Rise of the Cybermen

It's hard to imagine ever wanting to be doing anything else in the middle of Doctor Who. I wouldn't, of course. The whole of Hanson could wander in as the titles began, wearing nothing but their percussion instruments, and I'd still tell them to come back in forty five minutes. I got ridiculously irate waiting for tonight's delayed Graham Norton Strictly Come Celebrity Ballroom Ice-skating On Ice to finish so 'Who could begin, to the extent that I started swearing and expressing my wish that someone would squat on the jolly Irish host's face to shut him up. That's not nice, and he probably doesn't deserve it. But the point is, watching Doctor Who is the only past-time that one absolutely doesn't want to be dragged away from. And yet, a couple of times lately, mid-episode, I've found myself thinking thoughts along the lines of "hurry up". Maybe even, on some level of madness, "this is getting a bit dull".

It's not really of course; I think it's just impatience. A fidgety desire to see those Cybermen at last during what seemed like an eternity of Britain's finest character actors talking to each other while the Doctor and Rose schmoozed round a party in sci-fi's least interesting parallel Universe. Perhaps even those usual thoughts for the Silent Majority, you know, those ones that get us the ratings. That's why I was really urging defecation on Graham Norton, I was scared the kids would turn over to "X-Men" in the mistaken belief that Doctor Who had been cancelled. And mid-way through, instead of watching the story, I was willing it along so the monsters could appear. Or maybe the kid in me just wanted to see the monsters!

It's a shame that the parallel Universe, basically a device to cover up the fact that they needed to re-do the Cybermen's origins (surely Marc Platt should have thanked THEM, not the other way around; they were kind enough to go out of their way not to retcon out his Big Finish) wasn't jazzed up to disguise it's purpose. Call me a traditionalist, but isn't this an excuse for silly wigs and accents? Exploring a parallel world should be one thrill after another, as the audience discovers the weird and wonderful ways each of the characters they know are different - and with a larger regular cast than any other season since the Pertwee era (home of the last proper parallel Universe story - coincidence? Think about it...) and a greater propensity for comic high jinks than most, the team should have gone to town. But parallel Mickey seemed the same, only slightly more irate, Rose being a dog didn't really cut the mustard in the shock stakes, and Jackie... well, what was going on there? I remain confused as to whether the twist was that she was greatly different, or largely the same. No, this parallel Earth was no more parallel than the one we meet in Doctor Who every week - the one where aliens invade and everyone has to mention Torchwood every ten seconds.

But of course it would be unfair to judge the story on this first episode. It is, after all, there to establish events for the second half. And despite being frustrated because I JUST WANTED TO SEE THOSE CYBERMEN (they didn't disappoint by the way) the build-up was excellent. Although Roger Lloyd-Pack seemed a bit miscast, not quite knowing whether to go over the top or swoop into being his character in "Vicar of Dibley", this re-tread of "The Invasion" (was there any other reason why International Electromatics was name checked?) is cleverer than it looks. You see, half-way through, it suddenly struck me WHY they have re-invented the Cybermen, a conceit you may just have put down to reasons of vanity. But it's more complicated than that.

The Cybermen have always been about our future. Or, to be more precise, our fear of the future. Let us not forget that their original concept was surely influenced by the rise in the use of donor organs and prosthetic limbs - the first ever heart transplant was in 1967, just a year after "The Tenth Planet", but they surely saw it coming. Now, that fear seems faintly laughable, as transplants are so common place. Carrying a donor card is as responsible as recycling empty glass bottles, so no-one is going to start worrying about the loss of humanity through organ transplants any more. But computers and the Internet... well, think about it. That's today's biggest fear. People are afraid of computer fraud, worried that people can get to them 'on-line' and steal their bank details, even their IDENTITY. We all live in fear that whatever we do, it will be observed via a hidden camera or bit of spyware. Cue Doctor Who's swift revision of the Cybermen to be born out of today's world, a natural extension of earpiece technology, which is just a short step from the wireless technology we're all currently ushering into our lives. Which all goes to show how far ahead of its time "The Invasion" actually was. It was so far ahead, it didn't really work back then.

So "Rise of the Cybermen" was clearly a scene-setter. Perhaps for next week, but most likely for a future story, or stories, where the Cybermen are indeed re-born to tap into the fears of the modern audience. Just like they did all those years ago. Smart old Doctor Who, again.