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Rise of the Cybermen
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Rise of the Cybermen
"Rise of the Cybermen" is the fifth episode of the second series of the British science fiction television programme Doctor Who, which was first broadcast on BBC One on 13 May 2006. The episode introduces a terrestrial reinvention of the Cybermen, as well as a parallel universe which would serve as a recurring plot element in the series. It is the first part of a two-part story, the concluding part being "The Age of Steel", broadcast on 20 May.
The episode is set in the parallel universe's version of London. In the episode, the businessman John Lumic (Roger Lloyd-Pack) seeks to "upgrade" all of humanity into Cybermen by placing their brains inside metal exoskeletons.
The episode was directed by Graeme Harper, who became the first and so far only person in the show's history to have directed episodes in both the original and revived runs of the series: he previously directed the critically acclaimed serial The Caves of Androzani in 1984, and Revelation of the Daleks in 1985.
The episode was the first Doctor Who story to feature the Cybermen in the show's 2005 revival. They last appeared 18 years prior in Silver Nemesis.
The Tenth Doctor, Rose, and Mickey Smith crash land in London on a parallel Earth. The trip has caused all of the TARDIS apart from a small power cell to die. The Doctor energises the cell with some of his own lifeforce. The cell needs 24 hours to fully recharge before the group can return home, so they decide to explore. Rose is shocked to see a billboard with her father Pete's picture on it, knowing that her real father died when she was an infant. Mickey heads off on his own to try to find his grandmother Rita-Anne, who died in his universe years earlier after falling down stairs. The Doctor and Rose discover that most of the population of London wear EarPod devices that feed information directly into the wearer's brain from Cybus Industries, which owns Pete's health drink company Vitex.
Meanwhile the head of Cybus Industries, John Lumic, tries and fails to gain approval from the President of Great Britain for his plan to "upgrade" humanity by placing their brains into metal exoskeletons. Unknown to everyone else, Lumic has already been secretly turning homeless people into Cybermen. Cybus is being investigated by a group called the Preachers, who have been receiving secret information about Lumic's technology from "Gemini". Jake Simmonds, one of the Preachers, witnesses a group of homeless people being lured into lorries to be converted and goes to collect help. Jake finds Mickey at his grandmother's house, and confuses him with his parallel counterpart, Ricky. Jake takes Mickey to the Preachers' base where Ricky and Mickey meet. After some initial distrust, Mickey decides to join the Preachers as they follow the Cybus lorries that kidnapped the homeless to Pete's mansion, which is hosting the birthday party of his wife, Jackie, who did not have a child in this universe and instead gave the name "Rose" to her dog.
Rose and the Doctor also investigate the party and disguise themselves as caterers. The Cybermen break into the mansion and surround the guests, with the intention of upgrading all of them into Cybermen. The Cybermen kill the President for refusing, followed by other partygoers. The Doctor, Rose, and Pete escape the house and encounter Mickey and the Preachers outside. As the group is surrounded by Cybermen, the Doctor and his group surrender. The Cybermen tell them that they are "incompatible" and will be deleted.
Doctor Who Magazine #368 confirmed that this story was inspired by the Big Finish Productions audio play Spare Parts. Russell T Davies had previously described (along with The Holy Terror) as "some of the finest drama ever written for any genre, in any medium, anywhere." Spare Parts author, Marc Platt, received a fee and was credited in the end titles ("With thanks to Marc Platt"), and there is an allusion in the dialogue with Mickey labelling himself a "spare part." However, writer Tom MacRae noted that his television story was not a simple rewrite of Spare Parts: "My story isn't the same — it's got a different setting, different themes, and different characters, 'cause once we started talking, the whole thing developed in a very different direction. But as Russell says, we wouldn't have started this whole line of thinking if he hadn't heard Spare Parts in the first place."
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Rise of the Cybermen
"Rise of the Cybermen" is the fifth episode of the second series of the British science fiction television programme Doctor Who, which was first broadcast on BBC One on 13 May 2006. The episode introduces a terrestrial reinvention of the Cybermen, as well as a parallel universe which would serve as a recurring plot element in the series. It is the first part of a two-part story, the concluding part being "The Age of Steel", broadcast on 20 May.
The episode is set in the parallel universe's version of London. In the episode, the businessman John Lumic (Roger Lloyd-Pack) seeks to "upgrade" all of humanity into Cybermen by placing their brains inside metal exoskeletons.
The episode was directed by Graeme Harper, who became the first and so far only person in the show's history to have directed episodes in both the original and revived runs of the series: he previously directed the critically acclaimed serial The Caves of Androzani in 1984, and Revelation of the Daleks in 1985.
The episode was the first Doctor Who story to feature the Cybermen in the show's 2005 revival. They last appeared 18 years prior in Silver Nemesis.
The Tenth Doctor, Rose, and Mickey Smith crash land in London on a parallel Earth. The trip has caused all of the TARDIS apart from a small power cell to die. The Doctor energises the cell with some of his own lifeforce. The cell needs 24 hours to fully recharge before the group can return home, so they decide to explore. Rose is shocked to see a billboard with her father Pete's picture on it, knowing that her real father died when she was an infant. Mickey heads off on his own to try to find his grandmother Rita-Anne, who died in his universe years earlier after falling down stairs. The Doctor and Rose discover that most of the population of London wear EarPod devices that feed information directly into the wearer's brain from Cybus Industries, which owns Pete's health drink company Vitex.
Meanwhile the head of Cybus Industries, John Lumic, tries and fails to gain approval from the President of Great Britain for his plan to "upgrade" humanity by placing their brains into metal exoskeletons. Unknown to everyone else, Lumic has already been secretly turning homeless people into Cybermen. Cybus is being investigated by a group called the Preachers, who have been receiving secret information about Lumic's technology from "Gemini". Jake Simmonds, one of the Preachers, witnesses a group of homeless people being lured into lorries to be converted and goes to collect help. Jake finds Mickey at his grandmother's house, and confuses him with his parallel counterpart, Ricky. Jake takes Mickey to the Preachers' base where Ricky and Mickey meet. After some initial distrust, Mickey decides to join the Preachers as they follow the Cybus lorries that kidnapped the homeless to Pete's mansion, which is hosting the birthday party of his wife, Jackie, who did not have a child in this universe and instead gave the name "Rose" to her dog.
Rose and the Doctor also investigate the party and disguise themselves as caterers. The Cybermen break into the mansion and surround the guests, with the intention of upgrading all of them into Cybermen. The Cybermen kill the President for refusing, followed by other partygoers. The Doctor, Rose, and Pete escape the house and encounter Mickey and the Preachers outside. As the group is surrounded by Cybermen, the Doctor and his group surrender. The Cybermen tell them that they are "incompatible" and will be deleted.
Doctor Who Magazine #368 confirmed that this story was inspired by the Big Finish Productions audio play Spare Parts. Russell T Davies had previously described (along with The Holy Terror) as "some of the finest drama ever written for any genre, in any medium, anywhere." Spare Parts author, Marc Platt, received a fee and was credited in the end titles ("With thanks to Marc Platt"), and there is an allusion in the dialogue with Mickey labelling himself a "spare part." However, writer Tom MacRae noted that his television story was not a simple rewrite of Spare Parts: "My story isn't the same — it's got a different setting, different themes, and different characters, 'cause once we started talking, the whole thing developed in a very different direction. But as Russell says, we wouldn't have started this whole line of thinking if he hadn't heard Spare Parts in the first place."