Rise of The Cybermen - Broadcast and Reception

Broadcast and Reception

Although scheduled to be broadcast in the UK from 7:00 to 7:45 p.m., the episode was broadcast from 7:23 p.m. due to the overrunning of the FA Cup Final. The corresponding episode of Doctor Who Confidential was subsequently delayed until "Rise of the Cybermen" had aired. Overnight viewing figures for this episode averaged 8.6 million (39.7% share), peaking at 9.65 million. The audience Appreciation Index was 86. Its final viewing figure was 9.22 million, making it the sixth most watched programme of the week.

This episode was released together with "The Age of Steel" and "The Idiot's Lantern" as a "vanilla" DVD with no special features, and later as part of the complete Series 2 boxed set.

Digital Spy's Dek Hogan reacted positively to "Rise of the Cybermen", describing the new Cybermen as "stunning, not only looking fantastic but being genuinely scary at the same time". He particularly praised how the storyline "ties in with our obsession with upgrading everything" and that Noel Clarke was given more to do. Ahsan Haque of IGN gave the episode a rating of 8.5 out of 10, feeling that it "delivers both in scope and with some great dialogue". Haque was especially positive to the return of the Cybermen and the focus on Mickey and Rose. Nick Setchfield of SFX gave the two-parter a positive review, highlighting Harper's direction which he felt added imagination and menace to the Cybermen and the parallel universe. However, he felt that Lloyd-Pack's performance was too over-the-top for the current "subtler" incarnation of Doctor Who, which made him come across as "jarringly two-dimensional".