From Newsgroup: rec.arts.drwho.moderated   
   From Address: jphalt@aol.com   
   Subject: Re: jphalt's Doctor Who reviews   
      
   RISE OF THE CYBERMEN   
      
   2 episodes: Rise of the Cybermen, The Age of Steel. Approx. 91   
   minutes. Written by: Tom MacRae. Directed by: Graeme Harper. Produced   
   by: Phil Collinson.   
      
      
   THE PLOT   
      
   The TARDIS crash-lands in modern day London - but in the wrong   
   universe! Somehow, the Doctor, Rose, and Mickey have been bounced from   
   their universe into a parallel reality. The sky over London is filled   
   with zeppelins, while the people below go about their business with   
   cybernetic ear pods attached to their heads.   
      
   The ear pods are the invention of John Lumic (Roger Lloyd Pack), owner   
   of Cybus Industries. But Lumic has a new, far more sinister project. A   
   new form of life, a meld of machine and man. It may be a parallel   
   Earth, but the Doctor recognizes these malignant creations instantly:   
      
   "Cybermen!"   
      
      
   CHARACTERS   
      
   The Doctor: We open the story with another look at the 10th Doctor's   
   unlikable side. He has asked Mickey to hold down a button... and then   
   left him to keep holding it down for no reason other than to make the   
   other man look foolish. He does show some respect for Mickey in their   
   interactions, talking to him seriously about the state of the TARDIS   
   cut off from its own universe - but it's clear throughout that he does   
   look on Mickey more as "the tin dog" than as a full-blown member of   
   the team.   
      
   Rose: In a parallel London, it takes all of a few seconds for Rose to   
   focus on the most important fact: That in this world, her father Pete   
   Tyler (Shaun Dingwall) is very much alive. Sneaking into the parallel   
   Jackie Tyler's birthday party disguised as a servant, she finds   
   moments to connect with both Pete and Jackie. Both feel a bond with   
   her, enough for them to actually talk unguardedly in a way they never   
   would with a regular servant - though this only increases Rose's hurt   
   when this world's bitter Jackie immediately backpedals and scorns her   
   as nothing but "staff."   
      
   Mickey: Feels that he is viewed by the Doctor and Rose as "a spare   
   part," and has become resentful of that. We learn more about Mickey's   
   backstory, that he was raised by a stern yet loving grandmother who   
   died only a few years before the Doctor met him. Mickey blames   
   himself, because her fall down the stairs was caused by a damaged   
   carpet that he was aware needed replaced - a job he never got around   
   to doing. Noel Clarke also gets to pull double duty, portraying this   
   world's version of himself - Ricky, a grim man of action who would not   
   be out of place in a 1980's Saward serial. It's actually a bit   
   satisfying to see Ricky get deflated when he has to confess that he's   
   only London's most wanted "for parking tickets."   
      
   Jackie: The parallel Jackie is similar to our Jackie, but without any   
   of the good points. She is vain and caustic, but without the fierce   
   protectiveness. Our Jackie may seem shallow at first glance, but she   
   has depth beneath the surface, mainly in the form of her fierce   
   protectiveness of her daugher. This world's Jackie shows no sign of   
   anything other than a deep layer of bitterness. Camille Coduri does a   
   good job of hardening her usual portrayal to create a character who is   
   at once familiar and yet substantially less likable.   
      
   Cybermen: Or "Cybus-men," I suppose. Given how many different variants   
   of Cybermen we saw from the "Prime" universe, though, I can't make   
   myself think that this difference makes much difference, save for the   
   benefit of not over-writing Big Finish's excellent Spare Parts.   
   Director Graeme Harper takes care to emphasize the Cybermen's power,   
   shooting them at low angles or in close-ups of their expressionless   
   metal faces. An interesting aside is that the Cybermen believe they   
   are doing humanity a favor by converting them. They are freeing   
   humanity of "the pain of the flesh."   
      
      
   THOUGHTS   
      
   Borrowing elements from Marc Platt's Big Finish audio Spare Parts,   
   this two-parter takes the genesis of the Cybermen in a different   
   direction. While Platt's audio was a human tragedy, this story is an   
   action piece, complete with a campy, over-the-top villain in Roger   
   Lloyd Pack's Lumic. It lacks Spare Parts' emotional power, but it's   
   nice to see respect shown to the audio story - First in the decision   
   to not overwrite it by explicitly making this an alternate reality   
   origin story, second in the "Thanks to" credit given to Platt in the   
   end credits.   
      
   Taken as an action story, Rise of the Cybermen is a good one. Graeme   
   Harper returns to the Who director's chair for the first time since   
   1985's Revelation of the Daleks. His direction doesn't stand out from   
   the pack quite the way it did in the classic series, for the simple   
   reason that strong directing in the new series is the norm rather than   
   the exception. Harper still knows how to evoke atmosphere, though,   
   with a handful of standout moments.   
      
   The single most memorable set piece is the first Cyber conversion   
   scene. The helpless victims march into the conversion chamber on the   
   orders of Lumic's lackey, Mr. Crane (a terrific Colin Spuaull). As the   
   first men disappear into the corridor, screams emerge, growing louder   
   as the other men pass through the entrance. Crane tries to cover the   
   noise by playing The Tokens' The Lion Sleeps Tonight, which continues   
   to play over images of the conversion machine and a slow pull-back of   
   the factory. We see no gore, no frightened faces, nothing that is   
   actually visually disturbing... but the context, the music, and the   
   gradual pull-back combine to create something horrific in the   
   imagination.   
      
   Other memorable bits include: the "daily download" into the earpods,   
   as a street of busy people suddenly freezes as information and   
   entertainment is downloaded directly into their brains while Rose and   
   the Doctor watch; the first march of the Cybermen, as they arrive at   
   Pete Tyler's house, breaking through the glass doors and windows to   
   announce their presence; and the Doctor and Mrs. Moore (Helen   
   Griffin)'s infiltration of Lumic's warehouse through an underground   
   tunnel - a corridor lined with inert Cybermen they must pass in front   
   of, hoping with each step that the creatures are not activated. All   
   striking moments, well-played and well-directed.   
      
   Despite some cracks showing around the climax, the story sustains its   
   two episodes well and does its job of bringing the Cybermen into 21st   
   century Who. Perhaps it isn't a great story, but I would certainly   
   rate it as a good one.   
      
      
   Rating: 8/10.   
      
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