User reviews

Dalek Sec is far too clever for his own good as far as the other members of the Cult of Skaro (Jast, Thay & Caan) are concerned and he certainly is not what they had anticipated, but it gives the Doctor time to escape where...

He clambers aloft the Empire State, ripping off panels of Dalekanium plate, then harnessing gamma rays, off to where actors play, mutant forms start to congregate.

It's keep your fingers crossed time as two cunning plans play out in the theatre of dreams (or nightmares, depending on your perspective), please take your seats.

The Daleks have proved to be a bit of a nostalgic winner for the new Who but i'm thinking they may be on the verge of stretching it too far now after this ending. As with the other recent episodes featuring the Daleks, the Mill has for the most part done the series proud with excellent CG work. The big let down here was the very questionable prosthetic work on the Dalek/human hybrid which could have been so much more had it been a combination of prosthetics and CG – Davy Jones style. The Doctor Who Confidential series always see the production crew chattering about budget constraints so I guess that's the answer to that one. Perhaps had RTD not indulged his passion/obsession with pretty boys and got a Desperate Housewives stud muffin in for a five week filming schedule some extra cash may have been available for post production. I'm sure one more Brit actor giving it their best 'New Yoykar' accent would have made little difference to the overall effect. I love the Doctor Who franchise but fear that they will soon get very stale. If you could travel to any point and time in the universe – why would you always end up on earth – usually in Cardiff? If the budget is there to turn Wales into NYC – can't it turn it into another planet instead?

The conclusion of this two-part episode was actually a little better than I was anticipating given the underwhelming first half.

With Dalek Sec (Eric Loren) now in his combined human/dalek form, his plan for spicing their genomes together is at fruition. However, he begins to see a value to diluting the Dalek genes a little, which the rest of the Cult of Skaro rebel against. The Doctor (David Tennant), then desperately tries to foil the plan, before an army of pure daleks in human for can arise.

Of course, some of the aspects I didn't like from the first half remain, the patchy accents and the effect of Dalek Sec still is a bit underwhelming. The story problems though are sorted out here, into the semi tragic tale of Dalek Sec, who imagines a better future for the Daleks, only for one of his zealoted underlings to screw him over. Much like the Dalek moments that I enjoyed in the Doomsday episodes, the visuals of the gossipy daleks checking to see they were alone before sniping at their boss was both relatable and amusing.

I did think it got a little sloppy scientifically towards the end, when it went to great lengths to explain about solar flares and gamma radiation, which transitions into a lightning bolt and electricity - presumably when someone figured out that the original idea wasn't very visual.

Though I'm still a bit underwhelmed by the whole storyline of this two part episode this second half was a slight improvement.

The start to the opening two parter has some great emotional weight to it. The action is quick and the cinematography is great, has some great shots. The Visualls are great too, especially the night time. Then the leader of the Daleks doesn't want the daleks to kill, he proceeds to say that he wants the Doctor. "KILL ME" says the Doctor before the Dalek master says this. The first 🔟 minutes this story is great. The Action goes so fast, with emotional scene with the Doctor makes the first part of the story great.

After that the episode seems to miss important information out, the story goes way to quick it's like your watching a Marvel movie. There's opportunity to make the story more interesting, but they get sidelined for a quick run of the mill Dalek story with a few interesting ideas at play. It feels as if it's montaging through the story, just to get it finished. Which means it feels a little rushed.

However with that said the episode is shot well. Lots of different angles of the Daleks. Plenty of Action. With great acting from David Tennant who steals the show. Puts in so much effort, and you can really see that in his performances. Which are always a delight tobehold watching David Tennant play as the Doctor. The Music by Murray Gold will never be topped, he brings his all to the role. The Music was eerie and quick which set the tempo of this episode. Now time for the Verdict,

Verdict,

7/10 Under-rated Episode.

"Evolution of the Daleks." It's a title that will send chills down the spines of Dalek fans, conjuring up memories of previous classic stories including the masterpiece that is the "Genesis of the Daleks". So, a great title. But how does the actual episode stand up? Following a great opening with "Daleks in Manhattan", the conclusion of this two-parter is stirring stuff. There's a dark-as-night edge to events as the Daleks' plan starts to unfold. Never, in my opinion, have the metallic menaces been this deadly. As with "Dalek", we see The Doctor driven to the edge of madness by his anger at the creatures' inhumanity. The beauty of this tale is that there's a twist to the Daleks in the form of the human-Dalek hybrid, Sec. This is a superb touch of originality and one that will ensure this story ranks as a favourite in years to come.

The production values are through the roof, giving the episode a great sheen of quality. Despite the gloss, there's a genuine "classic" feel to the drama. Even when stripped of its magnificent visuals, "Evolution" remains a terrific tale, thanks to a very enjoyable script from Helen Raynor. There are many memorable scenes - the Daleks' attack on the Hoover Ville shanty town, the sight of the Daleks moving at a swift pace through the New York sewer system and their vast, Frankenstein-like laboratory.

One thought remains with me following the end titles. It can only be a matter of time when new fans of the show are finally treated to an audience with the dreaded Davros. All those references to the Dalek creator are surely a warm-up to this character's return.

9 out of 10. No funny business here, this is serious "Doctor Who". What a thoroughly delightful experience the third season is turning out to be...

It is a very generic episode that concludes generic story about Daleks. But what irritates me is not the script or actors, the science is just wrong. It would ok if they just made up some gibberish, but they used gamma radiation yet showing lightning.... Those tiny errors spoil the exitement.

Daleks in Manhattan was fairly OK, it had some fairly interesting concepts, but it all starts to go a little wrong.

I don't particularly like Dalek Sec, although he is fairly well designed, and poses some interesting questions or the Daleks.

The Dalek attack on Hooverville is fairly well played out, although Soloman's demise is too soon, he was pretty good in the previous episode. They've just lost the scary edge they had back in Series 1.

We've had the Dalek DNA transfer done before, back in Evil of the Daleks, and it was much better done then too, this just felt wrong.

David Tennant is really good, charismatic and heroic, as always, he doesn't allow the feeble script to halt his brilliance in the role.

Overall I just don't like it that much, it's messy and all over the place, the daleks were disastrously mis-used here. The ending could have been fantastically epic, but it wasn't. At least Dalek Caan remains.

5/10

Like the first part it does have some good ideas, but I don't think they all come together. The Kult of Skaro are more threatening in this second part, and pose a real threat to the homeless people. The Pig slaves are also far more threatening and pose a threat on the Civillians. This works as this is what the Daleks are like more often then not. And in the small surroundings it makes for a bigger impact. And David Tennant puts on a brilliant display after Solomon was brutally killed by the Dalek. The Doctors anger and rage is there for all to see, and his despair at what the Dalek did is shown well. So overall, I'd say this episode made slightly more sense, and therefore is slightly better then the other part.

This is the second part of the 'Daleks in Manhattan' storyline, that didn't exactly get off to a great start.

This sadly isn't much better, and it's only a good performance as ever from David Tennant that holds it all together, but even then it's only just.