'Rise of the Cybermen' (Story Code 2.5) by Tom MacRae

“We have been upgraded to the next level of mankind... We are ‘Human.2’. Every citizen will receive a free upgrade. You will become like us.” - Cyberman

Aboard the Cybus Industries airship, wheelchair-bound genius John Lumic watches with pleasure as his new prototype of a human brain welded to a metal exo-skeleton is declared to be ‘alive’. However, his associate, Doctor Kendrick, states that Lumic’s work contravenes the Geneva Bio Convention, and he vows to report his employer’s misconduct; in response, Lumic orders his prototype to kill Kendrick, and then gives the order to set sail for Great Britain… Aboard the TARDIS, the Doctor, Rose and Mickey are knocked to the floor as the central console inexplicably explodes. As the ship is thrown out of the time / space vortex all its systems shut down – the TARDIS is dead. Believing that they have arrived in a “lost dimension”, the Doctor and his companions are surprised to find that they have in fact landed on an alternate Earth, in a London whose skies are populated by countless airships, and where the image of Rose’s late-father stares out from an advertising display for a health food drink. Elsewhere, Pete Tyler, successful millionaire and owner of the Vitex Company, arrives at his country mansion, where preparations are being made for his wife Jackie’s fortieth (or rather, thirty-ninth) birthday party. Pete’s snobbish wife shows him the present she got from Lumic, the man who recently bought out the Vitex Company: a new ‘earpod’, a compact device worn by every member of the population. Pete then receives a call from Lumic on his own earpod, requesting his presence at an important meeting with the President of Great Britain that evening. Jackie returns to her bedroom to get ready for the party, but Lumic remotely activates her earpod, sending her into a trance and creating a direct link to her brain, which he uses to learn the security codes to the Tylers’ estate. Returning Jackie to normal, Lumic then contacts his associate, Mr Crane, and orders him to obtain more “staff”… Meanwhile, the Doctor is infuriated that Rose has gone off on her own; he and Mickey return to the inactive TARDIS, where they ponder how they can possibly repair the time / space ship. The Doctor is without hope, until he spots a solitary power cell that still contains a trace of energy; using some of his own life-force, the Doctor sets the cell on a recharge cycle, happily informing Mickey that the ship will be fully-charged in twenty-four hours. Crane and his colleagues find a group of homeless people, whom they encourage to enter their lorry with the promise of food and drink; a young man named Jack tries to warn the tramps not to accept, but when he is ignored he manages to capture their screams on his camcorder. The Doctor and Mickey rejoin Rose, only to find that she has used her mobile phone to learn all about this world’s versions of her father and mother, including the fact that they never had children; the Doctor forbids her from visiting them, but Rose ignores him and rushes off. When Mickey also sets off on his own mission the Doctor faces a tough choice, but predictably elects to follow Rose; hearing a signal ring out, the two of them are surprised when everyone in the street suddenly stops; the Doctor realises that their earpieces are downloading information straight to their brains, a stream of information that is also being transmitted to Rose’s phone. Across London, Mickey passes a military boundary and enters one of the capital’s poorer districts; when he was a child, his parents left him to be brought up by his blind gran, who later died in a fall down her stairs; Mickey now wants to see if he can find this world’s version of his gran, and when he arrives at her house, he is delighted to learn that she is still very much alive – and very angry that her “Ricky” has been away from home with his friends for the last few nights. However before Mickey can learn any more, he is bundled into a van by Jake and a woman named Mrs Moore, who have mistaken him for Ricky; they inform him that they have traced the lorry in Jake’s recording to International Electromatics, a dummy corporation owned by Cybus Industries. At London’s airstrip, Pete and the President board the Cybus airship, where they are given a demonstration of the technology behind Lumic’s new cybernetic-grafting procedure, dubbed ‘The Ultimate Upgrade’; however, the President objects to the unethical work of directly grafting human brains to electronic components, and refuses to allow the continuation of the project. As the President walks out, a furious Lumic contacts Crane at his base in Battersea Power Station and gives the order for the upgrade to continue anyway. Remotely controlling the kidnapped homeless people via their earpods, Crane sends them into the workshop – and a series of terrible screams ring out across London… Having arrived at the Tyler estate, the Doctor and Rose sneak in and pose as staff, handing out canapés to the rich and famous attendees mingling at the party, including the President himself. Rose is amazed to see the alternate, wealthy versions of her parents, but is more than a little put out that in this world Jackie’s pet dog is called ‘Rose’! Lumic’s airship arrives at Battersea, where Crane is supervising the completion of the cybernetic creatures; he then obeys his boss’ orders to transport the cyborgs to the Tyler residence. Jake and Mrs Moore bring Mickey to their base, where they are astonished to find that Ricky is already there. The ‘impostor’ quickly finds himself tied to a chair, as his captors deliberate whether he is a clone or their leader’s long-lost brother. Ricky reveals that he and his fellows – the self-styled ‘Preachers’ – have een branded as criminals because they refuse to wear earpieces, and that they are sworn to bring about the downfall of Cybus Industries; after receiving a tip-off that a number of lorries have just left the Power Station, Ricky decides to take up arms and follow, bringing Mickey along just in case. Back at the party, Rose talks to Pete and learns that he and his wife are hiding their recent separation from the Press; she then attempts to convince Jackie to try and make her marriage work, but the socialite is furious at being given advice by a servant and storms off. Meanwhile, the Doctor uses the Tylers’ computer to uncover the truth behind Cybus Industries, and is shocked to learn that the Ultimate Upgrade is a threat he has encountered before. On hearing the sound of marching feet outside, the Doctor joins Rose at a window, and finds his suspicions confirmed: a squad of Cybermen is rapidly approaching the house. These giant, powerful cybernetic creatures smash through the windows and surround the terrified guests; the President receives a broadcast from Lumic via his earpod, and when he refuses to accept the man’s offer of an upgrade to become ‘Human.2’, he is ruthlessly electrocuted by a Cyberman. The guests panic and run for their lives, only to be systematically cut down by the Cybermen; while Jackie flees down to the cellar, the Doctor, Rose and Pete manage to get outside, only to be confronted by yet more Cybermen. The trio are joined by Jake, Mickey and – to Rose and the Doctor’s astonishment – Ricky; however, the freedom fighters’ attempts to shoot down the Cybermen with conventional weapons prove useless. Seeing that they are surrounded, the Doctor tries to buy time by surrendering – but the Cybermen declare them to be rogue elements, and prepare to ‘delete’ them…

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), Andrew Hayden-Smith (Jake Simmonds), Don Warrington (The President), Mona Hammond (Rita-Anne), Helen Griffin (Mrs Moore), Colin Spaull (Mr Crane), Paul Antony-Barber (Doctor Kendrick), Adam Shaw (Morris), Andrew Ufondo (Soldier), 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:
13th May 2006 @ 7.20 pm

Notes:
*Featuring the Tenth Doctor and Rose and Mickey

*Part 1 of a 2 part story

*Working title: 'Parallel World'

*This episode was transmitted 20 minutes later than the advertised time of 7.00 pm, due to the fact that the F.A. Cup final match between Liverpool and West Ham went to penalties (it was 3-3 until Liverpool won!)

*Mr Crane plays 'The Lion Sleeps Tonight' by Tight Fit, to drown out the noise of the Cyber-conversions

*The 'Torchwood' Files: Rose receives a news report broadcast to her mobile phone, which refers to a survey carried out by the Torchwood Institute; at the party, Pete talks to a friend about their work at Torchwood

*TARDISODE: Ricky learns from a mysterious contact of "The Ultimate Upgrade", a project developed by John Lumic of Cybus Industries, which is somehow linked to the mysterious disappearance of members of the public... [Cast: Noel Clarke (Ricky Smith), Robert Booth (Voice of Gemini)]