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YMMV / Torchwood S1 E4 "Cyberwoman"

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  • Hilarious in Hindsight: Lisa mentions how the Hub would make a good Cyberman factory. The Hub set was redressed as a Cyberman factory in "The Next Doctor".
  • Narm Charm: While there's no getting around the unrealistic costume, the actress playing the titular character gives a genuinely chilling portrayal of a person torn between fighting or embracing her new programming.
  • Nightmare Retardant: Lisa's outfit looks silly rather than scary.
  • They Wasted a Perfectly Good Plot: The dark tone of Torchwood could have been a good opportunity for a dark, gory Cyberman story, but instead we get illogical Fanservice that's hardly creepy at all.
  • Vindicated by History: At the time of release this was considered Torchwood's single worst episode. Several viewers looking back on it now believe it to be a decent premise with some great tension and good moments for Ianto and Lisa, but the final version of the story was dragged down by Lisa's bizarre costume.
  • WTH, Costuming Department?: You would expect the producers would use their newfound ability to show gore to really play up the Body Horror of the Cybermen, and show what it's like to have a lover's body be stripped of its organic material and violently replaced with machinery. While we do get some gore with Dr. Tanizaki's failed upgrade, we also got an actress in a cyber-thong and bendy plastic top that doesn't even slightly look like it's part of her skin. And while the amount of skin is somewhat justifiable in that the transformation was incomplete and "bare bones" procedure, there's no getting around the fact that the Cyberwoman costume has heels. Even Chris Chibnall hated the costume, having envisaged something more Body Horror-based, but there was no time to change it and they were stuck with it. Apparently the design was influenced by the work of famed erotic artist Hajime Sorayama, only proving the fact that something which looks great in a picture doesn't always translate well to real life.

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