Doctor Who Series 12: Ten Huge Questions After Ascension Of The Cybermen
All the major talking points from part one of The Doctor Who series 12 finale.
The main plot of Ascension of the Cybermen is fairly uncomplicated. We are at the tail end of a Cyber War which has all but wiped out the human race and most of the Cybermen too. Armed with the knowledge of the Cyberium, the lone Cyberman, Ashad, is on a mission to restore the fallen empire and bring to life a dormant Cyber-army.
Meanwhile, the last humans are looking for ‘the boundary’ – a rumoured escape route which turns out to be a portal to another dimension. There is an air of inevitability about both strands of the core story. Of course, the battle cruiser Graham, Ravio and Yaz commandeer is carrying the unactivated army, and, of course, that portal leads to Gallifrey.
Most of the mystery is centred on the as yet unconnected biography of Brendan. Found abandoned in early 20th century Ireland, Brendan is adopted by doting parents Patrick and Meg and various snapshots of his life show him growing up and being recruited with the Irish police (the Garda). After that, things take a decidedly odd turn. He survives a fall that should have killed him, and then on the day of his retirement has his memories violently wiped by his ‘father’ and the ‘sergeant’ who haven’t aged since the day he was found as a baby.
10. Who Is Brendan?
The deliberate allusions to Clarke Kent’s upbringing in Smallville make us suspect that Brendan is an unearthly child. But as he grows up, he appears to be an ordinary kid without any superhuman abilities. There is something odd about his adoptive parents though, right from the start. We didn’t clock that they weren’t ageing, but they shared several knowing looks between each other.
With next week’s finale called The Timeless Children, could Brendan turn out to be one of them? If so, does that make him a Time Lord? If so, why not the Doctor? The newly regenerated 11th Doctor was disappointed that his hair was still not ginger. Could Brendan’s hair colour be a hint that this is another forgotten incarnation like the Jo Martin Doctor? There is certainly something familiar about that jumper.
There is nothing eccentric or particularly doctorish about Brendan, but this could also be said for Ruth when she was under the effects of the chameleon arch and indeed John Smith (Human Nature). The same technology could be what is used on Brendan in the back room of the station. The way the doors opened and the size of the windows certainly gives the feel of a TARDIS.
This could all be a classic case of misdirection, of course. There are other possibilities. Brendan and Ko Sharmus could be the same person. Or Brendan could be the dream of one of the dormant Cybermen. Is there a link between Brendan’s electric shock treatment and the pain that the reawakening Cybermen go through at the hands of Ashad? Even more tantalisingly, this might not be an either/or. What if we are seeing a projection of the Cyberium, a fusion of what it discovered in the Doctor and in Ashad’s memories?