The Rise of the Cybermen

Not jumping the gun of offering a thematic analysis of an episode of Doctor Who that I’ve not seen, I must satisfy my excitement about Saturday, whilst at the same time making the footnotes and references that come from spending all week writing assignments.

"The word ‘monster’ can be traced to various Latin roots
related to education. The Latin monstrum means ‘that which teaches’, while
monstrare means ‘to show’. Both words derive from monere, meaning ‘to warn’… So
the role of the monster is to show us something, to warn and to teach us… In
this way, monsters often fulfil a prophetic role in society, showing and warning
us about uncomfortable truths." (Couch, Watkins, Williams, Terrors from the Deep
‘Back in Time- A Thinking Fan’s Guide to Doctor Who’ pg.116)

At their conception the role of the Cybermen as monstrare couldn’t be more clear. Their origins on Earth’s twin planet make them human. They are a literal ‘What if?’ scenario. Intitially, the Cybermen addressed public fears about prosthetics and the advancement of medical science. The first encounter with the Cybermen is marked by uncertainty as to their motives. They are not openly malicious. The audience’s doubts become solid when Cyberleader Krail repsonds with genuine curiosity: "Care? Why should I care?" (Tenth Planet)

The horror of the Cybermen is that "They surgically removed their emotions"(The Doctor, Spare Parts) in a bid for survival. Though their thematic strengths faded into the background of linear story telling, the ‘emotionless’ theme allowed for excellent dialogue over the years, such as this sequence from Earthshock:

DOCTOR "When did you last have the pleasure of smelling a flower,
watching a sun set, eating a well-prepared meal?"
LEADER "These things are irrelevant."
DOCTOR "For some people small, beautiful events are what life is
all about."

It’s a shame that the Cybermen weren’t around in the late 90’s as they are a perfect monstrare for Posthumanism… although that looks like it might appear on Saturday to. 'The Ultimate Upgrade' MySpace?

My hang-up about about last series’ treatment of the Daleks was that they used Cybermen themes. Human-Dalek conversions appeared in the 80s, but emotionlessness was never a Dalek theme. In fact, Daleks get angry quite a lot. The Religious element to the Daleks felt a little forced, the Emperor excluded, but again, my hang-up was that it wasted such a good take on the Cybermen.

EMPEROR DALEK: "We quietly infiltrated the systems of Earth. Harvesting the waste of humanity." "The prisoners, the refugees, the dispossessed, they all came to us." (Parting of the Ways)

Put those words into the mouth of the Controller, and there you go!

In a day’s time the Cybermen are back, and I’m glad to say that the religious themes of the New Series are alive and well in them. In the Alternative Universe "Earth has become quite a fascist society" (Russell T Davies, Radio Times 15-21 April 2006 pg.19) says Uncle Russ.
The TARDISODE’s mention of ‘Preachers’ leaves me drooling at the mouth for a ‘V for Vendetta’ style distopian future… except with Cybermen… and except that that’s probably nothing like what we’ll be getting.
The BBC press release in November hinted at a religious theme; "The Doctor and companions battle against a new, more deadly breed of Cybermen who are out to convert humanity into their own kind." (BBC publicity.)

"The fact that they’re humans but no longer have emotions, the idea of being forced into eternal life with no emotions is such a dark and brilliant idea" (Billie Piper Radio Times 15-21 April 2006 pg.22) says Billie Piper.

Now, when I started writing I had a clear idea of where I was going, but I’m getting ahead of myself and my brain’s asleep. Perhaps I should have it fused to a metal exoskeleton.
If there are no religious themes then I’m going to look a bit stupid.

Excellent!