S3E04: Daleks In Manhattan

Daleks are B-movie villains par excellence so I dig the hokey episode name and wish it had an exclamation mark. The city is an island, however, so wouldn't Daleks On Manhattan be more accurate?

He's changed suit again but She has nothing else to wear. I assume there's a T.A.R.D.I.S. laundry room or the bad guys will smell Her approaching.

I realise I have a strong preference for historical stories: the production values on any B.B.C. period drama are sharp enough for the writer not to have to hard-sell the setting. Gershwin's Rhapsody In Blue and the gorgeous Chrysler buidling place you in mere seconds. As a bonus, I learned about Hoovervilles and Alice learned about the Mole People.

Captain Panaka from Star Wars: Episode I isn't crap in this.

The typo in the newspaper headline has changed... to a different typo.

Last week's episode ended with a fast pan up from street level through several floors of a building to the busy skyline of New New York. This week we pan up from the sewers to a schematic of the unfinished Empire State Building, coming to rest near the top. The camera then pulls back to reveal the next scene (in a room near the top of the building) where this diagram is being discussed. Style, baby. Pure style.

"He's into musical theatre, huh? What a waste."

Dalek Sec tells Diagoras to shut up. Daleks mean so much business, they don't even have time to be ass-kissed by their underlings.

A brain is one of the more unusual things He's ever put in His pockets.

She name-dropped meeting Shakespeare. Everybody drink a ladies' drink!

The Cult Of Skaro was created to think "outside of the box" so it's no surprise that their brilliant plan is for Daleks to live outside of their boxes! Points for the best ever realisation of a Dalek mutant, using C.G.I. instead of rubber. The lashing tentacles even make a cliffhanger from Genesis Of The Daleks seem less naff in retrospect.

"They survived. They always survive while I lose everything."

A musical number! Note to other writers: you can get away with murder if you're telling a compelling story in the first place.

I have issues with the catchphrase "I'm so sorry" being used by other people. The coincidence tests my suspension of disbelief unnecessarily.

This episode had two things stacked against it before it began though neither was the fault of the production team. The B.B.C.'s own Radio Times magazine spoiled the ending on its cover, killing any shock and surprise stone dead. And the earlier start time for the episode meant that sunshine washed out the picture being projected on my living room wall. Despite that, I found the episode hard to fault. The story is far-fetched and they used That Jaws Shot to make the ending as O.T.T. as possible but the characters behaved as if the danger was serious and real, which is precisely how I like my escapism.