One of the best episodes of anything sci-fi out there (provided you have the second part on hand). It was the first episode I ever watched, and it chilled me to the bone. Looking at it now, the premise is still very dark, but I can see that the character writing is superb, and the waiting for the reveal of the Cybermen was handled very well (except that it was in the title).
The Good: A striking commentary on our technology-obsessed times, this one brings the intensity. Not only is there a bit of action, but certain scenes--especially with Mickey seeing his grandmother and Rose's interaction with her parents--packed an emotional punch.
The Bad: As usual, there was mild profanity; also, I didn't need to see Jackie in a buxom outfit or Mickey in nothing but underwear. Outside of the slight content issues, I was a bit shocked by the cliffhanger ending; I'm glad I have the next episode on hand.
Review by TshepisoBlockedParent2023-10-10T20:51:45Z— updated 2023-10-12T11:45:55Z
I hate this parallel universe stuff. It just retreads and or undermines the emotional impact of Father's Day. Like what's the point of that episode if there's another Pete waiting in the wings. I don't even like this version of Pete. part of the dramatic irony of Father's Day is that Rose has all these ideas about her dad built up in her head by Jackie that turn out to be completely untrue. He wasn't an entrepreneur, him and Jackie weren't in a perfect relationship. So having him here as a uber successful businessman just further puts insult to injury.
On a character level the only thing of value here is Mickey finally getting some depth as we learn more about him as a person. Learning about his family and spending time with him separate from Rose was incredibly refreshing. But it also highlights why he doesn't work as a companion for me. The Doctor doesn't want him there, he only lets Mickey on board for Rose. But Rose doesn't want him there either. This inevitably (and frequently) leads to his own frustrations as he storms off after the upteeth "no one cares about me" argument. Given this I question what made the writers decide to bring Mickey on as a companion. Cause it doesn't seem to be out of any love for his character because he's rarely given anything interesting to do. But he also serves no real role in the dynamics of the TARDIS because Rose and Ten don't like him and spend their time either ignoring him or making fun of him.
Looking more broadly at this episode the titular Return of the Cybermen doesn't quite work for me. Given that New Who's iteration of the Daleks are mutated humans stripped of emotion that kill people they Cybermen don't bring much new to the table and feel like retreads. Sure they're slightly different in their goals conversation or deletion rather than simple extermination and aim to "purify" the human race. But as a villains they're functionally the same. Their creator and leader John Lumic wasn't stand out either. Maybe if they'd leaned into the eugenics thing more making him more of a mad scientist figure than `a guy in a chair in the background. I also don't love this design of the Cybermen, it's really retro which makes sense for a villain created in the 60s but just doesn't work for aesthetically and their high pitched robotic monotone equally so.
I didn't expect to have this much to compainabout. Hopefullythe end of the two-parter will bring it together for me.