RISE OF THE CYBERMEN

'"Rise of the Cybermen"' is an episode in the British science fiction television series ''Doctor Who''. It is the first part of a two-part story, the concluding part being "The Age of Steel". The episode was first broadcast on May 13 2006.

Contents

Synopsis

Plot

Cast

Cast notes

Continuity

Parallel universes in Doctor Who

Production

Outside references

Broadcast and DVD release

References

External links

Reviews

Synopsis

After the TARDIS makes a crash landing on the Earth of another universe, Rose discovers her father is alive and rich, Mickey encounters his alternative self, and the Tenth Doctor learns one of his oldest and deadliest foes is about to be reborn.

Plot

In the bowels of a zeppelin, Dr Kendrick tells his employer John Lumic that the prototype they have created is alive. To Lumic's delight, it recognises him, but Kendrick reminds him that the prototype needs Geneva's approval, as it contradicts the Bio Convention, being a new form of life. Lumic knows that Geneva will reject his scheme, and when Kendrick insists that it is his duty to inform them, Lumic orders the prototype to kill the scientist. A steel hand clamps onto Kendrick's shoulder and electrocutes him. Lumic calls the captain of the airship and tells him to set sail for Great Britain.
In the TARDIS, the Doctor and Rose reminisce about a past adventure while Mickey stands by, infuriated that they have forgotten him and always take him for granted. Suddenly a huge explosion rocks the TARDIS console; the time vortex has inexplicably vanished, sending the TARDIS spinning out of control. The time machine crash lands and everything goes dark. The Doctor, in shock, declares that the TARDIS is dead. They fell out of the vortex, into the void, and could be anywhere.
Mickey looks out the door and announces that they are in London, outside Lambeth Palace. However, the presence of Zeppelins in the sky indicate it is not the one they know but the London of a parallel universe. Rose then notices an animated poster showing Pete Tyler, her dead father, advertising Vitex health drinks. Evidently he is alive and successful in this universe. The Doctor reminds her that this Pete is not her father and warns against visiting him.
Pete arrives at his country mansion, where the staff are preparing for his wife Jackie's birthday party. Like everyone else, Pete is wearing electronic earpieces called EarPods. They are manufactured by Cybus Industries, and Lumic has sent the latest model for Jackie to wear as a birthday present. Lumic calls Pete from his Zeppelin and tells him to join a meeting between himself and the President of Great Britain that evening.
Hanging up, he remotely activates Jackie's EarPods, causing her to go still as if hypnotised. He downloads the security arrangements for Jackie's birthday party. Jackie then wakes up, oblivious of what just happened. Lumic then calls his employee, Mr Crane, and says that he needs "extra staff". Crane acknowledges this; he and his men drive off in an International Electromatics lorry.
Meanwhile, Rose begins to pick up a Cybus Industries signal on her mobile phone: a news broadcast announcing Lumic's return to the country. Back in the TARDIS, the Doctor explains that the TARDIS draws power from the universe, but this is the wrong one. When the Time Lords controlled the barriers between different parallel universes, moving between them was easy. Now that they are gone, the paths between worlds were closed, so the TARDIS crew are now trapped. Just then, the Doctor spots a green glow beneath the console, and realises that one component of the TARDIS still has power.
Crane arrives at a garbage dump and offers some homeless people food inside the lorry. One of the men there, Jake Simmonds, warns against going in, reminding one homeless man of the others that have vanished off the streets over the last few months. However, the temptation of food is too great, and the homeless man goes in. Once he sees what is actually inside he cries out and tries to escape, but the doors of the lorry are shut and it drives away. Jake records all this on a camcorder.
In the TARDIS, the Doctor picks up the glowing object, a power cell that still has some energy from their own universe inside. He blows on it, giving up ten years of his life but giving it enough energy to start the recharging cycle. In twenty-four hours, it will have enough power to get them home. Taking the cell with him, the Doctor and Mickey go in search of Rose, who has been browsing the Internet through her mobile phone. She has discovered that in this universe, she was never born. The Doctor warns her again, but she insists on going to see her parents. Mickey likewise says he has things to see and challenges the Doctor by saying that the Doctor can only chase after one of them. The Doctor follows Rose, leaving a bitter Mickey to venture off on his own into an area of London guarded by armed soldiers.
On the street, the Doctor and Rose chat about Mickey's family history. His father abandoned him and his mother could not cope on her own, so Mickey was raised by his grandmother. However, one day she fell down the stairs and died. The Doctor tells her he knew none of this, and Rose replies he never took the time to ask. They begin to realise that they really might have taken him for granted.
Suddenly, everyone on the street around them stops moving. The Doctor examines them closer, and sees the EarPods, realising that they are downloading news information directly into the wearer's heads. The Doctor comments about humanity being obsessed with the opportunity for every enhancement, at which Rose protests his associating her with these people. He reminds her, "It's not so far off your world, this place is only parallel." The signal even taps into Rose's mobile phone: the Doctor finds out that Cybus Industries owns Pete's Vitex company. This intrigues him enough that he gives in to Rose and decides to go and see Pete.
Mickey goes to see his blind grandmother, Rita-Anne, who is still alive. However, she calls him "Ricky" and scolds him for having been gone for days; she feared he had "disappeared". Before Mickey can go in for a cup of tea, a van drives up and Jake drags him into it. Jake tells "Ricky" that he has video evidence of the disappearances, and a woman named Mrs Moore informs him that International Electromatics is a front organisation for Cybus Industries. With "Thin Jimmy" having been arrested, "Ricky" is now on the top of the most wanted list.
Lumic makes his pitch to the President about Cybus Industries's "ultimate upgrade": a method of sustaining the human brain indefinitely within a cradle of copyrighted chemicals and allowing its impulses to be bonded onto a metal exoskeleton. The President cuts the presentation off and rejects Lumic's proposal as obscene and unethical despite Lumic's insistence that he has prepared a presentation for the "Ethical Committee" to demonstrate the morality of his plans, and disregarding Lumic's plea that he is dying. The President is sympathetic but tells Lumic he is not God, and leaves, telling Pete he will see him at Jackie's party. Pete tries to console Lumic, suggesting they approach New Germany instead, but Lumic says that Britain is his homeland. He gives Pete leave to depart.
Lumic calls Crane, who has captured the homeless people, fitted them with EarPods, and placed them under neural control at a factory in Battersea Power Station. Crane asks if they have governmental backing and Lumic tells Crane to begin the upgrade, explaining that he is under the jurisdiction of a higher moral authority, "the right of a man to survive." The homeless men are marched into a room with whirring blades and mechanical arms being permanently converted into emotionless mechanical men. Crane calls for a song, "The Lion Sleeps Tonight", to cover the rising screams of men and women.
Meanwhile, Mickey is brought by Jake to their country house base, where the actual Ricky is. They point their guns at Mickey, and tie him to a chair. Ricky, much grimmer than his counterpart, tells Mickey that they are part of an underground group called the "Preachers", who reject the EarPods and believe Lumic must be stopped. Elsewhere, Crane loads the "upgrades" into the lorry, all clamping boots of metal, as Lumic's zeppelin arrives at the factory. When the Preachers hear news of this from a contact named "Gemini", they arm themselves with AK-47s and head to Pete's mansion, hoping they will find and be able to assassinate Lumic there. When they reach the mansion, they see the upgrades being marched out of the lorry.
The Doctor and Rose infiltrate Jackie's party as serving staff. To the Doctor's amusement, they discover that the Tylers have a pet terrier named Rose. Exploring, the Doctor finds a laptop with a Cybus Industries logo and starts to browse through it. Rose manages to speak with Pete and discovers the Tylers have separated. However, when she tries to speak to Jackie about reconciling with Pete, Jackie becomes angry at her impertinence.
The Doctor sees Lumic's presentation on the laptop, and is horrified at the familiar design of the prototypes. Outside, Rose suddenly sees a bright flash of light, and hears the distant clanking of metal feet. She and the Doctor go to the window and watch a troop of metal men approaching across the garden. The Doctor murmurs, "It's happening again." Rose asks what they are, and the Doctor tells her: Cybermen.
The Cybermen crash through the windows, surrounding the terrified guests as Lumic tells them via EarPod that they were sent on his orders. The Cybermen tell the President that they have been upgraded to "Human.2", the next level of mankind. Every citizen will receive a compulsory free upgrade and become like them. Despite the Doctor's warnings, the President asks what would happen if he refused. A Cyberman replies that if he would not be made compatible, he will be deleted, grabbing the President and electrocuting him.
The Cybermen begin to kill everyone they see as the guests start running chaotically. Jackie flees to the basement with a Cyberman in pursuit. The Doctor, Rose and Pete jump out the window, where they meet up with the Preachers, who fire their weapons ineffectually at the advancing Cybermen.
The Cybermen surround the Doctor, Rose, Mickey, Ricky, Pete and Jake. The Doctor raises his hands, fists clenched. He tells the Cybermen that they surrendered and will submit to the upgrade, but the Cybermen ignore him. A Cyberman declares them as incompatible and inferior: Man will be reborn as Cyberman but those surrounded will perish under "maximum deletion."

Cast

★ The Doctor — David Tennant

★ Rose Tyler — Billie Piper

★ Jackie Tyler — Camille Coduri

★ Mickey Smith — Noel Clarke

★ Pete Tyler — Shaun Dingwall

★ John Lumic — Roger Lloyd Pack

★ Jake Simmonds — Andrew Hayden-Smith

★ The President — Don Warrington

★ Mr Crane — Colin Spaull

★ Rita-Anne — Mona Hammond

★ Mrs Moore — Helen Griffin

★ Dr Kendrick — Paul Antony-Barber

★ Morris — Adam Shaw

★ Soldier — Andrew Ufondo

★ Newsreader — Duncan Duff

★ Cyber-Leader — Paul Kasey

★ Cyber-Voice — Nicholas Briggs

Cast notes

★ Lloyd Pack and David Tennant previously worked together in the film adaptation of ''Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire'' as father and son — Barty Crouch Sr and Barty Crouch Jr respectively. Incidentally, Tennant played the villainous role in the film.

★ Colin Spaull played the role of Lilt in ''Revelation of the Daleks'', which was also directed by Graeme Harper. Spaull is the sixth actor to appear in both the original series and the revival.

★ Don Warrington, who plays the President, previously provided the voice for Time Lord founder Rassilon in the ''Doctor Who'' audio plays produced by Big Finish Productions.

★ As seen in ''Doctor Who Confidential'' episode "Cybermen", the actors playing the Cybermen went through extensive choreographing to perfect their movements.

★ Graeme Harper is the first director to have directed stories in the original and new series of ''Doctor Who'', having previously directed ''The Caves of Androzani'' and ''Revelation of the Daleks''.

★ According to ''The Sun'', Lloyd Pack broke his leg just days before filming began on the episode, requiring the scripts being rewritten to place his character, John Lumic, in a wheelchair.^[1] Writer Tom MacRae told ''Doctor Who Magazine'' in issue #369 that no rewrites were necessary: the script had always had Lumic in a wheelchair as this became part of his motivation for creating the Cybermen given that he was in a wheelchair and dying and wanted to prolong his life.

★ Lloyd Pack told ''The Daily Mirror'' that he based the character of Lumic on Donald Rumsfeld: "I thought, 'Who is a power-hungry mad person who believes he is completely right and has a lot of control?' Donald Rumsfeld came to mind. He's as bad a man as I see around now."^[2]

Continuity

★ ''Doctor Who Magazine'' #368 confirmed that this story was inspired by the Big Finish Productions audio play ''Spare Parts'', which Russell T. Davies had previously described (along with ''The Holy Terror'') as "some of the finest drama ever written for any genre, in any medium, anywhere." ''Spare Parts'' author, Marc Platt, received a fee and was credited in the end titles ("With thanks to Marc Platt"), and there is a nod in the dialogue with Mickey labelling himself a "spare part". However, writer Tom MacRae noted that his television story was not a simple rewrite of ''Spare Parts'': "My story isn't the same — it's got a different setting, different themes, and different characters, cos once we started talking, the whole thing developed in a very different direction. But as Russell says, we wouldn't have started this whole line of thinking if he hadn't heard ''Spare Parts'' in the first place." (In the 2005 series, the audio play ''Jubilee'' was adapted into the episode "Dalek", and in the 2007 series, the New Adventures novel ''Human Nature'' was adapted into the two-part story, "Human Nature"/The Family of Blood)

★ The episode (and its second chapter) also includes similarities to the the 1968 serial ''The Invasion'' as the first episode of the latter also introduces a powerful electronics company dominating the planet and run by a man (in the case of ''The Invasion'', Tobias Vaughn) who is in league with the Cybermen. Both stories also include characters who are resisting the company, as well as rebellious chief "henchmen" working for the villain.

★ Rose's "Superphone", originally a Nokia 3200, has been replaced by a Samsung D500.

★ In the commentary, it is noted that Jackie's "40th" birthday is a reference to the 40th anniversary of the broadcast of ''The Tenth Planet'', the first appearance of the Cybermen.

★ The name of the front company on the lorries transporting the Cybermen, International Electromatics, is a reference to the Cybermen's front company in the 1968 serial ''The Invasion''. St Paul's Cathedral, which appears matted into the background in one of the scenes shot in Cardiff, also appeared in ''The Invasion'', which featured the Cybermen marching down some steps with the cathedral in the background.

★ When Rose asks if the Cybermen are robots, the Doctor replies that they are "worse than that." The same exchange happened between the Fifth Doctor and Captain Briggs in ''Earthshock'' (1982). A Cyberman tells the President, "You will be like us." This is a catchphrase of the original Cybermen, first used in the Second Doctor story ''The Tomb of the Cybermen'' (1967).

★ The President says, "I'm sorry. I'm so sorry", to the Cybermen at the party. The Doctor used this phrase in "New Earth" when examining a diseased 'New Human' and this phrase is used later in the 2006 series, for example in the next episode, "The Age of Steel".

★ The naming of the parallel Mickey as "Ricky" is a reference to an old joke from the Ninth Doctor's deliberate naming of Mickey as Ricky to annoy him.

★ The conversions are performed at Battersea Power Station, which is shown to be fully operational with four smoking chimneys in this parallel universe. Battersea Power Station was last seen in the series (with its chimneys damaged) in ''The Dalek Invasion of Earth'' (1964). The external shots of the chimneys and many of the internal shots were taken at Uskmouth Power Station in Newport.

★ Mickey apparently gets a hair cut in between the events of "The Girl in the Fireplace" and this episode, indicating that some time has passed and the possibility of unseen adventures taking place in that gap, or, more simply, that there are hair clippers on the TARDIS. The episode also reveals that Mickey sports a large tattoo on his right biceps; according to actor Noel Clarke's commentary, the tattoo was make-up applied for the episode.

★ When last seen in "Father's Day", Pete Tyler asked Rose if, in the future, he had gone grey; when she failed to answer, he looked concerned and asked if he'd gone bald. In this episode, the parallel Pete Tyler has indeed begun to bald.

★ The face of Big Ben on the parallel Earth is seen to have a square face instead of a round one. However, when next seen in "The Age of Steel", it has reverted to a round face.

★ Annoyed at the Doctor's choice to sneak into Jackie's birthday party as servants, one of Rose's suggestions of people they could have been are "Sir Doctor" and "Dame Rose", a reference to the honours they received from Queen Victoria in the episode "Tooth and Claw".

★ There are two ''Torchwood'' references in this episode, one in the news report that Rose watches on her mobile phone which mentions the Torchwood Institute, and during the party, when Pete Tyler identifies a party-goer as "the guy from Torchwood". This implies that the Institute is either more public on this parallel Earth or is not the same type of organisation (or both).

★ New catchphrases for the Cybermen include talking about compatibility like the clockwork droids of "The Girl in the Fireplace" and a repeated use of "Delete!", the last comparable to the Daleks' "Exterminate!"

★ The events of this story are referred to several times in the subsequent episodes "Army of Ghosts" and "Doomsday".

★ The first scene in the TARDIS has Mickey holding down a console button because he mistakenly believes it will keep the ship in flight. This echoes the first scene of 1977’s ''The Robots of Death'', in which companion Leela believes she must keep spinning a yo-yo to sustain the TARDIS’s “magic.”

Parallel universes in Doctor Who

The story takes place on a parallel Earth. A parallel version of Earth, complete with counterparts to familiar characters, was previously seen in the 1970 Third Doctor serial ''Inferno''. In this story, the Doctor says that the TARDIS draws energy from its own universe, and the energy of the parallel Earth is incompatible. In ''Inferno'', this was not an issue because the Doctor was powering the TARDIS console in both universes using current drawn from a nuclear reactor. The meeting of Mickey and Ricky appears to contradict ''Inferno'', where the Doctor refuses to take the parallel universe counterparts back to his universe, implying that the consequences would be disastrous. Humans from a parallel universe also appeared in ''Battlefield'' with no ill effects.
The Doctor also states that the Time Lords used to control the barriers between parallel universes, making journeys between them easier. This appears to contradict the continuity established in the Big Finish Productions audio play ''Neverland'', where Time Lord society founder Rassilon and the early Time Lords were hostile towards parallel timelines and Rassilon even sought to eliminate them. On the other hand, ''Inferno'' implied that until then, to the Doctor's knowledge, parallel timelines were only a theoretical possibility.
The concept of a white "Void" between dimensions, and its description as given in this story (as "nowhere"), is reminiscent of the Void from episode one of the 1968 serial ''The Mind Robber''. It is unclear in the context of the 2006 episodes if this is intended as the same Void from the earlier story.

Production

★ Early drafts of this story featured "Body Shops", where wealthy people would purchase new cybernetic limbs. Davies vetoed this element because he found it unbelievable. He also instructed Tom MacRae to tone down the differences between the parallel universe versions of characters and their "real" universe counterparts. "I think it was one of those great lessons about the freedom of SF, as well as its greatest dangers, because when you're creating a parallel world, you suddenly get excited by saying everyone can wear eye patches," said Davies, referring to the alternative Brigadier Lethbridge-Stewart in ''Inferno''.^[3]

★ According to Graeme Harper on the episode commentary, the pre-credits sequence was written by Russell T. Davies as he was not satisfied with the original opening.

★ Official BBC websites include http://www.cybusindustries.net, http://www.cybusfitness.co.uk/ and http://www.internationalelectromatics.co.uk/. Other similarly-named websites are run by fans.

★ The BBC also registered the following domain names: cybusindustries.com^[4], cybusindustries.co.uk^[5], cybusfinance.com^[6], cybusfinance.co.uk^[7], cybusproperty.com^[8] and cybusproperty.co.uk.^[9]

★ The Art Deco look of the 2006 Cybermen design follows that from the web cast ''Real Time''. According to the episode commentary, director Graham Harper wanted an Art Deco feel to the parallel universe Earth. Art Deco costumes had previously been used for the K1 Robot in ''Robot'' (1974) and for much of the cast (including robots) in ''The Robots of Death'' (1977). The Art Deco design, as well as the robotic movements of the Cybermen, are reminiscent of Fritz Lang's ''Metropolis''.

★ Unlike the two-part stories from the 2005 series, this episode featured no "Next time" trailer for the next episode — only a title card reading "To be continued...", the first time the phrase has ever been used to end an episode in the programme's history. The production team had stated previously that one episode in this series was so long that there was no time for a preview. Many viewers had criticised the use of a preview at the end of the 2005 episode "Aliens of London" for "World War Three" as it spoiled the dramatic cliffhanger ending. Beginning with "The Impossible Planet", trailers for the second part of stories were ran during the middle eight.

Outside references

★ Jake refers to the Child Catcher when talking about Cybus taking people away, a reference to ''Chitty Chitty Bang Bang''.

★ Jackie's birthday in both the "real" and parallel universes is February 1. The parallel Jackie wrote in her official biography that she was born on the same day as Cuba Gooding, Jr., whose birthday in the real world is January 2, 1968. According to Mickey's reading of a discarded newspaper, it is "this year" (presumably the year when he left the real Earth in "School Reunion").

Broadcast and DVD release

★ Although scheduled to be broadcast in the UK from 7:00 to 7:45 p.m., the episode was broadcast from 7:23 p.m.^[10] due to the overrunning of the FA Cup Final. The corresponding episode of ''Doctor Who Confidential'' was subsequently delayed until "Rise of the Cybermen" had aired.

★ For the first time, the closing titles featured a mix between the opening titles music and the 2006 arrangement (performed by the BBC National Orchestra of Wales).

★ Overnight viewing figures for this episode averaged 8.6 million (39.7% share), peaking at 9.65 million. The audience appreciation index was 86. Its final viewing figure was 9.22 million, making it the sixth most watched programme of the week, the highest chart placing the new series of ''Doctor Who'' has yet achieved, and beaten in the original series only by episode two of ''The Ark in Space'', which charted at number five.¹⁰

★ This episode was released together with "The Age of Steel" and "The Idiot's Lantern" as a "vanilla" DVD with no special features, and later as part of the complete Series 2 boxed set.

References

1. The Sun Online: Trigger's ''Dr Who'' part revised after leg break
2. All the President's Cybermen Cameron Robertson
3. ''Who'''s Cybermen Lighten Up
4. WHOIS for cybusindustries.com
5. WHOIS for cybusindustries.co.uk
6. WHOIS for cybusfinance.com
7. WHOIS for cybusfinance.co.uk
8. WHOIS for cybusproperty.com
9. WHOIS for cybusproperty.co.uk
10. A Brief History of Time (Travel): "Rise of the Cybermen"/"The Age of Steel"

External links

★ TARDISODE 5

★ "Cybermen" - episode trailer

★ Episode commentary by Graeme Harper, Neill Gorton and Rob Mayor

★ "Rise of the Cybermen" episode guide on the BBC website

★ "Rise of the Cybermen" episode homepage

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★ Photos and set reports from filming can be found in the archives of Outpost Gallifrey's news page (scroll down to January 15: "New Series Filming: Huge Photo, Set Report Update").

Reviews

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