Made of Steel

"They need me in order to survive, and that's the thing that drives them. Not emotions, not love or hate or ambition or greed. Survival."

Writer: Terrance Dicks

Format: Novel

Released: March 2007

Series: Quick Reads 02

Featuring: Tenth Doctor, Martha

Synopsis 

A deadly night attack on an army base. Vehicles are destroyed, buildings burned, soldiers killed. The attackers vanish as swiftly as they came, taking highly advanced equipment with them. 

Metal figures attack a shopping mall. But why do they only want a new games console from an ordinary electronics shop? An obscure Government Ministry is blown up - but, in the wreckage, no trace is found of the secret, state-of-the-art decoding equipment. 

When the TARDIS returns the Doctor and Martha to Earth from a distant galaxy, they try to piece together the mystery. But someone - or something - is waiting for them. An old enemy stalks the night, men no longer made of flesh...

Verdict 

Made of Steel, a title I really do love especially with the relation to the story itself, was a fantastic quick read novel! I think it's brilliant that between Doomsday and The Next Doctor, the Tenth Doctor had an encounter with the Cybermen and also, so did Martha Jones for the first time! It's always great seeing Doctors or, in this case companions, getting a story against a villain they never faced on television. A long sought after encounter was the Third Doctor and the Cybermen and we finally got that in the lacklustre a The Blue Tooth. It's just magnificent and intriguing having encounters with familiar heroes or villains that we've not seen before. Lords of the Storm had that effect for me with the Fifth Doctor pitted against the Sontarans. So I think a possible reason why I loved this little book so much was because I don't associate Martha with having faced the Cybermen. Another possible reason might be the fact it was written by the terrific Terrance Dicks. I loved how the story started off in the Jurassic period with the Doctor and Martha almost being eaten by a T-Rex. But the way Dicks linked that little chapter at the start with the climax of the story was incredible! The way the Doctor and Martha came to be in the present day was good and I loved how the Doctor said it couldn't be the Cybermen causing the mysteries. Oh the irony. I really liked Martha's reaction to seeing the Cybermen once more. The numerous references to Doomsday and the Battle of Canary Wharf were superb I thought. I particularly loved the emotional reference to Adeola, the cousin Martha lost and who the Doctor technically killed. He couldn't tell her the truth. The difficulty for Dicks in bringing the Cybermen back was actually pretty large after the way they were last defeated with them all being sucked into the Void and the gateway being permanently closed. That was something the Doctor didn't like to reference as the anguish of losing Rose was still at large for him. It was very clever how Dicks brought them back though because the Cybermen that featured here hadn't actually gone anywhere since the Battle. These were Cybermen all converted using parts purely from this dimension. They didn't contain any void stuff so couldn't be sucked in! A brilliant way around them all being defeated last time around. In many ways, this was a direct sequel to Army of Ghosts/Doomsday from the Cybermen's perspective and I just loved it. Martha returning to the hospital that suffered so much during Smith and Jones was great and I liked her attempts to avoid any awkward questioning about her disappearance and relationship with the Doctor. Sheila Sarandon was a very good character and the relationship she had with the Doctor throughout was excellent. It really was typical of the Doctor I thought. The lack of distinction between the Cyber Leader and normal Cybermen was the only slight flaw I had with the story. Surely there should be the black on the helmet to represent him as Leader? Anyway, I can't complain too much. The teleportation of the Cybermen was a superb addition to the infamous foes, even if it was fluctuating in operation. The Cybermen wanting the Doctor to reopen the Void and bring back the Cybermen army was tremendous but the fact they got a T-Rex was fantastic! The Cyber Leader, by that time all that remained of the Cybermen after a brilliant battle, was gobbled up by the ferocious dinosaur. A great climax and resolution to a wonderful story! 

Rating: 9/10