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!

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.