Rise of the Cybermen

Dear Gary—

Rise of the Cybermen gives us just that—the rise of a re-imagined and repurposed cyber race in a parallel universe. It is a chance to wipe the slate clean of the confusing, convoluted, and cockeyed history of Original Who Cybermen. Cybermen of old first appeared in The Tenth Planet with a readymade and long but clouded past. The show never chose to explore the true rise of the Cybermen, how they came to be or how they came to move their home planet of Mondas (twin planet of Earth) out of their own galaxy. This was an opportunity lost. In subsequent serials the Cybermen hop scotched their way through the Doctor Who universe, their story always littered with gaping holes.

Rather than going back and trying to piece together a coherent record of the Cybermen from the patchwork pattern laid down, New Who has decided to start from scratch; new Cybermen; new origin story; even a new universe. The result is a much more effective and menacing villain, yet a tad mundane and slightly Saturday morning children’s hour.

It starts with their creator, John Lumic. The rich narrative of Mondas is dispensed with entirely; it is unclear if Mondas even exists in this parallel universe or what has become of its inhabitants who in that alternate reality had turned to cybernetics for survival. Perhaps Lumic has some connection to Mondas. However, for all intents and purposes, Mondas is nonexistent and it is one man and one man alone who is responsible for the Cybermen. John Lumic. As such, the mad and crippled Lumic is the epitome of a comic book super villain.

He sits in his chair hooked up to various contraptions (echoes of Davros) snarling and barking with unreasoned repugnance. His insane desire to extend his own life combined with his egomaniacal pride in his brilliance has led him to the ultimate human upgrade: “a living brain jammed inside a cybernetic body, with a heart of steel; all emotions removed.”

Lumic has been forcibly upgrading the homeless and forgotten peoples of the Earth, creating an army of Cybermen. His desire for immortality has led him to the maniacal belief that all humanity will benefit. His goal is to upgrade the entire population. This is a distortion from Classic Cybermen. The overriding motivation for Classic Cybermen was always survival. While Lumic has the initial desire for his personal survival, the converted and upgraded lot has no such drive. Their prime objective is simply to save, elevate, and give eternal life (to paraphrase their creator Lumic). It is actually an act of benevolence in some twisted way.  Except that those who resist are killed. And this brings these new Cybermen dangerously close to being nothing more than alternative Daleks. The vital distinction, however, is that Daleks exterminate any and all that are different, only converting when they need to reinforce their ranks, while the Cyberman convert any and all that are different, only deleting those who are incompatible.

A word about the new conversion process—this I do not understand. The new Cybermen themselves are forbidding with their military precision and relentless march; their redesign is terrifying; they are cold and calculating, yet horrifyingly pitiable (“Why no emotions?” “Because it hurts.”).  Their aim to turn all of human kind into these monsters is gruesome. But what one would expect to be a delicate and meticulous operation is accomplished in a couple minutes by the cartoonish one-size-fits-all hack and slash machine. It deflates the terror and turns it into a playschool shock theater. I cannot take the process seriously.

The Cybermen aside, we still have the parallel universe to contend with.

The episode starts with the TARDIS falling out of the time vortex, which the Doctor declares is impossible. “We’re in some sort of no place; the silent realm; the lost dimension,” he further states. “Otherwise known as London,” Mickey says, proving the Doctor wrong. Mickey quickly works out that this is a parallel universe; this is only a sign of things to come for Mickey. This and the next episode very much belong to Mickey. The Doctor, meantime, throws up his hands and gives up, proclaiming the TARDIS DOA. Luckily for him the TARDIS gives him a sign that there is still some life left in her and the crew is given 24 hours shore leave while the power is recharging.

The prospect of a parallel universe is intriguing; however the way it plays out is all too convenient. Aside from hints of a literal upper class high above in zeppelins, curfews, and a homeless problem, little is disclosed about this world. It is merely a backdrop and excuse for the obviously manufactured drama to follow. By some miracle, out of the whole wide parallel universe the TARDIS has landed in London, and not just parallel London but the one parallel London in which both Peter Tyler (alive in this world) and Mickey’s double (Ricky) are hot on the trail of John Lumic and his cyber creations. This is stretching credulity beyond its breaking point; however it does provide some nice character moments.

How great is it to see Peter Tyler alive and not just well but prospering? Of course things are not all peaches and cream, what with alternate Jackie (who by the way is a hoot). Rose’s defiance of the Doctor in seeking out her father is predictable, although I’m not so sure why the Doctor is so adamant against her finding him. After all, he willingly had broken time laws to take her back to visit her real father before his death. There are some genuine moments between Rose and alternate Pete and Rose and alternate Jackie that make the whopping coincidences forgivable though.

Interesting that there is no alternate Rose or alternate Doctor. I find it hilarious that the closest thing this parallel universe has to a Rose is a dog. But oh how cloying a statement that Rose is one of a kind. As for the Doctor—I suppose there could be an alt for the Doctor kicking somewhere about; after all there is a Torchwood, but I expect that could have been started for different reasons. It would be a fascinating tale to tell if the Doctor ever did meet his double, but that would be a different story. It is this story, Rise of the Cybermen, that is being told, and as such there is no room for two Doctors.

There is room, however, for Mickey and his alt, and they make up for anything else that is lacking. Noel Clarke does a fantastic job conveying the two personalities, but I think equally or even more impressive is the job he does in depicting the emotional journey that Mickey goes through in this and the next story. From the hurt he feels when the Doctor and Rose make him the butt of their joke, to the realization that the Doctor will always go running after Rose and never him, to the discovery that his alternate self has the respect and admiration of his gang, Mickey is measuring up his own self worth. And the mixture of pain and joy at meeting his alternate grandmother, dead in his world and alive in this, is truly touching.

By the way, the abuse his grandmother heaps on him goes a long way in explaining why Mickey has always taken it from Rose. Rose laughing as she tells the Doctor how the grandmother used to slap Mickey tells a lot about Rose as well. Mickey is one young man who could benefit from counseling and an in-depth review of his relationship patterns.

By chance, Mickey and Ricky and the gang converge on the very house where the Doctor and Rose find themselves and where Lumic and his merry Cybermen are planning a siege. It is a bit of a mystery to me why Lumic, who had rejected out of hand the suggestion of presenting his cyber innovations for Geneva’s approval, bothers with seeking the endorsement of the President of Great Britain to start our serial. I can only imagine that being the super villain that he is, this is his way of rubbing it in when the President offers his resistance to the Cybermen at Jackie’s party at the end. Another mystery is why Lumic needs to get all of the security arrangements and access codes from Jackie when his Cybermen just come crashing through. I suppose that bit was simply to display the powers of his ear pods and to revel in his sinister side.

Speaking of the ear pods—I find it really hard to believe that every person on the planet is sporting these. Aside from the horrible fashion statement, the inconvenience, the cumbersomeness, the expense . . . are people really that stupid? OK, you can look at people today and their cell phones and iPods and tablets and all manner of gadgetry—but that’s the point—there are all manner of gadgetry; all manner of shapes and sizes and manufacturers. Where one pops up fifty varieties follow. Everyone has something different because everyone is different; and some (namely me) have none.  And then there is the whole everyone stops dead in their tracks at the exact same time no matter where they are or what they are doing aspect. How many car crashes result? Not to mention any number of activities one could be doing that would be inconvenient or dangerous or embarrassing to have interrupted in that manner.

Rise of the Cybermen is a set-up episode full of such flaws, massive coincidences, and contrivances, but it still manages to be sufficiently entertaining. It ends on the cliffhanger of our heroes being deemed inferior. “Delete. Delete. Delete.”

Of course, Gary, we know how this works . . .

to be continued . . .