Victory of the Daleks by Julian Barber

For this episode, we have a friend of mine also sharing his views on this episode and don't worry, I will be back with my review for this episode shortly. But until then, please enjoy Victory of the Daleks by my friend Julian Barber. :)

Victory of the Daleks was the third episode of the fifth series of the revived Doctor Who. This episode of the Matt Smith era is one in which I have the most complicated relationship with. I applaud it for some reasons and considered it the worst for other reasons.

The basic summary of this episode involved The Doctor and his companion Amy Pond, travelling to England during the WWII where they discover that the Daleks are assisting Winston Churchill and the allies. This was later revealed to be a plot by the Daleks in order to lure the Doctor in so that they can restore the Dalek race.

Up until this point, I was doubtful of Matt Smith as the Doctor. I applauded his performance in the first two episodes of the season but I struggled to see his character and interpretation of the Doctor as being different from his predecessor’s David Tennant. Smith’s performance in this episode allowed me to see a new side of the Doctor.

In this episode, we saw the Doctor’s trivial side in a serious situation. This was shown when the Doctor used a Jamie dodger as a TARDIS self-destruct mechanism. I found this side of the Doctor as something I can relate to and because of this I could separate the characters of Smith and Tennant.

This episode also explored the growing relationship between The Doctor and his companion Amy Pond. This episode showed that while the Doctor is very knowledgeable of history and the universe, he is really hopeless when it comes to understanding the meaning of romance and love. This was demonstrated when it was Amy that ended up saving Bracewell who helped him to overcome his Dalek conditioning and see the human side and the girl who he was in love with. Overall, I praised the acting with all the characters in this episode.

However while I praise the acting, I found the plot of the story was weak. While the plot held a lot of potential for me, I found that the episode was rushed and that some parts of the episode like the science of how spitfires can fly and battle a Dalek ship was rushed. It would have created more suspense and flowed much better if the story was longer. Other aspects such as the time it took to make these planes fly where left unexplained and this episode, with all of its potential, could have been done much better as a two-parter.

What I did like about this episode was that it reintroduced the Daleks into the series and for a new generation. Daleks are half alien/half cyborg killing machines that constantly talk about being supreme beings. Setting a story with them during WWII is mix for the character as it brings out both there and the Doctor’s brutality (although the Doctor’s is usually much more restrained).

In conclusion, I will give this episode a rating of 7 out of 10. While the acting was strong, I found the plot was a bit of a letdown.

NEXT TIME: VICTORY OF THE DALEKS by Joshua Romeo

P.S. If anyone would also like to express there views on any particular episodes, free free to do so in the comments below or if you would like to review an episode, please send a message in the comments as I would be happy to do so :D