'The Age of Steel' (Story Code 2.6) by Tom MacRae

“This is the Age of Steel, and I am its creator.” – The Cyber Controller

As the Cybermen close in on Rose, Mickey, Pete and Jake, the Doctor uses the TARDIS power cell to send a burst of energy that destroys the advancing metal monsters. Mrs Moore drives up in the van, encouraging everyone to bundle inside as she makes a hasty retreat from the Tylers’ estate. Rickey confronts Pete over his apparent collaboration with Lumic, but Pete is more concerned over the fate of his wife, Jackie. Having instructed Pete to remove his earpods, the Doctor decides to inform the authorities of Lumic’s intentions. Meanwhile, Lumic activates the override on the earpods – and all across London, people fall into a trance and then walk zombie-like towards Battersea Power Station. Soon, squads of impassive Cybermen patrol the streets, herding the population along like cattle; as the capital falls, the authorities declare martial law, while news reports urge everyone to remove their earpods before it is too late. With the Cybermen searching for them, the Doctor and his friends split up; however, a squad of Cybermen soon traps Rickey, and as a terrified Mickey looks on, his counterpart is electrocuted to death. Having removed his earpods, Mr Crane returns to Battersea and offers himself to Lumic for an ‘upgrade’; Lumic is suspicious, and for good reason, as Crane promptly tries to wreck the life support system on his employer’s wheelchair. Although a Cybermen kills Crane the damage has been done, and the metal creatures take a protesting Lumic to be converted into one of their number. After Mickey rejoins the others, Jake is devastated to learn of the death of his friend and leader. With London sealed off and its population walking helplessly to Battersea, the Doctor decides to take the battle to the power station: using fake earpods, Rose and Pete infiltrate the ranks of the entranced populace to look for Jackie; Mickey and Jake head off to destroy the earpod signal transmitting from Lumic’s airship; while the Doctor and Mrs Moore make for the cooling tunnels underneath the station. Overpowering the guards, Mickey and Jake enter the dirigible, where they find a dormant Cyberman. Meanwhile, the Doctor and Mrs Moore discover a legion of frozen Cybermen, each awaiting its activation signal. As the number of Cybermen created reaches six-thousand-five hundred, Pete and Rose are spotted by one of the metal soldiers; when the creature declares that it was once designated ‘Jacqueline Tyler’, Pete and Rose are devastated, and can do nothing as they are escorted to Cyber Control. Aboard Lumic’s airship, Mickey finds the transmitter; realising that its casing is impenetrable, Jake proposes that they destroy it by crashing the airship. When the Doctor and Mrs Moore inadvertently trigger an alarm the Cybermen in the tunnel are activated; just in time the duo escape through a hatchway, only to be confronted by another of the armoured warriors. Mrs Moore incapacitates it with an electromagnetic bomb, enabling the Doctor to examine the creature’s chest unit; inside he finds an organic central nervous system grafted onto the machinery, and an inhibitor blocking the emotions of the victim’s brain. When the Doctor accidentally deactivates this unit the cybernised victim, Sally, regains some awareness of her situation; realising he has no choice, the Doctor compassionately deactivates her. However, another Cyberman appears and kills Mrs Moore, and when the creature detects the Doctor’s binary cardiovascular system, it and its fellows take him to Cyber Control for examination. Having been reunited with Rose and Pete, the Doctor is introduced to Lumic, who has now been transformed into the Cyber Controller. Meanwhile, Mickey and Jake trip an alarm on the airship, causing the dormant Cyberman to activate; Mickey bravely tricks the metal warrior into taking a swing at him, ducking out of the way so that it destroys the transmitter and electrocutes itself instead. With the signal deactivated, the surviving populace instantly comes to their senses, and they run in abject terror from the power station. Undeterred, the Cyber Controller vows to use his Cybermen to take over the world by force, and offers the Doctor the chance to become like him; the Doctor refuses, and, confidant that Mickey will be watching via the surveillance cameras, he cryptically instructs his companion on how to find the override code to the emotional inhibitors. Using his computer skills, Mickey finds the code, and sends it to Rose’s mobile phone; Rose throws the device to the Doctor, who inserts it into the control console, reactivating the emotions of every Cyberman. As the victims’ identities reassert themselves, they are horrified to learn what they have become; as the Cybermen are driven insane they overload, falling to the ground or exploding where they stand. In the ensuing chaos the Doctor, Rose and Pete seize the opportunity to escape. Following Mickey’s instructions via her phone, Rose and the others head for the roof, where they climb a rope ladder cast down by Mickey from the airship. As the craft departs, the Doctor, Rose and Pete cling desperately onto the ladder, but the Cyber Controller is not far behind, and it grabs hold of one of the rungs below. Catching the Doctor’s sonic screwdriver, Pete cuts through the rope, sending the remains of John Lumic falling into the exploding power station below. Some time later, the Doctor reactivates the TARDIS using the recharged power cell, while Rose says goodbye to Pete; when Rose tells him that in her world she is his daughter, Pete is unable to cope with the knowledge, and he abruptly leaves. Mickey arrives, but instead of joining Rose and the Doctor in the TARDIS, he announces that he wants to stay behind and continue Rickey’s fight, bringing down the Cybus factories based in other countries. After an emotional farewell, Rose and the Doctor depart in the TARDIS, soon arriving safely back in their own universe, where the Doctor takes Rose to see her mother. Back on the alternate Earth, Mickey and Jake join forces to save the world from the menace of the Cybermen, starting with the liberation of Paris…

David Tennant (The Doctor), Billie Piper (Rose Tyler), Camille Coduri ('Alternate' Jackie Tyler), Noel Clarke (Mickey Smith / Ricky Smith ), Shaun Dingwall ('Alternate' Pete Tyler), Roger Lloyd-Pack (John Lumic / Cyber Controller), Andrew Hayden-Smith (Jake Simmonds), Helen Griffin (Mrs Moore [Angela Price]), Colin Spaull (Mr Crane), Duncan Duff (Newsreader), Paul Kasey (Cyber-Leader), Nick Briggs (Cyber-Voice)

Directed by Graeme Harper
Produced by Phil Collinson
Executive Producers Russell T. Davies and Julie Gardner
A BBC Wales production

TX:
20th May 2006 @ 6.35 pm

Notes:
*Featuring the Tenth Doctor, Rose and Mickey

*Part 2 of a 2 part story

*The transmission time for this episode was brought forward from the usual 7.00 pm slot due to coverage of the Eurovision Song Contest

*One of the Cybermen stomping through the streets of London is played by Blue Peter presenter Gethin Jones

*TARDISODE: John Lumic has given the order for worldwide production of Cybermen - all incompatible versions are to be deleted... [Cast : Robert Booth (Voice of Cybus Inductries)]