Made Of Steel (2007) Review

Made Of Steel is a unique example of the new series being approached by a writer with a firmly old-fashioned, classic series mindset. Like a hybrid.

WRITTEN BY

Terrance Dicks, prolific contributor to Doctor Who dating back to the 1960s. One of the most notable figures in its history. So yeah, guy is cool.

PLOT

Whilst giving Martha a metaphorical breather adventures, the Tenth Doctor discovers that a few Cybermen from the Canary Wharf incident remained on Earth and are after him to break open the walls of reality once more...

ANALYSIS

Like many of Terrance's stories, it's not a masterpiece, but just the kind of positive comfort food story that you can revisit time and time again. Although it's set in the modern era of Doctor Who, you can clearly see that he wasn't interested in conforming to the 2000s and so you have a story that's focused on the plot, not emotional turmoil.

This does mean that the leads don't really feel or talk like the characters we recognise from the show, but that just adds to the memorability of the book. It's a bit surreal, a bit fun and a bit brilliant.

As far as the prose itself goes, it's very basic and could very easily be used as a television script, actually. It certainly has the pacing of one.

CHARACTERS

Ever wonder what a self-dependent, mature Tenth Doctor would've been like? Well, here he is, firing rockets at Cybermen like there's no tomorrow. Smart without gloating, quirky without mugging, wistful without moping. As much as I love David Tennant's interpretation, I do wish Terrance had a chance to make a full return to screenwriting.

Notably, this book is Martha Jones' first entry into the Whoniverse. She's always been somewhat generic in my eyes, so I'm not surprised the book actually more or less nailed the character(whilst getting her kidnapped a la damsel in distress). The only real difference is that Martha seemed a little looser here, almost as if she was a good ten years younger.

I don't know if it was his own feelings towards the Cybermen or influence from David Banks' era, but this interpretation of the Cybusmen as slightly bitter businessmen who want each other's jobs is by far the most interesting thing that's ever been done with them. It's comedy gold.

Captain Sheila Sarandon had a nice, subtle arc of starting out as a cold, nononsense type, and yet ultimately placing her faith in the Doctor instead of military dogma like the Brigadier. It leads up to a great scene at the end where the Doctor blows her a kiss. Timeless, yet romantic. Terrance has the Midas touch.

NOTES

*It's interesting to point out that the Doctor had no reason to suspect anything was amiss when he arrived on Earth, so he literally just went on the internet for the sole purpose of checking whether aliens had invaded whilst he was gone.

*And I'd love to know how the conspiracy theorists got access to security footage from an electronics company, not to mention the army. Victor Kennedy?

*So apparently, the Doctor can just remove components from the TARDIS and use them to create time portals. That seems... way underused.

*I could be mistaken, but I don't think the sonic screwdriver was used once in this book.

*I love the nod to David Banks' Cyberleader with the fist clench and "Excellent!"

*Ten firing a bazooka at the Cybermen might actually be my favorite moment of his incarnation. By the way, Terrance even justifies it in the book by having the Doctor decide that the people inside were dead and beyond saving, possibly as a reaction to the Doctor's more overt anti-gun statements in recent episodes.

CONTINUITY ADVISOR

1) The Doctor mistakes Major Burton's football joke for a cricket reference and notes that he used to play a good game, a sweet little callback to his fifth incarnation.

2) A subplot involves Martha's reunion with her fellow medical students after the events of Smith And Jones(rather irritatingly, the "humans forget so easily" card is used here). Funnily enough, this actually spoiled the episode for some as the book. But considering Martha's lack of character, it's nice to bring it up in the story.

3) The Doctor clearly wishes he could open the Void again, starting the trend of Series 3 stories bringing up his separation from Rose Tyler since Doomsday. Ha, Terrance still leads.

4) The whole reason why the Cybermen are on Earth is heavily tied into the events of Doomsday, as is how Martha is familiar with them(her cousin Adeola was converted at Canary Wharf). I like this, especially since the book was released between series.

BEST QUOTE

Every time someone says "where/what the devil" because it constantly sends my mind flying back to the Pertwee stories.

CONCLUSION

A refreshing take on the Tenth Doctor and the Cybermen albeit one without much depth. Good throwaway fun.