Daleks in Manhattan

I watched Doctor Who again from beginning cause I want to do a Doctor Who video. Watched this episode again today and just found out Andrew Garfield was in this episode! What a surprise!

The Doctor and Martha land in New York, 1930, only to discover people are vanishing, and an old foe is lurking high in one of the towers, The Cult of Skaro.

The Plot is extremely thin, but the Director and the cast do their best to make the most of it.

Even the appearance of the Dalek in the lift is mehhh, they've lost some impact, even if they do look perfect right in the setting somehow. Dalek Sec is still the best designed Dalek of nu who, the black effect works well, so much better then the later red supreme Dalek.

We've heard the Doctor talk about the loss of his home planet due to the Time War, it's nice to hear it from the Dalek's side.

It has to be said this is one of the most gorgeous looking episodes of Doctor Who there has ever been, it boasts some insanely good production values, even the sewers look good.

Some great actors on show, but it suffers from being 'The Dalek Story,' The Daleks have been drastically over-used, with this 2 parter and Victory being the 2 biggest mishaps.

Miranda Raison's ditzy blonde show girl Tallulah is one of the high points, she's so much fun, even if her accent is appallingly bad. High point of the episode is Tallulah's on stage act, 'Heaven and Hell' it's just brilliant, as is her meeting Laszlo after he's been changed.

Dalek Sec's experiment with Diagoras is brilliantly done, and a very disturbing scene, very scary for the younger ones. The Human Dalek is well designed.

Overall it's OK, it's just missing something, and I'm afraid i'm not eloquent enough to put into words exactly what, it's just unsatisfying. 6/10

There's a common myth that DOCTOR WHO is " The show with the Daleks in it " . Yes the show did feature Daleks from 1963-1989 but Daleks aren't the be all and end all of the programme . In fact when you think about it the most highly regarded seasons among fans , five ( 1968 ) seven ( 1970 ) , thirteen (1975-76 ) and fourteen ( 1976-77 ) haven't featured any Dalek stories at all . The reverse is also true with stories such as The Chase , Death To The Daleks and Destiny Of The Daleks held in very low regard by the fans . It's somewhat annoying when producers bring back the Daleks for the sake of it and this certainly applies to this story .

It's not just the return of the Daleks that's so underdeveloped -it's the entire script which has a lack of thought . In fact there's something painfully inconsistent with every scene . For example Soloman ( This week's token black character )talks about his time in The Great War and the need for sticking together but seeing as the American army was segregated until 1947 would such a character be aware of a need to be sticking together ? It'd be more logical and credible if he was bitter and anti assimilation . In an early scene he takes back a loaf of bread that'd been stolen and breaks it in half and gives half of it to the rightful owner and the thief . Is that moral ? I guess because his name is Soloman there's a biblical reference there somewhere but again there's a lack of credibility , same as it's pushed down the viewers throat of how hungry and poverty stricken the people are in Central Park then when they'r offered a chance of work most of these unemployed , hungry and poverty stricken people turn it down

You also have to ask yourself why is it the Daleks have decided to locate to New York in 1930 ? Despite the poverty caused by the Wall Steet crash America was still a capitalist democracy with a free press and where people were allowed to ask questions . Wouldn't the Daleks have been better off in Hitler's Germany or Stalin's Soviet Union ? Indeed with the dubious success of Stalin's five year plans it would be far more logical to have set the story there and have the character of Diagoras as a high ranking commissar who doesn't tolerate dissent , but I guess Daleks In The Gulag doesn't have the same ring to it

Director James Strong does his very best with the weak material , but there's a fly in the ointment and that is the " Noo Yoirk accents " . They are absolutely terrible and a great distraction . Likewise much of the dialogue such as " Laszlo was da smartest guy oi ever dated " . Strong does however make sewers look like sewers which is not often the case in the history of the show ( Attack Of The Cybermen being an example ) and he does pace the impact aesthetic of the cliffhanger very well . It's just a pity that the Radio Times gave away the episode ending with a front page photo

Since its revival, Doctor Who has had some incredibly strange story lines. The ones that you simply cannot figure out where they're going, and how, when presented with a certain situation, it's going to resolve itself. I think so far, season one's The Empty Child ranked as the biggest case in point. However, Daleks in Manhattan has completely blown that away in terms of its sheer unpredictability. Even after the trailer for next weeks second part, Evolution of the Daleks, I have absolutely no idea how it's going to turn out.

The beauty of this revived series is that it's got stupid comedy, all-out scary and deeply emotional rolled into one. Not always all three in the same episode, mind you. And some episodes are designed to be just one - last years Love and Monsters springs to mind in the comedy stakes - in this case, this episode, and I expect next weeks conclusion, follow the road of last years The Impossible Planet/Satan Pit double header in being intensely dark and deeply sinister.

Don't get me wrong. It's a beautiful episode, and everything slots together perfectly. The four remaining Daleks somehow seem perfectly in place in 1930's New York, Helen Raynor's script is absolutely brilliant, and the Daleks pigmen slaves are somehow genuinely disturbing.

This new season seems to have made a habit of really rolling out the guest stars, and after Andree "Hollyoaks" Bernard's and the delightful Christina "Hex" Cole's unexpected showings in The Shakespeare Code, and then Ardal "Father Ted" O'Hanlon and Lenora "Sugar Rush" Crichlow's appearances in Gridlock, this episode rolls out no less than three of the best TV actors in England. This time we get the fantastic Hugh "Holby City" Quarshie, Andrew "last seen being dumped by a lesbian in Sugar Rush" Garfield, and Miranda "Spooks" Raison, and all of them excel in their roles (although I do have one small gripe - how does a black man get any sort of respect in 30s New York, one of the most racist periods in history?).

All of this adds up to one thing - this series is shaping up to be the best yet.

This is the quintessential Doctor Who to me and I can't understand the low ratings. This is the best Doctor Who episode I've seen. It has the Daleks trying to take over again this time in in 1930 New York. This 2 parter has everything, great setting and characters, easy to follow and best of all the Dakeks saying the magic exterminate! Seriously if you are or aren't a doctor Who fan this is the best episode to watch!