Previously: The Doctor, Rose, and Mickey stumbled into a parallel universe where Rose’s dad is alive and Barty Crouch Sr. has invented Cybermen.
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The Age of Steel
Kirsti: After the previouslies, we go straight to the credits, because why the fuck not. DOO WEE OOH!
After the credits, the Doctor aims a mystery thing at the Cybermen, and a beam of orange light bursts out. It hits one Cyberman and spreads to the others, kind of like how the Nazis die in Raiders of the Lost Ark. The Cybermen crumble to ash and everyone makes a run for it.
I cannot stop laughing over that gif. Conveniently, Driver pulls up in the blue van and everyone piles in. Except for A Pete, who makes a run for the house to rescue A Jackie. (M: Bless you for carrying these nicknames over.) (K: You’re welcome.) The Doctor stops him and says it’s too late to save anyone inside. A Pete runs to the van. Rose stares at the house, and the Doctor reminds her that this Jackie isn’t her mother. He grabs her hand and drags her to the van. He slams the door as they speed away.
Inside the house, Jackie peers out of a cupboard to see Cybermen everywhere. One spots her and she shuts the cupboard door in a panic. In the van, Ricky asks WTF the mystery thing was. The Doctor waves a weird crystal around and says it’s something from his home planet and it’ll recharge in about four hours. So, you know, a nice piece of contrivance to help them escape but which can’t act as a deus ex machina. (M: …good thing he packed it?) Ricky and Suitably Suspicious want to execute A Pete for being a part of this plot, and he’s all “Uh, rude. Totally not involved.”
The Doctor snaps that talking of executions will make him their enemy and that’s a bad idea. Ricky has no fucks to give because they have evidence that A Pete has been working for Lumic for years. Rose is horrified. Driver says they’ve got a government mole who broadcasts secret information twice a week. A Pete’s all “You dense motherfuckers, I’m the government mole”, and says that’s the only reason he’s been working with Lumic. He calls them “Scooby Doo and his gang“, and points out that they even have the van. The Doctor stares around the van with a “huh. Excellent point” face.
Mickey’s surprised by this because Ricky said he was London’s most wanted. Ricky sheepishly tacks on additional information: “I’m London’s most wanted for…parking tickets.” He was fighting the system by parking anywhere. The Doctor smirks adorably and says he does much the same before introducing himself.
Marines: Even the characters know that sometimes the best answer on/for Doctor Who is, “…because.”
K: YUP.
A Pete mumbles about Lumic taking his wife, then reluctantly removes his earpods. The Doctor sonics them in case Lumic’s listening in. He snaps that they have to get to the city and tell the authorities what’s happening because this has to end immediately. Cut to Lumic talking to his “ever lasting children“. The Cyberman with a TAG card (although technically it’s just Nicholas Briggs with a voice modulator while an extra stands there in the suit, but WHATEVS) says that they feel nothing and think the same thing: that humans feel too much and must be upgraded. Sucks to be you, Team Feels.
Mari: Only momentarily. The moral of the story is still that Team Feels is #morehumanthanyou.
K: Except that I get to keep my human feelsless body while you get to be turned into a Cyberman. WHO’S MORE HUMAN *NOW*, TEAM FEELS??? Mwahahahahahaha!!!!
Ahem.
Lumic logs into his computer and tells it to activate the earpods of every person in London, because he’s “just declared independence!“. There’s a nice dose of crazy eyes as he says that. He tells the computer to start transmitting, and we cut to London. Everyone comes to a halt as their earpods start beeping, then they turn and walk towards the factories. A Jackie does the same.
Cut to a news report, because apparently newsreaders don’t wear their earpods on the air?? IDK. He talks about an invasion of metal men on the streets and tells everyone to remove their earpods. Nefarious Reverser’s earpods crackle and he pulls them out with an “Oh no you don’t”. Having arrived in London, the Doctor, Rose and the Not!Scoobies walk among the pod people. Rose tries to take someone’s earpods out, but the Doctor stops her saying that it will basically kill them. They all peer around a corner to see that the people are being led somewhere by a group of Cybermen.
A Pete says that they’ll be going to Lumic’s factory in Battersea. He says that this all started as a way to prolong life, because Lumic’s dying, but now it’s gone totally batshit crazy. Rose remembers that she seen a Cyberman before – in van Statten’s museum. The Doctor says that there are Cybermen in their universe too. They started out on their own planet, then swarmed across the galaxies. A bunch of Cybermen approach, and Ricky gives orders to split up and meet at a specific location. Mickey kisses Rose and darts off after Ricky.
Suitably Suspicious dashes off on his own while the Doctor, Rose, A Pete and Driver duck down alleyways to try and escape from the Cybermen. Elsewhere, Mickey and Ricky find themselves lost. Ricky’s confused by Mickey and their similarities. Mickey says Ricky’s way braver than him, and Ricky’s all “Pff, obvs.” He says that Mickey keeps good company, so he’s not that bad. Mickey’s thrilled to not be the tin dog for a change.
Mari: I’m happy for Mickey, but also, Ricky basically said, “your friends are cool!”
K: True.
Cybermen approach and they split up.
Meanwhile, the Doctor, Rose, A Pete and Driver are hiding behind a dumpster as Cybermen close in. Rose and A Pete are holding hands. The Cybermen stop right in front of them, but the Doctor sonics them and they walk away. Everyone heaves a sigh of relief, and they sneak away. Cut to the factory with people – including A Jackie – streaming in.
Elsewhere, Mickey and Ricky run for their lives. They end up on opposite sides of a chain link fence, but Ricky gets caught and electrocuted by a Cyberman. (M: Seeing yourself die. Trippy.) Mickey runs for it. Cybermen bring Nefarious Reverser to see Lumic, who’s pissed that “one of the faithful” removed his earpods. Nefarious Reverser says his earpods must have malfunctioned and he’d like to be upgraded. Lumic’s thrilled to have a volunteer. Nefarious Reverser says they’ve been together a long time and make a great team and that means he knows exactly what to do.
He runs over and pulls out a bunch of hoses and tubes on Lumic’s wheelchair. Alarms sound, and Lumic yells for the Cybermen to help him. They throw Nefarious Reverser across the room and electrocute him, then announce that it’s time for Lumic to be upgraded. Lumic isn’t a fan of this plan, and says that he’ll be upgraded with his last breath. A Cyberman is all “LOL, that’s now” and Lumic’s wheelchair floats off towards the factory floor.
Mari: Pro-tip: don’t make comments about your last breaths around people who have no interest in your breaths. You’re welcome.
K: Meet Up Location. Suitably Suspicious darts up to the others and says that the whole city is on the movie. Mickey runs up and there’s some “which one are you?” confusion before he admits to being Mickey. Rose hugs him. Mickey tells Suitably Suspicious that he tried his best to help Ricky, and Suitably Suspicious walks away tearfully because they were originally written as a gay couple and it got cut. (M: WHAT.) (K: I can’t tell if you’re outraged that it got cut or confused that they were written that way because it doesn’t really come across. Either way, the answer is “YES, THAT WAS A THING”.) He tells Mickey not to even mention him because he’s nothing. The Doctor interrupts with “We can mourn him when London is safe“. They have to keep moving.
They head to the factory, which is tooooooootally not the Battersea Power Station. Rose says they have to get inside, and the Doctor says he’ll figure out a plan. Mickey realises that the Doctor’s just making stuff up as he goes, and he replies “Yep. But I do it brilliantly!“. Rose hides a smile and Mickey give a little “fair point” nod.
K: Very true.
Cut to sometime later. Driver has brought up schematics of the Not Power Plant on her laptop, and figures they can use the cooling tunnels as an entry point. A Pete suggests they should just walk in the front door because it’s easier. Driver offers up some fake earpods and suggests they blend in with the crowd. The Doctor says that whoever wears them would have to show zero emotion or it’d be a dead giveaway. There are only two pairs of earpods, so somehow it ends up being Rose and A Pete wearing them because they want to rescue A Jackie.
The Doctor gives up trying to talk Rose out of it and says they can break the signal to the earpods and save a ton of people. He waves his sonic at the Not Power Plant, and a bunch of lights on Lumic’s zeppelin, which is hovering over the Not Power Plant, light up. He asks if Suitably Suspicious can destroy it, and he grins that he totally can. The Doctor asks Driver to accompany him into the cooling tunnels, and she accepts.
Mickey pipes up that he doesn’t have a role and the Doctor looks awkward. Mickey says he’s done being the tin dog and he’s going to help Suitably Suspicious, who’s totally not on board with this plan. Rose looks between the two of them, then watches as they walk away, still bickering. The Doctor calls out good luck, and says if they survive, they’ll meet back at the TARDIS. Mickey looks tearful as he walks off into the night. Rose and the Doctor hug before going their separate ways.
Cooling tunnels. The Doctor and Driver climb down into the tunnel and put on head torches. Okay, head torches are the dorkiest of things, and yet David Tennant still manages to look adorable while wearing one. The jerk. She hands him a proper torch as well and he shines it around to see what they’re dealing with. The orchestra does some “OMG SHOCK” work as the torchlight reveals that the tunnel is full of Cybermen. The Doctor says that they’ve been converted but they’re on ice. He taps one on the face and there’s no reaction. He leads the way into the tunnels, and Driver reluctantly follows.
Mari: RELUCTANT IS RIGHT. I know how machines work. There is an ON switch somewhere…
K: You’d think after 900 years, he’d have learnt that. But no.
Rose and A Pete sneak towards the main door and hide behind a shed. A Pete asks why she’s doing something that could get her killed, and Rose replies “Let’s just say I’m doing it for my mum and dad“. Earpods in, they head out and join the blank faced crowd walking to their doom. They hold hands until they join the queue and pass the Cybermen guarding the door successfully.
Meanwhile, Suitably Suspicious and Mickey have reached the roof where the zeppelin is moored. There are two human guards at the zeppelin, and Suitably Suspicious wants to kill them. Mickey says that makes him no different to the Cybermen, and Suitably Suspicious pulls out some little bottles of something that will knock you out instantly. Hard core chloroform or some shit. (M: Alternate universe chloroform.) They run over and wave them under the guards’ noses. The guards collapse and they sneak onto the zeppelin.
Tunnels. The Doctor asks how Driver got involved, and she tells him that she used to work at Cybus Industries. Then she found a file she wasn’t supposed to, read it, and ended up on the run. Her family think she’s dead because it’s the only way to keep them safe. She asks if the Doctor has a family, and he says “I’ve got the whole world on my shoulders“. Oof. Behind them, a Cyberman activates and sends a silent alarm. Elsewhere, a Cyberman gives the order to activate the army in that sector.
The Doctor and Driver notice the Cybermen starting to move, and make a run for it. Somehow, they manage to get past all of them and to a ladder. They get up the ladder and sonic the grate on top back in place before the Cybermen can get through. Down in the factory, a Cyberman announces that they’ve now upgraded 6,500 units. Rose is next in line. A Cyberman tells her to wait and then walks away. A Pete asks if she’s okay, and she’s all “FUCK NO”. A woman walks into the upgrade room. Blades and lasers flash, and a Cyber head is lowered into place. On the other side, new Cybermen emerge.
A Pete asks if Rose can see A Jackie anywhere. A Cyberman overhears them and marches up, demanding that A Pete confirm that he’s Peter Tyler. He does, and the Cyberman says that it was A Jackie before it got upgraded. Rose and A Pete freak and the Cybermen realise they’re not pod people and grab them. A Pete yells that he came to save A Jackie, but CyberJackie has zero fucks to give and orders their captors to take them to Cyber Control. A Pete wonders if they can reverse the process, but they’ve already lost track of which one is CyberJackie.
Meanwhile, Mickey and Suitably Suspicious (fuck it, his name is Jake) have reached the deck of the zeppelin. They start searching for the transmission controls, then realise there’s a Cyberman behind them. But it’s just a display suit, no brains inside. They go back to searching as the zoomy cameraman zooms in on the Cyberman.
In a corridor, the Doctor and Driver are confronted by a Cyberman, demanding that they be upgraded. Driver throws something at it that sticks to its chest, and the Cyberman collapses. The Doctor’s impressed. She tells him that it’s an electromagnetic bomb. They walk over to get a closer look at their enemy. The Doctor sonics off the seal in the middle of its chest, and it’s full of electronics and dodgy looking white stuff that the Doctor claims is a central nervous system.
There’s also an emotional inhibitor that stops the brain from feeling anything, from recognising what’s happened to it, removing the thing that makes humans human. The Cyberman suddenly asks why it’s cold, but it’s a more human sounding voice than before. The electromagnetic bomb destroyed the emotional inhibitor and it can feel again. The Doctor apologises, and asks for its name. “Sally. Sally Phelan,” it replies. Sally wants to know where her fiance is because they’re getting married tomorrow and it’s bad luck. The Doctor looks feelsy and sonics something inside the Cyber-suit, telling Sally to sleep.
The Cyber-suit shuts down, and the Doctor says that Sally won’t have died in vain. The key is to find the code to turn off the emotional inhibitor so that the Cybermen realise what they are. But he’s not sure he can kill them to save the world. Driver says they have to, and stands up only to be grabbed by a Cyberman, which electrocutes her. It turns to the Doctor and is confused by his two hearts, so drags him off for analysis.
Mari: I should keep track of whenever his two hearts save the day. I don’t think it’s that many times, but it probably deserves some sort of super-shot.
K: Aaaaaand I just created a tag for that.
Back on the zeppelin, Mickey’s found the transmitter control, because it’s helpfully got a bigass “TRANSMITTER CONTROL” sign above it. But it’s sealed and they don’t have anything to break through it. For some reason, Jake decides that crashing the zeppelin is the perfect solution?!?! Mickey announces that he’s great with computers and sits down to work out the autopilot. This sets off an alarm and the Cyberman that the zoomy cameraman zoomed in on wakes up. Obvs.
In Cyber Control, the Doctor sees Rose and A Pete and sasses “I’ve been captured, but don’t worry, Rose and Pete are still out there. They can rescue me. Oh well, never mind.” He asks if Rose is okay, and she tells him about A Jackie. He demands to meet Lumic, and one of the Cybermen says that he’s been upgraded. But he’s not like the rest of them. He’s superior, and has been designated “Cyber Controller“. A door opens creepily, and Cyber Lumic rolls in. I can’t help laughing because Cyber Lumic is kind of chubby and seated on a throne that looks like it’s made of garbage bin lids and old pipes. Oh, BBC. Don’t ever change. “This is the Age of Steel and I am its creator!” Cyber Lumic says. Here, chubs. Have a gold star:
Zeppelin. Mickey says he’s almost hacked the autopilot, and Jake’s impressed. The Cyberman moves towards them, and they realise that it’s still a bigass robot, even though it doesn’t have a brain powering it. Mickey taunts it and it swings at him. He ducks and it hits the Transmitter Control panel, electrocuting itself and breaking the circuit. Down on the ground, all the unconverted people wake up and panic. They run screaming, pushing past the Cybermen.
The Doctor’s thrilled, and declares it “a vote for free will“. Cyber Lumic says that he has factories on seven continents (really, dude? Antarctica??) (M: That just seems excessive) (K: VERY. Although maybe in this alternate universe, Antarctica is a jungle…) and that if the earpods have failed, he’ll just have to take the world by force. Back on the zeppelin, Mickey’s managed to find a camera in Cyber Control. He can see that his friends are alive. He finds sound in time to hear Cyber Lumic saying that he’ll bring eternal peace to the planet. The Doctor sasses that he’s killing imagination, the thing that helped him create the Cybermen in the first place.
Society, the Doctor says, will stagnate under the Cybermen. There’s no reason to improve, to strive for anything. The planet will lack the thing that makes it alive – people. Okay, sliiiiightly melodramatic, dude, but yes. (M: aka, a potential Doctor Who tagline…) He’s proud of his emotions, even though grief and rage hurt. He wouldn’t ever want to lose them. Cyber Lumic says there’s no way to stop him because he has an army, and the Doctor looks directly into the security camera and says that any idiot can stop an army. Any idiot who can hack in and find the code. Mickey realises what the Doctor’s saying and starts typing furiously. Numbers start appearing on the screen.
Cyber Lumic says that the Doctor talks too much, and that gives him the opportunity to mention Rose’s phone. The code’s now complete and Mickey texts it to Rose’s phone. When her phone beeps, Rose tosses it to the Doctor. He says something about how great it is that Lumic made all technology compatible, and slams Rose’s phone into a docking station.
The code transmits to every computer, and the Cybermen all cry out in pain. Mickey and Jake cheer and hug.
Outside in the rain, Cybermen writhe in pain. If there weren’t a feelsy soundtrack, it’d look like a Cyberman rave. (M: A+) Inside, one stares at itself in a mirror and moans. The Doctor apologises. Cybermen start exploding all over the place. Not Cyber Lumic though. Rose, the Doctor and A Pete make a run for it. But they end up trapped in the factory. Jake takes control of the zeppelin to get it away from the factory before it blows up. But Mickey says they’re not leaving without Rose. They fight for the wheel, and Mickey wins. He calls Rose and tells her to head for the roof. They start running as the factory explodes around them.
Cyber Lumic pulls himself from his cyber wheelchair and screams “NO!!“. Having reached the roof, Rose asks where the fuck Mickey learnt to fly a zeppelin. “Playstation,” he replies. Uh, sure. But he can’t get the zeppelin any lower without it exploding. Mickey looks around in a panic and spots an emergency lever. He pulls it and a rope ladder drops to the ground. The Doctor helps Rose and A Pete onto the ladder as Mickey spins the wheel to get them away from the factory.
Suddenly, the ladder drops down because Cyber Lumic is climbing up below A Pete. The Doctor drops his sonic screwdriver to A Pete and tells him to use it on the rope. He does, and Cyber Lumic falls to his death as the factory explodes and the zeppelin flies away.
Cut to the darkened TARDIS. The Doctor walks in and places the power cell in the console. The interior lights up and he grins. Outside, A Pete asks who Rose is. She reluctantly tells him about parallel worlds and how maybe there’s a world where Jackie Tyler and Pete Tyler had a daughter. A Pete awkwards and says he has to go and shut down all the other Lumic factories and keep fighting against the Cybermen that are still in storage.
The Doctor runs over to say that they only have five minutes of power and they need to leave NOW. Rose calls A Pete “Dad” and he can’t deal with it and rushes away. Mickey walks over with Jake and the Doctor’s suit. The Doctor’s thrilled to see his suit again. He tells Jake to find Driver’s family and tell them what happened to her. He promises that he will, and the Doctor says it’s time for them to go. But Mickey says he’s staying. Rose and the Doctor are all “Skkkkrt, WHAT?”. He’s feelsy as he says that figures that this world lost its Ricky, so maybe it needs a Mickey to replace it. Plus, his gran needs him.
Rose tears up and says that she needs him too. Mickey disagrees. Nothing can come between Rose and the Doctor, he knows that now. Rose says that they’ll come back and visit, but the Doctor says they can’t. They got there by accident, falling through a crack in time, and he has to close it when they go back. Mickey can never get back.
Mickey takes a deep breath and reaches out to shake the Doctor’s hand. The Doctor tells him to take Rose’s phone, because it has the code in it (totally dumb, because the code would be in Mickey’s sent items folder but WHATEVER), and wishes him good luck. They grin at each other and the Doctor heads into the TARDIS.
Mickey turns to Rose and talks about their past, saying that they never saw it coming that someday they’d be flying through the stars together. She breaks down and hugs him. He tells her to go before the Doctor leaves. She pulls herself away and walks over to the TARDIS, stopping in the doorway to look back at him. Then she closes the door.
Mickey tells Jake that he’s going to want to see this. The TARDIS vworp vworps away, and Jake’s all “THE FUCK??”. “That’s the Doctor. In the TARDIS. With Rose Tyler,” Mickey says proudly, like it’s the most obvious and important thing in the world.
Back in our universe, Jackie hears the TARDIS landing and rushes into the living room. Rose hugs her tightly and Jackie asks what’s wrong. Rose doesn’t answer. Jackie asks where Mickey is, and the Doctor says “He’s gone home.” Cut back to the parallel universe. Mickey and Jake clamber into the van, and Mickey says he knows it won’t be easy for Jake, because he looks like Ricky but he’s not. Jake looks feelsy. Mickey wants to keep fighting in Ricky’s name, liberating the world. He suggests they start with Paris. Jake’s incredulous about using a van to liberate the world, and Mickey says “There’s nothing wrong with a van. I once saved the universe with a big yellow truck.” They grin at each other and drive off into the night as we fade to black.
I love that Mickey finally found his purpose and that he’s done being the tin dog. But there’s a lot here that didn’t really work for me. There’s a ton of contrivance and a ton of “you’re an important character, we can’t kill you even though you’re surrounded by Cybermen”. But I DO like what this episode means for the future. So, you know, there’s that.
Mari: Once again, there is characters stuff here that is hampered for me by the Cybermen stuff. I don’t know if that would be true for fans of the Cybermen, but I was a little bored by the storyline. Mickey’s sidebar, though, is nice especially when you look at his story as a whole. The Doctor blew into Rose’s life and with none of his permission, it changed Mickey’s life too. Everything we’ve seen from him has been about riding the coattails of that change, for better or worse. I like what Mickey does with it, though. I feel like he makes an effort to change, to improve and here, to chart his own destiny. So, yay that!
Also, in general, I’m finding myself a little bit disconnected from the season 2. It may have to do with the fact that our recapping has become spotty (sorry sorry sorry sorry) but… IDK. I thought the quality improved exponentially after season 1, but this just feels like season 1 with less Nine.
Anyone else there?
K: I still love season 2, because of OTP reasons. But I’ve come to realise that the start of the season is great, the end of the season is great, and the middle is kind of…meh. Or something. IDK. We’ll get there eventually. Or we’ll rage-quit! It’ll be fun. Or something.
Next time on Doctor Who: It’s the Queen’s coronation and people’s faces are disappearing. Television may or may not be involved in S02 E07 – The Idiot’s Lantern.
I'm a 30-something librarian and I still live with my parents because I'm super broke. Leader of Team Heartless Cow. I have an inexplicable love for 90s television, eat too much chocolate, and read more than is good for me.
I'm a 30-something south Floridan who loves the beach but cannot swim. Such is my life, full of small contradictions and little trivialities. My main life goals are never to take life too seriously, but to do everything I attempt seriously well. After that, my life goals devolve into things like not wearing pants and eating all of the Zebra Cakes in the world. THE WORLD.
