Rise of the Cybermen (TV story)

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

- Cybermen

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.

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

 * 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
 * The President - Don Warrington
 * Rita-Anne Smith - Mona Hammond
 * Angela Price/Mrs Moore - Helen Griffin
 * Mr. Crane - Colin Spaull
 * Dr. Kendrick - Paul Antony-Barber
 * Morris - Adam Shaw
 * Soldier - Andrew Ufondo
 * Newsreader - Duncan Duff
 * Cyber-Leader - Paul Kasey
 * Cybermen's voice - Nicholas Briggs
 * Cybermen - Gethin Jones (uncredited), Kevin Wickenden (uncredited)

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.

Location Filming

 * 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.
 * Rose informs the Doctor that Mickey's parents are gone and that his grandmother raised him, but had stated earlier in Rose that she would have to tell his mother about his death. Foster mother? Or, it's possible that his mother passed away between the events of the two episodes. Remember, Rose was gone a whole year with the Doctor.
 * 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.

Continuity

 * Ricky Smith's name refers back to the previous Doctor's insistence on calling him that name to annoy him, particularly while visiting Cardiff. (DW: Boom Town)
 * The Doctor has previously travelled to an alternate universe in Inferno, EDA: The Shadows of Avalon, NA: Blood Heat and an alternate universe comes this one in DW: Battlefield.
 * The sequel to this story is The Age of Steel.
 * The Cybus Industries Cybermen, Mickey Smith, Jake Simmonds and Pete Tyler all reappear in Army of Ghosts and Doomsday. The Cybus Cybermen will reappear in the 2008 Christmas special The Next Doctor.
 * PDA: Loving the Alien featured an alternate Earth where the humans embraced Cyber technology.
 * Rise of the Cybermen is partially inspired by Marc Platt's BFA: Spare Parts.
 * In the Classic Doctor Who TV adventures, the Cybermen have a different origin story.The First Doctor first encounters them in The Tenth Planet. They come from the planet Mondas. They were humanoids who augmented themselves with cybernetic parts as their world died. Later they were to establish themselves on Telos. There is no discontinuity however as the events of the Tennant adventure occur in a parrallel universe.

DVD and Other Releases

 * This was released on a vanilla DVD along side The Age of Steel and The Idiot's Lantern.
 * It was also released as part of the Series 2 DVD box set.