Trivia / Doctor Who S28 E5 "Rise of the Cybermen"

• Author's Saving Throw: Series 1 drew flack for having their cliffhangers followed by a trailer, which gave away that the characters would be fine. This episode does away with the trailer altogether, with later ones not only moved to after the credits (giving people time to turn off) and kept them as spoiler-free as possible.
• Completely Different Title: The French title is "Le Règne des Cybermen, première partie" (Reign of the Cybermen, Part 1).
• Deleted Scenes: The scene of Jake filming Mr. Crane abducting homeless people had a cut portion where Mr. Crane spots Jake, walks up to him, and threatens him.
  Mr. Crane: And as for you, sunshine, who are you gonna take that to? Television? Newspapers? Police? [laughs sarcastically] We own 'em all. [he laughs to himself as Jake turns around and scurries off]
• What Could Have Been:
  • The original script contained more Preachers including a stern woman named Esme, who survived to the audition stage before being axed for making the Preachers seem too capable of a resistance. One of the actresses who read for the part was Freema Agyeman.
  • The original setting was a dying Earth whose inhabitants regularly enhanced their organs in "Body Shops" run by Cybus Industries. Russell T Davies found this scenario less than credible, however, since he felt that the original inspiration for the Cybermen - based on the mid-Sixties paranoia about body part replacement - was outdated.
  • John Lumic was originally named Jacob. He also had a son, who was essentially replaced by Mr. Crane.
  • Originally, the time rotor of the TARDIS was broken in the story’s beginning, which was cut for being a costly effect.
• Working Title: Parallel World.
• Written-In Infirmity: Roger Lloyd-Pack broke his leg shortly before filming began, but Word of God is that his character was written as a wheelchair-bound Evil Cripple from the start, so fortuitously, the injury had no effect on filming whatsoever.
• You Look Familiar:
  • Familiar looks: Colin Spaull previously played Lilt.
  • Familiar sounds: The President of Great Britain is Don Warrington, who plays Rassilon in Big Finish Doctor Who.

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