Victory Of The Daleks: Ranking - 251

 Victory Of The Daleks

(Series 5, Dr 11 with Amy, 17/4/2010, showrunner: Steven Moffat, writer: Mark Gatiss, director: Andrew Gunn)

Rank: 251

''If you are going through Skaro, keep going...'

'We shall fight them on the beaches, in the seas, in the air, when running yup and down corridors and across space and time!' After avoiding arriving in WW2 until as late as 1989's 'Curse Of Fenric' its become a favourite era for the Tardis to land in since the revival. It's rare for a story to be 'about' the war as much as it is here though, rather than as a subplot. It's nostalgia of a different sort that dominates this episode though, with perhaps the most blatant remake of an 'old' 20th century episode we've had in the new series. basically it's 'Power Of The Daleks' minus the Vulcan setting and less emphasis on the 'new Doctor'. There's nothing this story does any better than the 'old' one for all the advance in budget and technology, but the idea of the Daleks 'pretending' to be good is such a strong idea it makes sense they should try it again - after all, less footage exists of 'Power' than almost any other story (certainly 6 parters). Putting the Daleks in a WW2 setting is also stylistically 'right' too. Terry Nation was inspired to invent his most famous creations by the war and the Nazi idealology of ruthlessness and racial purity - however nobody's quite brave enough to put that fully on screen just yet (the fallout from 'Let's Kill Hitler' the following year shows that people aren't quite ready to have the Fuhrer in DW yet, especially if instead of taking him out they just stick him in a cupboard and forget about him). So we have the Daleks siding with the Allies inside...Hmm, not sure that's any better really. the story goes to great lengths to make Winston Churchill out to be a hero and Ian McNeice is so convincing and indeed nice in the part you almost go along with it (no wonder he got so many 'comebacks' and Big Finish stories off the back of this story, he's the best thing in it). Of course the problem is the 'real' Churchill's politics weren't as far removed from the idea of a 'master race' looking down on everyone else as you might think from the script. That's the problems with doing historicals in the modern series, you just don't get the space to explore the full story the way we used to with Marco Polo or Richard the Lionheart, great men who are often forced into difficult circumstances where they can't be as great as they want to be. This is just a tale of goodies v baddies, which given the script goes to great lengths to point out how easily the Daleks can dupe people is more than a little dodgy. The plot's all solved a little too easily too, while the much-hated chunkier Dalek designs are more striking than practical and seem designed with the marketing branch of the BBC in mind over the production one (after all, it makes sense for the cybermen to keep upgrading but you'd think the most evil race in the universe would have better things to do than get paint jobs). Certainly the Daleks look a lot better in the subtler colours of the Peter Cushing movies of the 1960s. However, for all its faults, this episode looks great and the Daleks themselves get some of their best scenes since the revival (Mark Gatiss really captures the subtler, more scheming Daleks from 'Power' really well; it's a real shame he hasn't written another Dalek story since as he clearly has a feel for them few other writers have). The 11th Dr and Amy do really well out of this story, with lots of characterisation in only their third story together that really cements what a great team they are (all the more impressive given that neither had been cast when this script was written). Overall, then, 'Victory' loses some battles along the way but ultimately still wins the war - just.

Positives + This episode was filmed in as many authentic locations as possible, including Brackla Bunker in Bridgend. The painstakingly accurate re-creation of Churchill's war room in a TV studio in Wales is especially impressive and the re-creation of the night sky over London lit up before a Luftwaffe invasion is a triumph for the FX department, even more so than the similar scene in 'The Empty Child'.

Negatives - The plot resolution hinges on the time-old 'appealing to the conscience of the human patsy the baddies have been using' device. Given the threat the Daleks have been built into this episode that all seems awfully easy. It's as if we go straight from the (rather good) cliffhanger of a 2 parter in the olden days into the final scene without a break.