The Cybermen… The great civilisation we could have been… if we’d taken another path. A purer path.
1 Comment
Styre
on May 7, 2016 at 8:54 PM
CYBERMAN: CONVERSION
As long as I’m raising similarities between Cyberman and the Dalek Empire series, let me point out another one: meandering, padded third episodes. An attentive listener will already have deduced that the immigration center is really for Cyber-conversion and that the Cybermen seek the ultimate conversion of all humanity, and furthermore that the androids don’t want this to happen. Yet this is precisely what “Conversion” takes another full hour to relate to the audience. Most of the action follows Barnaby and Samantha as they flee to android territory by hijacking a Cyber-controlled Earth ship, but unfortunately most of the drama revolves around them sitting still in an escape pod wondering who will collect them first. The androids, naturally, are just as close-minded and prejudiced as the humans, but we’re starting to see the first glimmers of “Hey, they’re not that much different from us!” that will invariably cause them to band together and save the day. Still, the android doctor was a pleasant injection of humor into an otherwise-dead-serious universe, and the acting is always convincing.
Two more points, since I have very little to say about “Conversion” itself: first, as other reviews have pointed out, the Cyber-plan is almost as ludicrous as the Dalek scheme in Dalek Empire I. In that serial, the Daleks launched an invasion of an entire galaxy simply to distract attention from one single planet that was their target all along. Here, it looks like the Cybermen already have billions of soldiers in hibernation, waiting to be awakened — so rather than immediately taking one of their covert ships and going right to Telos, they’re busy taking over the entire Earth government and winning the Orion War first? Why? Secondly, I’m a little bothered by the portrayal of women in “Conversion” — the first of them, supposedly the President of Earth and a great military leader, is shown to be weak-willed, weepy, and easily manipulated, while the second, an android spy, deduces that the best way to overcome Barnaby’s mental dampening is to… have sex with him! It’s bizarre, and really out of place.
In short, “Conversion” really doesn’t accomplish anything other than setting up the pieces for the final part. The production and acting are up to the usual high standards, so it’s a little better than average, but it’s almost completely inessential listening.
CYBERMAN: CONVERSION
As long as I’m raising similarities between Cyberman and the Dalek Empire series, let me point out another one: meandering, padded third episodes. An attentive listener will already have deduced that the immigration center is really for Cyber-conversion and that the Cybermen seek the ultimate conversion of all humanity, and furthermore that the androids don’t want this to happen. Yet this is precisely what “Conversion” takes another full hour to relate to the audience. Most of the action follows Barnaby and Samantha as they flee to android territory by hijacking a Cyber-controlled Earth ship, but unfortunately most of the drama revolves around them sitting still in an escape pod wondering who will collect them first. The androids, naturally, are just as close-minded and prejudiced as the humans, but we’re starting to see the first glimmers of “Hey, they’re not that much different from us!” that will invariably cause them to band together and save the day. Still, the android doctor was a pleasant injection of humor into an otherwise-dead-serious universe, and the acting is always convincing.
Two more points, since I have very little to say about “Conversion” itself: first, as other reviews have pointed out, the Cyber-plan is almost as ludicrous as the Dalek scheme in Dalek Empire I. In that serial, the Daleks launched an invasion of an entire galaxy simply to distract attention from one single planet that was their target all along. Here, it looks like the Cybermen already have billions of soldiers in hibernation, waiting to be awakened — so rather than immediately taking one of their covert ships and going right to Telos, they’re busy taking over the entire Earth government and winning the Orion War first? Why? Secondly, I’m a little bothered by the portrayal of women in “Conversion” — the first of them, supposedly the President of Earth and a great military leader, is shown to be weak-willed, weepy, and easily manipulated, while the second, an android spy, deduces that the best way to overcome Barnaby’s mental dampening is to… have sex with him! It’s bizarre, and really out of place.
In short, “Conversion” really doesn’t accomplish anything other than setting up the pieces for the final part. The production and acting are up to the usual high standards, so it’s a little better than average, but it’s almost completely inessential listening.
6/10