Review by Doctor Squee (Host of Gallifrey Stands Podcast)

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The Sixth Doctor (Colin Baker) flying solo in the Tardis lands in London following a distress call from UNIT. He finds the water on Earth has been drying up, and (no spoilers given the title), it soon turns out to be another master plan by the Cybermen and a version of the Cybermen we haven’t seen for a while.

This is a glorious story. Andrew Smith deftly uses the feel of Colin Baker’s time; well assisted by the music used, and a story that moves with the pacing of a modern tale. The Cybermen are using science that makes perfect sense for a race that sees themselves as moving past the frailties of the human form and are thusly using our weaknesses against us. We also dip into how the cyber upgrades work and what they would need to do to have the human body go through the change. It feels real in a world of space ships and monsters from another planet, the way good Doctor Who does.

And we have a return of the 80’s Cybermen! David Banks and Mark Hardy are the Cybermen I remember from my childhood and this brings that feeling of watching Doctor Who as a child back. “Excellent” you might say. I wasn’t sure the voice effect was quite right, but pretty close and having these too actors back was really key. Director Jamie Anderson says in the extras he wasn’t left with much to do, which I’m sure is modesty as the rest of the story is cast and paced just right. One of my favourite new characters being Riva, played by Stone Frog. She is partially upgraded and with lost memories, they use her abilities from her partial upgrade in perfect combination with the cost she faces for it.

Highly recommended 9/10.

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