What has the modern series’ debut Cybermen story got going for it? It’s a solid introduction to The Doctor’s foes with a good redesign and a strong, suspenseful build up - they *feel* important. The introduction of a parallel universe is also a success, allowing the show to kill off a new version of Rose’s mum and introduce a living version of Rose’s Dad - that is what sci-fi is for surely? I like that writer Tom MacRae decides to make this universe’s Jackie Tyler a complete nightmare.

Why is this not a classic then? It’s poorly directed, I know Graeme Harper is a legend in Doctor Who circles, but this isn’t his finest work. A serviceable script falls flat on many an occasion here. I don’t think they got the casting quite right either, none of the introduced supporting cast are quite right - with the sole exception of Lumic’s henchman. Noel Clarke also hams it up a bit too much with Mickey’s alter ego Ricky.

MacRae’s script starts to completely unravel in the closing 15 minutes where I found myself eye rolling on numerous occasions. The ending is full of random leaps of logic, maximum suspension of disbelief and pure gobbledygook. It doesn’t undo the fact that the general plot of this story/ several memorable moments and ideas come across very well.

I pretty much feel like Age of Steel arrives at the same place as Rise of the Cybermen does for me, but it is a little different.

The prominence of just how awful the Cybermen can be is a lot more present in this second episode, and I feel like we get a good sense of how terrible the conversion process really is here. Something I didn't mention in my last reviews but is relevant is that the story does make some interesting parallels between the Cybermen and the advent of mobile phones along with the culture around it. This is particularly elegant given that the Cybermen have always been an exploration of humanity's relationship to technology. Unfortunately, both this and the preceding episode suffers severely in terms of execution.

Also, it's something I haven't mentioned before because it really hadn't bothered me all that much until here, but knowing what kind of person Noel Clarke is makes it rough to care for his appearances here. Stuff like that feels like it detracts from the appeal of content like this that lean more on Mickey's character.

📝8/10

Thworping through time and space, one adventure at a time!

This time: Poor Man's Spare Parts II

MY SCATTERED AND TOTALLY IRRELEVANT NOTES:

I love how the group is split up in the second part, reminiscent of the style used in Classic Who. This dynamic gives the episode a heist-like feel, making it far more engaging and exciting than the first part.

Helen Griffin delivers a standout performance as a fierce and compelling female freedom fighter. Meanwhile, Mickey finally rises to the occasion and embraces the role of a hero. I really enjoyed seeing him team up with Jake—they work well together and their budding camaraderie adds a nice touch.

These two episodes are directed by Graeme Harper, whose first credited work was Warrior’s Gate (1981). He would go on to direct several high-energy episodes of Doctor Who, and his skill is evident here. He does an excellent job, particularly in maintaining the suspense of the Cyberman reveal right up until the cliffhanger.

That said, the visual depiction of the parallel Earth is somewhat underwhelming—it comes across as very low-budget and lacks imagination.

This episode also takes time to remind us of the tragic humanity trapped inside the Cybermen. The absence of emotions is a grim necessity, as the alternative—being fully aware of the eternal pain inside those metal shells—is truly horrifying.

The story builds to a satisfying finale, followed by a poignant ending as Mickey chooses to stay behind in Pete’s World. His realization that he’s just the 'tin dog' is a bittersweet moment of growth for his character. Rose’s emotional turmoil, as her parallel father rejects her and Mickey leaves, adds a gut punch to the conclusion. While you can argue she had it coming, it still hits hard.

Disclaimer: This Review is the exact same, as my Review to 'The Age of Steel', both Episodes are Part of the same Story, both leave me with the same Thoughts

This one is very much frustrating, there are great things to it and I enjoy the parallel universe aspect of it all (while it’s far away from the best execution). I absolutely loathe this Cybermen Design, it’s horrible, not the worst but easily one I very much dislike. I don’t really want to repeat points others did, but yeah, the whole Origin story part of it. There are some great moments, that remember what Cybermen are, then we get stuff like the entire Catchphrase Thing with “Delete” feeling more appropriate for a generic robotic enemy not the Cybermen.
Part of me wonders if this Story should have focused more on the alternative Universe Part. Since that part does easily work for me the most, meanwhile the Cybermen Part of this entire Story leaves me mixed. It’s by far not the worst outing for them in NuWho (Shoutout to whatever they were in the Smith Era), but yet it does bring out some of the very worst aspects that later got used again and again.

New Who Review #20

The Age of Steel

The continuation of part 1. The army of Cybermen is patrolling the streets of London finding anyone and everyone to upgrade to build an army. The characters were all split up in pairs for this one. Rose & Pete went into the Cyber factory's in search of Jackie Tyler only to find she was upgraded by the Cybermen. The pure emotion from that scene made it intense. It really showed how much they cared about her. Jake & Mickey had the job of taking down the zeppelin. There's not much to say about this but noel Clarke performed really well. And The Doctor & Mrs Moore / Angel Price had to go into the cooling tunnels and deal with the Cybermen. The scene where one of the cybermen got their emotions back was so sad. We learn that her name was Sally and she was getting married. When I tell you this scene had me in tears i mean it. It was so sad to see a woman who was meant to be getting excited for the changes in her life to die like this. This is also Mickey's semi exit he will be back for the Finale. All things considered this story is a good one. It has some really high highs and some emotional scenes. This gets a 6/10 from me