This Week in Doctor Who - 5/1/10

And after all the other posts tonight, here's a review that's actually on time! (Even though the episode actually premiered three weeks ago in the UK ... thanks BBC America).

Episode 3 - "Victory of the Daleks"

Remember in that review I just posted where I said that I hope this season of Doctor Who brought some fresh new ideas? Well the Daleks showed up in this third episode and basically lost all hope of that. Granted, this is the first non-Moffat written episode of the new series so that's got to stand for something, but if there's one villain that's been way over-used in the new version of Doctor Who, it's the bloody Daleks, who I think have appeared more times in the last five new Doctor Who series than all of the original show's 26 seasons combined, which is kind of absurd.

Anyways, what makes this Dalek story different is that it takes place in World War II London, and get this, Winston Churchill is using the Daleks to fight Nazis. The premise is pretty absurd yet semi-hilarious, in concept, but the execution is somewhat.. meh, to say the least. Obviously Churchill has no idea what a real Dalek is like, and by the end of the episode and 40 arguments between the Doctor later, the Daleks are reborn, with a colorful, rounded design more reminiscent of the admittedly-awful and non-canon Peter Cushing Dr. Who and the Daleks films and not the tried and true Daleks we've been used to seeing for the last... however many years. I'm still trying to adjust to the new Power Ranger Daleks, but at the same time I wish I just don't see them again because I'm tired of Daleks.

And not to mention, in the end, Amy saves the day once again by "being human" and/or Scottish, it's hard to tell when they try to point it out all the time. But, I have to say, I'm liking Matt Smith's sometimes witty, sometimes crazy, and sometimes damn well pissed take on the Doctor, and I can't wait to see what else he has to offer.

Overall Score: 7.5/10