The Doctor: David Tennant
Rose Tyler: Billie Piper
Mickey Smith: Noel Clarke
John Lumic: Roger Lloyd Pack
Jackie Tyler: Camille Codouri
Pete Tyler: Shaun Dingwall
Jake Simmonds: Andrew Hayden-Smith
Rita-Anne: Mona Hammond
Synopsis:
Lumic's army of Cybermen begin their assault on London, as The Doctor,
Rose and Mickey join the rebellion to stop them.
The Age Of Steel continues last week's episode in much the same vein,
although the more active threat of the Cybermen gives part two a more
focused feel and an excuse for some niftier action sequences. Unfortunately
the metal menaces themselves continue to disappoint, mainly due to their
awful choreography. The old-style Cybermen had a hypnotic unstoppable
synchronicity, whereas the contemporary versions are just very good at
marching in unison.
Nothing unexpected really happens throughout the entire episode, with most
of the surprises either being signposted in part one, or practically clichés
of the parallel universe sub-genre (guess who decides to replace Ricky
Smith, folks…)
What the episode lacks in originality it makes up for marginally with some
well-executued set-pieces. The scenes in the Cybermen's stronghold are quite
effective (shades of Star Trek's The Borg yet again, but we'll let it rest),
while the finale involving an airship is pretty decent. Roger Lloyd Pack
returns as mastermind John Lumic, but he's thankfully given less chance to
chew the scenery by relegation to a supporting character.
However, in perhaps the most awful moment of recent Doctor Who, Lumic
becomes a victim of his own creation and reappears as the "Cyber-Controller"
(essentially a brighter-eyed Cyberman in a huge silver chair). Yes, if
you're a wheelchair user the Cyber upgrade apparently doesn't help matters!
It's a terribly misjudged moment, and sure to evoke sniggers from the
audience, particularly when you realize just how much better Star Trek
handled their own swarm-minded cyber-villains. Oh, sorry, I mentioned The
Borg again.
Elsewhere, the acting is as dependable as always. Most of the character
moments are lost amidst the Cybermen's neverending stomping and
screen-hogging, but David Tennant continues to anchor the show very well as
The Doctor, while Noel Clarke begins to carve a half-decent character out of
Mickey just as he leaves the show!
The overall return of the Cyberman has been less of a triumph than it should
have been. The parallel universe idea was strong and full of potential, and
the design of the Cybermen actually quite good, but the sad fact is that
there is no real menace to the villains or any storytelling freshness. The
entire show unfolds just as you'd expect, and actually frustrates you with
its multiple false endings. Just listen to how many times the overly
manipulative music swells to a crescendo, only to repeat itself for the next
"final scene".
At this stage in new Who's history, the show is definitely beginning to
settle into a template. Most of the episodes are set on Earth (London or
Cardiff) (DVDfever Dom adds: "or Cardiff doubling for London"),
on orbiting spaceships/stations, and involve an alien/villain
mastermind trying to enslave humans. Only two episodes have broken this
trend recently - Tooth And Claw and The Girl In The Fireplace. Is is just
coincidence that those episodes have been the best this series? I think not.
The Age Of Steel is just another variation on this now overplayed structure.
I hope the rest of the series breaks this trend, otherwise the third series
will need a massive shakeup if the franchise is to continue with any degree
of respect from sci-fi fans.
NEXT WEEK: Can The Doctor defeat Maureen Lipman as The Wire...?
DVDs reviewed by the editor are watched on a Panasonic TXW32R4 32" widescreen TV
connected to either a Creative Dxr2 DVD-ROM player or Microsoft Xbox and
played through a Sony STR-DB930 amplifier.
PC games reviewed by the editor are on:
Since Nov 2005: Intel Pentium D 830 3.0Ghz, 1Gb RAM, 128Mb nVidia GeForce 6700XL, Windows XP
Since Aug 2003: Intel Pentium 4 2.66Ghz, 512Mb RAM, 128Mb GeForce4 MX440 graphics, Windows XP
Since May 2003: Intel Pentium 4 2.6Ghz, 512Mb RAM, 128Mb ATI Radeon 9600TX graphics, Windows XP
Since Jun 2002: Intel Pentium III 600Mhz, 384Mb RAM, Windows 98 SE, 64Mb ATI Radeon 8500LE
Since May 2000: Intel Pentium III 600Mhz, 384Mb RAM, Windows 98 SE, Voodoo 3 3000 AGP
Series 1 Boxset:
Synopsis:
Lumic's army of Cybermen begin their assault on London, as The Doctor,
Rose and Mickey join the rebellion to stop them.
Elsewhere, the acting is as dependable as always. Most of the character
moments are lost amidst the Cybermen's neverending stomping and
screen-hogging, but David Tennant continues to anchor the show very well as
The Doctor, while Noel Clarke begins to carve a half-decent character out of
Mickey just as he leaves the show!
