DOCTOR WHO (2007): Episode Reactions

Post by **Denyer** » Sat Apr 21, 2007 8:02 pm

First part of the Daleks one...

Woo, a one-eyed mind flayer! Er, other than that, nothing particularly exciting. Characters weren't as annoying as they looked in last week's preview, though.

Cliffjumper · Post by **Cliffjumper** » Sat Apr 21, 2007 8:09 pm

I dunno, luvvies doing over-wrought Noo Yawk accents was probably the most irritating thing of a pretty underwhelming episode. I've a feeling this is one of those "episode and a half" jobs with plenty of padding, and the human Dalek thing looked pretty unimpressive - headshot would be all you need, surely?

Oh, and fans might want to check this if they video it. If you slow it down and go through frame-by-frame

SPOILER! (select to read)
Martha was in the episode

Bet you didn't notice that first time around, eh?

Lambda prime · Post by **Lambda prime** » Sat Apr 21, 2007 8:13 pm

Thank you Radio Times to blowing the big reveal with that cover.

Heinrad · Post by **Heinrad** » Sun Apr 22, 2007 6:23 am

I thought it was fun, although there were points that pulled me out of the story.

For example, if they could build all that stuff in the regenesis lab, why do they suddenly have to scavenge Dalekium alloy? What'd they build the rest of it out of? Paper mache and balsa wood? Bakelite? Titanium?

And when will they address the Susan issue?

Jetfire · Post by **Jetfire** » Sun Apr 22, 2007 10:21 am

The only problem I have with this story is that it's been done several times before.
Daleks tried to gain 'the human factor' and merge with in waaaay back in the 2n Doctor days in "Evil of the Daleks" and the first series end have the emperor Dalek make Daleks from humans anyway. It seems a bit of a rehash. Besie both times Daleks have tried to use humans or combine with them in some way it was almost always virtually wipped out the entire race. ANd thats excluing the total hash job they made of conquering the earth which lead to a mass defeat. The sect of Scaro can't be that stupid.

I will give the episode one great moment. The way the Dalek was reflecting on human's continued survival while it's own planet was destroyed was a really nice character moment. A rare thing for the Daleks.

Jetfire · Post by **Jetfire** » Sun Apr 22, 2007 10:32 am

Hmmm Wiki say that Daleks have tried to evolve with humans 6 times before. Typical. A specialist focus group made specifically by the Dalek emperor for original thinking come up with the exact same plan all commities use "Do whats been done many times before".

Halfshell · Post by **Halfshell** » Sun Apr 22, 2007 12:37 pm

Hell, RTD even used the concept of Dalek/human hybrids at the end of season 1. Though it was obviously a different group of Daleks, he's still recycling his own material already.

Thought, overall, the episode was alright. Though they completely blew the execution of the final reveal by dwelling on it far too long and then having it be a bit rubbish. "I am the first human Dalek" yes, we got that, thanks.

Convenient that The Doctor happens to accidentally arrive on the exact day of the first successful Final Experiment, ain't it? Though I suppose no wackier than any of the previous incidents of things going David Blaine the moment he arrives... you'd almost think it was his fault...

Post by **Denyer** » Sun Apr 22, 2007 2:03 pm

Yeah, the same way that people in many quaint English villages have instructions to shoot Miss Marple on sight.

Jetfire · Post by **Jetfire** » Sun Apr 22, 2007 2:20 pm

It woul be nice if the stories had more of the Doc arriving in an already bad situation and changing things for the better.

Cliffjumper · Post by **Cliffjumper** » Sun Apr 22, 2007 2:23 pm

See, though, we used to have this great excuse - we only see the exciting bits of his life, we miss plenty of times he rolls up on a planet where nothing whatsoever happens; they just weren't stuck on the telly. Now, though, between each TV story about 12,000 spin-off novels take place...

Heinrad · Post by **Heinrad** » Mon Apr 23, 2007 12:18 am

I have a feeling they used to make clones or try gene splicing. Or I could be wrong.

Besides, it looked neat. Although the end result could have looked better.

Shockmeister · Post by **Shockmeister** » Mon Apr 23, 2007 9:15 am

Liked the episode overall (dodgy accents amuse me), though I'd have liked an explanation as to why the Daleks felt obliged to make their slaves pig-like rather than...well, something more readily available in New York. Did they bring a few dozen pigs from Blighty with them when they did their temporal shift or what?

Dalek-Man loses much of his power by having a comparatively normal voice. I wasn't expecting the typical Dalek drone, since it's formed by mechanical gubbins he lacks (obviously), but some form of modulation to make it more 'evil' would've been nice.

Oh, and my pedantic brain had a minor hissy fit when the Dalek atop the Empire State, in an otherwise great little monologue, said that his planet "was destroyed in a great war". OMG but the Doctor blew it up in Remembrance!

Cliffjumper · Post by **Cliffjumper** » Mon Apr 23, 2007 12:59 pm

Ah, but John "Not That One, The Rubbish One" Peel devoted eighteen entire books to retconning that moment because Terry Nation Said So...

Shockmeister · Post by **Shockmeister** » Mon Apr 23, 2007 3:35 pm

Ah. Forgive me my foolishness.

And does anyone else think the trailer for next week was reminscient of 'The Age Of Steel', i.e. "Nuts to the plot, let's just pile on the explosions and hope that no-one notices"?

Cliffjumper · Post by **Cliffjumper** » Mon Apr 23, 2007 3:59 pm

Originally posted by Shockmeister
Ah. Forgive me my foolishness.[/]b

To be fair, that's John Peel's foolishness, and the production team's for vaguely implying they consider his work canon...

And does anyone else think the trailer for next week was reminscient of 'The Age Of Steel', i.e. "Nuts to the plot, let's just pile on the explosions and hope that no-one notices"?

I dunno, isn't that the MO for the whole "RTD era"?

Post by **inflatable dalek** » Mon Apr 23, 2007 6:59 pm

Did I miss any explanation at the start as to why they went to New York rather than taking Martha home? I'm also suprised "Homeless people vanish" is something he finds worthy of investigating really.

Isn't it wierd that even though New York and the UK aren't all that different weather wise Cardiff never really convinced as Manhatten (I suppose because, thanks to TV we're used to all parts of the US looking like LA...). Still, the second unit crew got a nice holliday flying over there for establishing shots. Do the lifts in the Empire State bulding actually look like that? And what do you know, Angel was telling the truth, every building in America does have easy sewer access.

Hmmm Wiki say that Daleks have tried to evolve with humans 6 times before. Typical

.

I can't think of six... Evil of the Daleks has them telling the Doctor they want to give Daleks "The human factor", but that's a lie. [i}Revalation...[/i] has Davros mutating humans into a new race of albino Daleks, but that's something that disgusts the Daleks proper. Other than that the crazy Daleks at the end of season 27/1 is the only real time. Unless Wiki is counting stuff from the books and audios (I seem to recall Dalek Empire III, staring some David Tennant bloke, had something similar).

The episode itself was okish, the "Solomon breaking the bread in half" gag was a bit crap", but as a big daft actioney Movie it was fine. I'm betting that the American guy Sec absorbed will start to exert control over the body and fight back. I'm also betting the other Daleks, who obviously aren't happy with the plan, will have set up their own means of escape.

Halfshell · Post by **Halfshell** » Mon Apr 23, 2007 7:34 pm

Originally posted by inflatable dalek
Did I miss any explanation at the start as to why they went to New York rather than taking Martha home?

Uhm... passing reference given to a "detour" was about the best we got...

Post by **inflatable dalek** » Mon Apr 23, 2007 7:41 pm

Oh, and considering that the Doctor can ,ake a DNA scanner out of 1930's equipment, surely it'd be easy for the Daleks to knock up some Robomen? Sure, they probably need the pig guys to test the genetic experiment on, but Robomen would be stand out less when they're out grabing people...

Heinrad · Post by **Heinrad** » Tue Apr 24, 2007 5:03 pm

Nobody's going to sneak around their base disguised as a Pig-Man.

And the rest of the Cult will probably manage to make an escape of some kind. That way, when the next bundle of money gets spent to bring them back again, there'll be Daleks to bring back.

My one time in the Empire State Building lifts, I don't remember them being that art deco. That being said, I was there in the 80s.......

Halfshell · Post by **Halfshell** » Tue Apr 24, 2007 5:06 pm

Everything was art deco in The Past. Surely this is common knowledge?