Neil Gaiman returns to write another Doctor Who episode, this time featuring the Cybermen, who take over an abandoned amusement park that the Doctor and Clara visit, accompanied by the two kids in her nannying charge. Oh and there is a platoon of soldiers there for some reason. Arguably not the best premise but somehow Neil makes do.
While the plot doesn't really hold up under close scrutiny, it's still a fun adventure full of action, a few terminator-esque scares, and plenty of wit and charm. It's also fun to see the Doctor essentially battle himself in the form of the Cyber-Planner who has more or less taken his body hostage from his mind. Matt Smith admitted the dual role gave him some trouble and at times it shows, sometimes being unable to tell the difference between the Doctor and the Cyber-Planner personas. But this is a relatively minor complaint and their literal chess match works as a nice metaphor for the battle of wits between the Doctor and his foe.
Surprisingly the children aren't as annoying as some other reviews indicated and I thought their acting was fine. And it was nice to see Clara get to be in a more in-charge role. The runaway emporor disguised as amusement park employee was fun too. Though his impromptu marriage proposal to Clara at the end was a bit odd.
My major complaint is how could an entire army of Cybermen be stored on that planet when it is literally the platoon's only job to make sure there are no Cybermen on the planet?! Ugh. That and the ending was a bit lazy, having the emperor just basically call an imperial ship for a ride as the planet blew up. Completely rendered moot the fighting of almost the entire episode. So definitely not Mr. Gaiman's strongest script but it did accomplish making the Cybermen exciting again, even if it does rip off the Borg from Star Trek (though to be fair it is said they ripped off the Cybermen first). 8/10
While the plot doesn't really hold up under close scrutiny, it's still a fun adventure full of action, a few terminator-esque scares, and plenty of wit and charm. It's also fun to see the Doctor essentially battle himself in the form of the Cyber-Planner who has more or less taken his body hostage from his mind. Matt Smith admitted the dual role gave him some trouble and at times it shows, sometimes being unable to tell the difference between the Doctor and the Cyber-Planner personas. But this is a relatively minor complaint and their literal chess match works as a nice metaphor for the battle of wits between the Doctor and his foe.
Surprisingly the children aren't as annoying as some other reviews indicated and I thought their acting was fine. And it was nice to see Clara get to be in a more in-charge role. The runaway emporor disguised as amusement park employee was fun too. Though his impromptu marriage proposal to Clara at the end was a bit odd.
My major complaint is how could an entire army of Cybermen be stored on that planet when it is literally the platoon's only job to make sure there are no Cybermen on the planet?! Ugh. That and the ending was a bit lazy, having the emperor just basically call an imperial ship for a ride as the planet blew up. Completely rendered moot the fighting of almost the entire episode. So definitely not Mr. Gaiman's strongest script but it did accomplish making the Cybermen exciting again, even if it does rip off the Borg from Star Trek (though to be fair it is said they ripped off the Cybermen first). 8/10