Victory of the Daleks (TV story)
Victory of the Daleks is the third episode of Matt Smith's first series. It marks the re-appearance of the Daleks and the Eleventh Doctor's first encounter with them.
Synopsis
The Doctor and Amy are called to London during World War II by an old friend of the Doctor: Winston Churchill. To the Doctor's horror he finds the Daleks posing as a manmade "secret weapon" that Churchill calls "ironsides" and hopes will win him the war.
Plot
The Doctor and Amy are called to London during the Second World War by an old friend of the Doctor: Winston Churchill. To the Doctor's horror he finds the Daleks posing as a manmade "secret weapon" that Churchill calls "ironsides" and hopes will win him the war. The ironsides have been created by Professor Edwin Bracewell and are extremely effective at shooting German Heinkels down; however, rather than being typically aggressive, they are docile, offering to help their human colleagues and serving them cups of tea. Confronting them with their true names, the Doctor is horrified to learn that the Daleks' goal all along was to encounter the Doctor. One of the Daleks transmits a recording of the Doctor, described as a "testimony", to a Dalek in a spaceship which is seen hiding behind the moon. After their last encounter with him, a three Daleks were able to escape in a single Dalek ship equipped with a 'Progenitor device' capable of recreating the Dalek race, but due to the Daleks having been grown from Davros's cells the Progenitor would not recognise them as 'true' Daleks until the Doctor did so himself. The Doctor's testimony is enough for Progenitor device to recognise the Daleks and accept instructions to create a new race of Daleks. When these new Daleks appear they exterminate their predecessors and begin the countdown on a bomb capable of destroying the Earth. Despite wanting to end a new Dalek reign of terror before it can begin, the Doctor is forced to allow them to depart in order to return to Earth and stop the detonation of the bomb.
Cast
- The Doctor - Matt Smith
- Amy Pond - Karen Gillan
- Winston Churchill - Ian McNeice
- Edwin Bracewell - Bill Paterson [1]
- Blanche - Nina De Cosimo [2]
- Lilian - Susannah Fielding [3]
- Peter - James Albrecht [4]
- Captain Childers - Tim Wallers[5]
- ARP Warden - Colin Prockter[6]
- Civil Servant - Jamal Nasir[7]
- Spitfire Pilot - Mark Gatiss
- Dalek (Operator) - Barnaby Edwards
- Dalek (Operator) - Nicholas Pegg[8]
- Dalek (Voice) - Nicholas Briggs[9]
Crew
Executive Producers Steven Moffat, Piers Wenger and Beth Willis |
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Not every person who worked on this adventure was credited. The absence of a credit for a position doesn't necessarily mean the job wasn't required. The information above is based solely on observations of the actual end credits of the episodes as broadcast, and does not relay information from IMDB or other sources. |
References
- One of the disguised Daleks says, "I am your soldier." This is an obvious paraphrase of the Dalek line, "I am your servant." from The Power of the Daleks.
- The Doctor refers to a Jammy Dodger as a TARDIS Self-destruct tool to threaten the Daleks with.
- The Doctor threatens the Daleks with "the final end", referencing The Evil of the Daleks.
- In Doctor Who Confidential, Gatiss confirms that the brightly coloured restored Daleks are a nod to the 1960s Amicus films.
- Churchill remarks that the Doctor has changed his face again, implying that he has encountered at least two incarnations of his prior to the current one.
- "Broadsword calling Danny Boy" is a quote from the film Where Eagles Dare.
Story Notes
- In Doctor Who Confidential, the red Daleks are stated to be the soldiers, the blue Daleks are strategists, and the orange Daleks are scientists. The yellow Dalek is stated to be "the Eternal", but Moffat and Gatiss both admit they don't know what that means yet ("but it sounds cool").
- The red, blue and yellow Daleks were first revealed in the Radio Times and the colours were used to symbolise the different colours of the British Parliment parties: Labour (red), Conservative (blue) and Liberal Democrats (yellow). The yellow Dalek issue was produced with less quantity and are therefore harder to get than the blue and red.
- Colin Prockter previously appeared as the Head Chef in DW: The Long Game.
- Winston Churchill wants the Doctor's TARDIS key.
- Like DW: The Unquiet Dead in Series 1, this episode is the third in the series, is a pseudo-historical, is penned by Mark Gatiss, and is both preceded and followed by two episodes by the head writer.
- Ian McNeice previously portrayed Winston Churchill in the Royal National Theatre's 2008 production of Never So Good.
- This is the second Dalek episode in the new series to use the infamous "___ of the Daleks" title scheme, the first being DW: Evolution of the Daleks.
- Mark Gatiss said in the Radio Times: "They're bigger than they've ever been; and in technicolor!" This would show that the new Daleks shall be different colours like the 'classic' Daleks of the earlier eras.
- This is the third time in the new series that the Daleks have featured mid-way in the series, following Dalek in series one and then in series three two part story Daleks in Manhattan and Evolution of the Daleks. This could mean that the Daleks do not feature in the last two episodes.
- The Daleks are deliberately bigger, designed to match Amy Pond's size rather than Rose.
- For narrative and filming purposes, the Cabinet War Rooms in the episodes are far larger than the real ones and have an RAF "spotter" table that was not really present.
Ratings
to be added
Filming Locations
to be added
Rumours proven false
- Adolf Hitler was rumoured to make a brief appearance.
Production errors
to be added
Continuity
- The Doctor mentions sending the Daleks back into the Void and saving the whole of reality from their efforts. (DW: Doomsday, The Stolen Earth/Journey's End) Amy Pond being unaware of the last adventure is flagged up as a sign that something is wrong.
- Subservient Daleks is also the theme of the first Second Doctor adventure. (DW: The Power of the Daleks)
- The end of DW: The Beast Below directly follows up into this story.
- The Dalek Saucer seen in the dogfight with the Spitfires is the same sort as those from DW: Bad Wolf/The Parting of the Ways and DW: The Stolen Earth/Journey's End
- The Doctor has been pointed at by guns while exiting the TARDIS before, in the Torchwood Tower. (DW: Army of Ghosts).
- The Doctor mentions that his TARDIS is a Type 40 TARDIS. (DW: The Ribos Operation)
- The new Daleks use a Time corridor to depart from the era. The last time a Time corridor was used on-screen was in DW: Resurrection of the Daleks.
DVD/Blu-Ray release
- BBC Video - Doctor Who Series Five - Volume One is scheduled for release on DVD and Blu-Ray on 7th June 2010 (UK only), featuring The Eleventh Hour, The Beast Below, Victory of the Daleks, and the featurette The Monster Diaries. [1]
External Links
to be added
Footnotes
- ↑ Doctor Who News Page - Matt Smith First DVD Release Date, accessed 3rd March 2010
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