First of all, I want to give thanks to Helen Raynor - or whomever made the decision on the title of this episode. It shows a tremendous nod to the traditions of Doctor Who when a Dalek story is titled in the form of "____ of the Daleks." (i.e. Genesis of the Daleks, Destiny of the Daleks, Planet of the Daleks, Revelation of the Daleks, etc.)
Once again, Raynor does a fantastic job of writing a Dalek story that unfolds steadily, that isn't too slow, but isn't rushed at the same time. Immediately following the title sequence, the incidental music is silent as we pick up where we left off at the close of "Daleks In Manhattan." The Doctor reveals himself, and confronts the Daleks. After a blast from his sonic screwdriver to a small radio, The Doctor, Martha, Frank, Laszlo, and Tallulah escape to the sewers. Not long after returning to Hooverville, the Daleks'
pig slaves show up, as well as two flying Daleks. The Daleks launch an attack on Hooverville, kill Solomon, and following Dalek Sec's order, persuade the Doctor to return to their hideout beneath the Empire State Building.
I couldn't find much to complain about in this episode, because the writing, plot, and progression of the episode was virtually spot-on. Perhaps the thing I disliked the most about it was once again we had Murray Gold's orchestral and choral pieces blasting through much of the episode - particularly during scenes in which the Daleks were on the move, and the accompanying chorus was almost intended to frighten us into seeing the Daleks as more of a menace than they already were. Additionally, the chorus seemed to convey that "hey, these guys are f#%ing POWERFUL, so don't mess with them" kind of mood - in much the same way "Duel of the Fates" did with Darth Maul in Star Wars: Episode I: The Phantom Menace. That being the case, what I often say becomes clear; the television series starts to feel more like a motion picture than an episode of Doctor Who. Granted, Doctor Who is meant to be epic, but it has a reputation for achieving epic status through the writing of it's stories, and not spectacular CGI special effects and bombastic orchestrated soundtracks.
Another minus in this episode was the conflict of spaces. According to events that had transpired up to the point the Doctor re-entered the basement, we were lead to believe that the basement was the floor directly beneath the FIRST FLOOR of the Empire State Building. However, in a later scene Dalek Sec flips a switch on the wall, and illuminates an entire CGI room full of soon-to-be human Daleks. The room is atleast a hundred feet high, and stretches so far into the distance that we can't see the far wall. So how was all this packed into a single basement floor? I have no idea.
Other than that, I was overall satisfied with the episode. Raynor successfully wrote a Dalek story that wasn't rushed, and was an extremely thought out plotline. Unlike Davies - who tends to "destroy things forever" at every given opportunity, only to have the return the following season - Raynor leaves room for future encounters with the Daleks. As The Doctor attempts to offer Dalek Caan help, Caan emergency temporal shifts again, thus escaping. The Doctor later answers Martha's question about whether or not he will see them again with "Oh yes.......someday."
Great episode, and it was becoming more and more apparent that about the only way we could get a decent dose of Doctor Who was when Davies didn't pen it, since he insisted on either linking today with the future, or vice versa in his scripts.
Once again, Raynor does a fantastic job of writing a Dalek story that unfolds steadily, that isn't too slow, but isn't rushed at the same time. Immediately following the title sequence, the incidental music is silent as we pick up where we left off at the close of "Daleks In Manhattan." The Doctor reveals himself, and confronts the Daleks. After a blast from his sonic screwdriver to a small radio, The Doctor, Martha, Frank, Laszlo, and Tallulah escape to the sewers. Not long after returning to Hooverville, the Daleks'
pig slaves show up, as well as two flying Daleks. The Daleks launch an attack on Hooverville, kill Solomon, and following Dalek Sec's order, persuade the Doctor to return to their hideout beneath the Empire State Building.I couldn't find much to complain about in this episode, because the writing, plot, and progression of the episode was virtually spot-on. Perhaps the thing I disliked the most about it was once again we had Murray Gold's orchestral and choral pieces blasting through much of the episode - particularly during scenes in which the Daleks were on the move, and the accompanying chorus was almost intended to frighten us into seeing the Daleks as more of a menace than they already were. Additionally, the chorus seemed to convey that "hey, these guys are f#%ing POWERFUL, so don't mess with them" kind of mood - in much the same way "Duel of the Fates" did with Darth Maul in Star Wars: Episode I: The Phantom Menace. That being the case, what I often say becomes clear; the television series starts to feel more like a motion picture than an episode of Doctor Who. Granted, Doctor Who is meant to be epic, but it has a reputation for achieving epic status through the writing of it's stories, and not spectacular CGI special effects and bombastic orchestrated soundtracks.
Another minus in this episode was the conflict of spaces. According to events that had transpired up to the point the Doctor re-entered the basement, we were lead to believe that the basement was the floor directly beneath the FIRST FLOOR of the Empire State Building. However, in a later scene Dalek Sec flips a switch on the wall, and illuminates an entire CGI room full of soon-to-be human Daleks. The room is atleast a hundred feet high, and stretches so far into the distance that we can't see the far wall. So how was all this packed into a single basement floor? I have no idea.
Other than that, I was overall satisfied with the episode. Raynor successfully wrote a Dalek story that wasn't rushed, and was an extremely thought out plotline. Unlike Davies - who tends to "destroy things forever" at every given opportunity, only to have the return the following season - Raynor leaves room for future encounters with the Daleks. As The Doctor attempts to offer Dalek Caan help, Caan emergency temporal shifts again, thus escaping. The Doctor later answers Martha's question about whether or not he will see them again with "Oh yes.......someday."
Great episode, and it was becoming more and more apparent that about the only way we could get a decent dose of Doctor Who was when Davies didn't pen it, since he insisted on either linking today with the future, or vice versa in his scripts.
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