REVIEW: Doctor Who, Series 2 Episodes Five/Six 'Rise of the Cybermen/Age Of Steel'
REVIEW: Doctor Who, Series 2 Episodes Five/Six 'Rise of the Cybermen/Age Of Steel'
In honour of Noel Clarke's latest drama series Viewpoint starting tonight on ITV, here are my thoughts on Rise of the Cybermen/Age Of Steel, originally published in 2016.
One of the most interesting aspects of the Cybermen is how drastically their design evolves over their appearances in the show. Their Tenth Planet appearance, for example, is a considerably more stripped back approach to their look in The Moonbase:
The 'Cybus' redesign, however, is arguably the most radical change to these emotionless beings yet:
It presents a more robotic appearance for the Cybermen, which is also hinted in the way that they stomp about in unison rather than lurking in the shadows waiting to strike. Many Whovians as a result are not fans of the Cybus design - in my view, however, it's perfectly in-keeping with the way that the Cybermen are constantly upgrading their look. It's essentially just another fluctuation in the overall guise of the conversions that has been seen throughout the history of these most iconic of Doctor Who monsters.
Rise of the Cybermen/Age of Steel has a good reason for the Cybus design too. The story takes place in a Parallel Earth, where Rose's (Billie Piper) Dad Pete Tyler (Shaun Dingwall) is still alive and is a successful businessman running a health drink business called Vitex - a subsidiary of Cybus Industries. The TARDIS falls through the time vortex and crashes into this alternate world, rendering the machine lifeless as it is outside the universe where it can claim energy from the rift. Mickey (Noel Clarke) leaves the TARDIS and finds they are in a parallel version of London. Meanwhile, the Doctor manages to find a small part of the TARDIS that is still alive and gifts it some of his own life energy. Elsewhere, Cybus Industries leader John Lumic (Roger Lloyd-Pack) is working on an all-too-familiar experiment to upgrade human beings into Cybermen...
First, I'm going to come out and say it: I like the Cybus Cybermen. I think the design by Peter McKinstry works extremely well for 21st century Doctor Who. It's cool, it's modern and it works within the context of the two parter. These Cybermen aren't our universe Cybermen, they are parallel universe versions where they have a Davros-esque creator in John Lumic. As such, they look exactly like a twenty first century business mogul's view of what a populist Cyberman design would look like . Some Whovians tend to forget that whilst the original Cyber suit is extremely effective, the reason for the cloth face in The Tenth Planet in reality is because the production values at the time were poor. They couldn't afford a design like the Cybus one - and if they had the budget of the new series, who's to say that this isn't what the Cybermen would have looked like from the start?
John Lumic is possibly one of the new series' best human villains too. He is absolutely despicable; an arrogant, cold and heartless businessman who ironically is rather close in personality to his Cyber creations. He's pretty much the polar opposite of Pete Tyler and the exact kind of cruel man you could imagine inventing something like the Cyberman. John Lumic is played expertly by Only Fools And Horses actor Roger Lloyd-Pack and I cannot imagine anyone else in the role. When he becomes the Cyber Controller it is such a satisfying pay-off for his character.
It's not all about returning to the classic era with the Cybermen however. The story is also hugely inventive with the way it represents a parallel London. There's zeppelins in the sky, the UK has a President and everybody wears ear pods (ear pods, after all, did not exist in 2006). In many ways it reminds me of Back to the Future Part 2's optimistic take on 2015, although in this case we have a parallel version of what the present at that time could have looked like had we gone down another path. This is probably among Doctor Who's most inventive settings, as it really plays fast and loose with the concept of an alternate reality. The optimistic outlook on what a parallel world would look like is a lot more interesting than a dystopian one and it's fun to see Pete Tyler's previously mentioned get-rich-quick schemes actually come to fruition.
Talking about fun, this is a Doctor Who episode with a great sense of humour. Writer Tom MacRae injects some great lines throughout, such as how the Doctor's line about falling out of the vortex and into 'the Void of nothingness' is immediately followed by Mickey looking outside and replying that the Doctor's void is 'otherwise known as London'. Then there's the brilliant moment Rose discovers that in this parallel universe she is a dog, played with great humour by both Billie Piper and David Tennant (who are great throughout this two parter - David Tennant demonstrating exactly why he is the best Doctor).
The second episode of the two parter, Age of Steel, even manages to do something better with the Cybermen than what was achieved in the classic series. There's a great sequence that really highlights the horrors of Cyber-conversion, as you see how the Cybermen in this world are created:
The 'Cybus' redesign, however, is arguably the most radical change to these emotionless beings yet:
It presents a more robotic appearance for the Cybermen, which is also hinted in the way that they stomp about in unison rather than lurking in the shadows waiting to strike. Many Whovians as a result are not fans of the Cybus design - in my view, however, it's perfectly in-keeping with the way that the Cybermen are constantly upgrading their look. It's essentially just another fluctuation in the overall guise of the conversions that has been seen throughout the history of these most iconic of Doctor Who monsters.
Rise of the Cybermen/Age of Steel has a good reason for the Cybus design too. The story takes place in a Parallel Earth, where Rose's (Billie Piper) Dad Pete Tyler (Shaun Dingwall) is still alive and is a successful businessman running a health drink business called Vitex - a subsidiary of Cybus Industries. The TARDIS falls through the time vortex and crashes into this alternate world, rendering the machine lifeless as it is outside the universe where it can claim energy from the rift. Mickey (Noel Clarke) leaves the TARDIS and finds they are in a parallel version of London. Meanwhile, the Doctor manages to find a small part of the TARDIS that is still alive and gifts it some of his own life energy. Elsewhere, Cybus Industries leader John Lumic (Roger Lloyd-Pack) is working on an all-too-familiar experiment to upgrade human beings into Cybermen...
First, I'm going to come out and say it: I like the Cybus Cybermen. I think the design by Peter McKinstry works extremely well for 21st century Doctor Who. It's cool, it's modern and it works within the context of the two parter. These Cybermen aren't our universe Cybermen, they are parallel universe versions where they have a Davros-esque creator in John Lumic. As such, they look exactly like a twenty first century business mogul's view of what a populist Cyberman design would look like . Some Whovians tend to forget that whilst the original Cyber suit is extremely effective, the reason for the cloth face in The Tenth Planet in reality is because the production values at the time were poor. They couldn't afford a design like the Cybus one - and if they had the budget of the new series, who's to say that this isn't what the Cybermen would have looked like from the start?
John Lumic is possibly one of the new series' best human villains too. He is absolutely despicable; an arrogant, cold and heartless businessman who ironically is rather close in personality to his Cyber creations. He's pretty much the polar opposite of Pete Tyler and the exact kind of cruel man you could imagine inventing something like the Cyberman. John Lumic is played expertly by Only Fools And Horses actor Roger Lloyd-Pack and I cannot imagine anyone else in the role. When he becomes the Cyber Controller it is such a satisfying pay-off for his character.
It's not all about returning to the classic era with the Cybermen however. The story is also hugely inventive with the way it represents a parallel London. There's zeppelins in the sky, the UK has a President and everybody wears ear pods (ear pods, after all, did not exist in 2006). In many ways it reminds me of Back to the Future Part 2's optimistic take on 2015, although in this case we have a parallel version of what the present at that time could have looked like had we gone down another path. This is probably among Doctor Who's most inventive settings, as it really plays fast and loose with the concept of an alternate reality. The optimistic outlook on what a parallel world would look like is a lot more interesting than a dystopian one and it's fun to see Pete Tyler's previously mentioned get-rich-quick schemes actually come to fruition.
Talking about fun, this is a Doctor Who episode with a great sense of humour. Writer Tom MacRae injects some great lines throughout, such as how the Doctor's line about falling out of the vortex and into 'the Void of nothingness' is immediately followed by Mickey looking outside and replying that the Doctor's void is 'otherwise known as London'. Then there's the brilliant moment Rose discovers that in this parallel universe she is a dog, played with great humour by both Billie Piper and David Tennant (who are great throughout this two parter - David Tennant demonstrating exactly why he is the best Doctor).
The second episode of the two parter, Age of Steel, even manages to do something better with the Cybermen than what was achieved in the classic series. There's a great sequence that really highlights the horrors of Cyber-conversion, as you see how the Cybermen in this world are created:
Speaking of the classic series, this two parter features one of the best companion exits in the show's entire history. This is an exit that feels like one you would get in a classic series serial, only there's more time devoted in the screenplay to the lead-up to Mickey's decision, meaning that unlike Vicki or Romana's exits it doesn't come out of the blue. Noel Clarke's Mickey Smith decides to stay behind at the end of Age of Steel in order to help fight the resistance against the Cybermen, an exit which bares many similarities to Susan Foreman's exit in The Dalek Invasion of Earth. It's a companion exit that highlights his growth as a character: no longer is Mickey the 'idiot' from Series 1, now he's a full-grown action hero. He's the underdog who against all those who doubted him has become a figure of bravery and nobility. Like the Doctor, neither cruel or cowardly. Mickey is perhaps the new series male companion with the most character development of them all, and Noel Clarke plays him brilliantly throughout, giving the character a likeable and engaging presence. Over the course of series one and two you see him go on a real journey and Rise of the Cybermen/Age of Steel feels like a natural conclusion of that.
Overall, Rise of the Cybermen/Age of Steel is a story that is a little unfairly criticised for the redesign of the Cybermen. The story's plot justifies the updated redesign in a way that their more robotic appearance makes sense, as it's ultimately what would attract the modern consumer who John Lumic is trying to appeal to. It's also a story that neatly conveys the horrors of the Cyber-conversion process, whilst giving us an excellent human antagonist in John Lumic, who like The Invasion's Tobias Vaughn is essentially nothing more than a Cyberman himself, even before he becomes the Cyber Controller. There's a wonderful sense of imagination and humour in this story's representation of a parallel 2006 London, and Mickey Smith's exit is perfect for his character, demonstrating neatly the growth that the character has experienced across the first two series of the 2005 revival. No longer the 'idiot', Mickey is now a hero in his own right, and this brilliant conclusion to his character arc is one of many reasons why I would recommend this adventure as a truly great Cyber-story.
To have future posts delivered direct to your inbox, click the three lines at the top and register for email notifications via the 'Follow by Email' box.
What are your thoughts on Rise of the Cybermen/Age Of Steel? Let me know in the comments section.
Comments
Post a Comment