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Rise of the Cybermen (TV story)

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Rise of the Cybermen was the fifth story of Series 2 of Doctor Who. The first half of a two part story, it reintroduced the Cybermen to the series with a new look and origin.

Man will be reborn as Cyberman, but you will perish under maximum Deletion.Cybermen

Synopsis

The Doctor, Rose and Mickey face an old enemy with a new face on an alternate Earth.

Plot

The TARDIS accidentally falls through a hole in the time vortex, crash-landing and apparently dead, cut off from the universe from which it draws energy. It's arrived in what turns out to be London in a parallel universe: almost, but not quite, the same. There are zeppelins in the sky, the population use advanced EarPods instead of mobile phones, and Rose's father Pete is alive and a very successful businessman.

The Doctor manages to find a small part of the TARDIS which is still alive, and gives up a bit of his life to help his ship regenerate. Since this will take around 24 hours, he reluctantly agrees to let his companions explore the parallel Earth, but he chases after Rose to persuade her not to seek out her "father".

One of the powerful players on this earth is John Lumic, owner of Cybus Industries. Lumic is obsessed with the extension of life through cybernetics, since he is confined to a wheelchair by a fatal condition. His latest experiment, a human "upgrade", is nearing completion, and Lumic has one of his scientists killed for raising ethical objections. He has his henchmen round up bands of homeless people and take them to the Cybus factory at Battersea Power Station and "upgrade" them. He also later has a meeting with Pete Tyler and the President of Britain, the latter of whom refuses to allow Lumic to carry on his experiments. Knowing that the President will be attending Jackie Tyler's birthday that night, Lumic accesses the security arrangements and house plans in Jackie's mind via her EarPods and orders a new batch of upgrades be created.

The Doctor and Rose witness a crowd pause as the EarPods they wear download information directly into their brains, and this advanced technology piques the Doctor's interest. The EarPods are manufactured by Cybus, who also own Pete's company, Vitex. The Doctor decides to attend Jackie Tyler's birthday celebration, since the President and many other high profile guests will be there and he may be able to find out more about the Pods.

Mickey, left to his own devices, seeks out his Gran, who died in his universe. While visiting her he's abducted by two people in a blue van: Jake and Mrs Moore, who take him back to their base where they meet Ricky, Mickey's double from this universe. The three of them are the "resistance", a team who have been investigating Cybus' abductions of homeless people with the help of an inside agent. Their contact has just advised that a group of "upgrades" is leaving the Cybus factory. The resistance head off to tail the Cybus truck, taking Mickey with them.

Disguised as catering staff, the Doctor and Rose infiltrate the party, but before they can find out anything useful Lumic's "upgrades" arrive, and the Doctor recognises them as "Cybermen". They smash their way into the house and kill the President before rounding up the rest of the guests to be upgraded into Cybermen themselves.

Rose, the Doctor and Pete manage to get outside, where they meet up with Mickey and the others, but Ricky and Jake's guns are useless against the Cybermen, who surround them. The Doctor tries to surrender, claiming he volunteers for the upgrade, but the Cybermen refuse; as "rogue elements", they are to "perish under maximum deletion..."

Cast


References

  • International Electromatics, a front company for Cybus Industries, has the same name of the company used by Tobias Vaughn in the Doctor's universe which featured in the second doctor's era in the serial DW: The Invasion.
  • The Doctor explains the destruction of the Time Lords made it near-impossible to cross between universes, though he doesn't explain how, exactly.
  • The Doctor powered a green crystal with ten years of his life to power the TARDIS once more so that it can return home. We don't know whether he meant ten years of his entire lifespan or only of current incarnation.
  • Veronica of Reykjavík hand made flower sculptures for Jackie's '39th' birthday.
  • Jackie has a dog called Rose.

Story Notes

  • Early reports erroneously gave the title of this story as "Rise of the Cyberman."

Ratings

to be added

Myths

  • 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. Writer Tom MacRae told Doctor Who Magazine in issue #369 that no rewrites were necessary: the script had always had Lumic in a wheelchair.

Filming Locations

  • The scene where Mickey, the Doctor and Rose all split up away from each other in the alternate universe was filmed outside the recently built Riverfront Arts Centre in Newport.

Discontinuity, Plot Holes, Errors

  • The film crew is reflected in Mickey's grandmother's glasses. Even though I did notice it myself, it's barely visible. Also it could be a reflection of something else.
  • Rose informs the Doctor that Mickey's parents are gone and that his grandmother raised him, but had stated earlier in DW: Rose that she would have to tell his mother about his death. Foster mother? She said his mother could not cope and left, she never said whether Mickey was in contact with her or not so she may have meant she might have to visit Mickey's mother, also remember, Rose was gone a whole year with the Doctor, his mother could have died.
  • Doesn’t the Doctor have a telepathic link with the TARDIS? If so, how come he doesn’t know it’s not dead? Maybe the telepathic link only works when the TARDIS has power and can respond to him.
  • The Doctor and Rose don't have earpods when they are posing as the catering staff, wouldn't they get noticed? It is implied at the start that Jackie has only just got her earpods maybe not everyone has them. It might be expected that servants wouldn't wear them at work, much like bluetooth devices it's considered rude.
  • The clock face of Big Ben is square however it reverts back to round in the following episode. In the first episode, Big Ben is represented by a computer-generated establishing shot; however, in the following episode, Big Ben is seen in footage shot on location.
  • Jackie said that her official Biography says she was born on the same day as Cuba Gooding Junior but his birthday is on 2nd January not 1st February. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cuba_Gooding_Jr Obviously, we have no idea when the Cuba Gooding, Jr., of that universe was born, however.
  • The Doctor says in "Inferno" that taking the alternate Brigadier, Liz Shaw, Dr. Williams, Mr. Sutton, etc. to his universe would cause a cosmic catastrophe, yet Mickey and Ricky are able to coexist without incident.

Continuity

DVD and Other Releases

 
Series 2 Volume 3 DVD Cover

See also

External links

Template:Series 2

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