Doctor Who Series 12 Episode 9 - Ascension Of The Cybermen (Part 1) - Review

Starring: Jodie Whittaker, Bradley Walsh, Tosin Cole & Mandip Gill

Written By: Chris Chibnall

Directed By: Jamie Magnus Stone

Here we are then. Due to Series 12's questionable marketing, this is one of the few stories they've been keen to get people watching. Prior episodes have been advertised almost as mere stepping stones to get to this, the proper stuff. It's been hyped up a lot, and the less cynical side of me is also reasonably hyped after the genuinely great 'Haunting Of Villa Diodati' last week. But let's not forget that with the ridiculous amount of mysteries and plot threads Series 12 has been juggling, 'Ascension Of The Cybermen' and its follow-up next week have a lot to get answered. So let's see how it gets on...

Following on from last week, the Doctor, Graham, Ryan and Yaz follow the Lone Cyberman into the future, arriving at the end of the great Cyber-Wars. The group attempt to help the few remaining human survivors evade their attackers and make it to Ko Sharmus, a safe haven where they will be able to escape through the Boundary and find refuge from the Cybermen. But in their attempts to evade them, the group are split up and the Lone Cyberman begins enacting plans to restore his army to full strength. The "ascension" is about to begin, but what will it mean for humanity's few survivors?

From just the pre-titles alone, it appeared my hype for this episode was worth it. A beaten-up, decaying Cyberman head floating through space accompanied by Ashad's narration - it's a great hook for keeping my bum firmly in my seat, and it's topped off with a positively sexy transition into the title sequence too. Once we were past that, my hype kind of dissipated for a bit. The Doctor and friends arriving on a wrecked and washed out planet at the end of this great war and carrying bags of equipment - it reminded me a little too much of 'The Battle Of Ranskoor Av Kolos'. While I thought 'Ranskoor Av Kolos' was a decent enough finale, and I certainly seemed to enjoy it more than the majority of the fandom, I wasn't looking for a repeat of it here. I'd been hoping for a Chris Chibnall finale I could call at the very least "good". But before I could get too far ahead of myself, things started picking up when the Cybermen's drones began their attack. The drones being just floating Cyberman heads was a let-down and looks ridiculous, but they get the job done. Their attack is ruthless in its efficiency, killing off nearly half of the human survivors we'd only just been introduced to. The feeling that this was going to be just 'Ranskoor Av Kolos' Version 2 soon went, instead unfolding into a much superior post-apocalypse type story.

Seeing as this week is their "ascension", do the Cybermen surpass themselves from last week? Not quite, but it's worth elaborating on that. While I think Ashad struck more of a chord on his own last week, he's still very much one of my favourite things about this trilogy of episodes. His tendency to deliver grandiose monologues to himself every few minutes holds him back a bit, but Ashad is still perhaps the most interesting individual Cyberman we've had since David Banks' Cyberleader in the 80s. This "ascension" that he keeps bringing up is still vague and unclear, but I'm interested to find out exactly what it entails. In the meantime, I'm still able to enjoy scenes such as his confrontation with the Doctor via hologram. Jodie Whittaker sells this bit, and I had to laugh at the "might have to start billing you for therapy" line. I also really appreciate how this Doctor responds to the Cybermen - she's fully aware of their threat and it causes her to be snappy and quick-tempered with her companions. Ashad isn't on his own here either, and seeing as last week's episode was penned by Maxine Alderton, this is technically our first time seeing Chibnall take on the Cybermen. For the most part he seems up to the job. With the Dalek in 'Resolution', the Master in 'Spyfall' and now the Cybermen, it would seem that one of Chibnall's strengths is reinvigorating past enemies, and he's done a great job with the big three. 

There's some great imagery here involving the Cybermen, such as the humans' ship floating through a war-torn area of space, bumping into broken discarded bits of Cyberman. It's some neat visual design and a great bit of world building, fleshing out this Cyber-War. While it is a shame that we're again arriving at the end of that war not seeing any of it, I imagine budgetary constraints have a hand in that. Floating among the wrecks is a carrier filled with warrior class Cybermen - a brand new design. The sad OCD nerd part of my brain is a bit annoyed at the lack of consistency with the Cybermen designs again. Yes that's a massive nitpick, but it would be nice to get back to just one design at a time. In fairness however, Ashad recruiting older designs such as those Cybus Cybermen he has with him makes sense considering how they've been brought almost to extinction here. But what of the new warrior class, and their new design? We haven't seen much of them yet and they are obscured in that darkly-lit ship, so I'm not fully sold on the design of the bodies yet. As for the heads, I'm much more impressed and it harkens back to one of my favourite designs: the 60s 'Invasion' look. 

While the Cybermen might be on form, the same can't really be said for the supporting cast. In fairness the cast do a serviceable enough job, but if it weren't for me recognizing one or two of the actors themselves, I would've completely forgotten them in a few weeks. Ravio for instance is played by Julie Graham, a great actress and it's nice to see her again after her stint in 'The Sarah Jane Adventures'. But as for Ravio herself? I have nothing to latch onto. The humans are a victim of Chibnall's tendency to sometimes tell a story instead of showing it. In fact at one point, one of them outright says "We're just ordinary humans". It's a line that shouldn't have to be explicitly written and should've been conveyed much more organically. And just another quick nitpick; if we're supposed to empathize with these survivors, don't go giving them such alien names like Yedlarmi, Feekat or Bescot - I know this is the far future, but it puts up an unnecessary barrier in getting us to care about these people.

But it's not the human characters that are my biggest problem with 'Ascension Of The Cybermen'. No a more pressing issue for me is the lack of things it actually gets done by the time we reach the cliffhanger. Now I am well aware that this is only the first half of a two-part story, but as I said at the beginning, this finale has a lot to get wrapped up. In fact, let's just step back and look at some of these unresolved plot threads: Who or what is the Timeless Child? Who exactly is the Ruth Doctor? What exactly is this "ascension" that Ashad is so fond of monologuing about? How does Captain Jack fit into this? That's already a hefty load for 'The Timeless Children' to pick up next week, and rather than alleviating the load, 'Ascension Of The Cybermen' just adds to it. (Spoiler Warning!) Right at the climax, the Master literally leaps back into the frame, so we've also got to accomodate for him now. It also means this will be the third finale to feature both the Master and the Cybermen together. Crikey, the Cybermen must be getting as sick of seeing the Master as they do the Doctor by now. The impact of seeing the Master again was kind of diminished for me when he started going on about how is everything is about to change again. Master, you've been saying this since 'Spyfall' - I get it! It's not just the Master's reappearance that adds to next week's To-Do list; there's also the rather odd Brendan subplot. I've avoided this until now, but it's easy to see why so many people seemed confused about it. Cutting back and forth from this Cyberman story to rural Ireland and a policeman called Brendan is bound to be confusing when the two storylines appear completely separate. No other characters seem to know this is going on, so its appearance is questionable. I would be questioning this subplot too if it weren't for the fact I strangely enjoyed it. I have no idea how it's supposed to be linked to the main story, and it's yet another thing that 'The Timeless Children' is going to have to explain, but I guess we'll have to wait and see. 

Having to wait and see is basically 'Ascension Of The Cybermen's M.O. Even though it's not yet a complete story, this first half gets surprisingly little done. It's yet more teasing and build-up for next week and it's left 'The Timeless Children' in an awkward position with the sheer stack of mysteries left to resolve. But that's a problem for next week, and although it might sound as though I wasn't a fan of it, for its flaws I still enjoyed 'Ascension Of The Cybermen' a fair bit. I wish it had used its time more wisely and lightened the load a little, but it still works as a tone setter and its handling of the Cybermen kept me entertained regardless. The meat of the story is still for next week, but for now it's a solid enough start. Find my review of Part 2 here.

Ascension Of The Cybermen

7/10