Following a sudden jolt within the time vortex, the TARDIS is proclaimed dead and its crew of The Doctor, Rose and Mickey (David Tennant, Billie Piper and Noel Clarke) find themselves back home on present day Earth...if present day Earth included a large array of zeppelins in the sky, everyone wearing earpieces (or EarPod, as it's named there), and Rose's father is not only still alive but a rich and famous entrepreneur. With the group seemingly stranded Rose and Mickey fail to avoid the temptations of what this new world offers, with Mickey feeling especially left out by the duo and their reluctance to let him in on their banter and curious about his grandmother while Rose is given the opportunity to meet her father (a returning Shaun Dingwall) when she and the Doctor discover that he's linked to the company behind the EarPods, Cybus Industries. Just what is the old and frail creator of the company John Lumic (Roger Lloyd-Pack) up to? Why are homeless people disappearing off the streets of London? Why is there a curfew in certain areas of the city? And why are there two Mickeys...?
As far as standard precursors go, Rise of the Cybermen is very much a standard episode. It easily sets up the different emotions each character goes through (with Mickey being a stand-out for his little nugget with his grandmother) and how they feel about how different around them is; it builds up the tension nicely with such sequences as that at the junkyard and at the party, and even invokes a little bit of humour when the tone needs to lighten up. But the majority of the episode is just the build up towards the Cybermen: despite being shown weeks and even months earlier in promotional material, you still anticipate their first appearance during the 21st century. And while it's worthwhile, it takes a very long time to get there, and with plenty of padding going round meaning that it can easily bore its younger audiences. Tense, but a little dull and slow even by first-act standards.
Out of the core trio, David Tennant is mostly placed in the background due to how little he contributes to the emotional aspects that this episode heavily relies on. He gets his moments with the presumed-dead TARDIS, but here he's placed more in full-blown geek mode than the highly emotive alien we've encountered over the past few episodes – still a fine performance, but one that's more of a backdrop than a main focus. Billie Piper is instead given the largest chunk of emotion because of her draw to her richer (and still alive) parents, but with the underlying disrespect for former (I assume, they haven't technically broken up from what I can tell) boyfriend Mickey it's somewhat of a distraction. But she still does a fine job, and her turn as waitress in the final moments does lend to some fine comedy akin to her dinner lady appearance in School Reunion. The real MVP is Noel Clarke, who's growth as a character really shines here. Whilst his journey throughout the story may come across as a little poorly-paced, it remains a real heartfelt journey – plus it's fun to see him do a dual role as Rickey. Fellow returning Tylers Camille Coduri and Shaun Dingwall are just as strong as they were in 2005' Father's Day, with their chemistry only getting better and better with each subsequent appearance; Roger Lloyd-Pack is surprisingly menacing as the disabled megalomaniac behind such schemes, with Colin Spaull as his 'Smee' Mr Crane adding some dark comedy to the mix; the rebellion crew that consists of Andrew Hayden-Smith and Helen Griffin are in early stages here but come across as being good; and Don Warrington as the President of the United Kingdom is as good as one would hope he'd be.
Then there's the Cybermen, who don't have that big of a presence but are still worth talking about - in terms of their new-found creation story, as opposed to the one built up over its now-50 year history, it's a move that makes the most sense, and some fans are glad that these "Cybus" Cybermen are mostly kept to that universe. But it still feels like a largely-off attempt at bringing the classic monsters back, and fees less like an episode scripted to bring the iconic machines back to the foreground and instead like an episode was pre-written before adding the Cyberman element to it. Add their largely mechanical design (again, makes sense story-wise) and little proof of these bodies being the housing of human flesh, and Iit does make the whole affair seem disappointing. However, disappointing is not what one would call Rise of the Cybermen. It succeeds in bringing together an interesting and cohesive plotline, has elements that would frighten its young audience and a cliffhanger of real intrigue. Yes, the Cybermen themselves are barely in it, and when they do appear they have little in comparison to the original, but these are mostly fan-based criticisms. It's a fine first foray for MacRae, and holds some interest for part two, but is a bit of a drop in quality compared to the one-two-three punch that the previous weeks have offered. 6/10.
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