Doctor Who Series 3 Episode 5 - Evolution Of The Daleks (Part 2) - Review
Starring: David Tennant, Freema Agyeman, Miranda Raison & Ryan Carnes
Written By: Helen Raynor
Directed By: James Strong
Welcome
back to my review of Daleks In Manhattan
and Evolution Of The Daleks. You can find my review of Part 1 here:
So let's waste no more time and crack straight on with Part 2: Evolution Of The Daleks.
Continuing
straight on from Daleks In Manhattan, the Doctor and his fellow captors escape the Daleks' laboratory and return to Hooverville. It's up to the Doctor and Martha to stop the Daleks before they create even more new Dalek-Humans and begin attacking New York. Now, the first few
minutes of this episode allow the production team the chance to give
me a better impression of this new Human-Dalek hybrid. Do they take
this chance? Simply put : No. Instead, we see the
hybrid weakened by a music player, and the other three Daleks having to protect him. It ends up as an unintentionally funny moment. Oh Daleks, this experiment really wasn't such
a good idea, was it?
Following the
prisoners' escape from the laboratory, they are pursued down the sewers by the Daleks. To be honest, this is probably one of the best
scenes of the episode, being fast paced and featuring some gorgeous shots of the
Daleks, that briefly make them scary. Unfortunately, their threat is still diminished thanks once again to the Pig Slaves, who attack Hooverville. Again, their attack is more funny than scary. It's not until their masters, the Daleks, show up and start firing death rays on the camp, that these scenes get going. Again, there are some beautiful shots as the
Daleks attack, made even better by a beautiful musical score from
Murray Gold. (Spoiler Warning!) The action only comes to a halt when Solomon attempts to reason with his attackers. I still really like Solomon,
and this is his time to shine. He attempts
to reach out and compromise with the most evil
race in the universe. In most other shows, this would have led to the two sides making peace, but with Doctor Who, it's met with just one word: Exterminate. It’s simple, but damn, its memorable. His death is pure Dalek, and it's a tragic yet brilliant scene.
From this point, I'm afraid we’ve
gone past practically all the good stuff. Sadly, it's time to get negative, and look at why Evolution Of The Daleks goes downhill. To save the lives of everyone in Hooverville, the Doctor agrees to return to the Dalek laboratory and assist Dalek Sec with his plans. Here, we learn that the Daleks are planning to harness the energy of a solar flare to create the new race of Dalek-Humans. After this, the entire second act of this episode is dedicated to putting this plan into action. But this also results in the pacing of the episode not just slowing
down, but grinding to a complete halt. This part of the episode is slow and boring as hell, (Spoiler Warning!) and arguably ends up pointless once the rest of the Daleks turn on their leader.
That being said, it comes as something of a relief once the proper Daleks take back control. At least they can get the story’s pacing back on track again. While the Doctor attempts to stop the Daleks from altering the experiment, Martha Frank, Tallulah and Laszlo have to defend themselves from another Pig Slave attack. Being the wonderful
companion that she is, Martha is able to use the lightning strikes to her advantage and wipes out the Pig Slaves.
Shall we mourn their loss? No. See, it's things like this that make Martha such a great companion. The
Doctor is seemingly unsuccessful in stopping the Daleks, and as if this episode couldn't become any more disappointing, the new race created are just plain human, but with Dalek dialogue. However, it’s ironic that just generic extras
armed with Dalek blasters are more powerful than a full
hybrid in make-up ever managed.
If there's one thing that I would say this two-parter did get right, it's the final ten minutes, especially how the Doctor eventually stops the Daleks. It's a great scene as we see the Daleks' plans crumble, especially on multiple viewings. It's at this point that we see the demise of Dalek Sec (who the other Daleks decided to take with them when facing the Doctor ... for some reason). Though once again, while his final words and acts were noble, I just don't end up feeling as much sympathy for him as I really should.
As this episode comes to a close, two more of the Cult of Skaro get their comeuppance, leaving only one Dalek alive in the whole universe - Dalek Caan. Okay, I may have spoken too early when I said there was nothing much left here that was good. This final scene between the
Doctor and Dalek Caan is one of the episode’s highlights. It’s
filmed beautifully, being reminiscent of a wild west standoff, and is played so
simply whilst still managing to look fantastic. The dialogue that the
two characters share is also an example of superb writing, and I love
the fact that the Doctor's words: “Let me help you” is what triggers Caan to teleport away. That's how you show the Daleks' fear of the Doctor. Of course, now the Doctor Who universe is left with just one Dalek alive - I'm sure it will cross paths with the Doctor ... one day.
In conclusion, Daleks
In Manhattan and Evolution Of The Daleks is the
first Dalek dud of the revived series, and I will remember it as a sorely missed
opportunity, especially considering the Daleks’ innovative
objective in this episode. Solomon makes for a great supporting
character, there are several scenes that are just beautifully
done and the Dalek-Human hybrid is a wonderful design. However, it never makes, and never really could make the same impression as the proper Daleks, and even the Daleks
aren’t threatening here. The Pig Slaves are pathetic and laughable,
the pacing grinds to a complete halt halfway through Part 2 and
Tallulah ends up as an unsympathetic supporting character. This is one I'll remember
this story as a missed opportunity, and not much more.
Final Score for Daleks In Manhattan and Evolution Of The Daleks
4/10
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