Two fans of Doctor Who, one marathon viewing of every episode of the series from 1963 to the present.

Running through corridors is optional.

Friday, December 29, 2017

Story #172 - Rise of the Cybermen / The Age of Steel (2006)


Harry -
I was not looking forward to rewatching this story, solely because of the opening moments in the TARDIS. The Doctor and Rose are so caught up in each other that Mickey is entirely forgotten, left pressing down a button on the console for half an hour. Then the smug chuckling between the two of them, like teenagers in the cafeteria. Wow, I hate this opening.


Sarah -
This is the era of peak smug. I want to smack them both upside their heads. Mickey should dump these two jerks.


Harry -
Nice foreshadowing.

The TARDIS seemed to hate what was going on too, flying right out of the time vortex and then shutting down, plunging everyone into darkness. I'd have done the same!


Sarah -
In my head canon, the TARDIS has always been fond of Mickey.


Harry -
They all pick themselves up, and the Doctor fears that they've gone through the void into nothingness. Mickey pops the door open and declares that this nothingness looks a lot like contemporary London.


Sarah -
London with zeppelins and a very alive Pete Tyler. Who doesn’t like a good parallel-world story? More to the point, who doesn’t like a good two-part, parallel-world story...directed by Graeme Harper! The first (and only) Doctor Who director to return to the series after its unfortunate sixteen-year hiatus. The director of "The Caves of Androzani", back in the TARDIS again!


Harry -
We are also treated to the return of an actor from the classic era: Colin Spaull, who played security guard Lilt in "Revelation of the Daleks". Here, he plays Mr. Crane, henchman to John Lumic, the genius head of Cybus Industries on parallel Earth.


Sarah -
Lumic is a bit of a cartoon baddie, with appropriate over-the-top megalomania. We know he’ll be hoisted by his own petard by the end of the story, even if he doesn’t see it coming.


Harry -
Lumic's vocal projections always sound odd, like he's barking even though he's speaking. It hints that he's not all there.

Lumic is the head of Cybus Industries, a corporation that has cornered the market on personal digital devices. Everyone in London wears Cybus earpods that feed information directly into the wearers' brains. A day's worth of news, sports, weather, lotto numbers and entertainment all downloaded in seconds. Makes cell phones look clumsy and obsolete.


Sarah -
Once again, Doctor Who made me afraid of technology. When this story came out, people were just starting to walk around with their bluetooth earbuds, which always made me uncomfortable. It was just weird to be talking to someone while their earbud flashed at you. The earpods in this story totally played into my techno-anxiety, which made it all the more effective.


Harry -
It's still jarring today to walk past someone having a conversation with themselves, only to notice something plugged into their ear after the fact. Anyway, it looks like Pete Tyler also cornered a market and is the face of a soft drinks empire. Get in Pete! Despite the Doctor's warnings, Rose is curious to find him and see what her parallel family might be like.


Sarah -
Have they not already learned this is a bad idea?


Harry -
Honestly, didn't we just go through this?

Since he's joined the team, Mickey also considers the possibility that his deceased grandmother might still be alive and well on this Earth. Before he can shut them down, the Doctor watches both of his friends shoot off in different directions. Ordering Mickey to meet back in 24 hours (long enough for the TARDIS to recharge for departure), he sets off behind Rose.


Sarah -
I love Mickey’s dismissal of the Doctor, “Well, you don't know anything about me, do you? It's always about Rose. I'm just a spare part.” First, well done, Mickey. Second, the line reminded me that Big Finish’s “Spare Parts” was the inspiration for this story. Praise the Compan...er, I mean Praise Big Finish!


Harry -
To Big Finish Be The Glory!


Sarah -
"The Sun Makers" really is the gift that just keeps giving.


Harry -
It's a timely arrival for the TARDIS crew, coinciding with Lumic's return to Great Britain. It appears he lives in a state of statelessness in his personal zeppelin. However, he has returned for a personal meeting with the British president (wew!), seeking approval to commence his massive scheme to "rescue" the human race. The plan involves uploading human brains into an artificial shell: "skin of metal, and a body that will never age or die." Lumic has created this parallel Earth's version of the Cybermen!

What did you think of the RTD-era Cybermen design, Sarah?


Sarah -
I know opinions run strong when it comes to Cyberman design. While I find the Tenth Planet Cybermen to be the scariest of them all, these Cybermen were effective. Other than their well-timed saunter in front of St. Paul’s, the Cybermen never seemed particularly coordinated. Their stompy en masse marching would have had me ducking behind the sofa if I’d seen them as a child. I’m dying to hear your take.


Harry -
I think they got the heads and torsos right, but the flared out arms and legs always looked like they'd been put on backwards. The resulting look always seemed, well, clunky. I admire the streamlined Moffat-era Cybermen design much more.

The stomping became inextricably linked to Nu Who Cybermen in very short order. I mean, this story had shots dedicated entirely to Cybermen stomping down a street. Multiple times! I'm not fussed by it, it makes sense when we're talking about uniform machinery moving in unison.


Sarah -
After a while, the stomping did feel a bit egregious; like they were showing off. Cybermen don’t usually show off, that’s what Daleks are for.

What did you think of the return of the teardrop?


Harry -
The teardrop is iconic, like the head-handles and silver paint jobs, so it all came together nicely. I was not as sold on RTD trying to make "Delete! Delete!" into a catchphrase for these monsters. Best to leave the evil exclamations to the Daleks as well.

My big creeped out moment was after Mr. Crane rounded up some homeless people and they were herded into a Cyber-conversion chamber. Covering up their death screams with "The Lion Sleeps Tonight" was really dark and twisted.


Sarah -With some bonus shots of Battersea, which felt like fan service directed right to you, Old Boy!

Harry -
One of my favourite buildings in London! Thankfully, on our Earth the building was just a power station and not a Cyber-abattoir.

Sarah -
As far as we know...

Harry -
Lumic is preparing to release his Cyber army upon the British president, dispatching a platoon to the Tyler mansion on the very night that Jackie and Pete are hosting a birthday bash.

Rose really can't say the Doctor didn't warn her. Instead of the mum she's grown up with, this Jackie is rich, spoiled and a bit nasty.

Sarah -
And Rose is a dog!

Rose’s attempt at a heart to heart with Jackie doesn’t go so well. Pete and Jackie have split up after 20 years and Jackie doesn’t appreciate advice from an uppity catering server. The Doctor’s undercover plan may not have put Rose in the best position to give advice.

Meanwhile, Mickey has made new friends. Left to his own devices, he decides to see if his grandmother is still alive in this alternate reality. When he finds her, she’s relieved to see him, but insists on calling him Ricky. Mickey’s willing to play along, until he’s grabbed off her doorstep and bundled into a van by people who also think he’s someone named Ricky. Mickey rolls with it, but things get awkward when comes face to face with the actual Ricky.

Ricky, you will recall was what the Ninth Doctor used to “accidentally” call Mickey just, you know, to be a jerk.

I love that Mickey is finally getting his own story arc. Having been treated initially as comic relief, Mickey’s character developed very much in the background through Series 1. On this rewatch, I’ve found myself really appreciating Mickey’s loyalty and strength of character and most of the credit for that goes to Noel Clarke.


Harry -
Mickey is the star of this story. Throw in a parallel double and it's two times the Noel Clarke awesomeness.

Mickey and his new friends in the underground make their way to the Tyler estate just as Lumic's Cybermen storm the joint. I liked seeing the Scooby Gang forge an escape in their van.

The second part of the story sees Lumic ramping up his plan and activating everyone's earpods, sending everyone (including Jackie) marching towards Battersea for conversion. Crane decides this has gone too far, and attempts to kill Lumic. Crane is eliminated, but Lumic struggles to hold on to his life. His creations decide it is time for him to be uploaded.


Sarah -
Once again, a megalomaniac is hoisted by his own petard. Still, Lumic is hardly the most interesting person to have fallen victim to the Cybermen. Somewhere, Tobias Vaughn is rolling his eyes at the whole situation.


Harry -
The Scooby Gang splits up in order to assault the power station from three directions: from the roof (Mickey and Jake), ground level (Rose and Pete), and from beneath (The Doctor and Mrs. Moore).

Another horrible moment awaits Rose as she and Pete track down Jackie, only to find that she has been Cyber-converted. It's moments like these that elevate the Cybermen above all other monsters. There is a finality to Cyber-conversion that is more horrifying than being gunned down by Daleks or Sontarans. Just last season we saw Captain Jack Harkness cheat death by the Daleks. With the Cybers the process can never be reversed, making Jackie's death particularly devastating, even if it was a different Jackie.


Sarah -
Poor Jackie.


Harry -
Meanwhile, down below the powerplant of death, the Doctor discovers that a simple code can cancel the emotional inhibitors of the Cybermen. Sadly, Mrs. Moore is attacked and killed before they can escape. Seeing that the Doctor is not a human being and worthy of study, they march him up to face the Cyber Controller.


Sarah -
I quite liked Mrs. Moore. Her character reminded me of all the mature female guest stars who ended up paired with the Fifth Doctor. Her backstory of having worked for Cybus Industries and having to go on the run after reading a file that she was not supposed to read would be a great story on its own. The tragedy of her death is that her family thought she had died long ago. I salute you, Angela Price!


Harry -
The Doctor finds Rose and Pete already in Lumic's lair. Hoping that Mickey and Jake have been able to sneak into Lumic's zeppelin, the Doctor plays for time and coaches Mickey into hacking the inhibitors and triggering mayhem among Lumic's creations. Once again, master hacker Mickey comes through and all hell breaks loose.


Sarah -
Once again, Mickey saves the day!


Harry -
Our friends flee in the zeppelin and Lumic perishes as the building goes up in flames. Hell of a getaway!

It's not a clean ending though. Jake is the only one of Mickey's new friends to survive. Lumic's network remains scattered around the globe, and it needs shutting down. Mickey makes the biggest choice of his life and announces he wants to stay on the parallel Earth.


Sarah -
Good on Mickey! He gets to stay with his alternate-Earth grandmother and rid himself of the Doctor and Rose. It’s a win-win situation!


Harry -
I started this story hating it, but by the end the conclusion of Mickey's story redeemed the whole thing. RTD succeeded in making Mickey into a great side protagonist in the Whoniverse, and successfully brought back another classic monster. We'll be seeing (and hearing a lot more stomping from) the Cybers in the years to come.

Best line:
MICKEY: Let's go and liberate Paris.
JAKE: What, you and me, in a van?
MICKEY: There's nothing wrong with a van. I once saved the universe with a big yellow truck.

Favourite moment: the Scooby Gang escapes in their van.

Lasting image: CyberLumic plummeting into the flames of Battersea Power Station.

7/10


Sarah -
Best Line:
MICKEY: Thanks. We've had a laugh though, haven't we? Seen it all, been there and back. Who would have thought, me and you off the old estate, flying through the stars.
ROSE: All those years just sitting there, imagining what we'd do one day. We never saw this, did we?

Favorite Moment: Mickey deciding to stay behind.

Lasting image: The stompy Cybermen.


7/10







Our marathon continues with Story #173: The Idiot's Lantern...

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