Victory of the Daleks. First impressions.

Here's the early feedback folks!

Mark Carroll: Hmm. A lively episode but the space going Spitfires were ridiculous to the extent of going beyond the suspension of disbelief required when watching Sci Fi. The Dalek redesign doesn't work for me and looks very much like a cynical merchandising exercise! New shape and loads of new colours - Character must be rubbing their hands with glee!

As it happens, I haven't enjoyed most of Mark Gatiss's episodes (The Idiot's Lantern and The Lazarus experiment were, to my mind, amongst the weakest in their seasons), but what do I know? The renaissance that Steven Moffatt taking the helm promised hasn't really materialised yet. Here's hoping the Weeping Angels don't disappoint.

Finally, none of my comments above should reflect on the cast, both Matt Smith and Karen Gillan are consistently excellent (as have been the supporting cast), I just wish they could get some better material to work with.

Steve Murphy: World War Two, Doctor Who, and The Daleks - what could possibly go wrong? Here's what.

The Battle of Britain was made into a cliche-ridden knockabout ("Broadsword to Danny Boy", "Oi Churchill") with very little actual tension and poorly-plotted "spitfires-in-space". The version of WW2 SM himself created in the Eccleston season far outshone the version he oversaw as show runner on Saturday. Ian McNeice's performance was overblown and a caricature; I know of at least one other actor who could have given the part so much more, both physically and performance-wise, but he would not have come onto the radar of the production team in a million years, as he's not a "celeb". (If I hear or read the phrase "we never thought we'd get him/her, as they're so busy" one more time on Confidential or in DWM....)

And the Daleks....Mark Gatiss on "Confidential" was talking about the old films, and the colours and size of the Daleks, but it's difficult not to speculate that the whole thing has been designed to create and stimulate toy manufacture. Why ARE there five different colours? Daleks have often had a colour hierarchy, but five? (Plus, of course, the old gold/metallic one and the olive drab military version, which will sell like hotcakes!)

The best thing about the episode was Amy's non-awareness of the Daleks and the resonance that brings; at least it's stepped up the "crack" motif somewhat. Perhaps this whole series of "Doctor Who" will turn out to be a dream that someone is having before the real Doctor gets out of the shower? After episode two my hope was that this ep would kickstart the series. Anything but....
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