Foreword

This is the fourth installement in my series of reviews covering the third season of "New" Doctor Who. At the moment I'm writing this, S3 has already concluded in Great Britain, but I am aware that such is not the case in most other countries. That being said, I won't put any "spoiler warning" anywhere; each review clearly states the episode it's covering and therefore I trust you won't look if you haven't seen that episode yet and don't want to be spoiled :-)

Daleks in Manathan

Ok, so although we don't get to see them right away (instead, we're treated with those awful pig people in the introductory scene), I don't think I'm spoiling things for anyone by saying that this story - the first two parters in the season - has Daleks in it: after all, their name is in both episodes' title. So we have a story stretching comfortably 90 minutes, which means more time to develop a proper story and secondary characters. It's set in a beautifully reconstituted 1930s Manhattan, if what we saw in the trailers is anything to go by. And it's got Daleks in it, everyone's favorite evil foe. So all in all, this story can't go wrong, right? Right?

So why is it that it is such a disappointment? If you take in account the long history of DW, this could be considered ok.....ish, but it definitely cannot begin to compare with the previous Ten/Martha episodes. And looking back on it after having seen the whole of this season, this really hits bottom, and pretty much on all levels

Well, let me correct this: the two-parters taken as a whole does. This particular episode is in fact, although it appears somewhat weak in regard of S3 standards, still a decent piece of television. The Doctor and Martha land in Great Depression New York (btw, you'll note that the Doctor's stopped giving us (bad) excuses to justify taking Martha along) and it doesn't take him very long to figure out there's a mystery to be solved awaiting them as people from the shanky town Hooverville, located right in the heart of Central Park, get missing. Once there they meet the community's leader, Solomon, and Mr. Diagoras, the entrepreneur in charge of the construction of the Empire State Building. Before they know it, the Doctor, Martha and Solomon, joined by a young man from Hooverville called Frank, are investigating the disappearances down the sewers of the city, where they are met with a few nasty surprises. And these are nothing compared to what awaits them when they finally figure out who's behind it all....

Like I said, this episode may not be outstanding, but it works fine, with some real nice touches. One of these is Solomon: most of you will probably recognize him as Captain Panaka from Star Wars Episode I, but Hugh Quarshie is in fact both an accomplished stage actor (he's a member of the Royal Shakespeare Company) and a familiar face in the UK, thanks to his role in the medical drama series "Holby City" (one of my guilty pleasures btw: it's walking a fine line between medical drama and soap opera - which it tends to cross quite a lot - by being much more interested in the love lifes of the staff than it is in the medical side of things. I know I should be ashamed of watching something like that and not make something more productive with my time, but I'm not, or at least not enough to make me stop watching....). Solomon's character is nicely introduced (the bread scene) and Hugh Quarshie has no trouble coming across as a believable respected leader of men. Also, while I find her voice utterly annoying, I thought Miranda Raison's Tallulah quite delightful - her spirit, her enthusiasm and her spunk what like a breath of freash air in this otherwise bleak world, and I loved both the friendship she was quick to establish with Martha and her attitude towards the Doctor, recognizing quickly his genius while not letting him push her around

Speaking of our favorite duo, they are doing an adequate, but not outstanding, job - that being said, the scenario doesn't exactly push them to the limit of their acting abilities. There's one remarkable scene in that regard though, and that's when the Doctor sees a Dalek for the first time in the sewers: I know this is helped by the lack of light that accentuates the angles of his face, but there's immediately something hard, menacing about him, recognizable both in his voice and his expression, and to be honest, he's not a little bit frightening at that point (as he should be, considering the history between them). Also, I enjoyed the whole bit when they first find, then try to determine what is the slimey organic thing that was lying in the sewers. Seeing him assembling a device to determine its DNA out of odd bits found in a small theater, and his delight and admiration for those who would have the knowledge to conceive that thing (until he actually realize who it really was, that is), those are expressions of the traits that, to me, set the Doctor apart from most other heroes, and in particuar sci-fi heroes: his genius, his appreciation for the beauty that can be found in science. And because he exhibits these traits more than most of his predecessors, I suspect that is at least part of the reason why Ten grew up so much so quickly on me (and on many other DW fans). On the other hand, Martha doesn't exactly fair as well, mostly relegated in the Doctor's shadow for most of the episode: not of Freema Agyman's fault, she just happens to have fairly little to do (but then the action in this episode is pretty limited). There's just enough though to remind us of her inquisitive nature and her fast thinking; it was nice also to see her stand her ground when talking to the Daleks, in particular when the Doctor "sends" her for information

But if anyone deserves some major kudos, it would be the production team, along with the Mill, for proposing such a convincing 1930 New York - I particularly loved the large view when the Doctor and Martha arrive in Hooverville. And don't you just believe that they are standing at the bottom of the Statue of Liberty after they've landed - however, the actors never set foot on american soil for that episode (there's actually a funny bit about that in DW Confidential, where David Tennant complains that everyone but him has been offered the trip)

All in all, there's nothing to get too excited about in "Daleks in Manhattan", nothing really memorable and riveting. But it is a solid average episode if nothing else, of the kind that you may rewatch on a rainy afternoon


A few things to watch out for

Favorite scene: Again, there's nothing too outstanding, so I guess I'll go with the whole Doctor cooking up a new mad device and examinating the thing they found in the sewers

Favorite line: There's only the one really, but what a line:

"No, no, no, no. They survive. They always survive while I lose everything."

On the light-hearted side of things, there's also this from the conversation she has with Tallulah (now I wish Captain Jack were there at that moment, it would have been something):

"He's...we're not. Together"
"Oh sure you are! I've seen the way you look at him, it's obvious!"
"Not to him."
"Oh! I should have realized. He's into musical theater huh? What a waste"

Other noteworthy stuff:

When they find the slimey thing in the sewers, I was almost expecting the Doctor to actually lick it, which made me realize that he has yet to lick anything in this season (get your heads out of the gutter people, he licks things to analyze them, not as some sort of odd Time Lord fetish or something), immediately followed by the thought that, in this particular instance, I'm rather glad he didn't because that would just have been gross

Geeky fangirl delight: the specs are back, and far longer than in the previous episode! In fact, we're treated with a specs/coat combination. Now if they could bring back the brown pinstrip suit, we'd have the perfect geek chic combination

Continuity: Martha may not recognize them when she sees them the first time, but it's clear the name Dalek rings a bell with her: that would be because the Doctor mentioned them when talking to her about the Time War at the end of "Gridlock"

Continuity, part 2: as she's about to get on stage, Tallulah asks Martha if she's ever been on one, to which she replies "Oh, a bit of Shakespeare", of course refering to the moment she stood on stage with him during "The Shakespeare Code". To which Tallulah exclaims "How dull is that!": don't worry, Tallulah with three L and an H, we still like you

Next episode: Evolution of the Daleks