Doctor Who Episode Review: Victory of the Daleks

Let me just get this out of the way at the beginning: I like the look of the new Daleks. Not just because I want toys of them in each color, but because I do honestly think that they are a cool re-design. They’re not perfect. I’m not a fan of their oddly humpbacked fat asses, but in general they’re pretty cool. We got a new Doctor, a new TARDIS, a new logo and a new opening theme. Come on, people. We were bound to get a new design of the Daleks. Moffat has put his indelible stamp on Doctor Who and I welcome it.

Looks like Steven Jobs and Steven Moffat had a meeting about design.

I honestly think that Moffat is simply being true to the Doctor Who that he knows and loves. The Daleks were constantly re-designed back in the classic era. Maybe not as drastically as this time around, but whenever they’ve returned in the past they’ve always looked slightly different. And back then they weren’t even trying to sell toys! With the budget the show has now and its worldwide recognition, why wouldn’t Steven Moffat want to have new Daleks that he can say he was responsible for bringing to television? Whatever the reason though, these are the Daleks that we’re going to be living with for the next few years so we had better all get used to it.

Good on Mark Gatiss for giving us what it said on the tin, the title of this episode was incredibly accurate. The Daleks finally got one over on the old Doctor. Good on them too. After the past 5 years of the Doctor (or his companion) wiping out every Dalek from existence only for them to return in some new timey-whimey way, it was nice to have a denouement where the Daleks were able to get away intact. While I disagree with most online punters that say that this was a set-up for this season finale, I do know that this was a set-up for this era of Doctor Who. I don’t know when the Daleks will return, but I can guarantee that they will and when they do they will probably, again, live to fight another day. Far from what we had gotten used to in the RTD era.

The viewscreen from the classic TARDIS has returned!

So how was the episode? Well, first off it felt short and that’s because it was. The runtime came in at just under 42 minutes which for an episode that not only brought back and rejuvenated the Doctor’s number one foe, but also gave us Winston Churchill and the lovely tidbit of Amy not knowing who the Daleks are, is fairly short. It truly felt like a Part 1 without a Part 2. Which only solidifies my previous theory that this is the beginning of something much, much bigger.

Overall though, I’d say that I was definitely entertained. Quite a bit about the story was dodgy and maybe even a little ill conceived. Ian McNeice, who apparently is known for his Churchill impression, was pretty unconvincing. I don’t want to offend anyone, but I think it would have been better to have gotten someone who at least looked like Churchill and not someone who looks like he had just eaten Churchill. To that point it seemed like McNeice was almost a caricature of the real British Bulldog (and we don’t mean wrestler Davey Boy Smith!).

The rest of the supporting cast was great though. Karen Gillan made the excruciating bomb diffusion scene actually bearable, but that may just be the small crush on Amy Pond that I have brewing.

I swear Matt Smith has a thing for Karen Gillan.

Bill Paterson as Professor Bracewell was fantastic as well. He had just the right amount of nutty professor in him to make him enjoyable to watch. And again he really pulled through in the otherwise laughable bomb diffusion scene. Seriously… happy thoughts and positive thoughts to diffuse a bomb? Mark Gatiss… I expect better from you.

Of course it goes with out saying at this point, but Matt Smith was just brilliant. How about that uppercut? “Don’t mess with me sweetheart.” There are so many levels to his portrayal of The Doctor. His anger at the Daleks pretending to be subservient and then his utter disappointment in himself when he realized that they had duped him. To me this is a man who is essentially broken. Even when he boasts of his brilliance, there are subtle cracks that show through, whereas the Tenth Doctor always seemed almost infallible, 10 steps ahead of everyone else and making decisions that he felt were unquestionable. Matt Smith’s Eleventh Doctor is very much the opposite. He is making it up as he goes a long and seems very unsure. Word has it that Matt Smith is naturally a clumsy man, but it suits the version of the Doctor and only adds to the awkwardness that seems to be in his heart.

You could argue that Moffat is working to very much leave behind the events of the Russell T. Davies era, even his new companion can’t remember what happened during the events of “The Stolen Earth” (more on that later). But I’d say that the Eleventh Doctor has actually been deeply effected by them. How could he not be? Every choice he made in his previous body appears to have gone wrong. He couldn’t save Adelaide. He couldn’t save Donna. And he couldn’t put an end to the Daleks once and for all. What has it all been for? More importantly, how could a man who has triumphed so greatly, yet failed so miserably time and again, not be affected? It’s impossible. And I feel that Matt Smith is emoting that at every step.

You wouldn’t like him when he’s angry

The biggest question of the episode though brings us back to miss Amy Pond and how it is that she has no idea who the Daleks are. To me the answer lies in two places. Brace yourself for some speculation here. The first one is obviously the cracks that are following the TARDIS where ever it goes. Could it be that it is the Doctor and the TARDIS that are actually causing these cracks? Is time itself actually messed up? The answer to that, and my second clue, is on Rory’s hospital ID badge, shown in close-up, in “The Eleventh Hour”. Look at the issue date. No way that is an oversight or a production error. Moffat is way too smart for that. If his badge was issued in 1990,how is it that everyone in Ledworth was using smartphones, BlackBerries, and webcams? As Moffat is THE master of wibbly-wobbly-timey-whimey I am really looking forward to seeing how this all pans out later in the season.

Yes I am this nerdy about Doctor Who.

Personally I think it’s all a big rouse and Steven Moffat’s real season arc has something to do with his dream of making an all Scottish version of Star Wars. I know we’re only 3 episodes in, but these episodes are already rife with jokes about one and references to the other. The British Spitfire run on the Death Star Dalek ship was, like last weeks “Help us, Doctor… You’re our only hope”‚ almost too obvious of an homage. Even the way the Spitfires were destroyed reminded me of those parts of A New Hope and Return of the Jedi. That’s not to say that I didn’t enjoy watching those pilots take on the Dalek ship and it’s special ray that could control every light switch in London. Besides being just plain fun, the scene also had the best special effects of this season so far. What I don’t want to do is start questioning how the hell those spitfires got into space to begin with or why they had spinning propellers in a vacuum. Really I just don’t.

“I was promised a cup of tea.”

With WWII, London during The Blitz, a Jammie Dodgers used to save the planet and not so subtle callbacks to Genesis of the Daleks, I’d give this episode an 8 out of 10. Matt Smith is absolutely killing it as the Eleventh Doctor. Steven Moffat is without a doubt taking us into a brand new era of Doctor Who and so far I am thoroughly enjoying the ride. I’m definitely looking forward to seeing what the Daleks have in store when they ultimately return (and picking up one of each color at Comic-Con this year). But right now I am most looking forward to next week. River Song! Weeping Angels! Woot! My Eleventh Doctor Sonic Screwdriver just came in the mail so I’m going to go play with it now. And no… that is NOT a euphamism!