Behind the Sofa - The Collaborative Doctor Who Blog

It's a helluva town!

Apologies for not joining in sooner but yet again, real life has been interfering.

Daleks in Manhattan/Evolution of the Daleks

I loved DiM, and while it has its draw-backs, it’s 45 minutes of solid entertainment. A few scares, some light education...everything you could want.

There are beautiful moments

There are several beautiful moments in the first part which I found particularly enjoyable at the second go. Things like the Doctor pausing to be invited into Solomon’s tent, Tallulah and Martha chatting and Dalek what’s-his-puss and Diagoras’ conversation about war and New York.

What could have been developed more was the “I lose everything...” speech. It was powerful and under-stated and a little more lead-up would have helped the “just shoot me!” parts of EotD sound a little more logical.

It was great to see Doctor Who being informative and the little history lesson was very well done. I knew a bit about the depression and such but I never had the juxtaposition of the shanty towns in Central Park and the building of the Empire State Building. It does worry me, however, that now Daleks are being associated with capitalism. They’ve long been fascists but is the whole of the right to be kidnapped? Just for once, I’d like a communist Dalek episode. Could be interesting.

A few problems jumped out at me: Tallulah’s inability to spot Lazlo, the pig men, the embryo which stops glowing once it’s picked up, THE PIG MEN, the way Diagorus’ workmen turn on a dime from chipper chirpiness to "WORKMEN: ALL ANGRILY TALK AT ONCE". All but one of those is a niggle and pretty irrelevant.

Ultimately, the pig men were just silly and clearly unnecessary

But the pig men...hmmm. Never is it convincingly explained why the Daleks should want pigs working for them and, as has been pointed out, it would be far more discreet for the slaves to appear human. Also, it’s hardly Neil Gorman’s finest moment. You can almost see the collar of the mask at points and while it’s all very admirable, I was never convinced. I do think his work for Smith and Jones was brilliant, however, and I like Sec a lot more than most. Ultimately, the pig men were just silly and clearly unnecessary. While they were just about OK in ep. 1, their weaknesses showed up more clearly in Evolution.

if you’d enjoy some formulaic, dependable entertainment then it’s the new Genesis. If you’re after something revolutionary and ground-breaking you’re bound to be disappointed

 

I don’t think this episode deserves half the criticism it got because it’s just so much fun. I love the conspiratorial Dalek looking over its “shoulder”, the building of Sec’s character, Solomon’s speech-ifying...where it falls down is only where it defies the formula (mistakenly in my opinion) and saves Lazlo. The point of the tragic hero is *he dies*. We don’t know or empathise with the human-Daleks but we like Lazlo so we should be upset when he cops it. Never mind that it’s utterly unbelievable that even Hooverville would accept a semi-pig, it robs the story of some emotional clout.

Evolution worked up until where it decided to break with convention

 

The thing about Evolution is, even objectively it’s difficult to judge. My gut instinct is, “that was fab” but I try not to just follow that. It depends what mood you’re in: if you’d enjoy some formulaic, dependable entertainment then it’s the new Genesis. If you’re after something revolutionary and ground-breaking you’re bound to be disappointed. I have nothing against the former – after all, there have been many brilliant paint-by-number stories (Caves of Adrozani and Talons of Weng-Chiang are both fairly standard plots zhuzzed-up by skill and wit) and, as I said, Evolution worked up until where it decided to break with convention. I can’t help but wonder, though, what could have happened had it gone another way. Sec would have made a brilliant recurring villain – what if he had been lying to the Doctor about his intentions?

I only hope Caan (the joke about whose name I don’t get – what is that?) will muster up a proper army soon, it’s time we let Daleks be Daleks and maybe stopped wiping them out.

Still, a thumbs up from me: imperfect but lovable.

PS: tonight’s episode looks really promising (I only hope it isn’t struck by the Idiot’s Lantern curse of mediocrity)and  I have especially high expectations having seen writer Stephen Greenhorn’s musical, Sunshine on Leith*. It’s an amazing show and whether or not you know much of the Proclaimers, it’s a damn good story. The night I went, the auditorium was packed and at the end there was a standing ovation and rendition of “500 Miles” by everyone who knew the words. It’s on tour soon, details here. Oh and if that’s not enough, Peter Davison guest stars in the Lazarus Experiment. Honest.

2007: Fits the Fourth, Fifth: Fairytale of New York

Daleks in Manhattan / Evolution of the Daleks is one of those stories that benefits better, I feel, from watching both back-to-back.  I was bouncing in my seat first time through DiM, but come EotD, I was sort of blahing my way halfway through it.  Watching them both together, though, I see much better what they were doing, and the things that bothered me the first time hold up a bit better on second viewing.

Here, a quick bullet point system, as I've not the mental capacity at the moment, nor frankly the desire, to stick to the standard paragraph review system. Besides, this fits my note-taking style better, anyway..

> Lazlo & Tallulah: What an honest sense of affection I get from these two.  They're so sweet at the beginning, when they're both still young, beautiful people valiantly fighting off of the Depression.  Later still, when Tal sees Lazlo in the sewer, she straightens his collar, strokes his hair, crying at what they've done to him, yet refusing to look away from him. Most people only wish they'd get that reaction from their significant others should they face the unlikely fate of being mutated into a pig-man.

> Tallulah's accent: Have you ever met a New Yorker?  They don't sound too far off, even nearly 80 years later.  I thought the first thing upon seeing Ghostbusters and hearing receptionist Janine Melnitz.  Then I went to New York.  Crazy.

No, I don't know why there's a manhole in the theatre either.

> Music: Spot on brilliance.  Over the top at places, but never really drowning anything out, and sure I get chills during the rebirth when that choral part kicks in.

> Diagoras and the workers: Bravo, Brava, Bravi Helen.  Of my heritage, a little less than half were Irish that were in the Ulster area until a few decades ago, and the other were earlier immigrants, who started in Massachusetts and bred their way south, easily passing through New York around this time.  I'm certain I had family somewhere that worked construction in NY in the 30s, so Diagoras and those workers, to me, represented a lot of struggle between Irish and Italian immigrants struggling for work in that era.

You wouldn't see Imperial Daleks whinging on about Skaro and New York..

> Why, oh why, were the Daleks mucking about in NY? A question oft asked as of late.  What I figured, considering that we're dealing with four sneaky and imaginative Daleks as opposed to hundreds or thousands of unquestioning, intelligent soldier-scientists explains a lot.  Imperial Daleks wouldn't stand around whinging about Skaro and New York.  Maybe there's a reason we haven't heard about the Cult of Skaro until now.  Oh, and Daleks have NO peripheral vision..

> One thing I never could stand about the 30's.  Those damnable white wing-tipped shoes.  I could have taken Human!Sec completely seriously, had he been wearing a nice pair of black boots, or some spit-polished military surplus dress shoes, or ANYTHING aside from those -- I'll stop now.

> There seems to be a pattern this year of having one good solid, strong supporting character per episode.  Martha was first, then Shakespeare, then Brannigan, and for the two parter, Tallulah and Solomon.  Wonder who'll be next week's?

> Musical number: Great...but where was the orchestra?

> The Final Experiment: Not sure what to make of Thay / Jast / Caan's reactions, but I'm guessing the pig slaves were dry runs for combining Daleks with Humans.  If they could perfect the process with a pig, it would give them a control experiment to base the Dalek combination off of.  As for the jellyfish, they may have been trying to clone a Dalek mutant to use for recombination.  The script could have been a little bit clearer on this. Also, why were they still recruiting for the Final experiment after Sec had started evolving?  Were the others supposed to evolve too?  Didn't seem like they'd have gone for it.

The assault on Hooverville: Full of sound, fury, signifying nothing..

> Just where in the hell is that lab?  I see Dalek!Humans marching through a whole bloody montage, but the Daleks blow their way through the back of that theatre within seconds of the Doctor signalling them.

> As for the Doctor being singed, I did some reading, and a lightning strike (just a standard one, mind you, not a "gamma radiated lightnings strike" is more likely to cause nervous system damage than any significant external injury.  Lighting is blindingly hot, but only for a millisecond. Long enough to burn out someone's spinal cord, but not long enough to catch their coat on fire.

Looove the Thompson SubExterminator Guns.  Want one. 

> Those pig slaves aren't trained to kill, they're trained to grab people and carry them to the Daleks.  And carry big crates.  Some savages they are.

> Martha: Sounds a lot better barking orders at aliens than Rose did.  "..and you've just GOT to pick it up.." was quite possibly the cutest line I've heard all year.  By "Not human," I'm sure she meant not PART of a human. Still good. Tone down the "OH MY GOD" moments though, that almost drove me nuts with McCoy's latest companion, Hex.

> David, david, david.. Shouty!David is still silly, but you have to stop and think: This is the guy that, when he shows up, you know you're plans already failed.  The implications that this guy can wheeze and gurn and he's still going to beat you is chilling.  I'll excuse Alonsi.  The Doctor's been saying random things in the heat of excitement for a long time.  4 words: Oh my giddy aunt. And could these suicidal tendencies be that survivor's guilt dredged up again by seeing the Daleks STILL being alive? I do absolutely ADORE Tennant when he gets that quiet sort of angry and starts losing his Mockney.  There's nothing scarier than an angry Scots that's STOPPED shouting.  Note to self: When trying to convince someone of something completely outlandish, pull out a handful of glop.  Works every time.

> Saving Private Lazlo: The production team trying once again to outdo Series 1's "EVERYBODY LIVES", or the Doctor trying to within the confines of the story?

> Sec's voice: Makes perfect sense to me.  The Dalek Mutant's no longer using an artifical travel machine voice box, but the hijacked vocal cords of an Italian-American New Yorker.  That's what I'd think he sounds like.

> The emergency temporal shift may have been a cowardly way out, both for the writer and for Caan, but seeing Tennant and Caan face off like that was chilling.  Also, can you imagine the frustration this must cause the Doctor?

> Next week! CRIPES That's a creepy rickety CGI monster.  Also, did anyone think Mark Gatiss looked like Peter Davison when he stepped out of that chamber?

"I am your future!"

Yes, I do still post here occasionally.

I haven't reviewed the new series so far simply because I haven't had anything to say. I enjoyed the first three episodes, and I couldn't really think of anything to say except 'Yeah, they were great'. And that's not really much of a post, is it? So I didn't post anything. Generally if I post stuff, it's because I didn't like stuff, and when I start complaining, you're gonna have a hard time stopping me.

The thing is, I don't watch much TV these days. It's pretty much our good Doctor and Heroes (Eccleston's finally appeared, by the way. Yay!). Not much else on, really. I missed the beginning of the other shows that I would normally watch - ER, Rescue Me, Nip/Tuck, House - and I really can't be bothered to download them or whatever, so if those two shows aren't good, I get a bit upset. No worries with Heroes,  since it's pretty much impossible for that to suck, so that just leaves Doctor Who, and as I've said, I've enjoyed it so far.

Then along came Evolution of the Daleks. And oh dear, the illusion was broken. See, I enjoyed the two-parter when I first watched it. I really did. Good ol' bit of fun, not really paying too much attention to detail, just sitting back and relaxing to a bit of late-afternoon/early-evening TV. But then I watched it again, both episodes, back to back. And my oh my, did the problems start appearing. Let's review, shall we? And since I don't have a set reviewing pattern, let's have some fun. Note that I'm reviewing both episodes here, since they're one story. Hey, it's my review, I'll do what I want.

The Good

The Effects. Absolutely amazing. I'm going on a 3-day holiday to New York with my family next week, and if the views aren't as good as they were in the show, I'm going to be disappointed. Beautiful. The Mill should be bloody proud of themselves, because they've completely outdone themselves once again.
The Actors. I know some of you didn't like the exaggerated 'New Yoik' accents, but I did, so shush. Most of the secondary characters were good, especially Solomon, which made his death quite poignant. The guy who took over from Solomon, Frank (thanks Wikipedia), was also pretty good, as was Mr Diagoras, who became this season's must-have Halloween mask. Tallulah wasn't fantastic, but she wasn't as bad as she could have been. The other, minor characters were also pretty good, considering the small parts they had.
The Regulars. Freema was, as has become standard, excellent, and far, far better then I ever thought Billie Piper was with Mr Tennant. (I don't think I've explained this here, so I'll quickly do it now. Billie and Chris - Father and Daughter. Billie and David - High school friends. One is quite touching, the other's just annoying. Guess which is which) David, on the other hand, was only good in the first half, but that half was very nice. I also liked how he rambled on in the beginning of Evolution - that's the sort of acting I like to see from him.
The Plot. Again, only applicable to the first half, which is just setting up the Jenga pieces, ready for them all to fall down. It did a good job of it, drew us in, made us want to know what was going on, etc.
The Musical Number. How many other shows could get away with having a song right in the middle of the action? I mean, really?
Dalek Sec. Yes, I liked him. He was an interesting way forward for the Daleks. I certainly wouldn't have imagined it happening - I shudder to think what else is going on in RTD's mind. Seriously. But the make-up wasn't that bad, and having managed to avoid being properly spoiled by the Radio Times, it came as a bit of a surprise when it happened. Alas, poor Sec, you had such great plans...

The Bad

That Football Goal. Every time I watch Daleks in Manhattan now, I'm going to see those. Thanks a freaking bunch, Stuart.
The Daleks. I seem to recall, way back in the Eccleston era, that the Doctor was bricking himself over just one Dalek getting loose, because it would destroy an entire city, maybe even the state. So here we've got not one but FOUR Daleks, who're running around Earth for months before the Doctor even arrives, and what are they doing? They're building a freakin' building. What the hell is up with that? You're Daleks! You don't need pig slaves! You don't need Gamma radiation! You're freakin' Daleks! Go forth and exterminate!
The Doctor. In part deux, he reverts to shouting. Dammit, the man cannot do loud terror, have they not learned that by now? Hell, he's doing it against Daleks, the masters of bloody great shouty threats!  Understated menace he can do very well, we've all seen it. Why does he feel the need to yell at everything that pisses him off? Also, not even singed from the lightning? Hell, I'd have settled for a little bit of smoke coming up from his hair in a slightly comedic manner, but not even that?
The Pig Slaves. Seriously, where did the pig element come from? If you can get past the sheer idiocy of the Daleks in not immediately killing everyone, I can understand them wanting slaves, but where the hell did the pig part come from? Were there any pigs in Manhattan at the time?

The Stupid

Laszlo. Who... why... what... was the point? How the hell did he escape, and why weren't they looking for him? if they were, they never said so, and when he rejoined the group there was nary an eyebrow raised... hell, there wasn't even any eyebrows TO raise. Why did the Doctor save him? He's a freakin' pig man! What's he gonna do, start a bakery? How will him and Tallulah work? I wouldn't imagine a pig's trouser snake would be very big... is she really gonna stay with him once she finds that out? And why the hell didn't Tallulah recognize him in the sewer when it was clearly him? Was she deaf as well as dumb?
'Urge to kill... too... strong...' No excuse. Absolutely none whatsoever.
The Emergency Temporal Shift. Weak. So, so weak. I suppose Dalek Caan may have drawn the needed power from the remnants of the lightning strike, but even so... Weak.

In conclusion: Fun when drunk, but painful when sober. For god's sake, even the script editor needs a script editor sometimes. Better yet, grab some of us as unofficial assistants, we'll help you sort out most of the problems. God knows we'd be glad to help out if this is the sort of thing that'll happen without us...

The Bumper Book of Made-Up Doctor Who Facts has this to say about Evolution of the Daleks: Contrary to popular belief, Ryan Carnes, who played Laszlo, actually needed make up to look human, rather then a pig-man.

Dalek Rape!

Daleks in Manhattan

Tempting, isn't it? Alluring. Almost... sexual. Can't you just feel your mouth salivating at the prospect of them returning to the world of Doctor Who? It's a genuine Pavlovian response to their appearance.

"Erotic gumball machines and a pretzel hell bent on world domination."

Daleks. Manhattan. Pig slaves. The Depression. Showgirls. Flying chopped beef. Elephants made of glitter. Erotic gumball machines and a pretzel hell bent on world domination. Wouldn't it be fun if once, just once, one of RTD's famed episode shopping lists gets mixed up with one of his actual shopping lists? "In this one I want Aunt Bessie's Yorkshire Puddings, Pantene Pro-V anti dandruff shampoo and 3 pounds of tripe." Although...

"Are you now, or have you ever been, a member of a race of genocidal mutated killing machines?"

So the Dalek Marvelous Maniacal Mutagenic World Tour arrives in New York. Sticky moment whilst passing through immigration when the rather straight-laced desk clerk asked them whether they were now, or have ever been, a member of a race of genocidal mutated killing machines? That made them sweat a little. That and the 16 pounds of class A Columbian nasal dust secreted within the folds of their mutated flesh. But who's going to want to delve a marigolded hand into that pulsating obscene pile of gnarled genetic material? No-one. And what's more, the Daleks couldn't even get girlfriends. Hell, they couldn't even laugh a blind hooker into bed. Something needs to be done.

"A picture of Paul Daniels circa 1978."

That something is, of course, dabble further with genetic experiments and see if you can reach the peak of manhood. Armed with only a few glass beakers, a picture of Paul Daniels circa 1978 and 4 specially adapted Dalek pretzel attachments the race was on to see who could cop off first. First they'd need to get their hands on a mighty erection. That should definitely impress the ladies. Dalek logic still implacable, even if their chat up skills were in need of some remedial attention.

"The next phase of their final experiment centres around the mass production of Rohypnol."

So, their ultimate experiment appears to revolve around making Dalek's flesh. The children of Skaro must mince again. It's already been suggested that they're doing this in order to make it possible for the Daleks to reproduce via traditional biological processes. I hope that the next phase of their final experiment centres around the mass production of Rohypnol otherwise the next episode is going to consist mainly of 5 human/Dalek hybrids sitting in bars lamenting their lack of success with the female of the species, talking about shoes and the best way to sustain multiple orgasms.

Either that or it's going to be another fucking transmitter.

The Bumper Book of Made Up Doctor Who Facts has this to say about Daleks in Manhattan: even the Murray Gold All Star Musical Ragamuffins were utilizing Dalek sucker cups in place of regular mutes for their brass section to reproduce the authentic Gershwin sound.

Vote Result: Daleks in Manhattan

Results are in for the of first blog poll for Daleks in Manhattan:

• 81%: Superb – Bada Boom Bada Bing
• 19%: Not Good – It toasted my canollies

Come back after Evolution of the Daleks for the next poll.

Rhapsody in a Blue Suit

Daleks in Manhattan

Now let me get my most impressed point of view in and out of the way. There is not a single use of the word EXTERMINATE in this episode. Having been exhausted to the point of no other vocabulary since "Dalek" (why on earth would it be his last word? Where's the sense in that?) they finally achieve the seemed impossible, and go through an entire episode without using the word. Now, the last time I remember that happening was the Hartnell era. Did you know that in their first serial, the entire 7 episodes of the first Dalek story, the word Exterminate was not used once? The nearest they got was "total extermination", and I think they were talking about themselves. It should not be their entire vocabulary, so I cheered when we reached the closing credits having not had the word once. I then cringed when it was the nub of next week's preview, but what can you do?

Anyway. we get another stereotypical teaser. I'm starting to get bored with the routine set up of "Pre credits teaser, we'll set the scene by having someone attacked". Think about it, the last three episodes have all had a similar opening sequence. Maybe "Lazarus" will see us start from the Doctor and Martha's point of view for a nice change. I'm getting knarked by the routine-ness the same way I got irritated by the constant POV shots at the start of last year. Still, quite a nice opening scene, with Guys and Dolls Stereotype Number 1: Gangster's Moll not quite reaching her "heeands een thee eeair" moment foretold by last week's preview.

A lovely Rhapsody in Blue moment, as the Doctor and Martha step out, followed by a nice setting in Hooverville. The doctor from Holby or possibly Casualty does a good job as Guys and Dolls Stereotype Number 2: Martin Luther King Jr Clone, saying that there isn't a doctor there (I laughed at that moment). A quite poetic moment regarding the expense of the Empire State Building needing to be built in time for Peter Purves to yodel in 30 years, against the misery of Hooverville.

Meanwhile, the Daleks are the ones in charge of the Empire State Building, and send Guys and Dolls Stereotype Number 3: Gangster to round up some cheap labour/food. Given that these people are not going to return, and that they are therefore not going to have to pay them the dollar, why didn't they offer more? Ten dollars would have got the whole lot of them, and the Daleks would have even more of those pigslaves. By the way, at any point in the episode do you see any actual pigs? If the Daleks are, as it seems, creating pigs partly as a prototype for the human-dalek hybrid project, where are the pigs whose DNA they take?

Can I just take a moment to critiscise an important psychological point I just noticed? If Solomon is the leader, wouldn't his accepting the job lead to others accepting the job? They look up to him, and so his accepting would surely lead to the rest volunteering. Yet those few go down. More to the point, wouldn't he realise the influence held by himself, and not allow himself to volunteer for the danger slave-labour mission for fear of permitting other, more vulnerable and innocent individuals to go down? A more realistic way to get the characters needed down there would be if, once the Doctor and Martha had put their hands up, everyone put their hands up, determined to be the onesto go down. Stereotype 3 would then say that they only needed a few, and Solomon would insist upon it being him for safety reasons, picking out the Doctor, Martha, and the other needed.

Our Tennessee boy is a nice lad, setting himself up all throughout to be the expendable good guy. Martha makes an incredibly clever analogy of a green lump. I for one hadn't spotted that it wasn't human, I just thought he was a bit short.

One of the Daleks gets sentimental about his planet being destroyed in a war (or by the Hand of Omega... huh...), and Stereotype 3 goes down to meet his Radio Times Cover. The basement is a lovely set up, if a little too Dalek. It should probably have looked more hastily scrapped together from human artifacts. Instead it LOOKED custom made, it looked like it had been designed by the best Kaled designers, and manufactured with the best Kaled machinery, rather than cobbled together by pig creatures and metal pepperpots without opposable thumbs. I mean, how could they really build all this stuff with just their plungers? It's TOO IMPRESSIVE, and that's not said of Doctor Who very often.

I just have to say what an excellent choice of year this was to set it in. One of the few periods and places in history where the threat of unemployment was so great that people would work continuously in dangerous circumstances because it was that or Hooverville. The scenes in the sewers are spooky, and the pig crying is one of the most disturbing scenes in the new series. Well, maybe that's an exaggeration, but it's still quite creepy. An army of pigs then come after our heroes, as the Doctor shouts a completely unpredictable "Run!"

Stereotype 1 has changed her accent completely from the opening credits, about as far as it can be changed without going welsh. She is clearly afraid of going to Hooverville, and misses Laszlo just not quite enough to seem sad that he's gone. The Doctors have a nice conversation, with a completely unneccesary talk about being too scared. Okay, I understand the intention, but just the one or two lines about being too afraid to save Tennessee threw the whole moment.

Dalek Sec seems to do some disbelief in the thoughts of everything he's supposed to hold dear. His very programming, which states that the Daleks are superior to every other lifeform, he realises is wrong, because there are billions more humans than Daleks, and they are so close to extinction that they must change until they are no longer so close to extinction.

3 H's 1 L gets incredibly irritating during her song. The weedy breathing noiise in her singing really grated on me. And why was she so cheery and happy when talking to Martha? She's just lost the love of her life and not even a hint of sadness. Fortunately there's a mad english girl stumbling across the stage to end the pain. She chases Laszlopig because that's clearly the most sensible thing to do (if the manhole cover was open this whole time, why had only one pig emerged to take Laszlo, and none been up since?). The Doctor and Tallulah in her best Sewer Suit follow into the sewers, until they see a pepperpot interrupt Tallulah's flirting. They run into Laszlo and Miranda Sultana doing her most 1 dimensional bit of crying yet.

Dalekanium! Who cheered? More so than Macra?

Separated into intelligence levels, the Doctor and Martha and the other smarty pants are taken off to see Stereotype 3 emerging from his shell, as a Monoid for no readily apparent reason, with a low raspy voice that does nothing to excite me for next week's episode.

There's been some lovely incidental music this series hasn't there? The pig chase scene is very Pirates of the Caribbean, there's the dance number which is quite Chicago, and the workmen on the top of the building which is quite like something I can't recognise.

As of this episode, there's a lot of problems which should really be answered. Why pigs? Why didn't Laszlo's transformation finish? Why did the Doctor end up in the same time/place as the Daleks? Coincidence? Why didn't the Daleks recognise the Doctor? Why didn't they recognise that Martha had travelled in time? Why do the Daleks think that being outside their shells without their weapons be more successful? And just how much will the daleks say "Exterminate" next week to make up for this week?

My word, I've just realised how long that review was. Not much room left to say the general stuff. Well, The Doctor was fabulous, Martha still left me underwhelmed, the direction was good (but not yet to the standard of James Strong's last contribution), and the writing could have done with being thought through a bit better but was on the whole quite good.

For me, the most enjoyable episode so far this season, but still not what it should be.

8/10.

The Bumper Book of Made Up Doctor Who Facts has this to say about Daleks in Manhattan: When the Radio Times cover showing the hybrid was sent to print, Terry Nation spun in his grave.

Really enjoyed it.

Her Name is Tallulah

After watching Daleks in Manhattan I am beginning to wonder if they have taken the Daleks as far as they can. I mean they now seem to have gone into property development. I know some people do think that property magnates are evil but this is taking that allusion to its ultimate incarnation of evil. Is that what Terry Nation would have wanted of his cash cows, I mean, metal meanies!

Apart from that rather bizarre plan of the Daleks, which doesn't really makes sense to me at the moment but probably will do in the next episode, Evolution of the Daleks, I really enjoyed Daleks in Manhattan. It was nothing like any of the previous episodes so far this series, which is nice, showcasing the programmes diversity.

The first couple of minutes of the episode, right up until the pre-titles cliffhanger, seemed like they belonged in a completely different programme and, completely atypically of the Doctor Who that we grew up with, there was also a love story.

Having said that the opening scenes did remind me of the opening scenes of The Talons of Weng-Chiang, so perhaps that was deliberate, as the rest of the episode did seem to be more like an old series episode than any of the previous episodes so far this series..

So apart from having the Daleks moving into Bob the Builders Patch, we also have a song and dance number in the middle of the episode just for the sheer hell of it. I suppose it is only fitting that we have a musical number in an episode due to the amount of Doctor Who fans that are into "musical theatre", as Tallulah would say! Having said that after the Doctor's comments to Martha and Frank after they meet up in the New York sewers the Doctor seems to swing both ways!

Now not being American and having never been to America before I don't think that the accents are all that bad, and I would say that Hugh Quarshie's accent is quite good and even Miranda Raison's typically gangsters moll type accent also works within the confines of the story. It did, however, remind me a great deal of the Paul McGann audio adventure Invaders from Mars and whether or not that is a good thing or not is open for debate

What with the Empire State Building and a blonde it does make you wonder if we are going to get a King Kong style ending with Tallulah being rescued from the top of the building. Well it could happen. Stranger things have happened after all.

As for the cliffhanger, I thought it worked quite well considering that we all knew what was coming although with the next episode title being Evolution of the Daleks it might have been fairly easy to work out what might have happened at the end of the episode. Quite what the Daleks plan are now is also open for debate as they can hardly turn the entire human race into human Dalek hybrids can they as there are only three other Daleks on the Earth at that moment in time. Although having said that perhaps that's the reason why there is that antenna at the top of the Empire State Building.

I do have to say that I felt that it took quite a while to get anywhere in this episode but, it has to be said, that after seeing the preview of the next episode a lot of the action does seem to take part there, rather than in the first episode, which is there to se the scene and the mood of the piece, which, I have to say, that it does admirably. We will have to wait until next week to see where it all leads and hope that it doesn't all peter out in the second episode like it has done in other two-parters of this revival.

People Of The Daleks

Dalek Sec arrives
Thirty years too early to
Destroy Morton Dill.

Daleks In Manhattan

After the F***ING KITTENS moment (whch sounds perilously close to F***ING KITCHENS, I'd claim royalties if I were you Neil) in last week's Underworld-for-the-21st-century, I figured I could handle anything in this episode with a straight face - an iron resolve that lasted until "HEEEANDS IN THE EEEAR!" in the trailer. I'd have liked to have seen what the Daleks would have made of that, since they have neither hands nor ears. But then they went and knackered the joke on me, the SODS. Part Dalek, part Jimmy Hoffa corrupt teamster. Calling Doc Tracy. Calling Doc Tracy. Be on the lookout for new villain Skaroface. "I yam a Hyooman Dworlek. We're gonna destroy da univoise, see, but foist I fancy a bakin' sammich. We gots da unions on our side, one woid from us and dey'll be downin' tools from here ta Gallifrey and yew will ALL BE EXTOIMINADED." Quick, pass the concrete.

Indeed, it's all very silly and it takes a fannish level of devotion to explain away some of the holes in the plot. I don't remember JN-T congratulating himself at giving his authors a 'bonkers' Five Doctors jumble sale like this to write, and if I were Helen Raynor I'd have pulled a Folgers Crystals with the brief. We replaced Russell's pig slaves with improved Robomen, let's see if he notices. It was also a notably cheaper production with a matte-painted New York skyline, a Central Park footie pitch and almost no CGI to speak of (quite right too). And I know Daleks have no aesthetic sense, but would it really have killed them to make Sec's laboratory look like something created by Fritz Lang out of a couple of valves and a crystal set? It would have suited the period perfectly while showcasing the 'will this do' essence of a grand plan born out of desperation,  and given the props people a big boner in constructing a couple of Jacob's Ladders to dot around the set. I wanted sparking Frankenstein generators, dammit!

"Calling Doc Tracy. Calling Doc Tracy. Be on the lookout for new villain Skaroface"

Daleks In Manhattan is still a much better slice of human drama than Gridlock was and, I found, a great deal easier to forgive for its sins. It's not actually about plot surprises as it turned out, and so the Radio Times spoiler cover didn't make a whole lot of difference; anyway, I was far too busy being impressed by the background and support characters that made the episode feel much more alive than the Robert Holmes-esque romanticised caricature of the Depression era I'd been led to expect. If this made it too talky for you then either you've never watched The Ghost Machine or you should thank heaven for small mercies. It also feels closer to proper Terry Nation WE-WILL-SURVIVE Daleks than any other story has managed so far (though suddenly they can't spot a time traveller the moment they see or analyse one like they could in Doomsday); Daleks are always going to be more impressive when the show emphasizes what a single schemy cunning bastard one can do rather than an army of mindless marauding space bullies, even though the only thing that was hopefully exterminated for good is the Goofy Tennant facade that crumbles pathetically in the face of anyone who's not going to stand for it. Hell, the story even had old-fashioned corridor running in the sewers. Bonus.

Aaaaaaaand.... hmm. I'm a bit strapped for fresh things to say this week and everything I can think of has been commented on already, but there is one point Dalek_Sex raised that nobody here seems to have picked up on yet. After the Doomsday escape, Sec could have materialised at any place and at any point in the Earth's timeline, and yet the Doctor just happens to turn up on his doorstep the very night he executes his masterplan. There's a dozen ways the script could expain it in ten seconds if it could be bothered, so why not? That actually brings up one particular thing about the new series; that the TARDIS is given all these loving scenes about how it's such a fantastic machine - but very seldom that it's more than just a 'machine', like the old series used to suggest all the time. The TARDIS is semi-sentient and goes where it wants; there's the symbiotic link between it and the Doctor, and so forth. None of that in the new series - if this was a Big Finish production, there would be a six-part time-paradox story arc devoted to it before we even get to Manhattan. Written by Nick Briggs.

Next week: Toy/pram consolidation issues erupt between Sec and the rest of the pureblood Cult, while Lazlo swears vengeance on Harry Hill's chief scientist Finsbury Park. Will you the pork, or will you the ham?

The Bumper Book Of Made-Up Doctor Who Facts has this to say about Daleks In Manhattan: the stage adaptation of the Depression-era comic strip 'Little Orphan Theta' premiered on Broadway to thunderous acclaim in the fall of 1931.

First We Take Manhattan

Daleks in Manhattan fails to hit the mark for a number of reasons. Firstly, the Daleks don't exterminate anyone. Secondly, the pigs looked silly. Thirdly, there was far too much yakking. And finally, the cliffhanger was pathetic.

The ramblings of a bitter and cynical 37 year old twat? No - this was the considered opinion of a 9 year old girl who believes that the new series of Doctor Who is the best thing since sliced bread, but who can also see this episode for what it is: daft, diluted, dreary nonsense.

I have a lot of issues with this episode myself, but given that it is a two-parter I am willing to concede that many of them will be answered later on. And while the first part will always be bogged down with a lackluster pace where we spend most of the time watching the Doctor figuring out what the audience already know, it could turn things around and drop some serious "megatonnage" on my bitter and cynical old head.

Five plot points they had better answer:

1) The most obvious one has already been picked up by a few reviewers on this blog, namely, how can Dalek Sec believe that turning himself into a one-eyed jellyfish on legs is somehow a step *up* the evolutionary ladder? As a Dalek he can fly, exterminate people, stop bullets, scan people, ignore the presence of time lords and turn his head 360 degrees. Now he can piss standing up. Bizarre. I am hoping against hope that Dalek Thay will blast Sec into little pieces within the first 30 seconds of part 2. Now, that would be a great twist that would make up for the Radio Times spoiler debacle. And anything that spares us from a squid with a Noy Yoike accent can't be all bad, can it?

2) What is the deal with the pigs? Why draw attention to yourself like that? Why not just brainwash bog-standard humans to do your dirty work, so when they sneak into camp for a spot of abduction you don't run the risk of people shouting "Look! Giant pigs!" I just don't get it and there had better be a bloody good reason for it. But worse than that, the sight of a pig running at the camera in the teaser was the funniest thing I've seen in this show since Aliens of London. Was it supposed to be funny?

3) When will the Doctor point Martha in the general direction of the TARDIS wardrobe? She must stink! Not since Tegan, Turlough and Adric have we seen such a "uniform" approach to a companion - even the Doctor has changed his suit twice since Smith and Jones. Sure, she's on her way home, but even so...

4) Why are the Daleks building the Empire State Building? Did they spend all those years in the Void Sphere watching Grand Designs? Is the next step up the evolutionary ladder to be "more like Sarah Beaney"? Or are they simply building an antenna that will punch a hole through time and space. Wouldn't it be funny if this allowed Thay, Caan and the other one to escape while poor old Sec suddenly realises that he is completely buggered? Oh please let it be so.

5) Pigs. Did I mention the f**king pigs?

So, it's all left to play for. Helen Raynor might address all of these issues and I will immediately apologise for being a bitter and cynical old fart. Until then, here's hoping...

No-one South Of Heaven's Gonna Treat You Finer

That was better.  It made a little more sense that last week and still managed to be exciting and gripping.  So I was happier.

I was a little worried (Which is not a Dalek concept, apparently) when Lazlo was accosted by the pig monster in the pre-credits, but it picked up once the Doctor and Martha appeared.  I especially liked the fact that the Beeb splashed out on the royalties for a couple of proper tunes.  I mean you can’t have a shot of New York without Gershwin in the background now can you?

I thought that the digital effects were particularly impressive throughout this whole episode.  I didn’t mention this last week, what with being too busy trying to understand what the hell was going on, but they were very good last week too.  All the backdrops of New York looked spot on (in as much as I’m any expert on the sky line of 1930’s New York) and it all just blended perfectly.

That’ll be the ones with the snouts and dubious personal habits, then.

The make up wasn’t quite so smooth ‘though.  I really didn’t like the pig slave things.  Although I assume that their masks were cheaper to make than the Judoon masks, as we saw them in larger groups than just the one.  I just couldn’t look at Lazlo (post ‘pigification’) without thinking of the classic Pigsy from Monkey.  Perhaps that was some kind of homage that I just missed.

In fact, why pigs at all?  If the Daleks were just looking for a bit of muscle and a few hands to work all those pesky handles, why not just wipe their victims memories and make them compliant slaves who could be seen on the streets without causing mass panic?

And why did the pig slaves (who were a bit of a step down from Ogrons don’t you think?) all wear exactly the same outfit?  Was it so the Daleks could redilly recognise who was working for them?  That’ll be the ones with the snouts and dubious personal habits, then.  And anyway, if they were kidnapped from Hooverville, wouldn’t they just be wearing whatever clothes they were taken in?  Where did the Daleks find such a large amount of cloth and who made all the outfits?  Did they perhaps pick up Betsy Ross on their trip through American history?  At least Mr Diagoras was still wearing his suit once he became the Human-Dalek.  It would have been a bit of a squeeze to fit a changing room inside Dalek Sek, too.

Now I might have missed something here, but what were the ‘Etheric beam locators’, or Dalek bumps if you prefer, for exactly and why did they need to be placed at the top of the tower with such urgency?  According to my Technical Manual these bumps are called ‘Sense Globes’ and they apparently "react to changes in external conditions and relay data on temperature, humidity, movement and the presence of animal life to the control chamber for analysis".  That’s where the Dalek lives by the way, in the control chamber.  So the only reason I can see for these things to be fitted would be if the Daleks wanted some kind of thermometer rigged up to see what the weather was like.

Here’s a clue – At 1,453 feet up it’s going to be damn cold!  And any animal life is going to be a bird or maybe Spiderman in his thermal Spidey suit.

Speaking of things that made very little sense.

It just seems like an odd thing for them to be so concerned about.  They could just open a window or pop out onto the observation deck if they needed to know that badly.

I know it helped move the plot along, but why was there a Dalek amoeba thing just sitting around in the  sewer?  The Doctor was nowhere near a lab and somehow I don’t imagine that one of the pig men happened to be carrying a tray of blobs around for one to conveniently ooze off onto the floor to be discovered.  That just made very little sense.

Speaking of things that made very little sense.  What was the thinking behind Dalek Sek’s little plan there?  He wants to improve the Dalek races chances of survival by turning himself and, assumedly the other three Daleks, into some kind of human/Dalek hybrid.  How is this going to work out?  There are millions of humans and only four Daleks.  This is because the humans weren’t invited to the great Time War that wiped out almost the entire Dalek race.  It has nothing to do with the humans being better at surviving and more to do with the fact that they don’t keep annoying the Doctor.

a squid in a sharp suit with a New Yorker’s attitude.

And how exactly does he plan to regain his supremacy, now?  Whereas before he was a kick ass killing machine with regenerative powers, a force field, a hugely powerful gun and the ability to fly now he’s a squid in a sharp suit with a New Yorker’s attitude.  Which, thinking about it, may actually be enough.

I can only assume that next week will bring some new super power that will make the masses cower before him, instead of just pointing and laughing.

I know that I’m not exactly keen on this whole “let’s keep brining back the bad guys” idea, but if you do insist on making the Daleks live on all the time I hope that the next lot we meet are going to be pepper pots again.  You can’t just destroy forty years of iconic baddieness just for a quick cliff hanger.

Are we to assume that this is the same Pictionary playing Daleks Sek and Thay that we met in Torchwood Towers at the end of Season Two?  I know that Sek ran away with his “emergency temporal shift” trick, but did that automatically take the other three with him?  Perhaps the names Sek and Thay are just very common on Skaro.  Are they perhaps the equivalent of Smith and Jones within the Cult of Skaro?

There was more of the supposed Gay agenda to this week when, after being reunited, the Doctor told both Martha and Frankie that they could kiss him later, if they wished. I’m actually not to bothered about this new trend.  I know it causes a degree of ill will amongst fans, but I think that it’s in keeping with the new attitude that has been prevalent in the show pretty much since it came back. It ties in with the real Captain Jack’s attitude (the one from Doctor Who, not his boring twin from Torchwood) to sex which obviously the Doctor would have picked up on too.  He’s been around more than Jack and so would have encountered and enjoyed a similar perspective on the whole thing.

As coincidence would have it, there’s a current thread on the Empire movie forum (In the Off Topic section, naturally) that addresses this same subject (It can be found here, if you’re interested).  Now admittedly it appears that female ‘experimentation’ is more acceptable than male, but it shows that times are changing and when we get to Jack’s era we may well be more flexible, as it were.  I imagine that it would help.

Anyway, he’s into musical theatre

I think Martha (or should I say Freema) did very well again this week.  I did like the business with the lipstick when she was talking to Tallulah, it just seemed so natural.  Two girlies having a chat about men and she just picks up the lippy and tries it out to see if it’s her colour.  It just felt right, like ladies would do when they were bonding.  I have to say that I really do think that Martha’s just going to get better and batter as time progresses.  She’s a bit bright, too, isn’t she?  I couldn’t tell you when the Wall Street crash happened, but she knew the year straight off.  She’s a bright lass.

Except I do wish she’d get over this crush she’s got on the Doctor.  Eventually, these romantic feelings should wear off and be replaced by a much more solid friendship.  Please stop mooning over the man – He’s not capable of returning your love/lust.  Anyway, he’s into musical theatre.  I have to say that I did chuckle when Tallulah said that.

Stayting with Tallulah for one more moment.  Did she never think it was odd that there was a manhole cover in the theatre?  I admit that I’ve not been backstage in that many off Broadway theatres, but is it common to have sewer access in your dressing room?  Although, if you think about it, things would have been much easier for the Phantom of the Opera if he’d thought of it.

One last thought.  The Daleks have been to the Empire State Building before.  Or should I say will go there again?  During The Chase, Doctor One and Co popped by briefly whilst being chased through time and space by the Daleks.  According to Peter Purvis the year was 1966 which makes it thirty odd years later than the events unfolding at the moment (if you know what I mean).  Would this mean that the Dalek bumps/Sense Globes/Etheric Beam Locators were still be there and if so, why didn’t the Daleks of 1966 mention them at all?

I know that in ‘reality’ they didn’t mention them because nobody had written about them being up there for another forty years, but it’ll be interesting to see if somebody remembers to take them down to avoid that sort of thing cropping up.

Anyway, roll on next week.  I avoided the “Next Week” spoiler as the nice man warned me about it, so I have no idea what’s going to happen.  I do wonder if there’s going to be some kind of confrontation with the Doctor at some point though…

Bullets Over Broadway

I don’t usually like to post reviews on the first episode of a two-parter, as it feels a bit unfair to comment too much on a story that you’ve only seen half of. I mean, you wouldn’t review a book when you’ve only gotten to page 125 out of 250, would you? However, as everyone else seems to be doing so, I thought I’d put up just a few thoughts on last night’s episode.

I enjoyed it much more than I had expected to, I have to admit. Thus far, Doctor Who seems to have established a tradition since its return of the first two-parter of the season being a complete clunker – witness Aliens of London / World War Three and last year’s Rise of the Cybermen / The Age of Steel. Plus from last week’s trailer I had expected Miranda Raison’s accent to be one of the most irritating things new Who has ever thrown at us – fortunately, however, although she had some fingernails-on-a-blackboard moments (“waddya you mean creatures?”) she was actually okay for most British ears, and her character was surprisingly likeable.

I get the impression that come next week all will not be harmonious within the Cult, and they might end up turning against their Space Precinct-admiring leader.

I thought that Helen Raynor handled the Daleks pretty well – I was worried that all this Dalek-Human hybrid business went against the whole nature of the Daleks being very into racial purity, so I was pleased to see two of the Cult of Skaro debating this point with Sec. I get the impression that come next week all will not be harmonious within the Cult, and they might end up turning against their Space Precinct-admiring leader.

That said, I did enjoy the scene where Diagoras was taken inside Sec for his Dalek-ification. A suitably nasty scene that I hope gave lots of children horrible nightmares. The Daleks are always at their best when just generally hanging around being complete bastards to everyone, although I do miss their days of Galaxy-spanning conquest; as good as the “last Daleks in existence” type stories have been so far in the new series, I do think that they’ve pretty much exhausted that line now, and are going to have to come up with something different for them in the future.

I liked the New York setting – as I touched on above, being a Briton I’m not the best person to judge the accents, but for the majority of the UK audience I’m sure they would have been perfectly acceptable. The expense of flying out to New York to take some plate shots for The Mill to work their magic on was well justified by some of the spectacular views, and I enjoyed all the material in the theatre and Hooverville. The theatre scenes had a very obviously Phantom of the Opera quality to them, what with Ryan Carnes’s Laszlo skulking around in the depths keeping an eye on the woman he loves. There were other less-than-subtle bits of intertextuality and metaphor going on too, such as the “judgement of Solomon” stuff with the loaf of bread at the beginning, but Doctor Who has always thrived on doing this kind of thing.

These chaps are mean to be the elite of the Dalek race! Even if one of them is now partially made out of tin and another has taken on human form with Krang from Teenage Mutant Hero Turtles balanced atop his head.

The one niggle that did bother me about the episode was at the end, where one of the Cult of Skaro looks right at the Doctor, Dalek Invasion of Earth style, and somehow fails to recognise him despite having met him back in Doomsday. The Doctor even has a line about not wanting to be recognised about twenty seconds after this, which simply highlights how silly that was. I mean, perhaps the Dalek just wasn’t paying attention, but really… These chaps are mean to be the elite of the Dalek race! Even if one of them is now partially made out of tin and another has taken on human form with Krang from Teenage Mutant Hero Turtles balanced atop his head.

But overall an enjoyable bit of Doctor Who, and I look forward to seeing how it all ties up next Saturday.

Strange Transmissions

Over the OG central for the latest ratings:

Time ...... BBC1 ............... ITV ............ BBC2 ........... CH4 ..........CH5
18:30 .. 5.1 (31.6%) .. 3.4 (21.1%) .. 0.6 (3.8%) .. 1.1 (6.6%) .. 0.5 (3.4%)
18:45 .. 6.1 (34.5%) .. 3.9 (22.0%) .. 0.7 (3.9%) .. 1.2 (6.8%) .. 0.6 (3.2%)
19:00 .. 6.7 (36.5%) .. 4.1 (22.3%) .. 0.9 (4.7%) .. 1.0 (5.7%) .. 0.6 (3.4%)
19:15 .. 6.0 (32.2%) .. 4.0 (21.6%) .. 1.3 (6.8%) .. 1.3 (7.0%) .. 0.7 (3.9%)
19:30 .. 4.8 (25.2%) .. 3.8 (20.2%) .. 1.7 (8.8%) .. 1.7 (8.9%) .. 0.8 (4.3%)

Average:  6.3 (34.9%)

The needlessly early start certainly hurt the numbers although the ratings were down across the night and across the networks and the show still maintained its supremacy as the top show for the even.  Just.  It's still a bit disappointing considering this is a Dalek story with all the prepublicity that entails.  Perhaps the Radio Times cover put people off. 

Anyway, the interesting thing to note is that BBC One gained a million viewers as the show began then lost them again directly afterwards, BUT they didn't go to the other side.  I wonder if next week will follow the general pattern of these things and we'll actually gain viewers for the second part.

Construction Time Again

Okay, I’d better get it over with. This week: ‘Sec’s in the City’

Daleks in Manhattan

I bloody hate shopping, so it’s no surprise that the thought of a shopping list brings a weary sigh and a sense of ennui bordering on nihilism upon my soul. Why do I mention this? Well, I’m just wondering what poor old Helen Raynor felt when she got the fateful call to RTD’s executive suite last summer. One minute she’s no doubt scribbling furiously in the margins of a Paul Cornell or Steven Moffat script, the next she’s being offered the season’s first two-parter with one or two caveats. Namely Daleks, New York and the next stage in mankind’s evolutionary process. Not since the days of JN-T has a script editor’s cheeks gone so pale, so fast.

But - and I fear I’m sticking my neck out here - somehow it works. And while there’s a lot wrong with ‘Daleks in Manhattan’ (which we’ll get to in due course) there’s also something which last week alone completely forgot to include amongst its high-concept ideas and social metaphor: entertainment. Yes, good old fashioned entertainment. For here was Doctor Who writ large: big, bold and with a swagger and style that only a show which knows it’s gonna capture at least eight million of the television viewing populace would dare try.

Not since the days of JN-T has a script editor’s cheeks gone so pale, so fast.

I admit I wasn’t looking forward to this one a lot, seeing as the whole idea of shoe-horning the Daleks into a period of history that they’d hitherto only shared with Peter Purvis seemed a little, er, ambitious to say the least. But the only thing that surprised me was the fact that the production team hadn’t engineered this one to fall on a Bank Holiday weekend. Because it’s the sort of all froth no substance kinda episode that those schedules absolutely demand. All the naysayers will no doubt say that it’s got about as much depth as a puddle, but that’s surely the point. ‘Daleks in Manhattan’ - as the title itself suggests - is all about ideas. Ideas like Daleks in 1930s New York, utilising the still-under-construction Empire State Building as some (no doubt) nefarious means of promulgating their species. Ideas like shoving a show-tune slap-bang in the middle simply because it’s what this genre of entertainment demands. And ideas like merging a Dalek mutant with the local equivalent of Al Capone and sticking it on the front cover of the Radio Times four days early just to piss off the hardcore. The fact that some of these ideas are silly (and more importantly, make little narrative sense) is almost pointless arguing.

And if ever an episode wore its heart on its source’s sleeve, then it’s this one. In fact take pretty much any period New York film or TV drama of the past fifty years and you’ll find at least one homage in ‘Daleks in Manhattan’. You almost expect Woody Allen himself to cameo-by at one point, share an existential crisis with the Doctor (while no doubt comparing horn-rimmed spectacles) and tell us all how depressed he’s feeling. Which brings us not very neatly to Hooverville which - despite its name - has less to do with where James Dyson lives and more to do with Helen Raynor’s attempts to give the episode some social gravitas. And credit to her she manages to make some salient points about the differences between the haves and the have-nots of this period, providing the New Yorkers with a sense of humanity that would have been too easy to pass by in other’s hands. And I’ve got to say that it’s just a nice idea (that word again) that the Daleks, albeit unknowingly, are subjugating yet another populace for their own means. Back in the real 30s, no doubt it was rather more mundane forces that demanded the building of high-rise behemoths while the mass ranks below all starved; the fact that here it’s the Daleks underlines their use as powerful metaphor these past forty years more than anything else.

‘Daleks in Manhattan’ - as the title itself suggests - is all about ideas

Okay, the bugbears. Cast your mind back to 1979 and Doctor Who’s first foreign jaunt: didn’t pretty much the whole production crew and cast get to play Paris in the springtime? On a shoestring BBC budget no less. In fact, even during those notoriously cash-strapped days of the mid-80s, JN-T was somehow managing a package holiday affair every twelve months. But here and now - in the budget-saturated days of Nu-Who - what do we get? Some matte paintings and Tennant and Agyeman standing in front of a wall somewhere in Cardiff. I mean, I ask you. I can just about accept that special effects are so expensive these days that weekly jaunts to the planet Zog are pretty much out; but would it really have been too much to see the Doctor and Martha at the real Statue of Liberty and the production team dressing a real New York street so that it looked eighty years old? If ‘Daleks’ in Manhattan’ has one real, out-of-the-box letdown it’s that you never really feel you’re in New York. And for a story whose entire remit (after the word ‘Dalek’ anyway) was the Big Apple itself, it just seems to have been one - slightly redundant - idea too far…

Speaking of faults, what a shame that Helen Raynor’s otherwise clever and engaging script didn’t extend to creating some characters at least a step beyond caricature. In ‘Daleks in Manhattan’ only the Daleks sound like they’re acting to type; pretty much everyone else is straight out of the big book of gumshoe fiction. Everyone may talk like real ‘Noy Yoikers’, but nothing that comes out of their mouths sounds like anything a real person would say. So we’ve got Hugh Quarshie struggling valiantly with a role with ‘noble patrician’ written all over it and the girl from Spooks auditioning for the reality TV effort over on the other side. Still, at least she looks nice in feathers and when the inevitable dance number finally comes - granting Murray Gold the chance to once again flex his lyric-writing muscles - then it feels far more in tune with the characteristic tone than anything else in the episode.

But here and now - in the budget-saturated days of Nu-Who - what do we get? Some matte paintings and Tennant and Agyeman standing in front of a wall somewhere in Cardiff

But if nothing else Helen Raynor is certainly channelling the spirit of Lord Reith here, as I don’t think I’ve had a better history lesson since Peter Davison started the Great Fire of London. It may be as much a BBC version of America as our cousins’ idea that everyone here drinks tea and wears bowler hats, but at least the old-fashioned mystery element (not to mention the sight of the Doctor and his entourage being chased by monsters through the sewers) rings true. James Strong’s direction is pretty good too, utilising the Daleks in the ways which work best: short on dialogue and strong on fetishising the iconography (the art deco lift, replete with Dalek ‘eye’, being a case in point). They’re even back to exploiting lesser races in a Roboman/Ogron kinda way And of course I don’t have to say the words ‘Final Experiment’ without recalling memories of ‘Genesis of the Daleks’ oh-so-subtle nods to the Final Solution…

Which again brings us not so neatly to that cliff-hanger. Part Cronenberg, all nonsense: Dalek Sec sacrifices himself to the greater good only to become a reject from Space Precinct dressed in spats. I for one am just glad that RTD took the Radio Time shilling and saved me from spitting my hobnobs across the room.

Next time: looks like standard shoot-em-up bullshit so far. Though the Dalek/Human hybrid stuff could be amusing.

(The Bumper Book of Made-Up Doctor Who Facts has this to say about Daleks in Manhattan: plans to use the roof of BBC Cardiff as the Empire State Building were rejected as ‘too expensive’)

No Sec Please, We're Human

I quite enjoyed that. Let me see if I can put my finger on why.

After the usual pre-credits teaser, it felt like quite a traditional opening to the show. Instead of a scene or two of the Doctor and Martha nattering away inside the TARDIS before they’d even gone anywhere, it just landed and they filled in the exposition as they walked about the place. I appreciate getting right into things without too much preamble and it just felt right, the kind of thing which both this and ‘original Who’ did when they were comfortable with the format.

Another thing, which fitted into this confidence, was the reveal of the Daleks. Everyone’s got used to them being back in the show now, so there’s no need to drag things out for the sake of a Dalek busting through a wall or something for your cliff-hanger. Instead they appear within the first 15 minutes or so, which means the story can get on with itself and not get hung up on the guest villain.

I’d also like to give praise to that little sequence with the two workmen toiling away on the roof. All that determination and courage in battling the elements and their own bodies to get the construction finished, and yet ironically it’s for something that would mean their deaths. I don’t quite know what the antenna will do when it’s complete, but I’m guessing it won’t be all sunshine und chocolate.

I don’t quite know what the antenna will do when it’s complete, but I’m guessing it won’t be all sunshine and chocolate.

Tennant was playing it downbeat and at times quite intense, and I like that. I still don’t want him to ditch the goofing about; I prefer a contrast because it makes it more important when he’s being serious about something. The scene where he first sees a Dalek was especially good, rather than bellowing away angrily there was a real cold fury to him. And Martha is doing fine, still enthused about the places she’s going but the main thing with this episode to me was being reminded how well she can play being terrified of something. Sure, that sounds easy but it can come across very phoney if you’re not careful and she trod the line between being scared yet still wanting to stand up to the Daleks. Beats just being smug to them.

And talking of smug, I hope the Daleks are a little less so the next time they bump into the Cybermen, seeing as how they’ve finally swiped their hobby of using human bodies for their purposes. It does make sense that a group as radical as the Cult of Skaro would try such a thing, but even the other Daleks are worried about Sec trying it. The Human Dalek was lovely, somewhere between creepy and utterly silly and very Doctor Who. I also got a kick out of Mr. Diagoras looking uncannily like Mr. Boddy from Clue. It must be too much to hope that Tim Curry has a cameo as a butler in the second part.

Okay, so due to the setting we had a pretty variable set of accents. It helps the actors that the typical Noo Yawk accent is pretty exaggerated anyway, but some people threatened to go a bit Gunfighters at times. Tallulah and Laszlo’s little doomed romance was fairly sweet but I’m not sure if it’s intended as more than a bit of human-interest padding. And finally, when you get down to it and despite their repeated valiant efforts otherwise, someone running around with a pig’s head just looks more funny than scary. I think it was the goofy little tusks that did it for me in particular.

Still, I did enjoy this episode. What’s the antenna for? What will the Human Dalek do next? How will the ‘normal’ Daleks react? Will Captain Panaka and his mob storm the building? As always with two-parters, it’ll need the second part to deliver, but I’m hopeful it’ll do that. And more importantly for the creators, I’ll be tuning in to find out.

"We'll turn Manhattan, into an isle of joy..."

I'm not someone who tends to nitpick.  I really enjoyed last week's episode and it wasn't until later when I read some of the reviews that the inconsistencies and potential plot holes became apparent - and even then I don't think any of them spoiled it for me.  Because you know.  The Macra.  Sometimes I'll work through a rationalization for something or I'll simply let it go because the whole thing has been so damn entertaining.  I didn't even notice the character reading a copy of the Radio Times.

Unfortunately, I think I'm going to have to watch Daleks In Manhattan again because  about ten minutes in, a third of my brain was mildly distracted to such an extent that I think most of anything else nearly passed me by.  Here is the shot.  See if you can spot why …

… so bless her, Helen Raynor travels out to New York to research what it would have been like in the 1930s and produces some really poetic descriptions of how low people went and the extent to which humanity was for sale.  The design department work flat out to create Hooverville, this collection of tents and agony clinging together wondering how bad life can get.  The reliable Hugh Quarshie is producing a commanding performance as Solomon, the breaking of the bread symbolically replaying the choice his namesake had to make in the bible over a child and one third of my brain is thinking …

"Was that a football goal?  I suppose it must be if this was filmed in a park in Cardiff.  I wonder how they didn't notice that.  Did they notice it and decide it would have been too expensive to paint out?  Or did they just not notice right through filming to editing to colour timing to composing to well all of the other processes before it hit the screen.  But what if it wasn't a football goal.  I'll have to check it again when I've finished recording.  Just enjoy the episode.  But it could have been a soccer goal.  Perhaps it was supposed to be there.  Is this going to be the meme of the year - subliminal anachronisms across time?  What if soccer was quite popular in depression era New York - it's easier to play than American Football - you just need a large round ball.  Surely they would have played baseball.  Unless it was just something they didn't notice …"

Etc. Etc. 

Another third was distracted from the opening few minutes dealing with the consequences of the Radio Times cover in the real world.  Was it going to be the cliffhanger ending of the episode?  The Dalek/Human hybrid.  Had the production team sold out the big surprise ending for a magazine cover?  There was enough in the accompanying article to indicate that they had, but scuttle bug in the last couple of days suggested that actually it was smoke screen for some even greater shock.  It's a real shame then that in the end this turned actually to be the cliffhanger and gave the episode the same texture that The Sixth Sense had for me first time around having worked out the twist from the trailer.  So instead of asking 'Why're they doin' that?'  I was instead thinking 'They're doing that because of this.'

Luckily, since I have a decent brain capacity there was still enough juice in the other third to actually quite enjoy what was in essence a pretty old school slice of Doctor Who, a Hartnell story with production values.  The opening ten minutes featured exactly the kind of edutainment you might find in the opening episode of a Lucarroti-style historical with the Doctor revealing the era and its problems.  Its exactly what the series should be about - stepping into history having a look around.  In recent years a shorthand has crept into use in these situations, but for once the Doctor was actually given the chance to offer a lecture and it really helped to set the scene.

"The opening ten minutes featured exactly the kind of edutainment you might find in the opening episode of a Lucarroti-style historical with the Doctor revealing the era and its problems. "

Another trait of early Who was the grand shift between locations, the gang traveling across a world.  Then it was because they generally had to strike a set on a weekly basis and it meant that by sometimes changing everything they could add value.  Translating this story into a seven-parter, you could almost imagine 'Episode One - The Poor In Manhattan' 'Episode Two - The Sewer' 'Episode Three - A Dance With Death' and so on, the narrative generally staying on the Doctor and Martha except for the cutaways to Daleks.  And again, in keeping with those old stories, we knew who the main adversary was before the timelord, which is something that doesn't usually happen these days (I think Boomtown is an exception). 

The Doctor spent most of the story trying to discover who his adversary was, almost  dragged through through the story, being shown all of the plot details that need to be established ready for the Evolution of the Daleks.  In that way it did feel like the first proper Dalek story - for once they're not simply trying to blast their way to victory using sheer force but have instead a proper plan for their survival, even if it chucks out exactly who they are and all of the arguments they've had previously about being the supreme being just as they are.  I loved the moment when they actually paid lip service to this, rationalizing something which actually caused a war in the Eighth Doctor audio Blood of the Daleks.

Where the episode parted company with the earlier era was that with the exception of the aforementioned crossbar the sense of place was beautiful, the trip to New York for background plates being money well spent.  It's a pity that the budget wouldn't stretch to allowing up to see the travelers walking through the mass of the city but actually it seems right that the Doctor should stay on the edges in these kinds of stories, fitting into the gaps.  But the Empire State interiors with their art deco style were beautifully realised, as was the back stage of the theatre (shades of Weng Chiang actually).  I mean if you look at the costumes, its amazing what is actually being realised on a tv budget - the almost unrecognizable Miranda Raison sparkily making a perfect angel.

"It's a pity that the budget wouldn't stretch to allowing up to see the travelers walking through the mass of the city but actually it seems right that the Doctor should stay on the edges in these kinds of stories, fitting into the gaps."

And this was all tied together, not with a bit of stock music from the radio archives, but  with a wonderful score that just found the right balance between the more traditional incidental spots and the more evocative tracks; Murray Gold who I'm actually beginning to admire as a composer borrowing extensively from Woody Allen's playbook.  I love that the new series is confident enough to embrace contemporary music and it just seems perfect that the Tardis doors should open to the sound of Gershwin.  I do wonder what the whole episode would have been like had it been scored just like an Allen film but I can't think of any jazz music that could underscore the creepier moments featuring the pig blokes - and if you trying an drop in some faux-saxophones it can sound very jokey and very wrong.

But in the end, my favourite moment?  "They always survive, while I lose everything." 

See you next week, Helen.