Doctor Who!

[Seren y Gogledd]

arcadia said:

I wasn't sure about the mind melding either - seems a very convenient skill for the Doctor to have all of a sudden

Blatant Trek rip-off - but anything that references such a great show can't be all bad...

[Mirela]

Yeah it did seem a bit out of place, I mean I know the Doctor could hypnotise people in the past but still...

(Hi Huggy How's you?)

[Seren y Gogledd]

I think it was just supposed to lead up to the snog...

(Oh, and hi Julia )

[Mirela]

Fantastic, amazing, excellent, brilliant, marvellous...10 out of 10! Roger Lloyd-Pack is really scary as John Lumic, he's got that megalomaniac thing down to a tee! And the Cybermen... I want my mummy I mean they always made me feel a bit scared in the past but now...yeesh!

[jasmine]

Three wins for Doctor Who at the BAFTA tv awards….naturally!!

Rise of the Cybermen

I heard not one but two mentions of ‘Torchwood’ this week – one when Rose was on her mobile, and the other at the party.

The bit near the beginning where people where being lured into the back of that wagon reminded me of ‘Chitty Chitty Bang Bang’ and the child catcher.

Oh dear, the Tardis died – but miracles happen and the Doc blows on a green object he finds and gives 10 years of his life away. I wonder why the Doc kicked his beloved Tardis - I thought he would have shown some sadness.

It was nice to see Don Warrington as the (very short lived ) President. I remember him from the days of ‘Rising Damp’

Good to see a bit more of Mickey this week and take on a double role.

Maybe its just me, but Roger Lloyd-Pack doesn’t do much for me as the bad guy. I think I have been watching too much ‘Only Fools and Horses’

Sorry I’m nit picking today. Still enjoyed it though.

[Storm]

Like you, Jasmine, I quite enjoyed the episode, but wasn't besotted with it.

Starting with the Torchwood thing, I missed the first reference, so I said to my brother with about ten minutes left, "This is great! We've gone nearly two full episodes without a cheap plug..." And then right at the end of that very scene, Rose's para-Dad asks one of the guests about what's happening at Torchwood and I nearly screamed, "STOP IT! STOP IT! STOP IT, STOP IT, STOP IIIIIIITT!" We know Torchwood starts soon already, give it a rest!

The plot felt, and indeed looked, a bit like something that was lifted from an episode of Sliders. Now that's not necessarily a bad thing, as Sliders is a series I'm very fond of, but it niggles that it seems to be the be-all and end-all of the scenario.

I kind of wish the story had focused on Lumic and left Rose's parallel family out of it. For one thing, it was really just recycling stuff from Father's Day; that bit when para-Daddy asks Rose why she seems so familiar and he feels he can confide in her is almost an exact carbon copy of one of their conversations from last year. For another, it kind of just got in the way of the real storyline; I for one think it would've been far more interesting if they'd used that time to develop the details about Ricky's resistance group a lot more. Still, maybe these things will work a bit better once we've seen the story as a whole.

I know what Jasmine means about Roger Lloyd-Pack's performance as Lumic. First couple of scenes, that peculiar nasal whine he has at the edge of his voice kept filling my head with images of Owen from The Vicar Of Dibley, and Trigger from OFAH, but I soon got over that, and I thought he conveyed the humiliated desperation of his character quite well. However, am I the only one who gets the feeling Lumic's just a rather lazy rehash of Davros? He has a vaguely similar voice, the same sinister fanaticism, he even has an over-elaborate wheelchair, and the way he develops the Cybermen is too reminiscent of the way Davros invented the Daleks.

The final scenes kind of rescue the episode, not least because they manage to revive aspects of Dr Who history without being nostalgia-for-the-sake-of-it. They're also darn scary, as are the moments when we get glimpses of people being converted. For sure, the Cybermen look far more intimidating than they used to be, although I still don't think anyone's managed to come up with an ideal voice for them yet; bringing Nick Briggs back from Dalek-limbo to do the Cyber-leader's voice was a bit strange. (The cliffhanger at the end was scary enough to disguise how similar the "Delete! Delete!" chant is to "Ex-ter-min-ATE! Ex-ter-min-ATE!" - but only just.)

The bit when the scientist plays The Lion Sleeps Tonight on his mp3 player to drown out the noise of people screaming perhaps says more about the character than you might imagine. I think he secretly hates himself for what he's let Lumic persuade him to do; he wants to pretend the screams of agony aren't happening, and what greater contrast is there to the pain of unnatural, mechanical agony, than a song that appeals to the most natural environment and atmosphere of the jungle? Nature is the antithesis of the cyborg, and it's clear that he prefers nature. Could he turn traitor in the next part?

The Britain the Doctor and chums arrive in is clearly a corporate-dominated society. The use of Zeppelin airships suggests it might have been a world where the Nazis won the Second World War, although the presence of a black man as President, and Britain's apparent existence as a distinct, independent country, make that look a bit unlikely.

I thought the name 'Cybus Corporation' was a bit of a blatant giveaway, although whether I'd have spotted it if I hadn't known in advance that the Cybermen were going to appear is an interesting question. It's also a bizarre coincidence that Lumic just happens to invent a new race of cyborgs that are substantially the same as the race from Mondas in our universe.

Overall, it's tense, atmospheric as ever, and healthily it's less zany than some episodes over the last fourteen months have been. It's also probably the scariest episode so far this year. But the story has weaknesses that bring it down a long way, the main ones being that far too many ideas are lifted from elsewhere in series history. And I cannot excuse the Torchwood plugs this time; even at a stretch they can't justify it, there wasn't even the most tenuous link to Torchwood in the story here.

Bottom line; 6/10. I would've given it 7, but with the overplugging of Torchwood it's probably lucky not to get downgraded to 5.

[arcadia]

I thought this episode was good, but not as good as I hoped it might be.

I found Roger Lloyd Pack's "I'm evil, you know" voice somewhat distracting too, but apart from that I thought he made a reasonably good job of the role

I thought the episode started a bit slowly and didn't really get into gear until we got to the party, but the Cybermen were pretty menacing. Unfortunately though they didn't seem much different to the Daleks (except a different shape, obviously), especially since the Daleks started turning humans into Daleks last season. They are both emotionless metallic killing machines who assimilate people now, aren't they? And I couldn't help comparing to the Dalek episode, which was much stronger than this one.

I didn't actually mind the Torchwood references, as they were just random asides rather than in-your-face stuff like in Tooth and Claw.

There was also another reference to God here and I think there have been in most of the previous episodes - is this another theme for this year?

I still liked the episode - just slightly disappointed that it wasn't better. Let's hope it improves in the second part.

[jasmine]

Another great review there Storm!!

Can't say I was too enamoured with this weeks episode, but like you arcadia, I hope it improves in the second part.

[Mirela]

Hehe it was even better this week (which is saying something 'cos I thought last week's ep was fantastic) - it chilled me to the bone in several parts, especially when the Doctor, Rose and Pete encountered the Cybermen who used to be female, the one who was saying she was cold and saying what her name used to be... Also when one of the Cybermen said they used to be Jackie Tyler...and when they all went insane near the end. Finally John Lumic as the Cyber Controller was seriously cooooool! A nice send off for Mickey too, I'll miss Noel Clarke!

[jasmine]

I think this weeks episode redeemed itself a bit.

Ingenious use of the shiny green thing from the tardis to get rid of the Cybermen that surrounded them at the beginning. (Sorry, I don’t have a clue what the shiny green thing is called ) but shiny is good right?

Pity Mrs Moore got killed – that was a shock. She would have made a good third Tardis crew mate to replace Mickey. She was like a one woman army!!

Very funny when DW said to Lumic "I'd say you were a genius but I'm in the room"!

I’m sorry to say I still didn’t like Roger Lloyd Pack as Lumic, but that’s just my opinion. And when he was upgraded it was a relief!

Quite chilling when the Cybers all got their emotions back, and went mad, especially the one who was looking at their reflection!

I liked the ending for Mickey – it seemed the right thing. And his line about saving the world with his yellow van had me giggling.

Wonder if they will get anyone else in to replace him?

[arcadia]

This episode was better than last week, though it still seemed a little slow at the start. It improved after Pete and Rose found that Jackie had been turned into a Cyberman though - I was really expecting them to rescue her, so that was a bit of a shock.

I was sad to see Mrs Moore go too, I liked her. Glad that Lumic got upgraded though, he was much more convincing as a Cyberman.

I'm a bit sad that Mickey's gone too, but glad he got to be heroic.

[Seren y Gogledd]

Mickey was Leonie's favourite character - perhaps I should sue the show's writing team for letting him go, might cover the cost of therapy for her! (Just kidding, she can watch the DVD's to see him). I'm glad he's a hero at last though, even if he had to leave to do it.

[Storm]

Sorry it took me so long to give my thoughts on part 2. My new PC was having problems with rebooting itself at random, and it kept doing it while I was halfway through trying to write up the episode. I think I've fixed the problem, but I won't go into too much detail on the episode, just in case my PC decides to go higgledy-piggledy on me halfway through again.

In brief, this was certainly an improvement on the first part, and as I'd hoped the whole is greater than the sum of its parts; the two parts work far better when seen in tandem than when seen separately.

I was disappointed that Mickey was written out. I think he's developed really well and has become far more interesting than Rose, who's becoming a bit boring. (With the constant rumours that Billie Piper is poised to leave, and with the increasingly unhappy storylines she's been getting recently, I was sort of expecting that the character was getting so disillusioned that she'd be on her way out around now.) It was an excellent send-off for Mickey though.

I didn't notice any Torchwood plugs, though as before, I might've missed them, but for now I give an automatic bonus point just for that. It was certainly very scary stuff as well. I still think Lumic was just Davros Mark II - even the way he turns into Cyber Controller is much the same as Davros becoming the Dalek Emperor - so I was pretty non-plussed by his demise.

Bottom line, 8 out of 10. Would've been 9 with the bonus point, but as I was being generous when rating part 1, I can't do it twice in a row...

I'll be back later to discuss 'You-got-an-ology?'-lady's turn as a Who monster.

[jasmine]

Better late than never Storm.
I tend to get out the heavy equipment such as a large hammer when my pc turns on me - it does no good, but it sure makes me feel better Joking apart, hope your PC is running ok now, and not acting all "higgledy-piggledy".

.............................................................

The Idiot’s Lantern

1953 – Coronation year.

Loved DT’s Teddy Boy quiff and Rose’s skirt.

Enjoyed the Character ‘The Wire’ played by Maureen ‘got an ology’ Lipman.

Hungry! feed meee…hmmm ‘Little Shop of Horrors’ very Audrey2. I liked Maureen in this – thought she was great. Loved the line "I'm going to gobble you up, pretty boy!" The effects of the faceless people was quite spooky. Must say though, when Rose lost her face I giggled…..Once that was done however, you just knew everyone else was going to get their faces back.

Torchwood ref: Detective Inspector Bishop said "We'll have Torchwood on our backs and no mistake". It was just before DT got upset about Rose being left out on the street.

(off topic) Don't you just love DT in his specs! Ok... shallow moment over.

Why was the Inspector the only one who got his face removed? Did I miss something, or am I just thick?

Liked the end when Rose got Tommy to run after his dad. I assume she did it because she knows what it is like to lose a Dad – no matter what he has done. Then again, I am such a sentimental fool. Can you believe that the actor who played Tommy (Rory Jennings) is 23 years old!!!!

I have some little nit picks here and there, but I’ll keep them to myself. Overall, I did enjoy it. Looking forward to next week – it looks good.

[Mirela]

9 out of 10

I liked Maureen Lipman as The Wire, she was very effective and the removing faces bit was very disturbing. Some shop dummies have blank faces like that...