Doctor Who: Every episode of season 12, ranked from worst to best
By Lacy Baugher
Ascension of the Cybermen
Despite its position as the first installment of the two-part season 12 finale, “Ascension of the Cybermen” is an episode that doesn’t do much. It’s an action-packed hour, to be sure, but as a piece of storytelling, it’s wildly uneven, setting up loads of questions and character moments that there’s no way that a single remaining episode in the season could possibly pay off.
The episode continues the story of Ashad the Cyberman that began in the previous installment, “The Haunting of Villa Diodati,” but rather than carry on focusing on this singular monstrous character dozens more of the classic villains appear. And their arrival means the villains become a faceless horde once again, rather than a complicated character who hates the very emotions he possesses. Elsewhere, Team TARDIS teams up with a group of refugees who are so poorly developed you’d be hard-pressed to even remember all their names.
All in all, “Ascension of the Cyberman” is a great deal of sound and fury – along with some impressively cinematic visuals – that eventually signifies nothing.