The Doctor’s old foes, the Cybermen, are back.
Rise of the Cybermen by Tom MacRae is the first of a two-part adventure that concludes next week. It details the origins of the Cybermen. The origins of the Cybermen has already been fouled up enough in the past, with the whole what planet do they come from? Telos or Mondas?
The episode appears to answer the question firmly with: neither. They come into existence on good old planet Earth. (Although there’s still next week to try to tie it all up neatly. They’ve never actually called it Earth, it is set in London.) Despite this apparent gross continuity gaff, they’ve taken an extra precaution: This episode takes place in a parallel universe that the TARDIS has been stranded in.
In this universe, an insane genius wants to “upgrade” humanity to the next level: emotionless brains encased in metal bodies.
Meanwhile, Rose, who apparently a lot dumber than previously thought, just has to go see her father, who is still alive and very wealthy in this universe, and her mother, a bitchy rich woman with a dog named Rose instead of a daughter. The character of Rose has been really annoying this season (except for last week’s episode) and she’s staying true to form in this one.
Meanwhile Mickey has begun to develop a personality. Honestly, that’s bad for him. A tried and true crutch that writers use (some would say, “abuse”) is to take a secondary character and try to flesh him out a bit – just before you kill him off. I wouldn’t be surprised if Mickey’s days are numbered. Not only do we get to meet his dead (in our universe) grandmother, but we get two for the price of one. He exists in this universe, too, only he’s named Ricky. (Could it be the Doctor knew about this in advance somehow?) Ricky is the country’s #1 most wanted criminal, a rebel fighting against the evil genius.
Not a lot happens in this episode, but that’s a good thing. The 45 minute format really stinks for Doctor Who, with the villains usually being relegated to an afterthought and a momentary slight of hand for the Doctor to dispose of when time runs out. The two episode formats gives them enough time to set the stage and build some menace, allowing the second episode to run full tilt towards the windmills.
The new Cybermen costumes are pretty impressive. They’ve been given a brushed metal Art Deco look and they’ve built enough costumes to convincingly portray a small army. Earlier Doctor Who episodes suffered from three-costume-itis, where you could see obviously only 3 on screen at any given time.
Old series Doctor Who director Graeme Harper directs this two-parter along with a couple more episodes later this season.
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