This episode is a little bit difficult to describe since their is so much going on to set up this two-parter.
First off, there's the crisis of the TARDIS losing all (just about) power cause they somehow crashed into an alternate reality, and then, they're in an ALTERNATE REALITY! One would think this would be enough to throw into an episode but on top of that they add in the Cyber Men. That is a lot for an episode - - even a two parter, to tackle.
And for the most part the episode does a decent job of setting up all these elements. Good character moments for both Mickey and Rose, with some decent mistaken identity humor thrown in for good measure. The episode really does a good job of building all the "good" characters but unfortunately gets a little lazy when it comes to the villains. Very cardboard cutout human masterminds engineering the Cyber Men, who in turn seem a little slow (mentally and physically) to be the threat they are presented as.
This is the area too where the episode, like much of the season, falls prey to the overuse of camp, which undermines the validity of the villains' threat to humanity. But the strong performances by the other actors helps alleviate some of this irritation and elevated this episode to a decently strong setup for this two parter. 8/10
First off, there's the crisis of the TARDIS losing all (just about) power cause they somehow crashed into an alternate reality, and then, they're in an ALTERNATE REALITY! One would think this would be enough to throw into an episode but on top of that they add in the Cyber Men. That is a lot for an episode - - even a two parter, to tackle.
And for the most part the episode does a decent job of setting up all these elements. Good character moments for both Mickey and Rose, with some decent mistaken identity humor thrown in for good measure. The episode really does a good job of building all the "good" characters but unfortunately gets a little lazy when it comes to the villains. Very cardboard cutout human masterminds engineering the Cyber Men, who in turn seem a little slow (mentally and physically) to be the threat they are presented as.
This is the area too where the episode, like much of the season, falls prey to the overuse of camp, which undermines the validity of the villains' threat to humanity. But the strong performances by the other actors helps alleviate some of this irritation and elevated this episode to a decently strong setup for this two parter. 8/10