by Ross Ruediger
Someday I wanna make a list of celebrities who’ve “admitted” to loving Doctor Who. The Brits on the list wouldn’t be quite as impressive, because in a lot of ways, they’re a given. Last week I met Joel McHale of E’s The Soup and I don’t recall how Who came up, but he immediately confessed rabid adoration for the show – especially the classic series (weird, huh?). He gave me permission to spread it out amongst the world, so that’s what I’m doing. A quick look at Joel’s IMDB page reveals that he’s a mere 6 days younger than me. Maybe we went through the same teenage Who experiences? I wonder if some asshole on the school bus ever grabbed his novelization of "The Five Doctors" and waved it around, threatening to throw it out the window (as high school jock dickheads like to do)? This has nothing to do with "Daleks in Manhattan" -- but the recap needs some padding since it's Part One of Two, and it seemed a more interesting intro than rehashing the finer details of those metallic bastards from Skaro.
“Daleks in Manhattan” -- what a great title! It holds the distinction of being the first new Who story written by a woman, Helen Raynor, yet there isn't anything intrinsically feminine about the goings-on (certainly no more than any other episode). It’s a bang-up intro for a two-parter; nicely paced, sufficiently moody and never too busy. All that said, the title could be a killer for certain viewers. Daleks? Come on…haven’t we seen enough of them? My first reaction was, “Yes”.
The Doctor: “No, no, no, no, no, no, no. They survive. They always survive, when I lose everything.”
At the close of last season’s “Doomsday”, Dalek Sec disappeared into thin air amongst the madness. Where did he go? 1930 Manhattan it seems, and the other three members of the Cult of Skaro (Caan, Thay & Jast) went with him. The Cult are an ingenious invention as they’re not like other Daleks. They possess the capacity for thought, imagination and reason. It’s a diabolical Dalek development, and perhaps what most excited me about “Manhattan” was the presence of only four phallic symbols; a limited number is dramatically engaging, however a bazillion of ‘em seems too easy. The Cult of Skaro is desperate for Dalek survival. They’ve finally glommed onto the notion that humans are far better survivors -- and perhaps warriors -- than they. (Though what are the human race’s odds without the Doctor’s protection?) I’ve come to be excited by the Daleks through the new series. They’re not like anything you’ll see on any other sci-fi show, which gives them a televisual edge, and this two-parter is their most intriguing outing since “Dalek” back in Season One.
Dalek Sec: “The Cult of Skaro was created by the Emperor for this very purpose: to imagine new ways of survival.”
Dalek Thay: “But we must remain pure!”
Dalek Sec: “No, Dalek Thay. Our purity has brought us to extinction! We must adapt to survive. You have all made sacrifices and now I will sacrifice myself, for the greater cause, for the future of Dalek kind.”
The Daleks’ hatred of humankind manifests itself in the bizarre concept of the Pig Slaves – humans who’ve been genetically manipulated into grotesque animals. It’s easy enough to ask, “But why pigs?” My answer is that it’s one of the most degrading forms the Daleks could foist upon humanity. Again, the Cult possess imagination, and this particularly ugly sidebar of their ultimate scheme demonstrates contempt for the entire operation and an amount of self-loathing at “How far we mighty Daleks have fallen”. They can’t afford to merely exterminate at this point, so they do the next best thing by removing what makes a human a human. Laszlo (Ryan Carnes of "Desperate Housewives" -- which just feels weird to type) is the human caught somewhere in between and his and showgirl Tallulah’s (Miranda Raison) storyline is a tragic nod to The Phantom of the Opera. Indeed, the story pulls from numerous sources including The Island of Dr. Moreau, Frankenstein, and even classic Who’s “The Talons of Weng-Chiang”, which is Top Ten material for many a fan. Heck, I’d even argue that a story featuring The Empire State Building owes just a little bit to King Kong.
The production values are mighty fine and the team does an excellent job of recreating a believable 1930s New York on a limited budget and by setting the story in only a handful of locations (most of which are interiors). Central Park’s Hooverville was an inspired choice given that from a location standpoint, it could be recreated in the UK without too much problem -- although, believe it or not, there was some filming done in New York for this story.
The characters are strong here, despite the guest cast mostly being drawn in a broad, stereotypical fashion. Eric Loren’s Mr. Diagoras is probably the most over the top, but that’s exactly the sort of guy the Daleks would choose to do their bidding. It’s unfortunate we don’t get to find out a little bit more of his backstory, but then again, he’s written very much in the classic series’ megalomaniac vein – the powerful, rich human who thinks helping the aliens will get him somewhere. As the episode draws to its peculiar close, Diagoras is absorbed by Sec, and the resulting hybrid could very well elicit a few giggles as might his line of dialogue leading to the cliffhanger sting: “I am a human Dalek. I am your future!”
Having reached a point where little more can be said until next week’s conclusion, I’ll go full circle and point out that Joel McHale’s got a cameo in Spider-Man 2. Could the guy be any cooler?
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Ross Ruediger is a San Antonio-based critic and columnist, a contributor to The House Next Door, and publisher of The Rued Morgue.
NEXT WEEK: Find out if the weirdest Dalek story ever filmed sinks or swims in “Evolution of the Daleks”.
Classic Who DVD Recommendation of the Week: “Spearhead from Space” – a story of firsts: The first story televised in color, the first Jon Pertwee story, the first story of the ‘70s, the first appearance of the Autons & the Nestene Consciousness, and the first and only classic Who story shot entirely on film.
Friday, July 27, 2007
Doctor Who, Season 3, Ep. 4: "Daleks in Manhattan"
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10 comments:
I'll be honest, I was tired of Daleks by the end of Season 1 (new series). At this point it just feels like they're having problems securing the rights to the character of Davros. Maybe next season?
I'm willing to wait till the second part for full judgement.
King Kong came to mind, too; I did wish the'd at least give us a glimpse of the big monkey wandering round Manhattan.
Maybe the best images in the film are of the Hooverville citizens looking up at the Empire State. I love the sense of class anger in the episode, and the implied equating of the Daleks with New York's rich and powerful. Yep, we might end up blaming the Daleks for the Great Depression too...
I thoroughly enjoyed this episode, as I simply can't get enough of the Daleks, frankly. And, the Doctor's reaction to learning they were still around while he loses everything was powerful.
I was surprised that racial politics weren't brought into play. You can't feature a white boy from Tennessee in 1931 and expect him to be all nicey-nice to two black characters. Nor was it common for a black man to be a leader of whites, as the guy from Hooverville was.
And, why no comments on Martha's hair and clothes, which had to really freak guys out in 1931?
Anon -
I can't blame anyone for being sick of and/or bored with the Daleks at this point. What I appreciate about this story is that there's some development of the Dalek concept. Whether or not it's successful, I'll discuss in greater detail next week.
Noel -
I like that you equated the Daleks with the upper class. I hadn't really considered that, but now that you mention it - aside from Diagoras (who becomes a Dalek) - nobody of any wealth is ever showcased.
Steve -
You're the flipside of Anon above - somebody who just digs Daleks - which is cool. You can't please all of the people, all of the time, but you can...you know the drill.
Racial issues come into play a bit later in the season. Maybe it was a conscious decision to not beat the dead horse as far as Martha's skin color's concerned (same goes for THE SHAKESPEARE CODE)? I've got no explanation for Solomon, however, but I didn't think much about it either.
Oh my gosh - where to start?
Well, I guess, as much as anything, standard disclaimer.
As always, enjoyed the review.
Sadly, that's about the only thing I enjoyed.
I can't understand how the writers manage to go from entertaining to boring in the space of two weeks. Much like anonymous, I feel the Daleks are passé . Ok, we got the idea - exterminate/survival, but how many times do you have to wipe them off the face of the universe only to have some remnant return in another guise so they can be wiped out again. Damn things are like cockroaches - they just keep on coming back.
B O R I N G...
And of course once again the intrepid Doctor will be climbing a high place to save the day. Haven't we seen this scenario once or twice before?
With respect to Martha - meh. She's not Rose that's for sure and she's not Donna who would be a vast improvement over the lack luster Martha. Martha has the feel of just another actor with no special qualities to make her stand out. Perhaps they will rethink Donna because I'd love to see her as Companion.
Tennant? Meh...does nothing for me at all. To me, he was a poor choice.
I will continue to watch if only because I've invested the time and effort, but it's not with a lot of enthusiasm.
Ross wrote: Racial issues come into play a bit later in the season.
You know, until you and Steve brought it up, I never even thought of this episode that way.
Interesting. Then again, I've never viewed anybody as different because of skin color - ever.
I think sometimes we can over analyze this type of unintentional social commentary. It's noticable here in this country, but in the UK or France or where ever, it's not as much of a deal.
What that says about us, I don't know.
*sigh*
The Dalek two-parter is pretty much the nadir of this season, thank heaven. Altho I must confess Gridlock bored me to tears, even tho it was good to see The Face of Boe finally die. (No, I'm not being cruel, I've seen the whole season and I know a bit more of that character's backstory.)
I was surprised not to see the standard fanboy complaints here about Brit actors doing American accents. I personally think they did about as well as most American actors do with Brit accents, altho you can really tell our "Tennessee boy," whilst American-born, had grown up in the U.K. and altho he might be trying to copy his parents' / grandparents' accents, he wasn't quite gettin' it.
The dialog itself and the race relations were IMHO both idealized. It's ok for stuff set in the future, but not good when you're trying to portray NYC NY, USA in 1930.
camera's got a point I didn't mention--the Americans when off-guard slip into Brit accents.
And race relations can be much, much nastier in the '30s. Think Ask the Dust.
I found this Dalek two-parter entertaining, but fairly mediocre. Not terrible, just average.
The season *really* hots up with Ep 8, although the final episode is a bit of a disappointment after a great build-up.
I can't believe a few people here don't like Tennant! He's excellent! If those people don't change their opinion after Human Nature/Family Of Blood... they need to get help!!
P.S - I thought the accents were generally okay, but a bit overcooked by some actors. The black guy actually has American family, so his accent was particularly praised in the U.K!
I, for one, am extremely pleased that they didn't bring race relations into the episode. When people are living on the edge and don't even know where or if they will get their next meal then prejudices tend to fall way down on the list of things to be concerned about.
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