Doctor: David Tennant (Tenth Doctor)
Companions: Billie Piper (Rose Tyler)
Noel Clarke (Mickey Smith)
Others
Camille Coduri – Jackie Tyler
Shaun Dingwall – Pete Tyler
Roger Lloyd-Pack – John Lumic
Andrew Hayden-Smith – Jake Simmonds
Don Warrington – The President
Colin Spaull – Mr Crane
Mona Hammond – Rita-Anne
Helen Griffin – Mrs Moore
Paul Antony-Barber – Dr Kendrick
Adam Shaw – Morris
Andrew Ufondo – Soldier
Duncan Duff – Newsreader
Paul Kasey – Cyber-Leader
Nicholas Briggs – Cybermen (Voice)
Production
Directed by Graeme Harper
Written by Tom MacRae
Script editor Helen Raynor
Produced by Phil Collinson
Executive producer(s) Russell T Davies
Julie Gardner
Incidental music composer Murray Gold
Production code 2.5
Series Series 2
Length 1st of 2-part story, 45 minutes
Originally broadcast 13 May 2006
Aboard the TARDIS, the Doctor and Rose reminisce about their travels in front of Mickey, who feels left out. Suddenly the TARDIS is jolted and comes to a sudden stop. The Doctor tells them they have fallen out of the time vortex and that the TARDIS's power cell is dead. The Doctor fears they are trapped in the Void, but Mickey opens the TARDIS doors to see that they are in London. Heading outside to look, they quickly realise that they are in London on a parallel Earth. The Doctor finds a small power cell in the TARDIS that still works, and he energises it with some of his own lifeforce. The cell needs time to recharge, so they decide to explore the alternate world. Rose is shocked to see a billboard with her father's picture on it, and the Doctor warns her not to seek him out because he is not her real father. Mickey decides to head off on his own and try to find his grandmother, who died in his universe. The Doctor and Rose discover that most of the population of London wear EarPod devices that feed information directly into the wearer's brain.
Meanwhile, the head of Cybus Industries, John Lumic, tries and fails to gain approval from the President of Great Britain for his plan to upgrade humanity by placing their brains into metal exoskeletons. Lumic calls Pete Tyler and tells him that he will be attending a party that Pete is having that evening for his wife, Jackie. Unknown to everyone else, Lumic has already been secretly conducting his experiments anyway, using homeless people and turning them into cyborgs. Cybus is being investigated by a group called the Preachers, who have been receiving information secretly from Pete Tyler about Lumic's technology. Jake Simmonds, one of the Preachers, witnesses a group of homeless people being taken to be converted and goes to collect help. Jake finds Mickey at his grandmother's house, and confuses him with his parallel counterpart Ricky. Jake takes Mickey to the Preacher's base where Ricky and Mickey meet. After some initial distrust, Mickey decides to join them as they plan to raid Pete's party that night.
Rose and the Doctor also decide to investigate the party and don servant garb to disguise themselves. The Doctor and Rose learn that Pete and Jackie are childless and about to divorce. When Rose attempts to discuss it with Jackie she is rebuked for overstepping her bounds. Suddenly the party is interrupted by the Cybermen, who smash into the house and surround the guests. Lumic calls the President, who is in attendance, telling him that he is moving forward with his plans and that all of humanity will be upgraded. Lumic tells everyone that upgrading is compulsory and that anyone who refuses will be deleted. The President refuses to be upgraded and is killed by a Cyberman. The partygoers panic, try to flee and the Cybermen begin killing them. The Doctor, Rose, and Pete escape the house and encounter Mickey and the Preachers outside. They try firing upon the advancing Cybermen with automatic rifles, but their bullets do no damage and soon they are surrounded. The Doctor tells everyone to surrender and tells the Cybermen that they are volunteering for the upgrade. The Cybermen tell them that they are incompatible and will be deleted. The episode ends with the Cybermen advancing on them.
Rise of the Cybermen