically sidling back into the depths of the TARDIS on cue for the inevitably mawkish goodbye moment between his two Earth counterparts. It was also a massive disappointment that Mickey did not get the martyr treatment of his predecessor Adric (and Pex of course) - instead, a rather far-fetched departure on a parallel Earth, somewhat analogous to Romana's in E-Space. What's the bet somehow the TARDIS will unexpectedly and impossibly return to that parallel Earth in a future episode to check in on how Mickey is doing? Oh God.

This episode as a whole was sufficiently fast-paced and dramatic as to serve as an adequate finale to a fairly promising opener. It didn't let the side down in that old Season 22-ish way. On the other hand, it didn't really surprise either, nor in any way improve on its opener. You only have to recall the conclusions to Caves and Revelation to see how all the momentum built up in the earlier parts of said-stories gave way to truly timeless climaxes, Caves' being arguably the greatest of all time. The now more seasoned, post-modern Harper offers us nothing so climactic in the conclusion to his latest Who effort. We get a reasonable climax, predictable in parts, but still just reasonable. Lumic, having been inevitably 'upgraded' into the Cyber controller - and into better delivery -, is finished off in a satisfactorily impressive way, hurtling back to the combusting wreckage of his magnificent air-ship. This is only undermined by said-mushy farewells to Mr Tyler and Mickey, replete with horrifically Hollywood-esque incidental music which simply doesn't suit Who.

The greatest achievement of this episode however is the highly disturbing insight into the horror of being Cybernised when the Doctor short-circuits the emotional inhibitors in the Cybermen/women - or should we now, in light of Jackie Tyler's transformation, say Cyberperson's? The scene with the dying Cyber-person reiterating mournfully 'I'm so cold, so cold' is embarrassingly moving, and serves as a similarly revelatory moment for the Mondasians as the finale to Dalek did for the Daleks. The only real progression new Who has made over old Who is in its arguably more mature dissection of cyborg psychology: the empathetic focus on the two most famous Who adversaries. This is arguably a necessary development in order to add menace to these well-worn old foes; indeed, by shining just a tiny glint of humanity into these enemies makes them all the more sinister. Well, this is of course with exception to Evil of the Daleks.

It was good - although a rather weak consolatory nod the old series' mythos - that the Doctor worded what many an old fan was probably pondering: the original Cybermen coming from another planet (i.e. Mondas) whereas in this parallel universe, they - inexplicably - rise on Earth itself. But this is simply wording what many are thinking and puzzling over - not offering a satisfactory reason for this parallel re-invention of Cyberman origins. It seemed a token insert to appease the older fans; to remind them it is still essentially the same show. The other inexplicable aspect to the story was the absence of gold as a weapon against the Cybermen - obviously not in this parallel universe. Instead we get a little device which seems to electrocutre the Cybermen, lovingly crafted on Gallifrey, and as magically unsubstantiated as that sonic screwdriver and the ubiquitous plot cop-out of the psychic paper.

Again, as with the opening episode, the script was extremely basic, colourless and threadbare. One gets the impression this writer is better at action than words. There really is nothing distinctive about this writing at all. But the flat lines are lifted by fairly inspired ideas such as the contemporary computer lingo and technologically topical reinvention of the Cybermen. They are now very much of the Noughties as opposed to the Sixties, despite their retro-resemblance in look and voices to the iconic Troughton versions.

Over all then a pretty straight, unsilly, fast-paced, tense and engaging story, very traditional Who basically, but with a diluted smattering of that Harper effect - but then how could he ever really better his previous two efforts? I recently re-watched Revelation and was struck by how modern it still feels, particularly by its successful mixture of superb production standards/designs and the classic Who theatricality of scripting - the present series has a long way to go to match this kind of drama. I personally think a hell of a lot has been lost from the series' credibility by the absence of video in the studio; for me the blurry filmic look detracts, ironically, from its dramatic credibility. The filmic approach to TV has been a bad move in my opinion - film camera should only be used for films, or for TV location, in order to enrich the proverbial chalkpit (one of the reasons I like Holby City is because it is, unusually for nowadays, filmed entirely on video camera, somehow befitting the social realism of a hospital setting. Doctor Who, despite being science fiction, seemed to strangely work with the old video/film juxtaposition - and to be honest, much as I hated the all video cheapness of the McCoy era at the time, I'd still give my right arm for all video as opposed to all misty-lensed cod-film, which to me is too superficial and American. On the subject of cameras, is it my imagination, or does the definition of the new Who camera alternate from episode to episode?).

A refreshing re-interpretation of the Cybermen, some nicely designed ariships, a believable clutch of - albeit only two-dimensional - characters, and a real energy makes Rise of the Cybermen/Age of Steel, despite its rather Sixth Form-ish script, a fairly good story. But it could have been quite a bit better had it been set on Mondas instead of the whimsical parallel Earth.

6/10

Mickey Smith is not 'the new Adric' then. Mickey Smith is the new Romana! (Spoilers alert!!)

I will try to qualify that in a bit. First, I would like to say 'bravo' to all concerned. I found this episode exciting and engaging and I still believe the producers of the show are getting an awful lot right at present. Cybermen taking over the (an) Earth; A wheelchair-bound villian 'offed' by his own creations; a parallel Earth with different versions of familiar characters...Been done before? Yep. Does that matter one jot? Well, not to me, to be honest. Yes, this was arguably as 'traditional' as the new season has been so far. After a fun opener, a thrilling horror, a bitter-sweet reminder of past times and a 'quirky' romance, now we have Cybermen stomping around, explosions, an awful lot of deaths and, crucially, plenty of emotion. This episode could have been purely action/adventure stuff, but typically it was that and a lot more besides. On a television budget I believe that 'Doctor Who' is putting the multiplexs typical Sci Fi/Fantasy fare to shame...cos this show has a *soul*!

I know that Mickey has had a mixed reception from certain area, but personally I've never had a problem with the character. As early as 'WW3' he was beginning to show his mettle (protecting Jackie with a baseball bat; 'pushing the button' at the conclusion) and the characters continued development has been well handled by writers and actor alike. By 'Boom Town' I had really warmed to him, and had begun to find his rather unfair treatment actively annoying. Even Rose (who's selfish side has been astutely recognised by the writers and Ms Piper) admitted at the end of that episode "He deserves better."

Indeed...and thankfully first becoming a proper companian and now taking centre stage in this story, Mickey/Noel *gets* what he deserves. An excellent send-off. Knowing too much about future episodescan be a drawback sometimes, because it suddenly occurred to me before this episode that Mickey *couldn't* be killed off. Unless the next episode was a thorough examination of grief and loss with Rose completely 'out of it', and I knew that wasn't the case. (More dancing beckons, I believe!) After 'Earthshock's' denouement, the regulars apparently rewrote the first scenes of the next story (Typically thoughtful Peter Davison); trying not to totally gloss over the fact that a fellow traveller had just been blown to pieces.. despite these efforts, it didn't work then, and it *certainly* wouldn't work now.

So here we have a companian leaving the Doctor, stuck in another universe, ready to continue the 'good fight', in many ways taking over the Doctor's role, with a 'companian' as well. (the line that had me cheering was Mickey saying to Rose; "I'm coming to get you." The Ninth Doctor revisited!) That's why I compare Mickey to Romana...not Adric or "a tin dog"...and I thought it was a lovely way to bow out. (and he's got 'his' Gran...Awww.)

David Tennant? "Oh yes." Brilliant...again. Thought his best scene was his confrontation with the Cyber Contoller. His motormouth pontificating is, of course, deliberately distracting (and funny to boot. The 'genius' bit recalled Troughton...his clearly being proud of his emotions recalled Davison; for me that equals a result!) as he relays vital information to the camera that he believes Mickey is 'behind' (he had heard that 'his boys' were on the move.) Tennant carries off anger, sorrow, compassion, cockiness, doubt, warmth and panic...others aren't as won over, I guess, but I think that Tennant is already a superb Doctor.

There are many moments I could babble on about. But I wont. *Except*....

A Cyber'man' intones; "I'm so cold." Another sees 'its' reflection and sobs in pain. The Doctor (although all this is hardly his fault!) can only say that he is sorry. Those scenes, frankly, made me shiver. Yeah, there was plenty of action and pyrotechnics...but the script nailed the horror of what the Cybermen are in those quieter moments. The scenes with the Doctor and 'Mrs Moore' in a narrow corridor full of awakening Cybermen worked superbly too. I'm very impressed, and a little p*ssed off that the ratings were down!

(next season...the Doctor takes on the dreaded Lordi and their evil henchman, Tel Wogani, to retrieve his rightful timeslot of a Saturday night!)

Overall...this two-parter gets a 9.5/10 from me.

Reading the reviews for last week's Rise of the Cybermen I could see I was not the only one who was disappointed and was looking to this second epsiode to really bring this two-parter home. So much of the first episode smacked of lazy script-writing, plot convenience and adventure by numbers that many of us assumed that the real meat was in episode two.

Shame there isn't an episode three then.

What a mess! The cliffhanger was resolved so ridiculously I felt cheated from the opening moments. Just so convenient for the little TARDIS circuit to be able to dispatch cyber death rays capable of taking out whole platoons in a single moment whilst still being safe to pop back in your pocket.

Lumic's plan for upgrading the whole of London turned the Cybermen concept into farce and that farcical nature was confirmed when the Cyber Lumic presented itself complete with Cyber wheelchair.

The Mickey / Ricky storyline was wasted with Ricky's death taking place in completely the wrong act of the script. Imagine how much more poignant it all could have been if Ricky died whilst helping to save London - maybe tying in more to Mickey's decision to stay (something I predicted last week - either Mickey was going to die or Ricky was going to die and Mickey replace him. Should have put money on it). Instead, Ricky dies in a throwaway scene where it seems the whole point of Mickey and Ricky seperating from the rest was for Ricky to get popped. Really sloppy writing.

As for the climax of how the Doctor and Mickey managed to signal to each other and crack the code - was anyone convinced by that? Mickey can now crack encrypted Cybermen emotion inhibitor circuits by typing random numbers into a closed circuit tv monitor? what software was he hacking? How did he know how many digits? How did he know anything in fact? And entering it onto your mobile makes it broadcastable when plugged into a handy mobile phone to Cyberman broadcast converter it seems...

Okay, I'm ranting. But when the quality of the series has been so exceptionally strong since it returned last year - with a distinct lack of the plot holes and embarrassing bits of business that did pop up in the old series (come on - admit it. You didn't really think it was quality drama when the old series Cybermen lost their invulnerabvility in favour of an aversion to gold that makes vampires seem like garlic lovers by comparison) it was painful to see so much care thrown out the window on these two episodes.

As we know, RT Davies gives the theme for each episode to the writers. ("Werewolf, kung-fu monks and Queen Victoria" famously being the brief for Tooth and Claw) so I did think these two episodes suffered more than most from trying to join the dots of the elements required. These episodes obviously had been briefed to include Cybermen, Pete Tyler, an alternative earth and Mickey's transition to hero before leaving the TARDIS. But whereas Tooth and Claw took the highly disparate elements and fused them together in a storyline that made them seem natural within that storyline, here these elements seemed forced and obvious and as a result the desired effect was lost. Pete Tyler's return packed not nearly as much whallop as I think the producers intended and Mickey's heroism was not as heroic or pronounced as I was expecting it to be, expecially after the script hammered home the notion of Mickey the idiot to the point that it was becoming incredibly laboured and obvious what was going to happen.

Sorry Tom McRae, but sadly as guest writers go, I'm afraid you came sandwiched between Stephen Moffatt and Mark Gattis - two of the finest - meaning your two episodes of simplistic and cynical pap will seem all the more disappointing for it.

Oh - apart from the bit with the dying Cyberman when the Doctor discovers the emotion inhibitor. That was quite a chilling and emotional scene - shame about everything else.