The improvements were incremental, as he went from a cowardly wreck in “Rose” to someone who understood himself well enough to decline the Doctor’s invitation in “World War Three,” before he finally worked up the nerve to ask for his spot on the TARDIS in “School Reunion.” The fact that it took him so long to ask shouldn’t be held against him. In fact, For the purposes of this list, "Series 4" is considered to be the. Rose promises that they will come back and see him, but the Doctor reminds her that they only arrived in this parallel universe by accident, and when they leave they must seal the crack in time, meaning they can never come back. (03 Nov 2006). The Doctor, Rose, and Mickey join forces with the alternate-reality counterparts of Pete Tyler and Mickey Smith, in the search for the one weakness in the Cybermen's plans. Mickey says he will go along with Jake, despite Jake's resentment at his survival. Rita’s decision to kick Eddie out of the house might feel a tad anachronistic, but let’s not forget what show we’re watching. Before the TARDIS first materialized in the Powell Estate, Mickey didn’t exactly have it all, but he was happy. In that instant, he sees all his failures and shortcomings, yet he still has the second chance he never imagined he could get. Inside the tunnels, the hundreds of Cybermen suddenly awake and the Doctor and Mrs Moore quickly escape just in time through a hatch which the Doctor seals behind them. The TARDIS rematerialises in Jackie Tyler's flat. It can also be purchased on iTunes. The Doctor confirms that the Cybermen in their universe began on a small planet like this, and then swarmed across the galaxy. Title: You must be a registered user to use the IMDb rating plugin. Suddenly a Cyberman appears from behind and kills Mrs Moore with electricity. They all walk slowly towards the factory to be converted into Cybermen. The other possibility is that Lumic is so obsessed with control and holds humanity in such contempt that he would willingly initiate its destruction. This two-parter is too goofy to sustain the psychological horror that drives its best moments, but Davies and MacRae do show an understanding of what makes the Cybermen unique that had been lacking in Doctor Who for far too long. The King of Belgium gag is good, but the more telling moment comes earlier, when the Doctor sizes up Eddie Connolly and then presents the exact credentials needed to get him in the door. The Doctor states that the whole of London has been sealed off, and the entire population is being taken inside there — to be converted. The Doctor retorts that he has given the Cybermen back their souls; the Cybermen can now see what Lumic has done, and it's killing them. He don’t naturally rush into deadly situations like the Doctor or Rose would. As the Cybermen close in for the kill, the Tenth Doctor uses the charging TARDIS power cell hidden in his hand, sending tendrils of energy which disintegrate the cyborgs. He tells Mrs Moore to move carefully and keep an eye out for any trip devices. Ricky is just who Mickey would be if he lived in a slightly harsher world (and, perhaps, wasn’t held back by his love for Rose). The Doctor says they have only five minutes of power and have to leave. saved the universe with a big yellow truck... Shannon Sullivan's A Brief History of Time (Travel), https://tardis.fandom.com/wiki/The_Age_of_Steel_(TV_story)?oldid=3023809. The distinction between the Union Jack and the Union Flag is. The Doctor relents and thinks of a third way, to sabotage the EarPod transmissions so the people do not walk to their deaths like sheep. At least the Cybermen are defeated in a way that only the Cybermen could be. Mickey meanwhile, lowers a ladder from the Zeppelin for the Doctor and the others. Now that he’s gone, it’s an open question as to what will keep Rose’s feet on the ground, even as she goes flying through the stars. This is such a minor thing, but it’s a good illustration of why “The Idiot’s Lantern” could have benefited from another draft or two. When the Cyberman on the Zeppelin attacks Jake and Mickey, the first shot shows it with its arm down, then in the next shot it has its arm up, and in the third shot, it is raising its arm. Rose also is torn about going back in, but the Doctor reminds her that this Jackie is not her mother, and the group make their escape from the rest of the Cybermen. As the Cybermen tell an approving Lumic, they see humanity’s pain and fear and they want to help. Considering their fatal lack of imagination, it’s an open question whether they would even figure out that much. For that brief moment, the Doctor doesn’t matter, because the Doctor wasn’t there on the estate, growing up and dreaming of all the things they might someday do. I do much the same. Camera tracks his walk into the room... ... revealing what he'd already seen: that Rose and Pete are in captivity there as well. This world lost its Ricky, there are other Cybermen factories to destroy, and his blind grandmother needs looking after. Even so, he’s become enough of a companion to switch into investigation mode when his parallel grandmother start talking about his mysterious friends. Rose and Pete are captured and taken to Cyber Control as the Cyberman that was once Jackie fades back into the mass of identical steel creatures. After decades stuck in the Daleks’ shadows, that alone is progress. The Doctor proves this by plugging Rose's phone into the console, sending the code across the Cyber system. The Cybermen debuted in Hartnell’s final story and became the most iconic monsters of the late ‘60s, featuring in a number of excellent Patrick Troughton serials, but they never achieved the same sort of cultural cachet. In his second effort for Doctor Who, writer Mark Gatiss can’t match his work on “The Unquiet Dead.”. (DWMSE 14). As such, it’s understandable that this story is less than the sum of its parts, a common issue with stories from this part of the season. They activate the stored army to remove the intruders. Mickey begins to hack into the ship's systems but activates a silent alarm in the process. Inside the factory, Crane is brought before Lumic for his seeming treachery. As is pointed out multiple times in the story itself, Lumic is utterly mad, and Roger Lloyd-Pack’s performance is best appreciated in light of that fact.