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 Mickey: “I reckon you’re braver”
Ricky: “Yeah, ten times”.
That’s an interesting exchange because I
have a similar feeling about this concluding episode to the Cyberman two-parter
myself. Am I alone in that sentiment? I really hope not and to be honest, I
would be very surprised if I was too.
Last week ended on such a cliff-hanger and
with the surprising lack of online spoilers circulating (to be honest, I didn’t
even find any preview pictures for this episode on David Tennant’s website), I
was positively tingling with excitement while wondering how The Doctor and
company were going to escape from being “deleted” and it was a little simple.
Yes in order for no-one significant to die
within the first three minutes of the episode, The Doctor used a power cell
from the TARDIS to blow up a few of the surrounding Cybermen before legging it
in a van with Pete, Rose, Mickey, Ricky, Jake and Mrs Moore. Okay so this was a
little cheat but for the rest of the 45 minutes, this episode was anything but
disappointing.
Oh and if you were frustrated with the lack
of presence from the metallic monsters from “Rise Of The Cybermen”, then this
episode more than makes it up for you as we get plenty of Cyberman action.
Just because The Doctor offed a few of them
in the beginning, it doesn’t mean that the threat was and one thing you can
credit John Lumic on is his determination to make the entire city of London
into emotionless robots and while we see many random strangers being controlled
to walk to their death, among them happens to be one Jackie Tyler.
Jackie as a Cyberman – who would’ve thought
it would happen? I stupidly assumed that she was either going to be killed or
eventually rescued by The Doctor along the way but when Rose and Pete
infiltrated Cybus Industries (with the help of fake earpieces), I soon learned
different. Having Rose and Pete find Jackie as a Cyberman was one of several
impressive twists in this episode and dramatically, it was utilised superbly.
Rose and Pete’s relationship in this
episode was tackled in a surprisingly different way too. Those of you expecting
a similar loving outcome with them a la “Father’s Day” are in for a shock as
instead of forging a bond with each other during the Cyberman attack, running
for their lives and being captured and eventually defeating the psychotic
Lumic, they were actually torn apart.
Billie Piper threw in quite a sympathetic
performance as in this parallel universe, Rose had to deal with the death of
her mother, getting the opportunity to tell Pete that they are related but
getting rejected by him, though to be fair to the writing and Shaun Dingwall,
Pete is never vilified for not wanting to know his daughter.
Pete’s contribution to this episode is
certainly interesting. If they were fears last week that he was a bad guy, then
they are kicked into touch when we learn that he was against Lumic all along
and connected to The Preachers. There’s also how he told Rose not to show
emotion during the infiltration at Cybus Industries and yet it was him who blew
their cover. Still though, I’m glad he wasn’t a bad guy and I’m also glad he
survived this episode, willing to stop Lumic’s master plan in the long run too.
Still though, Rose went through quite the
emotional ringer this week and on top losing one alternative parent by a
Cyberman and another through his own free will, she ends up losing her
on-off/sorely underappreciated until now boyfriend in the process. It’s no
wonder that when the TARDIS materialised in Jackie’s flat towards the end of
the episode that hugging her mother was the first thing she did. Even The
Doctor could tell that Rose needed a human touch.
As for Mickey, once again Noel Clarke
dominated this episode and to be fair, he was phenomenal here. Just look at the
examples for crying out loud. His conversation with Ricky about their
similarities and The Doctor and Rose before the latter was killed by a Cyberman
was both hilarious and self-aware.
But what really impressed me though is how
in the wake of being unable to save Ricky, Mickey literally stepped into his
shoes and assumed a leadership role. Jake may have been against and you could
tell The Doctor was sceptical but he still took command and together with Jake
(with some humorous sniping from Jake), the both of them managed to get to
Lumic’s Zeppelin in order to help bring the madman down.
I knew there was a reason The Doctor kept
using the “idiot” analogy for humans during his confrontation with a Cyberman
version of Lumic but after the events unfolded here, we have the proof that
Mickey really isn’t an idiot after all. In fact it was him who saved the day,
not The Doctor so much, although the Time Lord did his bit to help things.
His goodbye to Rose and The Doctor at the
end was poignant. I felt that Mickey hit home on a lot of things. Him and Rose
did have something but it is gone and she seems to be destined to be with The
Doctor and not him (I’m not speaking romantic wise). Although Rose was sad to
see Mickey go, I get the impression that she knows it’s the right thing for
him.
In this world he has a purpose to live and
people who he can protect. If this isn’t a satisfying way of writing out a
character, then what is? Doing a J.J Abrams and randomly killing them in a
senseless fashion? I’ll miss Mickey and Noel Clarke but maybe Mickey being gone
for the time being isn’t such a bad thing to be honest.
Besides, The Preachers really do need a
leader. With both Ricky dead and Mrs Moore killed by a Cyberman after we learned
quite a bit about her (I really enjoyed her scenes with The Doctor while they
were underground trying to sneak into Lumic’s lair), Mickey is probably a good
choice, leader wise.
The fact that it was his quick thinking and
various acts of bravery that saved everyone’s bacon this week are a part of the
reason why he makes a good leader. Another one I can think of that I mentioned
earlier was the fact he finally refused to be put down that showed real
strength and development in his character.
Not that I think Jake would be a bad
leader. He can certainly handle himself and proved to have no qualms with
knocking out henchmen but Mickey also showed logic and resolve, which is why
Jake is probably better as a right hand man for now. Even The Doctor showed a
newfound respect for the departing Mickey and hopefully we’ll able to see
Mickey and Jake (along with Pete for the ride, kicking some Cyberman butt).
Now, let’s deal with the Cybermen
themselves. First off they appeared in over half the episode, so you really
can’t complain there and they did slaughter quite a few people along the way,
including Ricky and Mrs Moore and they certainly exuded a convincing amount of
menace but at the end of the day, they were the army behind the real monster –
John Lumic.
What can you say about Lumic? Well the man
is dying and desperate to live, his upgrade into becoming a Cyberman himself
was inevitable. Although how interesting was it that he wanted to have choice
to become one of those emotionless creatures and yet he had no problem with
denying his victims the same choices. Even the annoying Mr Crane was killed
after trying to stop John’s descent into lunacy.
The confrontation between the upgraded
Lumic and The Doctor sparkled though, with the latter furiously arguing over
the fact that not only what Lumic doing is wrong by killing people and changing
them into Cybermen but he was also killing the traits that Lumic had prided
himself such as imagination. The Doctor eerily admired Lumic’s imagination if
not his sinister plans for Cybermen to be launched on seven continents. Lumic
on the other-hand probably just wanted The Doctor gagged for being against his
plan. David Tennant’s hyperactive performances at times can be unsettling as
well as brilliant. Let’s just say that Lumic isn’t of the Liberal persuasion.
Still though, downfalls didn’t come more
spectacular when The Doctor managed to get a code from the Lumic Family
Database and Rose’s mobile to disarm the emotional inhibitors on Lumic’s
Cybermen army, thus killing them when they couldn’t handle their newly awakened
feelings. That would be a disadvantage in using more than just the brain in
these designs but even with his army destroyed and Lumic sent to a fiery
destination, thanks to Pete, there’s the awfully nagging feeling that we
haven’t seen the last of this nutcase. I kind of hope we haven’t too.
Also in “The Age Of Steel”...
This is the first time this season that
we’ve gotten a “Previously On”. Only with two-part episodes I guess.
The Doctor (re Jackie): “She’s not your
mother”
Rose: “I know”.
The Doctor: “I’m The Doctor by the way if
anyone’s interested”
Rose: “I’m Rose, hello”
Pete: “That’s the name of my dog”.
I loved the revelation that Ricky was
wanted for parking tickets. It was actually funny. Oh and Pete works for
Gemini.
The Doctor (to Rose): “Give anyone a chance
to take control and you all submit. Sometimes I think you like it”.
Debate time: Not seeing Jackie’s “death” –
good or bad thing? I think Good myself.
Mickey: “I’m not an idiot, you get that?
I’m offering to help”
Jake: “Whatever”.
Mrs Moore’s real name was Angela Price. She
was an employee of Cybus Industries but became a fugitive after reading a
private file. She had a husband and children.
Pete: “Why are you doing this?”
Rose: “Let’s say I’m doing it for my Mum
and Dad”.
No Torchwood reference this week and the
TARDIS sub-plot was largely ignored until the end.
The Doctor (to Mrs Moore): “Who needs
family? I’ve got the weight of the world on my shoulders”.
Cyberman: “You are not upgraded”
Mrs Moore: “Yeah, well upgrade this”.
Various Cybermen killings: Mickey with a
fuse box, The Doctor with a cell from the TARDIS and Mrs Moore with an electric
bomb, which looked cool.
The Doctor: “I’m captured. Oh well, Rose
and Pete can still rescue me. Oh wait they’re here too”.
The Doctor: “I’m The Doctor”
Lumic: “That’s a redundant title”.
Lumic’s Cyberman looked paler and thinner
in comparison to the other Cybermen.
Lumic: “You’re proud of your emotions?”
The Doctor: “Yeah”.
Lumic: “What have you done?”
The Doctor (re Cybermen): “I gave them back
their souls. They can see what you’ve done and it’s killing them”.
Rose’s mobile/secret code: 6879760.
Rose: “Dad?”
Pete: “Don’t, just don’t”.
Mickey (to Rose): “We had something a long
time ago, now we don’t”.
This is the third time in this Doctor Who
series that a third man in the TARDIS team has gone although at least unlike
Adam and Captain Jack, Mickey made the decision to leave on his own accord.
The Doctor: “Good luck, Mickey the idiot”
Mickey: “Watch it!”
Jackie (to Rose): “Where did you go?”
The Doctor: “Far away”.
Continuity bits: Rose remembering the
Cybermen from that museum in “Dalek”, Mickey’s “tin dog” reference from earlier
this season and the tow truck he used in “The Parting Of The Ways”.
“The Age Of Steel” is a riveting follow-up
to this riveting two-part adventure. Like with “The Doctor Dances”, this
episode almost beats “Rise Of The Cybermen” and a lot of that has to do with
the emotional content behind this hour. Some powerful performances, a real
sense of danger and a bigger sense that we haven’t seen the last of the
Cybermen or Lumic this season only add to this tremendous episode.
Rating: 
» Review by Shawn Lunn, Copyright 2007.
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