With such a glorious title, how could this episode of Doctor Who not fail to hit all the right buttons, whether you’re die-hard fan or mainstream viewer? It had everything, from a well-realised setting, Daleks trundling through corridors, showgirls, fantastically cod Noo Yaark accents, a lead actor who is at the top of his game, and erm… Pig Men.
Regular readers of TV Today will know how much we love the Doctor round these parts, but Daleks in Manhattan pushed my fan-pleasing buttons in such a way that it felt like I was six years old again. As the Doctor and Martha begin to investigate the mystery of missing persons in the impoverished area of Hooverville in New York, 1930, writer Helen Raynor and director James Strong layer the atmosphere and suspense with a restraint that doesn’t take anything away from the pace. As this is a two-parter, they can afford to take their time, and draws attention to how the plots of the single episode stories can often lose out on satisfying resolutions due to cramming too much in. Not so here, and it’s all the better for it. For a change the audience has time to enjoy the surroundings as much as our heroes, from the decrepit Hooverville setting, the theatre, complete with a full song and dance routine, creepy, slimy sewer tunnels and the centrepiece, the unfinished Empire State Building…
And just what is lurking at the top of this most iconic of buildings? The Daleks, of course, here being utilised at their most deliciously evil. In previous outings for the new series, the iconic villains have been used as the big “ta da!” moment, a way of showing how clever Doctor Who can be at that climactic cliff-hanger moment. Here, they are just there, already in New York, and our first sight of them is barely 10 minutes in as one arrives in a lift at the top of the building. Being used in this manner recalls the early days of the classic series, where Dalek stories were ten-a-penny and they just got on with being Daleks, and it’s very refreshing. And there’s nothing more iconic than the Doctor crouching down in a dingy corridor, watching as the lower part of a Dalek casing trundles past the camera - those moments possess a kind of race memory effect in any audience member over 35 that send a pleasurable shiver down the back of your spine.
David Tennant is marvellous here, his confidence in the part of the Doctor growing week to week. It might be sacrilege to say, but the departure of Billie Piper seems to have unchained him and his performance fills every available nook and cranny of the series to make the show his own. As a result, this year’s series seems to have an added zing in its step - Tennant is the Doctor. And now we seem to have got over mentioning the spectre of Rose every five minutes, Freema Agyeman is allowed just to be there, getting on with it, much like the Daleks in this story. Martha is the Doctor’s companion, doing what they do, being brave and getting captured. But, can we please lose the unrequited love malarkey (although that did provide a cracking line about the Doctor’s possible love of musical theatre that will have the fans frothing over Russell T Davies’s mythical “gay agenda”).
And for once, a support cast has been assembled where nobody lets the side down, with Spooks actress Miranda Raison giving a startlingly different performance here as the ditzy but resolutely brave Tallulah (3 Ls and one H!). She’s beautifully caricatured yet thoroughly believable - if the Doctor is ever in need of a new companion (God forbid), I’d suggest a return to New York to pick her up.
This was old-school Doctor Who - and I’m not talking about the 70s. Daleks in Manhattan evoked the classic black and white days of Hartnell and Troughton with the breathless style and pace of new Who. Alongside The Shakespeare Code, Helen Raynor’s script goes to the top of the pile as amongst the best modern Doctor Who has to offer.
Next Week: Evolution of the Daleks
Suddenly I'm on the wrong end of the New Who/Old Who divide. From what I can gather, these episodes have been rather more Old Who than anything we've seen in the previous two series - emphasis on plot and monsters rather than people and a witty one liner. The problem is I *like* people and witty one liners... if I can't get on board with the characters, then the sci-fi has little interest for me, and at the moment I just can't get on board with Martha. I don't know who she is, what makes her tick. I've got that she's perceptive and intelligent, they've made sure of that but... who and what does she care about? Why is she with the Doctor in the first place? Maybe I just want a soap in space... :)
Loved this episode, It was the 1st time the new series that the daleks have been used to their full menacing effect. Although I can't help but slightly agree with Anna waits above that I'd like to know slightly more about Martha by now, They've done the trip back and another forth, she's still hanging around but it doesn't seem like there's been any transition like there was for Rose. From what I understand though we'll get that in a few episodes, its just taken a little longer.
Loved the imagery in this episode, all the colours & everying seemed well thought out, and the hybrid dalek bit at the end was just perfect, it looked exactly right, suitably mad and threathening.
Am I the only person who thought that Freema Agyeman was great in the first episode... and has gone downhill rapidly ever since? There's only so much "Oh my God!" and excited arm-waving that you can put up with. She seemed to be quite intelligent in the first episode and now she's turned into a kind of black Chav. I totally agree with Mark; Tallulah would be a much better companion. The Doctor and Martha are just too similar; It would be much more fun to see a 1930's cabaret performer's take on things!
"Am I the only person who thought that Freema Agyeman was great in the first episode... and has gone downhill rapidly ever since? "
Nope, that's my thought exactly!
Agree this was very very traditional "classic" Dr Who, and none the worse for it. Quite "epic" in its style. Seems to have generated quite a lot of negative press, but for me, this was great stuff. Let's hope Martha gets a bit of character development soon...
I decided to call myself Tallulah **with 3 Ls and one H **
me and my m8 think this was quite a good episode
but the follow on was a bit rubbish tbh
it was good though