5x03 Victory of the Daleks (Grading/Discussion) SPOILERS!
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The actor playing Churchill ruined it for me.
QFT.
Amy's short skirts are always super!
Amen.
I agree that they tried to cram a lot into 40 minutes. What would really piss me off if there's a filler later on in the season.
"Mary Sue" is not a generic, meaningless term that we can use for any character we don't like.
A "Mary Sue" is a fictional character with a lack of noteworthy flaws and which fuels the author's wish-fulfillment fantasy. Amy is a flawed character and Stephen Moffat quite obviously doesn't wish to be her or be like her.
I don't know what your issues with Amy are, but she's not a Mary Sue.
Not sure about Mary-Sue, but both times she ended up saving the day here (going to Bracewell for the tech, coming up with the right way to reach Bracewell's humanity) didn't feel like natural progressions, especially the later instance. It was like she came up with those ideas purely because it was her job as the Doctor's companion to do so.
However, that's just a fault of this episode, and hopefully something we won't be seeing in the next lot of non-Moffat penned eps.
However, that's just a fault of this episode, and hopefully something we won't be seeing in the next lot of non-Moffat penned eps.
BTW, the new Daleks really are just a merchandising gimmick.
Thought the episode was average. The less said the better.
I'm on record as not minding the design. It just seems to me that reality is reality and we ignore it at our peril.
I don't doubt that pressure was possibly put on Moffat to create new ones for new sales, I doubt they told him to make them specifically how they are. I think its a bit of a let out for the production crew to lay all the blame at BBC marketing's door!
QFT
When Tenant replaced Eccelston I absolutely hated him. Somewhere along the line I started getting used to the different style and I really hated to see him go.
"Would you CARE for some TEA?" 
Quote of the year, a Dalek offering a cup of tea.
LOL, and the symbolic destruction of the RTD Daleks, which BTW i like the RTD Daleks but thw way they were disintergrated was just an awsome slap in thh face for RTD Who.
Yeah, the ep was ok i guess, not the best but it may need another few watches to cement a proper feeling for it.
Overall, i was expecting a little more from Gatiss, but hey, hes writing for 6 year olds aswel as us grown ups.
The way Smith acted all jumpy and nervous around them was fantastic, that has to be the best part of the ep for me. He was so on edge and always watching at least one of them all the time, and when he was offered some tea and lost it and knocked the tray out of its plunger was great. And the beating to get it to confess its true intentions and it finally cracked when it recorded that The Doctor was there. Brilliant.
McNiece was a good Churchill i thought also, he manged to geet the voice and power right, as, after all, he listened to speeches and watched all the footage to play him, again.
On the whole, it was ok, a few parts were a bit ropey, but hey, its 45 minutes to get away from crap isnt it.
I dont mind them either, yeah theyre very different, like we have all said countless times in the 'New Daleks revealed' thread.
but, i kinda like the new Tellytubby Daleks, the hunch back is a little bit off putting but hey, nevermind.
Quote of the year, a Dalek offering a cup of tea.LOL, and the symbolic destruction of the RTD Daleks, which BTW i like the RTD Daleks but thw way they were disintergrated was just an awsome slap in thh face for RTD Who.
Yeah, the ep was ok i guess, not the best but it may need another few watches to cement a proper feeling for it.
Overall, i was expecting a little more from Gatiss, but hey, hes writing for 6 year olds aswel as us grown ups.
The way Smith acted all jumpy and nervous around them was fantastic, that has to be the best part of the ep for me. He was so on edge and always watching at least one of them all the time, and when he was offered some tea and lost it and knocked the tray out of its plunger was great. And the beating to get it to confess its true intentions and it finally cracked when it recorded that The Doctor was there. Brilliant.
McNiece was a good Churchill i thought also, he manged to geet the voice and power right, as, after all, he listened to speeches and watched all the footage to play him, again.
On the whole, it was ok, a few parts were a bit ropey, but hey, its 45 minutes to get away from crap isnt it.
I dont mind them either, yeah theyre very different, like we have all said countless times in the 'New Daleks revealed' thread.
but, i kinda like the new Tellytubby Daleks, the hunch back is a little bit off putting but hey, nevermind.
While not a bad ep, certainly not a great ep and I agree with those who felt it would've worked better as a two parter. It just lacked a certain heart, and things felt a little rushed.
It just went from A to B to C with little Oomph! Especially with Bracewell and the airplane spaceships. Seems like a little more time would've benefitted those elements. I did enjoy Smith in this ep, especially when he starts wacking on the Dalek.....although I kept expecting him to hit the eye stalk.
As far as the Daleks.....I've said before I'm sick of them. They're overused, not very interesting and need to learn how to just shut the fuck up and shoot the goddamn Doctor already. How many times does the guy have to not come at you with a weapon before these supposedly heartless killers just shoot?
Like them constantly escaping total destruction, this is getting annoying.
I've heard that the BBC paid a fortune to use the Daleks in the new show, and to justify the expense, that's why we see them every year. Someone in this thread claims that that's a dictate by the Nation Estate. Either way, here's what should've happened as regards the Daleks and Nation Estate....
The Nation Estate may own the Daleks, but with the Doctor, they're a useless property. It was refreshing to see that that assesment was held by actual pro's on the Dalek War DVD set. Terry Nation had this a good idea and actually wanted to create a t.v. show about the Daleks, but the sad reality is that nobody wants to watch a bunch of monotonous, monotone robots saying "exterminate! ex-ter-mi-nate!!" each week.
So basically, as central characters, they're useless and people aren't that interested in seeing anyone else fight them but the Doctor.
Rather than being all desperate to show viewers that nuWho would have the Daleks and letting the Nation Estate have the upper hand, they should've just said "we're not concerned with the Daleks at this stage as we'd like to focus on new villians for the new show." Let it sit like that for a couple of seasons, then casually approach the Nation Estate with a "we don't care if you say no" approach and see how it goes.
Because the show would've still been popular and by that time the Nation Eastate would've been more compliant about getting their essentially useless without the Doctor creation back into the only venue that can use them that anyone cares about. Outside of season 1 of nuWho, the Daleks on nuWho have sucked.
Meh, it was no Davidson destroying Bakers scarf as far as letting us know "that era's over".
It just went from A to B to C with little Oomph! Especially with Bracewell and the airplane spaceships. Seems like a little more time would've benefitted those elements. I did enjoy Smith in this ep, especially when he starts wacking on the Dalek.....although I kept expecting him to hit the eye stalk.
As far as the Daleks.....I've said before I'm sick of them. They're overused, not very interesting and need to learn how to just shut the fuck up and shoot the goddamn Doctor already. How many times does the guy have to not come at you with a weapon before these supposedly heartless killers just shoot?
Like them constantly escaping total destruction, this is getting annoying.
I've heard that the BBC paid a fortune to use the Daleks in the new show, and to justify the expense, that's why we see them every year. Someone in this thread claims that that's a dictate by the Nation Estate. Either way, here's what should've happened as regards the Daleks and Nation Estate....
The Nation Estate may own the Daleks, but with the Doctor, they're a useless property. It was refreshing to see that that assesment was held by actual pro's on the Dalek War DVD set. Terry Nation had this a good idea and actually wanted to create a t.v. show about the Daleks, but the sad reality is that nobody wants to watch a bunch of monotonous, monotone robots saying "exterminate! ex-ter-mi-nate!!" each week.
So basically, as central characters, they're useless and people aren't that interested in seeing anyone else fight them but the Doctor.
Rather than being all desperate to show viewers that nuWho would have the Daleks and letting the Nation Estate have the upper hand, they should've just said "we're not concerned with the Daleks at this stage as we'd like to focus on new villians for the new show." Let it sit like that for a couple of seasons, then casually approach the Nation Estate with a "we don't care if you say no" approach and see how it goes.
Because the show would've still been popular and by that time the Nation Eastate would've been more compliant about getting their essentially useless without the Doctor creation back into the only venue that can use them that anyone cares about. Outside of season 1 of nuWho, the Daleks on nuWho have sucked.
Meh, it was no Davidson destroying Bakers scarf as far as letting us know "that era's over".
She has gone on only two Tardis trips with the doctor and solved problems the doctor couldn't solve in both instances. I grant that the Mary Sue idea is a little broad and ill-defined, but a key component is a new character coming on-board and out-shining a long-running character. That's exactly what she's done in her two Tardis trips.
Again, it's early days. There might be a very logical reason why she is able to solve these problems the doctor is unable to solve. At the moment, though, she comes off as more competent than the doctor which is a bit disconcerting as a viewer (given her background and general experience level).
I mean no offence, but I've always found that a terribly specious argument. It was just as dodgey when people tried to use it to justify having illogical elements in Trek, and it's dodgey here.
Just because we, the audience, have accepted a couple of implausibilities in the shows premise, it does not follow that we then throw any and all common sense out of the window.
The idea of Spitfires in space has a kind of visceral appeal to it that I like. I just could have done with perhaps 1 line of dialogue offering at least some kind of explanation approaching plausibility (in the loosest possible sense).
"Would you CARE for some TEA?"
LOL, and the symbolic destruction of the RTD Daleks, which BTW i like the RTD Daleks but thw way they were disintergrated was just an awsome slap in thh face for RTD Who.
Like I said, this one had some great elements in it. It had all the bits needed to make it a great story. Unfortunately it just falls apart somewhere after the first 15 or 20 minutes.
It's hard to believe the same writer penned The Unquiet Dead, which I still regard as something of a minor classic. Although, to be fair, a great deal of the charm of that episode comes down to Simon Callow's portrayal of Dickens and his rapport with the 9th Doctor, as well as good acting all round.
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