It seems that on their 40th birthday that this was when the Cybermen were bought back and given the 21st century treatment. 40 years after the Tenth Planet aired we would see whether the production team in Cardiff could pull of the same trick and bring something back from the past and make it work with a modern audience. I was surprised that Russell T Davies decided not to write this two parter himself, instead he handed over this responsibility to Tom McRae who has written for shows like No Angels , As If and Lewis. This story also saw the return of Graeme Harper to the directing the chair. The only person who has directed a classic who and new series who. He was one of the people who was credited with making The Caves of Androzani what it is.
Set on a parallel Earth, we essentially get a rewrite of Cybermen history. Russell T Davies tries to get the viewer to believe that the Cybermen were created by John Lumic. A very clever man in a wheelchair (sounding familiar?). The TARDIS is damaged and is repairing itself and whilst it does that it give Rose enough time to see Pete Tyler. Pete as well all saw in Fathers Day the previous year died, but Rose still persists in finding him. She discovers that he is a successful business man. There was a funny moment when Rose discovers that Pete and Jackie have a Rose but she’s in fact a dog. The build up throughout the story was pretty standard. Rose went off to find her dad still not realising that no matter with reality they are in and how many Pete Tyler’s she meets. The one she knew as her dad was dead. Mickey spent the first part of the story looking for his gran who in his reality died falling down the stairs after tripping on some carpet. Before any happy reunion can take place, Mickey is kidnapped by people thinking he is their leader Ricky. Ricky looks identical to Mickey. Sorry but at this point all believability went out of the window. Any time they do this twin thing I just think that its stretching credibility a bit too far.
The episode itself is quite a good one. With the weak part about Ricky/Mickey, they are some nice moments. Roger Lloyd Pack was very good as Lumic. It wasn’t intended for Pack to be in a chair (and starting the Davros comparison) but due to him breaking his ankle (or leg) he was forced into it. I was more impressed with Pack and how believable he was. When I saw him, I didn’t think Trigger from Only Fools and Horses. The look of the Cybermen is not something that I’m totally impressed with. I am the sort of fan that prefers the very first appearance of them back in The Tenth Planet. They look human not human enough. There’s robotic parts but you can see the whites of their eyes. The problem that I had with the new Cybermen is that whilst its good that they sound the part and when they walk you hear that clump sound, they just seem to big compared to previous versions. However they would grow on me over the course of future adventures but I still don’t hink it was a 100% success story.
The story has a nice cliffhanger when the Cybermen are marching towards the house through the fog. The visual sight was perfect and the image of the Cybermen surrounding the main cast with no clear sign of escaping. The last words were from the wonderful sounding Cybermen who utter the words ‘Delete’. Very much in keeping with the 21st Century computer society. It’s going to be interesting to see how the episode is resovled. As a single episode its ok, there a general feeling that the main action is going to take place in part two. So there is an opportunity to build the surroundings and more importantly the supporting characters. Graeme Harper has done a great job directing this episode in the way that he has and it shows that with the money and the resources. Harper is just as good a director as Euros Lyn and James Strong. Rise of the Cybermen is a good starting point.
Set on a parallel Earth, we essentially get a rewrite of Cybermen history. Russell T Davies tries to get the viewer to believe that the Cybermen were created by John Lumic. A very clever man in a wheelchair (sounding familiar?). The TARDIS is damaged and is repairing itself and whilst it does that it give Rose enough time to see Pete Tyler. Pete as well all saw in Fathers Day the previous year died, but Rose still persists in finding him. She discovers that he is a successful business man. There was a funny moment when Rose discovers that Pete and Jackie have a Rose but she’s in fact a dog. The build up throughout the story was pretty standard. Rose went off to find her dad still not realising that no matter with reality they are in and how many Pete Tyler’s she meets. The one she knew as her dad was dead. Mickey spent the first part of the story looking for his gran who in his reality died falling down the stairs after tripping on some carpet. Before any happy reunion can take place, Mickey is kidnapped by people thinking he is their leader Ricky. Ricky looks identical to Mickey. Sorry but at this point all believability went out of the window. Any time they do this twin thing I just think that its stretching credibility a bit too far.
The episode itself is quite a good one. With the weak part about Ricky/Mickey, they are some nice moments. Roger Lloyd Pack was very good as Lumic. It wasn’t intended for Pack to be in a chair (and starting the Davros comparison) but due to him breaking his ankle (or leg) he was forced into it. I was more impressed with Pack and how believable he was. When I saw him, I didn’t think Trigger from Only Fools and Horses. The look of the Cybermen is not something that I’m totally impressed with. I am the sort of fan that prefers the very first appearance of them back in The Tenth Planet. They look human not human enough. There’s robotic parts but you can see the whites of their eyes. The problem that I had with the new Cybermen is that whilst its good that they sound the part and when they walk you hear that clump sound, they just seem to big compared to previous versions. However they would grow on me over the course of future adventures but I still don’t hink it was a 100% success story.
The story has a nice cliffhanger when the Cybermen are marching towards the house through the fog. The visual sight was perfect and the image of the Cybermen surrounding the main cast with no clear sign of escaping. The last words were from the wonderful sounding Cybermen who utter the words ‘Delete’. Very much in keeping with the 21st Century computer society. It’s going to be interesting to see how the episode is resovled. As a single episode its ok, there a general feeling that the main action is going to take place in part two. So there is an opportunity to build the surroundings and more importantly the supporting characters. Graeme Harper has done a great job directing this episode in the way that he has and it shows that with the money and the resources. Harper is just as good a director as Euros Lyn and James Strong. Rise of the Cybermen is a good starting point.
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