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A Doctor Who a Day - Day 20 - Review: Rise of the Cybermen & Age of Steel

Updated: 5 days ago

The President of the UK is lit in blue light as a Cyberman kills him
@BBC

Doctor Who Series 2, Episodes 5 & 6, Rise of the Cybermen & Age of Steel

Original Air Date: 13th & 20th May 2006


"The human race. For such an intelligent lot you aren’t half susceptible. Give anyone a chance to take control and you submit. Sometimes I think you like it."


Look after your brooms everyone, Trigger is here.


There is something about this series and British icons having the time of their life being an OTT villain isn't there? This time it is the turn of Trigger of Only Fools and Horses fame. I often wonder if a Cyberman had 17 new heads and 14 new bodies would it be the same Cyberman?!


An iconic monster returns, but it doesn't quite have the same epic feel as Dalek did in the previous season. This is still pretty good Doctor Who, but perhaps it is a bit too samey I guess. Evil genius bloke makes monsters, who take over the World, take over him, and then he is the last one standing and is defeated at the end. A Doctor Who tale as old as time.


"I just gave away ten years of my life. Worth every second!"


A parallel world is an interesting direction to take the show in, and obviously this leads to bigger and more dramatic events later in the series. It is always nice to look back at the RTD world building on rewatches, and a lot of things are set up for the future in these episodes.


We have the Cybermen, another Pete, Jackie dead, Mickey gone, and of course, the parallel world itself.


Going back to Dalek in Series 1, the Dalek was built up with some amazing tension and great acting by Eccleston, and the shots of the Dalek made it look even more terrifying, I don't think the Cybermen have quite the same impact here. Considering the horror of what a Cyberman is, the big fuck off cutting machine thing working to the sound of The Lion Sleeps Tonight as it chops people up isn't quite as frightening.


I also have an issue with Mr. Crane. He gives me Mr. Dekker from Children of Earth vibes, an annoying prick basically. Are people really that chipper as they sweep people from the street to have their brain removed?


Oh, and there are more twatty moves from the Doctor and Rose to Mickey - although this is more valid as it builds up to his heroic moment in the blimp. Still, I always dislike the Doctor and Rose when they mock Mickey, it never seems justified when they are so kind to almost all the people they meet.


"I’m sorry. I’m so sorry for what’s been done to you. But listen to me, this experiment ends. Tonight."


One thing I noted is the Doctor is very quick to give up on his Tardis! It's dead, the end!


I did enjoy seeing Pete back, and you can trust me on that. He always seems to have a nice relationship with his daughter, even though the two times we have seen him he doesn't actually have a clue who she is at first. Parallel Jackie was great as well, and I love the scene where she lays the smackdown on Rose.


Doctor Who is ahead of its time, as always, in its commentary on humans being susceptible to following things and its reliance on technology. The scary thing is, this isn't far off what we have now become, people glued to their phones as they walk down streets, all that is missing is the earpieces.


"I’ve been captured. But don’t worry, Rose and Pete are out there. They can rescue me. Oh well, never mind."


One of my favourite things about Doctor Who is back in this episode as well, the over dramatic death of the extras. There are quite a few of them to enjoy when the Cybermen storm Pete and Jackie's house. Is this the first PM/Prime Minister death of modern Doctor Who? We are going to get a few more in the years to come.


I know I have watched this a few times before, but I think even on the first watch we knew Mrs. Moore was going to meet her demise. She spoke too much about herself and paid a very heavy price for it. This was a shame, as I thought she was a good character.


I enjoyed Mickey getting another hero moment, and he actually saves the day a whole lot more than I remembered. His 'ending' was well done, and I enjoyed that he finally let go of Rose and went off to look after his Nan.


My actual verdict of these episodes is they are better than I remember. They are good, but not a classic. The Cybermen didn't get an amazing entrance, and to be honest, it will take them a lot longer to be given a really great story.


Delete! Delete! Delete!


What did you think of the return of these Doctor Who icons? Let me know in the comments below.





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