| “ | The upgrade is incomplete. I am...disgusting. I have... I am...wrong. I must start again. Upgrade properly. | „ |
| ~ Lisa upon seeing her reflection. |
Lisa Hallet is the main antagonist of the Torchwood episode "Cyberwoman". A spin-off series based within the Doctor Who universe. She is a former Torchwood staff member and girlfriend of Ianto Jones who was one of the many victims during the Battle of Canary Wharf that were converted into Cybermen, although her transformation process would be interrupted leaving her as a mostly human hybrid.
She was portrayed by Caroline Chikezie who also played Kara Powell in Mayhem. She was also briefly played by Bethan Walker.
Biography[]
Background[]
Lisa was an employee working at Torchwood One who was in the Acquisitions department, quickly meeting Ianto Jones who was a junior researcher with the two beginning a relationship soon after. After an army of Cybermen infiltrate the facility, Lisa alongside most other staff in the building were taken to be transformed into Cybermen. Although unlike the rest of her co-workers, Lisa's procedure is interrupted before she can fully convert leaving her with numerous cybernetic implants. Ianto finds and rescues Lisa from the ruins of the Torchwood One facility and secretly stores her in a chamber located in the Torchwood headquarters unbeknownst to the rest of his team with a goal of restoring her full humanity.
Torchwood[]
Ianto secretly brings in a cybernetics expert to attempt at reversing Lisa's Cybermen procedure who shows a keen interest in Lisa being the last remaining Cyberman on earth due to her only partially being transformed thus not enough to face the same fate the rest of the army did who were whisked away into The Void. His efforts then heavily backfire causing the implants inside her brain to now fully activate, almost entirely supressing Lisa's human personality and now causing her to embark back on the Cybermen mission to upgrade humanity into machines. Lisa mistakenly kills the expert by placing him into the machine in an attempt at converting him as a way of thanks for making her Cyberman personality resurface, the botched procedure instead just heavily mutilating his face into a Cyberman helmet.
Tanizaki's corpse is then discovered by a horrified Ianto, who panickily tells Lisa that this can never happen again, convincing himself that it must be a result of post traumatic stress and worrying what will happen if the Torchwood group discover that he's been harbouring a murderous Cyberman. He then leaves with the body to hide it while Lisa begins diverting power to the Cyberman Conversion Unit. Two members of the Torchwood group discover it, with one recognising it as technology of the same beings that brough Torchwood One down, terrifying him. He is then effortlessly knocked out from behind by Lisa, who swats away the gun from the second member, lifting her into the air and choking her before strapping her into the Conversion Unit.
Jack Harkness, the leader of Torchwood Three attempts to shoot Lisa before she can start the unit up, but is tackled by a desperate Ianto allowing Lisa to escape after activating the machine, forcing the group to shut power off to the base in order to save Gwen making the facility enter a total lock-down. The team regroup in the Hub as the power is drained further by Lisa who intends to recreate a new army of Cybermen. Jack demands that Ianto tell them everything who pleads to them to leave Lisa in peace which is ignored as there is now no cure as Lisa is now fully infected by the Cybermen mind. Lisa shows disgust in her partially human appearance after Ianto reminds and tries to convince her that she still is one, but she merely throws her former lover aside, proceeding to begin electrocuting Jack.
Lisa is then stabbed through the abdomen by Gwen, believing it to have killed her, with the group then running to escape the facility once she begins to revive herself. Jack unleashes a Pterodactyl upon Lisa who holds her own against the beast, successfully incapacitating it but being heavily injured as a result. Once an unsuspecting pizza delivery girl arrives at the abandoned facility confused, Lisa kills the girl and transplants her own brain into the girl's. Ianto arrives at the facility and confronts Lisa in her new body, attempting to reason with her one final time before it's made abundantly clear that Lisa's mind is too far corrupted. He attempts to shoot her but can't bring himself, with the Torchwood Three personnel coming through to shoot Lisa down themselves, killing her.
Personality[]
After being infected by the Cybermen personality and entirely stripped of emotion, Lisa develops into a cold and ruthless cyborg, warping her sense of love for Ianto into the belief that they can only co-exist as Cybermen. She shows disgust in herself after seeing how much of her physical form has remained human, immediately proclaiming that she needs to complete the process in order to be satisfied with her appearance and existence as a Cyberman.
Appearance[]
As the Cybermen Conversion Process never fully finished, Lisa has a mainly bare human body that entwines with a metallic coating of Cybernetic Implants with a helmet built around her head which lacks the traditional face plating. After forcefully transplanting her brain into an innocent woman's body, Lisa appears with a large gash around her forehead.
Quotes[]
| “ | I wanted to repay him for helping me. By removing the weaknesses of his humanity. | „ |
| ~ The Cyberwoman on Tanizaki's death. |
| “ | Do not struggle. You will be like me. | „ |
| ~ The Cyberwoman to Gwen upon strapping her to the Conversion Unit. |
| “ | We can be upgraded together. | „ |
| ~ The Cyberwoman to Ianto. |
Trivia[]
- The character's design has jokingly been compared to the classic look for the DC character Victor Stone.
- The Cyberwoman costume took an entire day for actress Caroline Chikezie to get her body cast. After the costume was completed, it would take an hour to apply it and an hour to remove it.
- The Cyberwoman was the first episode where a Cyberman uses both it's electrocution ability and the wrist-mounted blaster.
- Director of the episode Chris Chibnall reportedly hated the Cyberwoman costume, having envisioned something more body horror-inspired, but there was no time to change it and the production was stuck with it.
