Neil Gaiman's first Doctor Who script, The Doctor's Wife, was one the more successful episodes of Series Six, and also a personal favourite of mine. It was great to finally have a story which properly explored the notion of the Tardis as a living thing. For his second go, Neil Gaiman attempted to make the Cybermen scary again. In this he has only partially succeeded.
The basic story is that of the Cybermen hunting down soldiers on an abandoned theme park world.Unfortunately there are lots of unnecessary elements added into the mix, such as the Doctor playing chess against the Cyber Planner, and the impresario Webley collecting the shells of Cybermen, all of which feel like they were distracting from the main purpose.
Still, there's an interesting attempt at world building going on in this episode. The future is ruled by an Empire which has been at war with the Cyberiad, a term which apparently refers to all the different Cyber Variants, such as Cyber-Mats and Cybershades. . Gaiman also adds to the notoriety of the Cybermen by suggesting that a whole galaxy had to be wiped out in order to stop a Cyberman. Even now, if a Cyberman is found then a planet must be destroyed. This goes a long way to making them seem threatening again.
The new Cybermen look fantastic. Their new design is sleeker and more streamlined compared to the chunky Cybus versions. They may not be as physically intimidating as their 2006 predecessors but with their fast running they seem to be more mobile and have more movement.
The best new feature is their ability to upgrade and adapt to any weaponry used against them. Some have argued that this makes the Cybermen too similar to Star Trek's Borg, but since the Borg were borrowed from Cybermen anyway, it is not much of a problem. The new voices are neither better nor worse. Just different. Overall, these new Cybermen are the best part of the episode, even if they play second fiddle to the Cyber Planner. A much better redesign than the Dalek paradigm.
The Cybermites are awesome. More mobile than the cumbersome Cybermats of old. It is creepy when they crawl out of the shell of an old Cyberman. They are more than worthy of being permanent replacements.
Matt Smith gets a lot to do this week, playing both the Doctor and the Cyber-Planner Doctor.
The Cyber Planner version is very camp and over the top, its exaggerated mannerisms and voice is a reminder of how much more depth Matt Smith usually puts into the Doctor.Part of me feels the Cyber Controller should have been more emotionless though.
Jenna Louise Coleman is once again great in the role of Clara. She gets a lot to do this week in ordering a military platoon around. However, she seemed a bit too efficient with a gun for someone who had never been a soldier before. Perhaps this is a clue that she is secretly the Doctor's perfect companion. Or it could just be the writing.
While I don't share Who fandom's general hatred towards child characters, I found that Artie and Angie were a bit annoying. Angie especially so. Her first line in the episode is "Your stupid box can't even get us to the right place". Most people would be amazed that the box even could travel in time and space, but not Angie. Once the Cyberman plot commences there's no time to see Artie and Angie's reactions to being in an alien world. The story doesn't even show us their first reactions to stepping into the Tardis. As a result the characters feel like they were bolted onto the story.
Warwick Davies is great as Porridge. The revelation that he is the Emperor is pretty obvious,, but he gets the most development of any of the other characters. The character is very similar to the Doctor, being a man who has to blow up his own people and couldn't live with the guilt. I wasn't convinced by his proposal to Clara. The two characters hadn't spent that much time together and the proposal felt like it came out of the blue.
The rest of the cast are sadly pretty unmemorable. The punishment Platoon are one dimensional characters with single character traits. When they are killed you do not care them. I liked the showman character, Webley, but he very quickly becomes unnecessary to the plot.
The mystery of Clara is once again not developed. All we get is the obligatory scene where the Doctor puzzles over his 'impossible girl' along with a hint that he fancies Clara. Next week's episode, the final one in the series, has a lot to live up to.
This is a pretty uneven episode. It might have benefited from having a streamlined plot, like Cold War had. If the focused was entirely on the revival of the Cybermen and not on the Doctor's chess game, or the kids, it might have worked a lotbetter. With the last shot of a Cybermite floating in space, we'll undoubtedly see these Cybermen again. Let's just hope their next appearance is a lot better.
7/10
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