As the Doctor (Matt Smith) and Amy Pond (Karen Gillan) respond to a personal request from Winston Churchill (Ian McNeice) for assistance, the pair soon discover that one of the Doctor's most fevered villains has returned - but as a servant to Great Britain? It seems Churchill, with the help of Scottish scientist Edwin Bracewell (Bill Paterson) has crafted a new weapon of ‘ironside' robots capable of destroying incoming German planes before they have a chance to flatten London and spread the Nazi disease around. But these are no creations of any Scottish inventor (a Paisley Boy, so to speak), or any other human, as the Doctor manically points out. These are the Daleks...and they want to Exterminate! Exterminate!!
Oh yes, the Daleks are back and they're out for blood - Doctor blood. Keep reading for the whole micro-review of the whole "Victory of the Daleks" episode!
"Victory of the Daleks" marks the first appearance from one of the Who Universe's most popular, if overused characters and their introduction here should be expected. At first sight they're simply adorable, brandishing tiny Union Jack tags and simulating domestic hospitality ("Would you care for some tea?") in their electronic-fuzz voices and wearing little uniforms. Why they'd need so many little pockets is beyond me, but it looks like a fun design and there's just something that's irresistible about hearing that static-fuzz voice spouting about.
But story problems abound, as the episode seems intent on introducing the Daleks as a plot device, and wishes to further things along as quickly as possible. Anyone who's ever seen a single episode of a Dalek Who episode knows where things are headed, and while it's not outside the realm of possibility that we would see these many-times-over defeated race of metallic cans rise once again, either their return to the series marks a further and considerably more complex tale somewhere down the line, or new show-runner Steven Moffat was eager to get them out of the way. I'd wage it's a little of both, as its common to see remnants of future Who adventure implanted with what are essentially throwaway episodes like this one.
Sadly, despite the relative greatness of the first two Matt Smith/Karen Gillan episodes thus far, the story and plotting here feels incredibly lazy and rushed, despite having the best special effects of the bunch (not hard), and it's absolutely incredible how easily a potential Earth-Destroying-Bomb (EDB) is brushed off with almost Disney-like indifference. Who needs fancy bomb disarmament techniques when you can simply believe in yourself? And I know the race to space was always a rushed endeavor, but fitting WW2-era planes with lasers and blasting them into inter-stellar combat in less than ten minutes? Are you serious?
I'm not sure how well modern audiences (particularly American ones) are with Winston Churchill, but if all they've got to go on is the version represented here, than one of Britain's most influential leaders will likely be reduced to a flabby man who chain-smokes cigars. As played by Ian McNeice (a great actor, btw) this version of the famous Prime Minister is all girth and very little substance, almost distractingly so. Some of the very best Doctor Who episodes are ones that trade in having a laugh with historical figures and situations, and surely they could have found someone who at least looked the part a bit more.
Also curious is the ‘new' designs of the enhanced Daleks themselves, whose differences will in all likelihood only be picked up by the most devout Who Nerds out there. These evolved versions of the classic villains are bigger and now come in multi-colored exteriors, like iPods. But, as one friend pointed out, they're still essentially the same trash cans with plungers that have been pestering the Doctor since the 1960s, and much like the Tardis itself, you don't mess around with one of the most iconic symbols in modern pop-culture history.
As poor as "Victory of the Daleks" was, they can't all be winners, and my faith in this new series is still at an all-time high, especially with the return of the Weeping Angels and River Song in the next...those are things we hardcore Who Fans have been waiting quite a while for. But in the meantime, check out the official Doctor Who BBC website, which is filled with all sorts of fun-facts and even a downloadable 'wartime' PDF of British Dalek propoganda. The fun starts right HERE!
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