Episode #175 : Rise of the Cybermen / Age of Steel.

 

Rose: [surprised] They're people.

The Doctor: They were, until they had all their humanity taken away. That's a living brain jammed inside a cybernetic body, with a heart of steel. All emotions removed.

Rose: Why no emotions?

The Doctor: Because it hurts.

Episode 175:   Rise of the Cybermen / Age of Steel.
Companions:   10th Doctor and Rose Tyler.
Air Date:         13th to 20th May 2006.

On a parallel Earth, a deadly new version of the Doctor's old enemy is about to be reborn. The Cybermen take control of London and start converting the population, and the Tenth Doctor, Rose Tyler and Mickey Smith become fugitives.

An explosion in the vortex drops the TARDIS and crew on to a parallel Earth where things a tad different from our own. In this one there are airships everywhere and everyone is connected to everything via an earpiece. The time travellers arrive to find that Rose's father Pete is still alive and rather successful which causes Rose to go off looking for him. Unfortunately this is the same time that the Cybermen of this universe come into being and start upgrading everyone.

I'll start off by saying that I'm not a fan of the new Cyberman designs. I find them far too clunky and robotic, but I do prefer the 1980's look and they will always be the Cybermen for me. But fair play and things change. The BBC have better ways of showing these creatures now. If only they hadn't added "delete" as a catchphrase. It is far too cheesy. Even more so than before these Cybermen remind me of the Borg from Star Trek for their conversion of people into Cybermen, which you do see through this story.

John Lumic, who becomes the Cyber Controller, is played by the late Roger Lloyd-Pack who is more famously known for the role of Trigger in the BBC sitcom Only Fools and Horses.

Just as with the 3rd Doctor story Inferno, the fun aspect of this story is seeing how our regular characters are different in an alternate universe. Pete Tyler is a respectable and rich business man, and Jackie Tyler isn't so different just stuck up. Rose doesn't exist. Instead the Tyler's have a dog named Rose. Mickey has an opposite called Rickey who is a braver more criminal (number 1 for parking fines!) version of himself.

When all is said and done, Mickey decides to remain here because his gran is still alive in this universe and he feels he can help deal with the remaining Cybermen in other parts of the world. I find Mickey an annoying character at times. Far too clingy towards Rose. In hindsight though perhaps he wasn't that bad.

Rise of the Cybermen / Age of Steel is a good story for introducing the Cybermen to a new generation. I just wish that they weren't the only ones we see for a long time.