Who Review 5.3...
19 Apr 2010 20:56![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
patentdragonAh bugger - forgot to do a Doctor Who episode review...
Review: Doctor Who 5.3 "Victory Of The Daleks"...
First things first - I get the feeling the BBC are tinkering with the sound balance to make episodes on broadcast on the analogue channel as inpalatable as possible. I saw a repeat of "The Beast Below" on BBC3 last week, and the dialogue was NOT drowned out - nor was this episode, watched on digital, but my VHS recording was just like last week; a battle between dialogue and music that made the whole thing VERY frustrating...
Anyway, the episode: I'd thought the decision to have a Dalek episode so soon in Matt Smith's tenure wasn't the best idea, and yes, the impact of The Doctor's greatest enemies is somewhat diminished every time they're "finally defeated" or "destroyed forever". On this occasion, once their "British secret weapon" guise is torn away, and their true intentions are revealed, there's no "false dawn" - the Daleks are back, and The Doctor is forced to let them go, or see the Earth go *FOOM*. Let's not "do the dance" any more, Steven Moffat - commit to a sustained Dalek menace... but no more "blow up the whole universe", okay?
The aforementioned scheme is, of course, the resurrection of their own species, and it comes as a big surprise to the existing Daleks that the new generation aren't at all happy with their predecessors, and set about establishing themselves as the only game in town before making their escape. They WILL be back, there's no doubt - but not JUST yet, please? No universe-conquering master-plans are necessary, just numerous opportunities for a protracted war of attrition and empire-building...
On the new design - I really don't think the Daleks need a redesign. I thought the images on the front of the Radio Times were CG "Election Special" Daleks, not "the real thing". The colours are a bit garish, the top section seems too small compared to the "skirt", and the angle of the back of the "skirt" is a bit too large - overall, they look like a child's drawing of a Dalek...
BUT somehow, I think they're still going to work.
Performances - Matt continues to be a good fit for the title role; already, he seems... right - and for me, that's a better start than David Tennant had. Guest star Ian McNeice was very good as Churchill, capturing enough of the great leader to make you believe that he and The Doctor have worked together in the past. Karen Gillan has very much settled into her part as Romana oops, Amy.
There. I've said it. Amy Pond seems way too comfortable with all this space and time stuff, and twice already, she has saved the day, talking The Doctor out of making the wrong choice about the star-whale last week, and getting through to Bracewell this week. She knows what she's doing, and that can't be by accident.
And finally - I enjoyed this episode, and not just because I could hear everything. I'll forgive the blatant Independence Day "homage" - heehee; space-Spitfires! - and I don't think we need the "crack in the universe" thrust in our faces every week; perhaps there'll be an episode where you watch out for it, and it just isn't there!
One thing I know I'm not missing is the endless "gay is okay" nods of the RTD era - we don't seem to have had any "in your face" same-sex couples so far this series, which we honestly didn't need after the first ten times RTD wrote it in. Equality is a fine thing, but you don't want to sit there waiting for the "gay of the week" to be crow-barred in somewhere. Sorry, Russell.
The Short Version: The series begins to build up speed, and pieces of the future are set in place, laid out for all to see. The redesign is more than adequately off-set by the potential for the future. Best episode so far this season. 3.8/5
Review: Doctor Who 5.3 "Victory Of The Daleks"...
First things first - I get the feeling the BBC are tinkering with the sound balance to make episodes on broadcast on the analogue channel as inpalatable as possible. I saw a repeat of "The Beast Below" on BBC3 last week, and the dialogue was NOT drowned out - nor was this episode, watched on digital, but my VHS recording was just like last week; a battle between dialogue and music that made the whole thing VERY frustrating...
Anyway, the episode: I'd thought the decision to have a Dalek episode so soon in Matt Smith's tenure wasn't the best idea, and yes, the impact of The Doctor's greatest enemies is somewhat diminished every time they're "finally defeated" or "destroyed forever". On this occasion, once their "British secret weapon" guise is torn away, and their true intentions are revealed, there's no "false dawn" - the Daleks are back, and The Doctor is forced to let them go, or see the Earth go *FOOM*. Let's not "do the dance" any more, Steven Moffat - commit to a sustained Dalek menace... but no more "blow up the whole universe", okay?
The aforementioned scheme is, of course, the resurrection of their own species, and it comes as a big surprise to the existing Daleks that the new generation aren't at all happy with their predecessors, and set about establishing themselves as the only game in town before making their escape. They WILL be back, there's no doubt - but not JUST yet, please? No universe-conquering master-plans are necessary, just numerous opportunities for a protracted war of attrition and empire-building...
On the new design - I really don't think the Daleks need a redesign. I thought the images on the front of the Radio Times were CG "Election Special" Daleks, not "the real thing". The colours are a bit garish, the top section seems too small compared to the "skirt", and the angle of the back of the "skirt" is a bit too large - overall, they look like a child's drawing of a Dalek...
BUT somehow, I think they're still going to work.
Performances - Matt continues to be a good fit for the title role; already, he seems... right - and for me, that's a better start than David Tennant had. Guest star Ian McNeice was very good as Churchill, capturing enough of the great leader to make you believe that he and The Doctor have worked together in the past. Karen Gillan has very much settled into her part as Romana oops, Amy.
There. I've said it. Amy Pond seems way too comfortable with all this space and time stuff, and twice already, she has saved the day, talking The Doctor out of making the wrong choice about the star-whale last week, and getting through to Bracewell this week. She knows what she's doing, and that can't be by accident.
And finally - I enjoyed this episode, and not just because I could hear everything. I'll forgive the blatant Independence Day "homage" - heehee; space-Spitfires! - and I don't think we need the "crack in the universe" thrust in our faces every week; perhaps there'll be an episode where you watch out for it, and it just isn't there!
One thing I know I'm not missing is the endless "gay is okay" nods of the RTD era - we don't seem to have had any "in your face" same-sex couples so far this series, which we honestly didn't need after the first ten times RTD wrote it in. Equality is a fine thing, but you don't want to sit there waiting for the "gay of the week" to be crow-barred in somewhere. Sorry, Russell.
The Short Version: The series begins to build up speed, and pieces of the future are set in place, laid out for all to see. The redesign is more than adequately off-set by the potential for the future. Best episode so far this season. 3.8/5
