Planet of the Mechanoids

"The Daleks have come to you with a proposition."

Writer: James Goss

Format: Animation

Broadcast: 26 November 2020

Series: Daleks! 03

Featuring: Dalek Time Squad

Synopsis

The Daleks offer an alliance to their foes, the Mechanoids. But will their Queen accept the Daleks' offer at face value, or has she a plan of her own for the Emperor?

Verdict

Planet of the Mechanoids was another very good episode of Daleks! to continue the series as part of the Time Lord Victorious story arc! This is really terrific stuff and it's wonderful to reunite the Daleks with the Mechanoids so long after the latter was brought in as a rival way back when in The Chase. The circumstances in which the Mechanoids returned here was unexpected given the situation the Dalek Time Squad found themselves in and I thought that made for a very intriguing dynamic. I thought the visuals of the Mechanoid city as the Daleks strode past their planetary defences were magnificent and another fantastic example of how good the animation has been for this online series. It really must go down as a feat and something I am very much a big fan of seeing. I do hope this might be a catalyst for further animated adventures within the Doctor Who universe as the potential there is unrelenting! I thought the introduction of the Mechanoid Queen was very good and I enjoyed the way she sounded and looked. With the Emperor clearly the head of the Daleks, it was good for the Mechanoids to also have a focused figure as the lead character of their race. The blue colour worked well and I enjoyed the imagery of her alongside the Dalek Emperor. The prospect of the Daleks proposing an alliance with their old enemies was fantastic and showed just how fearful they were of their predicament with the Entity that was pursuing them. I loved the gritted teeth notion of the Emperor admitting that the Daleks no longer viewed the Mechanoids as inferior species. They were lying of course, but even to suggest a statement like that must have been horrible for them. There was certainly a sense of Dalek desperation which was really good to see. Their admittance in recognising the value in the Mechanoids was good and the idea of an alliance between the two species was certainly something I would be interested in seeing! The star chamber looked really impressive and the conversation that followed with the Dalek Emperor and his race not having a concept of beauty was really good. I enjoyed how that was contrasted with the Strategist admitting that the Mechanoid city was efficient rather than beautiful. The Emperor pleading and revealing that even Mechanus was in danger was good and I loved how the Queen found humour in Skaro being abandoned. The Strategist wanting to talk science with the Mechanoids was good and the red Mechanoid we were introduced to looked great. It was a lot of fun to see the Mechanoids in colour animation as they definitely suited it! The issue of the orbital array was a good focal point and the danger that came with time running out was very good. I liked how whilst the Emperor was essentially discussing politics with the Queen, the Dalek 'children' couldn't help but end up in a fight with other Mechanoids. The battle pretty much presenting the Emperor and the Strategist as the last remaining Daleks was brilliant and I really enjoyed how much the Queen was revelling in this potentially being the end of the Dalek race. Except, the Emperor didn't solely come to Mechanus for an alliance and with it supposedly refused, he left the Queen with little choice as he had brought the Entity here and who knows if it would discriminate between robots. Overall, a really impressive little episode and great to see the Mechanoids back!

Rating: 8/10