The Doctor and Rose face the terrifying Cybermen on an alternate Earth doomed to disaster!
Summary
John Lumic, owner of Cybus Industries, is obsessed with the extension of life through cybernetics, since he is confined to a wheelchair and is dying. His latest experiment is success, but one of his scientists raises ethical concerns and so Lumic has him killed by his creation.
Meanwhile, 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.
Lumic has a meeting with Pete 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.
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". Mickey is, rather bitterly, left alone, and heads off to see family of his own.
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 John Lumic's Cybus Industries, a company which own Pete's business, Vitex. The Doctor decides to attend Rose 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, meanwhile, visits his blind Gran, who died from a fall in his own universe. She refers to him as Ricky, but before he can come in for a cup of tea Mickey is abducted teo people in a blue van. These two, Jake and Mrs Moore, also call him Ricky, and take him back to their base - where they meet the real Ricky. The three of them are the "resistance", a team who are convinced Cybus is up to no good and have been investigating them with the help of an inside agent. Cybus has been abducting homeless people, but it seems bigger things are now afoot, and the resistance decide to head for the party, taking Mickey with them.
Disguised as catering staff, the Doctor tries to listen in on important conversations while Rose speaks with the alternate versions of both her parents, realising they're not the real thing. Before they can find out anything terribly useful, however, the party is interuppted by Lumic's creations: Cybermen. They smash their way into the building 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 & Characters
- The Doctor - David Tennant
- Rose Tyler - Billie Piper
- Mickey Smith, Ricky Smith - Noel Clarke
- Jackie Tyler - Camille Coduri
- Pete Tyler - Shaun Dingwall
- John Lumic - Roger Lloyd-Pack
- Jake Simmonds - Andrew Hayden-Smith
- Rita-Anne - Mona Hammond
- Dr Singh - Raji James
- Mr Crane - Colin Spaull
- Mrs Moore - Helen Griffin
- Photographer - Jules Bert
More Info
- Early reports erroneously gave the title of this story as "Rise of the Cyberman."
References
To be added.
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