Rise of the Cybermen marks the return of the Zygons. Of
course it doesn’t but if I have ended that sentence with Cybermen then you
would have been thinking duh!!. This episode was originally aired in the 40th
anniversary year since they made their first appearance on the show. It’s fair
to say that the Cybermen have often been the unwanted child of Doctor Who.
Whilst everyone was obsessed with the Daleks, the Cybermen were often
overlooked and it’s bizarre when you think of the stories that they appeared in
during the Troughton era. Ok so there were a couple of dodgy stories, but on
the whole they have been very good. This story also sees Graeme Harper return
to the show making him the only writer/director from the classic era to have
contributed to the new series.
John Lumic is the creator of the Cybermen in this story and
like Davros he is in a wheelchair although this was due to an accident that
Roger Lloyd-Pack had just before filming. It is a bit of serendipity. The pre-title scene shows how he has the same
scruples that Davros has.
Mickey’s poor treatment really shows why he wasn’t long for
this show. The Doctor and Rose are giggling to themselves at the fact that
Mickey has been pressing a button for 29 minutes longer than he needed to. The
Doctor, Mickey and Rose arrive on a parallel world and within a minute I was starting
to get irritated. The moment when Rose realises that her dad is alive she goes
into selfish mode. Even though its not really her dad it doesn’t stop her at
all and I just wish that she had run off into the distance and never come back.
The Doctor says to her that Jackie and Pete might have their own Rose and they
do but it’s a dog and that dog is less annoying than Rose the human.
There is a nice bit of continuity in this episode. The lorry
that Mr Crane collects people up in is from International Electromatics which
is the company that Tobias Vaughn was using a front in The Invasion.
Mickey’s exit starts when he goes to try and find his Nan
who died in the real world. He goes off on his own little adventure when he is mistaken
for Ricky. It’s quite fun when the two Noel Clarkes meet up. If you didn’t know
what was going to happen when this happened then you really aren’t trying. Even
I knew what was going to happen.
The design of the new Cybermen is very good. I like them
because they look modern and the fact that they make a noise when they walk is
something that should really have been done a long time ago. The big reveal is
held off until the very end and it’s done in great style. I think that it’s one
of the best build ups that the show has had since it returned. The Cybermen
smashing through the glasses is a fantastic sight and Graeme Harper has done a
great job in making the final few minutes of this episode some of the best
since the show returned. The best thing about the design is the tear drop
design on the eyes but I also like the voice and the blue light that appears
when they talk.
This has been a really good episode with only Rose ruining
it. The build up to the Cybermen making their first appearance in the episode
is done well and the final few minutes are as I said before really good. I am
looking to tomorrows episode because if it goes as well as todays then I think
that this might be the best two parter since the show returned in 2005. 
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