Daleks in Manhattan

"Our purity has brought us to our extinction."

Writer: Helen Raynor

Format: TV

Broadcast: 21 April 2007

Series: 3.04

Featuring: Tenth Doctor, Martha

Synopsis

The Tenth Doctor and Martha Jones travel to New York in 1930, during an era on the back of a national depression. People have been mysteriously vanishing from the streets, the Empire State Building nears completion, and an old enemy resurfaces...

Verdict

Daleks in Manhattan was an excellent episode to continue our rewatch of the third series of the modern era of Doctor Who! For some reason, I was really looking forward to watching this episode again as it really has been quite a while now and I think it kind of goes unnoticed as a Dalek tale in the new era. This series is obviously dominated by another recurring villain and having the Daleks feature so early on after being in the finales of the previous two series represents a stark contrast. It's a very different Dalek story and I think it's great that we don't have the stakes of a finale. The Cult of Skaro return in quick fashion after their escape at the end of Doomsday and placing them in the New York of 1930 is marvellous. It's an incredibly strong setting and since my previous viewing, I have learned so much about the USA during this era and the importance of the Wall Street Crash and the devastation that caused on the economy. I could really appreciate the Hooverville aspect of the episode and I thought the way it was recreated with the set design and costumes was fantastic. I really enjoyed it. Martha having an understanding of the history of this era was good and I thought she had a brilliant episode as companion. I'd have liked some sort of continuity addressing how she's wangled her way into another trip in the TARDIS after the promised one trip turning into a venture into the past and then future, but I'm just glad she is there for the ride. The same can't be said for my viewing partner as she didn't have any sympathy for Martha's unrequited feelings towards the Doctor. Tallulah was a fun character and using her relationship with Lazlo to highlight the Dalek experimentation and the impact it can have on someone was brilliant. It was an emotional moment when she saw what had become of her boyfriend after his subjection to the Dalek experiment was incomplete. The Doctor picking up the genetically modified artificial scoop of DNA as a way to deduce that the Daleks were present was superb. His reaction to seeing one in the doldrums was terrific because he was clearly sickened. They always survived when he lost everything. Sublime stuff. I thought Mr Diagoras was a fun character and his serving of his new masters in the completion of the Empire State Building was very good. The Dalekanium presence on the spire is intriguing given the pending gamma strike and seeing where that goes will be exciting for the next episode. The imagination of the Cult of Skaro is excellent to think about and having Dalek Sec go so far as to make himself human is quite incredible. Other members of the Cult not being in agreement with the experimentation because of the fact it wasn't pure was fantastic and I'm looking forward to that being explored further in the second part. The cliffhanger is really well done with the human Dalek Sec emerging having taken the flesh of Diagoras and what we have now is an exciting prospect! Overall, a really strong episode!

Rating: 9/10