Daleks in Manhattan

[angelophile]

Definitely a solid episode of Who this week. I don't think I'm giving much away when I reveal the plot involved the Doctor and Martha in Depression era New York, getting involved with pig-men, a shanty town in Central Park and Daleks. Yep, they're back and it's nice to see the Daleks actually being used as villains for the first time in the new series instead of the big bad deus ex machina like in Bad Wolf and Doomsday. It shows you don't need a whole army of them for them to be effective. So, decent use of them as plain old villains which made their near over-use easier to take and their masterplan is one that is not wholly illogical.

Some very strong effects, mostly with make-up and costume as the pig-men were brought to life and the period recreated. Certainly the setting was also very well done. The shots on Liberty Island and in Central Park felt real, the period detailing is superb with costumes and deco-detailing, from the sewers to the Empire State Building all recreated wonderfully.

That and a couple of stand out characters made this a solid and enjoyable episode. As a Brit, it felt like they'd managed to avoid a lot of the lacklustre accents and detailing you often get in stories set outside the UK. Miranda Raison stood out as show-girl Tallulah, who managed to play the cliche just enough and got a great musical number which felt very cinematic. In terms of the performances, some of the delivery felt a little stilted, but the actors weren't bad, it was just the direction wasn't as slick as maybe it could have been in some areas.

The only things that spoilt it for me where Martha's "love at first sight" relationship with the Doctor which I think has moved too quickly as they try to slot Martha into the Rose role. It hasn't really added anything to the dynamic and feels forced. That and the oft-mentioned and repetitive gay gags were the only annoyances, which are more a complaint about this series as a whole rather than this particular episode.

I'm looking forward to part two...

And rumor has it Kylie's been cast for this year's Christmas Special.

Oooh.