John Lumic

John Lumic is a fictional inventor and an antagonist character featured on the 2005 revival series of the British science fiction television program Doctor Who. He first appeared in the fifth episode of series two, "Rise of the Cybermen", as well as the following episode, "The Age of Steel". He was played by actor Roger Lloyd Pack.

Biography
John Lumic was an inventor and the disabled founder of Cybus Industries, which was located on a parallel world, separate from that of the mainstream reality. Through Cybus, Lumic maintained control over most of the world's technological industries including mechanical engineering, software development and telecommunications. He also owned several branch subsidiaries such as Vitex.

As a middle-aged man, John Lumic discovered that he was dying. He was already confined to a wheelchair and had very little time left to him. He concentrated all of his efforts into prolonging and/or preserving his life through scientific means. He developed a process by which the human brain could be routed through a cybernetic body, effectively rendering people immortal, albeit housed within an artificial form. Like most great minds however, Lumic's genius and arrogance took him down a dark road. He was not content with merely preserving his own life, but understood that he could use his processes to gain ultimate control over humanity.

Lumic already had a virtual finger on the pulse of mankind as it was via his telecommunications network. Nearly everyone in London wore ear pods through which they could tap into daily downloads of news feeds, stock reports, lottery picks and even the joke-of-the-day. Lumic monitored these wideband broadcasts from a transfer station based out of Battersea.

John Lumic approached the President of Great Britain with his petition to begin human trials for his cybernetic upgrade enhancements, but naturally, the President was opposed to this operation, calling it obscene. Lumic would not be deterred however. He had his right-hand man, Mister Crane, go out onto the streets of London and kidnap homeless people, baiting them into the back of a van with the promise of food and shelter. These poor individuals became the first victims of Lumic's cyber-conversion process, and thus the first Cybermen were created on Earth.

Lumic had the Cybermen attack the mansion home of one of his underlings, Pete and Jacqueline Tyler. They were hosting Jacqueline's 40th birthday party (or 39th as she saw it), and one of the guests in attendance was the President. As it turned out, the time-travelling Doctor and his companion Rose Tyler from the mainstream reality happened to be in attendance. The Doctor recognized the Cybermen immediately, for he had faced them before in his own reality. A Cybermen approached the President, who stood defiant against it despite the Doctor's protestations. The Cyberman killed the President and the rest of the sentries began rounding up the other party guests.

Back at Cybus Industries, John Lumic prided himself on the army he had created and began taking control of everyone wearing his CybusNet ear pods, which included practically the whole of London. His henchman Mister Crane understood that everyone was destined for conversion, including himself, and took action against his former friend. He tried to destroy Lumic's life-support equipment, but the Cybermen sentries killed him before he could finish the job. However, the damage was done and the Cybermen took Lumic to the processing factory for emergency cyber-conversion. He became the Cyber-Controller. Unlike the other Cybermen, Lumic maintained his personality and emotions.

His brain housed in a metallic body, Lumic announced that his Cybermen would take control of London before overthrowing the world. Due to the efforts of another companion of the Doctor, Mickey Smith, the processing station was destroyed, and all of the Cybermen regained their capacity for human emotion, which ultimately drove them mad. As explosions ripped through the facility, the Doctor, Rose Tyler, Pete Tyler, Mickey Smith and a freedom fighter named Jake Simmonds went to the roof to escape in a zeppelin. The Cyber-Controller began climbing up the rope ladder after them. The Doctor handed Pete Tyler his sonic screwdriver, which Pete used to cut the ladder, sending Lumic plummeting into the burning wreckage below where he was engulfed by the fire and explosions from the factory below.

Notes & Trivia



 * Actor Roger Lloyd-Pack was credited as Roger Lloyd Pack for his appearances on Doctor Who.

Appearances

 * Doctor Who: Rise of the Cybermen
 * Doctor Who: The Age of Steel