Production
Doctor Who Magazine #368 confirmed that this story was inspired by the Big Finish Productions audio play Spare Parts. Russell T Davies had previously described (along with The Holy Terror) as "some of the finest drama ever written for any genre, in any medium, anywhere." Spare Parts author, Marc Platt, received a fee and was credited in the end titles ("With thanks to Marc Platt"), and there is a nod in the dialogue with Mickey labelling himself a "spare part." However, writer Tom MacRae noted that his television story was not a simple rewrite of Spare Parts: "My story isn't the same — it's got a different setting, different themes, and different characters, 'cause once we started talking, the whole thing developed in a very different direction. But as Russell says, we wouldn't have started this whole line of thinking if he hadn't heard Spare Parts in the first place."
Early drafts of this story featured "Body Shops", where wealthy people would purchase new cybernetic limbs. Davies vetoed this element because he found it unbelievable. He also instructed Tom MacRae to tone down the differences between the parallel universe versions of characters and their "real" universe counterparts. "I think it was one of those great lessons about the freedom of SF, as well as its greatest dangers, because when you're creating a parallel world, you suddenly get excited by saying everyone can wear eye patches," said Davies, referring to the alternative Brigadier Lethbridge-Stewart in Inferno. According to Graeme Harper on the episode commentary, the pre-credits sequence was written by Russell T Davies as he was not satisfied with the original opening. In the commentary, it is noted that Jackie's "40th" birthday is a reference to the 40th anniversary of the broadcast of "The Tenth Planet," the first appearance of the Cybermen.
Location shooting took place at the Coal Exchange and Mount Stuart Square, Cardiff Bay. The external shots of the chimneys and many of the internal shots were taken at Uskmouth Power Station in Newport. Mickey sports a large tattoo on his right biceps; according to actor Noel Clarke's commentary, the tattoo was make-up applied for the episode.
The Art Deco look of the 2006 Cybermen design follows that from the web cast Real Time. According to the episode commentary, director Graeme Harper wanted an Art Deco feel to the parallel universe Earth. Art Deco costumes had previously been used for the K1 Robot in Robot (1974) and for much of the cast (including robots) in The Robots of Death (1977). The Art Deco design, as well as the robotic movements of the Cybermen, are reminiscent of Fritz Lang's Metropolis.
Unlike the two-part stories from the 2005 series, this episode featured no "Next time" trailer for the next episode — only a title card reading "To be continued...", the first time the phrase has ever been used to end an episode in the programme's history. The production team had stated previously that one episode in this series was so long that there was no time for a preview. Many viewers, and writer Steven Moffat, had criticised the use of a preview for "World War Three" at the end of the 2005 episode "Aliens of London" as it spoiled the dramatic cliffhanger ending. Beginning with "The Impossible Planet", trailers for the second part of stories were run during the middle eight, after the main credits, to allow viewers time to switch off.
Official BBC websites include http://www.cybusindustries.net, http://www.cybusfitness.co.uk/ and http://www.internationalelectromatics.co.uk/. Other similarly named websites are run by fans. The BBC also registered the following domain names: cybusindustries.com, cybusindustries.co.uk, cybusfinance.com, cybusfinance.co.uk, cybusproperty.com and cybusproperty.co.uk. Another website created by BBC is http://www.henriksonline.co.uk/index.htm for the department store Rose had worked at in the episode Rose. Its book store includes the images of both John Lumic's book "Man of Steel" and Jackie Tyler's biography "The Strong Survive".
Read more about this topic: Rise Of The Cybermen
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