I thought — perhaps naively — the second part of Dr. Who's Cybermen return story would be better. I couldn't bring myself to entirely hate the first part; it had its problems, but I hoped that it was taking its time and laying the foundation for a great second half in episode 2-6. I couldn't have been more wrong; "The Age Of Steel" is the worst episode of the new season so far, and is potentially the worst episode since Doctor Who returned.

I thought I'd begin by stating the things I liked. There's only one, it won't take me but a moment. At one point, a Cyberperson's emotional inhibitor is disabled, and the human emotions are briefly allowed to surface, which I couldn't help but think was a nice touch. But even this doesn't quite work; listening to a Cyberman (person) talk about their upcoming wedding just doesn't ring true. It just seems a bit silly.

And so to the things I hated about this episode. First on my list: Andrew Hayden Smith. Since the previous episode, it's come to my attention that Smith used to (or maybe still does) present children's television. He should stay there. The spiky haired Muppet was bad enough last week, but here he's required to emote. His very presence is enough to destroy every scene he's in, and that's quite a few of them. I really did hope he'd be turned into a Cyberman, or perhaps be deemed too pretty for upgrading and disposed of. "You are not com-patty-bell, pretty boy".

I suppose chronologically I should have started with my beef about the cliffhanger's resolution, but Hayden Smith deserves shooting first, so to speak. Now, I know plot devices to escape dramatic cliffhangers are usually moronic, but this one really niggled at me. The Doctor simply whips out a bit of the TARDIS and everything's sorted; this unexpected smartbomb is the first example of lazy writing in another episode packed with them.

After establishing an interesting alternate persona for Mickey, it's destroyed here. Rickey is revealed to be just as moronic as Mickey, and for no other reason than brief comic effect. It's a shame; I quite liked the idea of a action-hero version of Mickey in another universe. Mickey, as with most of the other characters in this episode, is conveniently moronic when the story requires it, but capable of leaps of genius to resolve elements of the plot. More on that later.

It's worth noting — and this might amount to nothing, time will tell — that Russell Davies actually slips up in the Doctor Who Confidential making-of episode associated with "The Age Of Steel." In it, he confuses Rickey and Mickey when referring to a particularly dramatic element of this episode's plot (if you've seen it, it'll be obvious; if not, I won't spoil it here). Maybe this is just a slip of the tongue, but it will be interesting to see if this is picked up in later episodes. If it is, I'll pick it back up. The Mickey/Rickey confusion of Ecclestone's Doctor is never resolved here either.