Doctor Who/The Age of Steel (2)

The Age of Steel (2)
Season 28, Episode 6
Airdate	May 20, 2006
Written by	Tom MacRae
Directed by	Graeme Harper
← 28x05 Rise of the Cybermen (1)	28x07 → The Idiot's Lantern
Doctor Who — Season Twenty-Eight

The Age of Steel (2) is the sixth episode of the twenty-eighth season of Doctor Who, and the seven hundred thirty-eighth episode episode overall.

Cybermen threaten to take over an alternate Earth the Doctor, Rose and Mickey are stranded on.

Cast: David Tennant (The Doctor), Billie Piper (Rose), Camille Coduri (Jackie Tyler), Noel Clarke (Mickey), Shaun Dingwall (Pete Tyler), Roger Lloyd Pack (John Lumic), Andrew Hayden-Smith (Jake Simmonds), Helen Griffin (Mrs Moore), Colin Spaull (Mr Crane), Duncan Duff (Newsreader), Paul Kasey (Cyber-Leader), Nicholas Briggs (Cyber-Voice)

Plot Overview

• The crew arrive on an alternate Earth where Rose's dad is still alive and people are turning themselves into Cybermen.

Notes

• Time and Space: February 1, 2006, London, alternate-reality Earth.

Arc Advancement

Characters

• Mickey/Ricky: Ricky is killed by a Cyberman and Mickey stays behind to look after his gran and save the world from the Cybermen.

Referbacks

• Father's Day: In this parallel Earth Pete Tyler was never hit by a car.
• The Tenth Planet: The Cybermen have long been enemies of the Doctor in all his incarnations.
• Spearhead from Space: Timelords have two hearts.

Cyberman: Sensors detect a binary vascular system. You are an unknown upgrade. You will be taken for analysis.

• School Reunion: Mickey continues to be the tin dog.
• The Five Doctors: The ways into Battersea are similar to the entry points to the Tower of Rassilon.
• Bad Wolf / The Parting of the Ways: Mickey references the opening of the TARDIS with a tow truck.

I once saved the universe with a big yellow truck.

Trivia

The Show

• There are several big differences as well as many small differences between the two realities.
  • Rose was never born, instead the Tyler's have a dog named Rose.
  • In the original Earth, Mickey's Gran died, she is still alive in the parallel Earth.
  • Mickey's double is named Ricky.
  • Great Britain has a President.
  • There is apparently a country called New Germany.
  • The most notable difference is the Cybus corporation ear pods that everyone wears.
  • The preponderance of zeppelins.

Behind the Scenes

• Director Graeme Harper is the first director from the original series to direct episodes of the new show. Harper directed the Fourth Doctor's swan song, The Caves of Androzani.

Allusions and References

• Scooby-Doo: A children series, which has gone through many reincarnations, about a group of friends and their dog that travel in a van and solve mysteries.

Pete: I thought I was broadcasting to the security services. What do I get? Scooby-Doo and his gang.

Quotes

• Mickey: How do we do that?
  The Doctor: Oh, I'll think of something.
  Mickey: You're just making this up as you go along!
  The Doctor: Yup. But I do it brilliantly.
• The Doctor: Oh, Lumic, you're a clever man. I'd call you a genius, except I'm in the room.