Paul Morris, 28/12/2008
Not bad. Not bad at all. Still not quite enough to top the last twenty minutes of Christmas Invasion.
I liked the way that most of the things that many of the rumours were based on were quickly swept aside in the first ten minutes. I loved the build up to the fob watch before the unexpected Boing!
Morrisey was superb in the role, and much like Catherine Tate's first appearance there was a nice gradual change of character as things went on. It's a shame David Morrisey isn't likely to be Doctor 11, he pitched the whole thing perfectly and was certainly a match for Tennant's emotional Doctor.
The big question here, though, is this: Have the Cybermen redeemed themselves after Doomsday? The answer is undoubtedly a yes. First up was the tweaked voices - adding that bass and a tad more metallic edge to them worked perfectly. There was something less robotic about them, too. The sense of cunning and planning has returned. The only thing wrong with them is Russell's tendency to build up this hierarchy of kings and courts. "All hail the cyberking," and all that "courts of the cyberking," dialogue was a bit too much like the Daleks. Less of the grandiose language, please, as it makes all these enemies sound the same. And answer this - these are the parallel Cybs, so how on earth does the Doctor know that the ship is called a Cyberking let alone the class of the ship.
That all said, I thought the Cybermen were once again worthy to be placed alongside their pre-Davies brethren and put paid to the weak and feebleness they picked up from Doomsday. Some nice little nods back to earlier adventures, too: The Cybermen marching out of the snow, Tenth planet style; the Cybermen viewing the Doctor on the viewscreen ("this one is the Doctor") straight out of Earthshock; and the struggle on the staircase with the Doctor and Cyberman pushing against one another, very reminiscent of a scene in Tomb of the Cybermen. Now, if only they could add a few tubes and stuff to give them a little more organic look.
I was caught slightly off guard to find it was a Doctor Who/Futurama crossover, but giant Bender stomping across London turned out silly, but fun.
Despite the "next" Doctor having a son and turned out a jolly nice fellow, I couldn't help thinking, when he entered the TARDIS, that he would suddenly turn around and reveal himself as The Master and steal it - that would have been an excellent twist. Obviously, he didn't, and neither did the so-called shocking "twist" at the end materialise.
The theme is starting to sound a little crowded now. There was an extra percussion line in there, and a few other additions and volume changes, but listen carefully and you'll find a lot of elements are fighting it out for prominence.
Overall, a good episode. Whilst the Cybers were still reasonably secondary to the main plot, they have made up for the damage done in Doomsday, and the nods to the past were welcome and unobtrusive. I'd peg this level with Runaway Bride as far as Christmas episodes go.
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