The first two parter of season two is a long anticipated return for the second highest profile characters in the Doctor's rogues gallery, the Cybermen. It's also a return for Director Graeme Harper, who became the first person to oversee an episode of Classic "Doctor Who" and "Nu-Who".
The TARDIS accidentally crashes through to a parallel Earth and to a London that is recognisable, but with some differences, like a fleet of Zeppelins that populate the sky. Despite The Doctor's (David Tennent) warnings Rose (Billie Piper) and Mickey (Noel Clarke) head off to see how their alternate lives are shaping up. Mickey's gran is still alive in this universe, but as he having an emotional reunion, freedom fighters sweep him up. For Rose, her father (Shaun Dingwall) is still alive and a rich and successful businessman but he and Jackie (Camille Coduri) never had any children. These stories intersect when tech mogul John Lumic (Roger Lloyd Pack) introduces his latest creation to the world.
The first thing that struck me about this episode is how much we've caught up with the "futuretech" of this one. Bluetooth headsets did exist in 2006, but nothing like in the volume that they are used now, since the growth of the airpods. So the city scenes, of vacant Londoners lost to their own worlds don't look as odd as they did then. Also the receiving of TV quality video on a mobile, was fiction then, but very much the norm today.
As it is, this is a decent start to the two-part episode but nothing too amazing. It's nice to see alt-Jackie, alt-Pete and "Rickey" but really, only Noel Clarke is doing anything to distinguish much between the characters. He also acts with himself in scenes that are visually OK, but a little lacking in the interaction you'd see in a similar set of scenes today. The human villains, played by Lloyd Pack and Colin Spaull feel like a bit cliché - though maybe the Dr. Frankenstein and Igor parallels are deliberate. The crippling and the resolution of the issues with the Tardis are a bit flimsy, logic wise.
It's an OK episode, don't get me wrong - but the second half will have a lot to do to drag this into comparison with the first season's two parters.
