Next up to bat was Mark Gatiss, who coincidentally also wrote the third episode of Davies' first season, "The Unquiet Dead." Gatiss has been known for contributing episodes to the series that were some of the few that could compete with the kind of Whoscale scores that Moffat often got.
By this time, a lot of fans - both new and old - were getting a bit tired of having to deal with Daleks every season. But Moffat placing this in the number three slot as a stand alone episode, with no additional Dalek related stories in the season was a move I felt to again gradually bring audiences out of the Dalek-infested Davies era and into...well, whatever Moffat had planned for us.
Right off the top, the episode scores points with the title. Gatiss stays true to Doctor Who heritage by following the "____ of the Daleks" format. The last Dalek story to follow this format was Helen Raynor's "Evolution Of The Daleks" back in Tennant's second season.
This episode has received quite a lot of negative criticism from fans since it was aired, and has
even been occasionally ranked the worst episode of Series 5/Season 31. Being a diehard fan of both the original series and the new, as well as often viewing episodes from a classic Who point of view, I have to wholly disagree with them.
Gatiss harks back to the lost story "Power Of The Daleks" with the Second Doctor, where the Daleks were initially introduced has servants. However, Gatiss' story often felt like it should have been one of those six part serials, and as such was rushed. The pacing of the episode is relatively balanced for the first twenty minutes, but the revelation of the Daleks' true intention, the truth behind Bracewell's relevance to the Daleks all came together a bit quickly, which then set the stage for the next ten minutes of light speed action.
One thing I thought that was terrific was the simplicity of the the Dalek ship this go around. Instead of the CGI backdrop, fire and brimstone appearance, the walls, ceiling, and floor use very mute colors, with touches of tin here and there. It reminded me of the Kaled bunker from the Fourth Doctor story, "Genesis Of The Daleks." Likewise, Gatiss also incorporates three lone Daleks, instead of the Davies style invasion in the millions tactic. This format has and always will work wonders for Dalek and Cybermen stories, as long as the first half is relaying the fact piece by piece that the Daleks (or Cybermen) are in fact "up to something." The story can then slowly play out revealing what that something is, and then having The Doctor cleverly devise a way to out wit and out think them, instead of just pulling a magic lever.
Unfortunately, the final twenty minutes of this episode is where it starts to falter on the Whoscale. Once again we have to sit through a short sequence that looks remarkably similar to a young podracer prodigy from Tatooine destroying a Trade Federation ship. In the case of this episode, it's WWII Spitfires instead of Naboo Starfighters. Speaking of the Spitfires, that was perhaps the least believable part of the entire episode, and I place most the blame on the fact that an in depth Dalek story like this one just doesn't work when crammed into 45 minutes. You get ridiculous time discrepancies like the time it took Bracewell to outfit a squardron of Spitfires with gravity bubble technology and replace their outdated machine guns with laser cannons - about 45 seconds. After further examination, one has to wonder how a combustion engine aircraft is able to fly loop-de-loops and zig zags in free space, with no oxygen to combust, and no air passing over the wings. That's reading a bit deep into the technical side of the physics in that scene, but things like that wouldn't have been overlooked in the original series. In fact, a squadron of Spitfires wouldn't have been anywhere near a Dalek ship - The Doctor would have somehow deactivated the power source himself.
The episode gets even more disappointing when Amy once again steps in to save the day, over shadowing the lead character. This sort of thing was getting kind of ridiculous, also. Honestly, why bother to have The Doctor feel his way though an entire episode uncovering clues if his companion can resolve the whole darned thing with a Leadworth education?!
The final ten minutes devotes itself to being entirely heart wrenching and joyous, with a farewell by Churchhill and Bracewell, finally leading The Doctor and Amy back to the TARDIS, who then also pause just outside the doors to reflect on the events of the episode.
The music in the episode was almost a mirror image of the episode's Whoscale. It was often subtle and sparingly used in the opening twenty minutes, and then turned into a piece from John Williams during the Spitfire sequence. It then calms to an emotion invoking piece for the Bracewell bomb deactivation sequence.
Finally, I'll touch on the redesign of the Daleks. This was another item of great criticism after this episode aired. I remember the first time I saw them, and my first thought was "Power Ranger Daleks?" The new design grew on me a bit after I discovered that each color is symbolic, and that each Dalek color is representative of a particular rank or function. For example, the white Dalek is the Supreme Dalek and the blue one is the Scanner/Intelligence officer. I also immediately noted the change in the texture of their exteriors. While the Daleks are meant to be metal, the original series never went to far to hide the fact that they were just plastic. This in the end added to the charm of the series, and at the risk of insulting the production department of the new series, the new Daleks look plastic. To me, that's a good thing. It helps bring back the flavor of the bare bones simplistic style of the original series.
By this time, a lot of fans - both new and old - were getting a bit tired of having to deal with Daleks every season. But Moffat placing this in the number three slot as a stand alone episode, with no additional Dalek related stories in the season was a move I felt to again gradually bring audiences out of the Dalek-infested Davies era and into...well, whatever Moffat had planned for us.
Right off the top, the episode scores points with the title. Gatiss stays true to Doctor Who heritage by following the "____ of the Daleks" format. The last Dalek story to follow this format was Helen Raynor's "Evolution Of The Daleks" back in Tennant's second season.
This episode has received quite a lot of negative criticism from fans since it was aired, and has
even been occasionally ranked the worst episode of Series 5/Season 31. Being a diehard fan of both the original series and the new, as well as often viewing episodes from a classic Who point of view, I have to wholly disagree with them.Gatiss harks back to the lost story "Power Of The Daleks" with the Second Doctor, where the Daleks were initially introduced has servants. However, Gatiss' story often felt like it should have been one of those six part serials, and as such was rushed. The pacing of the episode is relatively balanced for the first twenty minutes, but the revelation of the Daleks' true intention, the truth behind Bracewell's relevance to the Daleks all came together a bit quickly, which then set the stage for the next ten minutes of light speed action.
One thing I thought that was terrific was the simplicity of the the Dalek ship this go around. Instead of the CGI backdrop, fire and brimstone appearance, the walls, ceiling, and floor use very mute colors, with touches of tin here and there. It reminded me of the Kaled bunker from the Fourth Doctor story, "Genesis Of The Daleks." Likewise, Gatiss also incorporates three lone Daleks, instead of the Davies style invasion in the millions tactic. This format has and always will work wonders for Dalek and Cybermen stories, as long as the first half is relaying the fact piece by piece that the Daleks (or Cybermen) are in fact "up to something." The story can then slowly play out revealing what that something is, and then having The Doctor cleverly devise a way to out wit and out think them, instead of just pulling a magic lever.
Unfortunately, the final twenty minutes of this episode is where it starts to falter on the Whoscale. Once again we have to sit through a short sequence that looks remarkably similar to a young podracer prodigy from Tatooine destroying a Trade Federation ship. In the case of this episode, it's WWII Spitfires instead of Naboo Starfighters. Speaking of the Spitfires, that was perhaps the least believable part of the entire episode, and I place most the blame on the fact that an in depth Dalek story like this one just doesn't work when crammed into 45 minutes. You get ridiculous time discrepancies like the time it took Bracewell to outfit a squardron of Spitfires with gravity bubble technology and replace their outdated machine guns with laser cannons - about 45 seconds. After further examination, one has to wonder how a combustion engine aircraft is able to fly loop-de-loops and zig zags in free space, with no oxygen to combust, and no air passing over the wings. That's reading a bit deep into the technical side of the physics in that scene, but things like that wouldn't have been overlooked in the original series. In fact, a squadron of Spitfires wouldn't have been anywhere near a Dalek ship - The Doctor would have somehow deactivated the power source himself.
The episode gets even more disappointing when Amy once again steps in to save the day, over shadowing the lead character. This sort of thing was getting kind of ridiculous, also. Honestly, why bother to have The Doctor feel his way though an entire episode uncovering clues if his companion can resolve the whole darned thing with a Leadworth education?!
The final ten minutes devotes itself to being entirely heart wrenching and joyous, with a farewell by Churchhill and Bracewell, finally leading The Doctor and Amy back to the TARDIS, who then also pause just outside the doors to reflect on the events of the episode.
The music in the episode was almost a mirror image of the episode's Whoscale. It was often subtle and sparingly used in the opening twenty minutes, and then turned into a piece from John Williams during the Spitfire sequence. It then calms to an emotion invoking piece for the Bracewell bomb deactivation sequence.
Finally, I'll touch on the redesign of the Daleks. This was another item of great criticism after this episode aired. I remember the first time I saw them, and my first thought was "Power Ranger Daleks?" The new design grew on me a bit after I discovered that each color is symbolic, and that each Dalek color is representative of a particular rank or function. For example, the white Dalek is the Supreme Dalek and the blue one is the Scanner/Intelligence officer. I also immediately noted the change in the texture of their exteriors. While the Daleks are meant to be metal, the original series never went to far to hide the fact that they were just plastic. This in the end added to the charm of the series, and at the risk of insulting the production department of the new series, the new Daleks look plastic. To me, that's a good thing. It helps bring back the flavor of the bare bones simplistic style of the original series.
Points of agreement: Victory of the Daleks is not the worst Season Five Doctor Who episode. The whole "RAF in Space!" bit was a bit over-the-top.
ReplyDeletePoints of disagreement: Amy wasn't that important to the story. The new Dalek design was ghastly (when I first saw them, I thought, "Fat Daleks? Seriously?").
I gave it an 8/10.
Finally, remember, some Whovians think Doctor Who started w/Rose, not An Unearthly Child, despite the Doctors being Doctors 9-11. Therefore, they wouldn't get The Power of the Daleks reference.
Fat Dalek toys are not supirior
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