Nope… still not working for me. Sorry. I can thoroughly recommend that you get a hold of a copy of Big Finish‘s excellent Spare Parts. The Fifth Doctor and Nyssa find themselves on a world living in fear of a police state, where people scrape a meagre living and a dark traders making worryingly good business in second-hand body parts. Its make for far more harrowing and entertaining viewing that Age of Steel, which somehow seemed robbed of any real substance. The Doctor’s discovery of the Cybermen’s weakness makes me long for the return of a little gold dust and a poorly protected chest vent.

Yes – I have been remiss in my updating of the site, and that’s something I intend to keep on top of in future. I have no excuses other than laziness.

I have to admit, I’m not sure the whole parallel Cyberman thing worked for me. There was something distinctly Genesis of the Daleks about the whole set-up. The crippled genius gives rise to a race of creatures robbed of their emotions in an attempt to bring about a new master race. Hmm…

I did like the cultural reference to earpieces. I hate those things, and have avoided acquiring one. Heck, I don’t even have a mobile phone of my own – and carry one under protest only because it has been forced upon me. It feels too much like a collar or set of electronic handcuffs. I can be reached by anyone whenever they want to… and somehow I lose something in the process. It’s clear from Rise that you can lose a whole lot more if you let it happen – giving up your own control of what you think and what you know in pursuits of getting everything done faster and more efficiently. I’m sure it would work for those people who think that doing 40mph through a 30-zone somehow adds something to their existence – when in truth it does nothing more than threaten the existence of others.

I enjoy the bit where the Cybermen gate-crashed the party – but overall, one of the weakest episodes of the series so far.