Don't be fooled by the name!

Written by - Kit Pedler and Gerry Davis Director - Morris Barry Producer - Peter Bryant

Episode Two

(“It’s obviously an opening device of some kind, Doctor.” - Klieg to the Doctor, about the controls in the Cybermen’s tomb and him playing with it. )

Likes

- The Doctor being the Doctor and figuring things out by not panicking like the rest.

- Victoria liking the Cybermat after she found it on the floor and just picking it right up, thinking it a fossil.  Yes, I like seeing girls not being scared of bug like things.  And being interested in fossils too for that matter.

- Toberman actually speaking more than one word with his deep booming voice.  He seemed to have a lot more character this episode.

- Victoria having no problems whatsoever staying right where she is instead of going back to the safety of the TARDIS. 

- Toberman totally being accused by the Doctor about sabotaging the ship to get him to let him go. heh. 

- Victoria being pissed off she can’t be part of the adventure, only to be given the job of watching the obvious bad guy woman who is obvious.  She’s brave when she wants to be, Victoria is.

- Victoria shooting that Cybermat dead in one shot.  Hell yes, girl.  You go.

- Kaftan totally getting attacked by the Cybermat she refused to believe was truly there and an enemy because she’s too busy threatening Victoria to believe her.  Hah!

- Victoria, realising she can’t do anything to help the others because she doesn’t know the controls immediately goes to get help from the crew working on the spaceship.

- Klieg totally realising what a bad mistake he made at the end (he won’t learn anything from it, because crazy, but eh.)

Dislikes

- Oh yeah, roll dead Pete, the guy who died at the end of the last episode over to show he was shot in the back…only to show that there is no way of seeing he was shot at all, not even a singe on his clothes to be seen.  It blew a dummy Cyberman’s head right off, and there isn’t even a hole in his clothes.

- No, seriously, when a non American can tell your American accents are horrible, you’ve got a problem.

- Uh, okay, the physical assault is strong in this one when it comes to Toberman. 

- Klieg. Just…uuuugh, I really don’t like him.

- Victoria, you had one job, you turned your back and you immediately are drugged unconscious. 

- Pfff, Viner was shot on the side and immediately grabbed at his chest as he died.  Did the shot give him a heart attack or did he just grab there, because it was easier than grabbing at his side?

- Okay, while I do like Victoria going for help with the latch immediately, I don’t like that she put the gun down first.  No, Victoria, keep the gun on you.

Awesome

- That weapon the Cybermen were using the dummy Cyberman on looked awesome. 

- I for one think the design of the tomb is great! 

- The sound effects of water dripping when the heat is turned back on in the tomb.

- The Cybermen music to the scene of the Cybermen breaking out of their honeycomb tombs.  The entire sequence is awesome.

Shitty

- Putting this one on the shitty list though it’s not an actual prop or set or sound effect, but the complete lack of us seeing any of this spaceship.  We don’t even get to see it?  I for one feel ripped off, especially given how important it is in this episode.

- Just how fast the ice is melted on the tombs.  

In Conclusion

I would consider this a normal episode up until going down into the tombs and then it just goes awesome.  Yeah, I like the Cybermen over the Daleks. 

I loved the sequence of the Cybermen getting out of their tombs and it kind of looking like they are birthing their way into the living world once again.  The shot of the Cybermen when they’re climbing down and we just get to watch that for a bit was effective to me.  We know the Cybermen are already highly intelligent, so we know Klieg’s plan is going to fail, because the Cybermen will just add their intelligence to their own. 

I also like the new way the Cybermen speak with the mouth piece falling away into blank open slotted nothingness so they can talk and closing back up once they’re silent. It’s freaky and awesome as a design and I prefer it over lights or just opening a mouth that still looks like a mouth. Makes them look a lot more robotic, but we know and it was stated in the episode, they are not robots.  They’re us, without emotion.  Totally logical, unfeeling versions of us.

Yeah.  I enjoyed this. 

Ah, season 4.  We have now lost One, but moved on the lovely Two. We have gone from old man to young and silly man.  And it’s great!  I love Two.

And yet this season is hard to watch.   Not because it’s bad, as it definitely isn’t that.  No, it’s because the majority of it is lost and needs to be animated. Thankfully quite a few now have been animated.  The ones that aren’t we still have the recons for which is always a good thing too, as I have trouble just listening to audio. 

My favourites are The Tenth Planet for One and The Evil of the Daleks for Two.  My least favourites are The Smugglers for One and The Underwater menace for Two.  I cannot stand The Smugglers and Underwater Menace is just meh.  So, yeah, all up it’s a good season, it’s just a shame a  lot of it is missing.

Onto Companion thoughts. By order of leaving and then joining. So the order is Ben, Polly, Jamie, Victoria.  Then for my thoughts on the Doctor. 

Ben

Ben is probably my least favourite male companion in Classic.  I say this because I can’t remember a thing about Kamelion apart from robot.  Yeah…

I don’t particularly like how he talks about Polly half the time, calling her Duchess and saying things like she can’t do the men’s work.  I know Jamie did this sometimes too, but he doesn’t come off as bad as Ben did. As it is, Polly could probably kick his ass into oblivion.  So, yeah, I wasn’t too keen on Ben.  He’s better than I remember from the first time around, but still not anywhere in my list of favourites.

Especially since he is supposed to be the action man and ended up half the time being the damsel in distress…

He left because right time, right place and NAVY!!!  He can go back to actual sea now, whoo!  Good luck with that, mate.  No, but seriously I like the way he left. 

Polly

I love Polly, she is my fashion queen!  She’s strong and kind and funny.  She has a job waiting for her and parties to enjoy.  She gets shit done, while also liking to relax, which is a nice change. She can make friends anywhere with her easy going attitude but will step up and fight if she is needed to.  She gets herself out of trouble half the time she is in it because she is alone and isn’t going to wait for someone to get her out of it. 

Also, kudos to being equal to Barbara in female companions not leaving for a man, or from death.  She leaves because it’s her time and her place and she wants to get back to her life now thanks.  She might stay with Ben, but that’s more for moral support and as a friend than anything shipping related (I don’t ship Ben and Polly.)  And she had a lovely send off with Ben. 

Jamie

I love Jamie too.  He’s such a nice lad.  He tries to respect the ladies, even if he slips every now and then. He’s fun.  He loves the people he is close with loyally and with his life if need be.  He will defend anything he believes in and cares for.  He isn’t afraid of gong off at the Doctor if he sees the Doctor dong things he thinks are bad or wrong. 

Jamie is young and energetic and full of life.  And I dread him leaving, because it is just…why, show?  Why?  Thankfully that is a long way away.

Victoria

I like Victoria. Unpopular opinion is unpopular here but…the first time I watched this, I remember liking her more than Zoe. Yeah.  She’s young, she has been through some shit.  She just lost all her family with the death of her father, but the Doctor has taken her on as a surrogate.

And yet, I don; see her as one of the young teen characters like Susan and Vicki were.  I don’t know why either, since I am guessing she is meant to be in her late teens and not yet in her 20’s.  Am I wrong?  I could be wrong.

It’s probably the way we meet her.  She is of a good family with money.  She is not afraid to try new things though and is a rebel in small ways.

She is a good and kind person to the people she sees as friends too.  Which is always a good thing in this show. 

The Doctor

Ah One, goodbye One. He went out a big damn hero, especially considering where he started his journey. But I have already had an entry talking about One, and this isn’t about him at all. 

This is about the Doctor as he is in season 4, which ended One’s run and gave us Two.  Ah Two.

I love Two.  He is weird and fun and silly.  He will play the recorder to clean his head, even though it annoys everyone in the room with him.  He will laugh his way through life, even if everything around him is the furthest thing from funny.

He still hates goodbyes, but will at least face his companions and say it to their faces as they leave.  Even as it breaks his heart and he has to comfort Jamie afterwards instead of the companions left behind having to comfort him.  That’s a nice change. 

Two also can do his own fighting now, so doesn’t need the action man as a key part of his companions anymore.  Which opens up team dynamics in whole new ways.  He’s more team Dad now, than team Grandpa. 

He still leans on his companions though, for support and friendship and company, but they can now lean on him for the same thing.  He’s no longer dependent on them as a helper so he can get things done because of his body’s age.   Something he…never really needs again, as he is never as frail as he was when he was One.

So far, I have greatly enjoyed him on his run, and will continue to do so until he is gone and Three takes over.

Same rules apply as they have for the other three.  First number is individual kills, the second number is genocides.   Yep, multiple.  I count ones they are involved in.  I think this is the lowest kill count the Doctor has had in this.  Okay, no, this is basically the Doctor’s norm actually.  And he was less a killing machine in season 1.  Huh, who knew?

Ben and Barbara are winning for most kills in a season, with 8 and 1 genocide each.

Written by – David Whitaker           Director – Derek Martinus           Producer – Innes Lloyd

Episode Seven

(“Five lives against a whole planet.  Well, it isn’t a choice, is it?” - The Doctor to Victoria about how he would sacrifice everyone in the room including her, himself and Jamie, rather than do as the Daleks want.  Victoria agrees with him.)

Likes

- The Doctor playing his recorder again.  I like when the Doctor plays on things.  Instruments. Spoons.  Things.  Two uses the music to help him think.  I like that, a lot. 

- The Doctor wondering what the heck the Daleks were doing promising to give someone like Maxtible the secret to transmutation in the first place.  It’s the important questions.

- Jamie flat out telling Maxtible going near him repulses him.  Yes, Jamie.  I feel the exact same way.

- Victoria being a good voice of reason.  Yes, girl. I like you. 

- Alpha, Beta and Omega just questioning things and doing what they want.  Yes, you go my little Dalek babies.

- Dalek humans and human Daleks.  …Maxtible is much more likeable like this.  Still a huge dick, but at least he has a reason to be one now.

- The Doctor changing the Dalek factor with the Human factor, right in front of Dalek Maxtible.  Then making Daleks walk through it, hehehehe.  Nice trick there, Doctor, nice trick.

- Dizzy, dizzy Daleks, hee!

Dislikes

- Uuuugh, shut up Maxtible.  You’d kill your own daughter, Ruth to get gold. 

- Wait…I am sure I didn’t miss anything.  When did the Doctor, Jamie an  Waterfield get to the room with Maxtible, Victoria and Kemel?

- Is…is Kemel being given orders to kill?  Or is Maxtible and the Daleks saying kill TO Kemel?  So unsure…Kemel died so guessing it was the latter….?

Awesome

- Dalek sound effects right off the bat, yeees.

- The Dalek emperor. I just really like the design and the room setting its in. 

Shitty

- It’s missing

- Bad recon. 

- There were parts of this that had action but not much in the way of speaking, so you just get the sound of people walking and sound effects of the Dalek city.  Makes it hard to know what is really going on.

In Conclusion

I didn’t actually write a lot for this episode.  Mainly because it was filled with a lot of fighting Daleks and that’s about it, when it isn’t the humans fighting each other.  It’s just…very confusing some of the time to know what is going on, because of the recons being unclear for me.  Which is a damn shame.

Still, I really enjoyed it regardless of that. 

Body count - A shit ton of Daleks by other Daleks.  Dalek Civil War.  Waterfield died by Dalek too, when he saved the Doctor by pushing him out of the line of fire.  Kemel by Maxtible, for following him when called.  Just…why? 

The Evil of the Daleks as a Whole

In case it wasn’t clear, I really enjoy The Evil of the Daleks a whole lot.  It’s got a villain I hate.  It’s got side characters that I love.  It’s got the Doctor and Jamie fighting over moral differences that aren’t for the most part actually there.  It’s got anachronisms with Waterfield in the first 2 episodes which I loved. 

It gives us the new companion too in Victoria.  it gives us the first human Daleks and the first Dalek humans.  It gives us the Dalek Emperor. 

It also gave us two characters that were pretty much useless but Ruth Maxtible and Arthur Terrall can be totally forgotten about the moment they leave.  Too bad they take Mollie with them, haha.

Also Maxtible’s first name is Theodore.  Waterfield’s is Edward.  You know, just in case people miss these things.  They are almost always called their last names in the episodes, though not always. 

Highly enjoyable, but those who can’t watch the recons will never get through it.  Which is the real shame here.  I hope this one is soon made into animated form.  I will so watch it again as an animation.  I would definitely highly recommend people at least listen to this one.

Written by – David Whitaker         Director – Derek Martinus         Producer – Innes Lloyd

Episode Six

(“Without knowing, you have shown the Daleks what their own strength is!” - The Dalek Emperor to the Doctor, Jamie and Waterfield. Letting them know that along with the human factor, they were given their own code for the Dalek factor too.)

Likes

- Alpha, Beta and Omega playing with the Doctor.  Just…Alpha, Beta and Omega.  They’re just so damn cute!  They’re like human children.  And it’s fun to listen to.  It would be even better to watch it properly.  Too bad this isn’t the next one being animated (It so should be…)

- The Doctor introducing Jamie as a friend and then explaining what a friend is.  It’s the small things that turn out to be huge, important things. 

- How much care and love Waterfield obviously has for his daughter.  She’s freed from her prison in the house, but he can’t find her and starts freaking out, and he’s right to.  You go be a good father, man, be a good father.

- Haha, I forgot the Daleks had time machines of their own.  Wait, if they’re using a Dalek one, where’s the TARDIS?  Is she on Skaro?  Still, I like that the people writing this remembered the Dalek time machines.  I always remember their ships and forget those XD

- Kemel is the sweetest man to his friends in this and I love him dearly for it.

- Victoria wanting to protect Kemel and Kemel doing the same back to her.  Yes.  Look at this beautiful thing called friendship and loyalty. 

- Victoria knows nothing about where she is and almost nothing about the Daleks but is still willing to fight her way out if necessary.  Yes. No damsel in distress for this lady.

- The Doctor knowing the imposter Omega wasn’t the real Omega.  Because he knows his own mark.  He knows his babies.  Nothing will stop him from knowing his own creations.  Yes, I like this.

- Dalek Emperor. Yes.  You can tell he’s the boss by his BIG balls.  Dalek boobs…er, I mean bumps.  Dalek bumps.  

Dislikes

- Umm, Jamie, what happened to your awesome friendship with Kemel at the start there?  Does he suddenly not matter?  It’s all Oh no, we forgot about Victoria!!  Too bad for the poor mute Turk you made friends with, huh?

- So, have I mentioned anytime in the past how much I don’t like Maxtible?  I think it might have been said a few times by now.  Yeah.  You know, it would probably be easier for you to go out and pan for your own gold. Just….uuuuugh.

- Wait…did Maxtible say dear me only two minutes, or dear me 82 minutes?  I was…so unsure when it was said.  It was 2 minutes but it didn’t sound like it.

- Skaros is not the name of the Dalek planet.  Maxtible, get it right.

- Not a sound the Doctor says, as he makes noise with his mouth that turns out to be speaking. Doctor, follow your own advice XD

- Did the Daleks just call the Doctor human?  They were doing so damn well, too.

Awesome

- I really wish we could get a better look of this lab.  Seriously, it looks like such a great set.

- Maxtible’s outfit. He went off world in style XD

- I wish we could see that path, especially from the top don angle it looks like they did from the telesnaps.  That would be a cool little set too.

- The Dalek planet music sounds like Dalek planet music.  Yay. 

- Dalek Emperor looks just as cool here as it did in the new series.  Still awesome.  

Shitty

- It’s missing!

- Bad recons. Just…why?

- Is it just me, or does the Dalek city, not look much like a Dalek city?

- Please, whoever is in charge of television EVER, stop having people talk over each other.  Especially if one of the ones doing the talking is a Dalek yelling things with a human man yelling things back.  It becomes a jumbled mess of noise and I can’t understand anything.

In Conclusion

Yes.  I got a bit confused on what the heck was going on in a few places, especially to do with Victoria and Maxtible in the same room together.  Usually when with Kemel, you know by the way the telesnaps show us his actions, or by Victoria explaining it sort of well to know what is going on between them, most of the time, even with one unable to speak. But when it came the what the heck Maxtible was doing when in a room with her I was lost.

And I still really like this episode even though the likes list is shorter and the dislikes list longer. Little things can bother me, but it doesn’t detract from the episode itself, which is a good thing!

I love Alpha, beta and Omega.  They are the fun, dizzy Daleks.  That play games, and have Doctor given names.  I also really like the Doctor being able to tell which ones are his or not, because of how different they are from other Daleks. 

I also really like anything to do with Victoria and Kemel protecting and looking out for each other, and how much her father clearly loves her and is trying to be a good father and get back to her. 

Still hate Maxtible. But at least in this episode he has style.  Look at that jaunty top hat and coat he wears, yes.  Also, I oddly like his glasses. 

One episode left of this one. Wow.  Then onto a kill count and season post.

Written by – David Whitaker           Director – Derek Martinus           Producer – Innes Lloyd

Part 7

(“I’ve given them all the human factor!” – The Doctor about switching over the Dalek factor into the human one making more Daleks with the human factor and starting a Dalek civil war.)

Likes

- How Alpha, Beta and Omega were used to their purpose.  They got the Daleks in a position in which a lot more began questioning, and it was done because of the Doctor making them.  Heee.  Too bad they died.

- The Doctor playing his recorder to be able to think more clearly.  Stimmy Doctor is best Doctor.

- The Doctor and Victoria’s conversation about the lives of the five of them not being worth that of the entire civilisation of Earth.

- The Doctor not being affected by either the human factor (he already had all those qualities) and the Dalek factor (which was set to work on humans only) it was stated earlier in the story that the Doctor is a) not from Earth, which was brought back up in this episode to Victoria.  And b) he wasn’t human himself (well, it was stated that he was more than human which is true XD)

- Dalek civil war started by the Doctor.  And once again he has the genocide of the Daleks notched onto his belt.    This time by using the experiment against the Emperor and the Black Daleks by changing the Daleks into ones with the human factor.

- Dizzy Daleks!

Dislikes

- I really disliked that Kemel immediately went to Maxtible and died because of it.  I knew he worked for Maxtible, but I didn’t know he was a thoughtless slave under hypnotism.  He was shown as being a lot better than that through 4 episodes.  This one really, really pissed me off.  It’s not only offensive to people who can’t speak and need to find other ways of communicating (Kemel had gestures and the written word), but also comes across as racist too (he was Turkish). 

- Fighting doesn’t come across well at all.  Why do they have to have such awesome sounding fights in lost episodes?

- Why exactly did the Dalek city explode like that?

Awesome

- The Dalek Emperor is seen from different angles in this one.

- The sound effects.

Shitty

- It’s missing.

- Bad recon.  Again there were a few shots that just didn’t make sense to me.

In Conclusion

Apart from a few points, I really liked the ending of this story.  I liked that the Doctor managed to get more Daleks questioning and that they realised that because they did, they will most likely die if they don’t defend themselves.

I like that Victoria is ready to question others and ask important questions.  She also will die if it means saving a lot of lives, which is pretty brave.

It slipped my mind completely, and I was honestly surprised by how Kemel died, because of the hypnotism used on him. 

And Waterfield got to go out a hero and made sure his daughter was safe before dying. 

Death count – 3 plus another genocide of the Daleks.  Waterfield is killed by the Daleks as he saves the Doctor’s life.  Kemel is killed by Maxtible, because Maxtible is an insane villain who is also part Dalek by this point.  And the Dalek Emperor goes here too for being a VIP.  He got killed by the human factor Daleks shooting him in his throne room.  Ad of course, the rest of the Daleks are killed as the city explodes for…unknown reasons.

The Evil of the Daleks as a Whole

I really enjoy this story.  The start with the mystery turned over to a Victorian adventure.  And ended on a different planet with an evil race of aliens we all know and hate dearly.

Written by – David Whitaker         Director – Derek Martinus         Producer – Innes Lloyd

Part 6

(“You will spread it through the entire history of Earth!” -The Dalek Emperor to the Doctor about the Dalek factor being used on humans.)

Likes

- Introduction of human Dalek hybrids.  Introduction of the Dalek Emperor.  Two very important things that most people know from New Who now.

- Alpha, Beta and Omega. I have no idea why, but these are the first three Daleks that not only have names, but don’t annoy the hell out of me when they speak.  I don’t know, the human factor makes them cute.

- Victoria asks some pretty damn good questions of Maxtible.  And, once she says she’d protect Kemel, he tells her that he can look after himself.  And then she notes she was silly for even thinking he couldn’t.

- Maxtible mucked up bad and is now going to suffer for it.  Suffer muahahaha.  He is still mad as, but at least he went back to being enjoyable for a bad guy.

- Love how even though he’s confused because of a knock on the head, Waterfield still had the idea of using the time machine to move them to Skaro instead of using the cabinet and got them out of the house a second before it was blown up.

Dislikes

- The part where the Daleks and Maxtible were talking over each other.  I could not understand a single word that was said by either the daleks or Maxtible during the scene, as it was just a gibberish mess.

- The Daleks making Maxtible and Victoria scream to get the attention of Jamie, the Doctor and Waterfield, knowing they’d try to help them.

Awesome

- I love that an episode on Skaro has the very Dalek background noises that were basically the same from The Daleks.  It’s really nice when they keep background continuation for sound effects. 

- The bomb.  Much more impressive than the one used in Dalek master Plan, which fell flat for me.  And much more effective for short ranges.  And Maxtible’s house is now gone.

- I really liked Maxtible’s outfit in this episode, especially that hat of his. 

- The Dalek Emperor. Look at that Dalek and his big Dalek brea…bumps.  He’s got the most impressive set of balls of any Dalek ever made XD

Shitty

- It’s missing.

- Some parts are incomprehensible.

- I couldn’t tell what some of the images were at all.  So, yeah, bad quality for some of this one, but not all.

In Conclusion

So much new stuff in this episode that is still relevant today.  It was done here first, folks! 

This episode flew by while I was watching it, which is odd, because apart from a few scenes throughout, it is probably my second least favourite.  Mostly that’s because some of the screen caps made no sense to me at all and it confused me to try to figure out what was going on.

Written by – David Whitaker       Director – Derek Martinus       Producer – Innes Lloyd

Episode Five

(“I can’t help feeling that there’s more in this than meets the eye” - The Doctor to Waterfield about his suspicions that the Dalek plan is more advanced than just making some super Daleks.)

Likes

- Oh my god, everyone just being Kemel’s friend is the most awesome thing.  Victoria takes one look at him and is like oh my dear friend!  and Jamie is like yeah, he’s an awesome friend. And I’m just sitting here going eeeeeeee! like a squeeing fan girl, because yes, I want to be his friend too.  I like how they all treat him well and with respect and like the adult he is, instead of an idiot child like Maxtible.  Fuck him. 

- “Well, they can’t get in and we can’t get out, so where does that leave us?” Ah, Jamie asking the important questions again XD  Also, this reminds me of Nine and Rose getting stuck in the cabinet room with Harriet Jones, M.P for Flydale North. 

- Terrall calling the Doctor like Edgar Allen Poe.  Just :D

- The Doctor just figuring things out by experimenting with everything around him.  Like swords.  Just…the Doctor in this is brilliant and I love him.  He cares for Jamie, he cares about humanity.  He cares for life and it shines in this episode.

- Okay, this episode actually made me feel sorry for Terrall.  Look at his reaction every time he tries to drink (and probably eat too).  Ouch.  And look how different he is when the control is broken.  He actually turns into a decent guy.  Too bad he is pretty much useless to the plot.

- Victoria.  She’s asking all the important questions that actually are important in this one.  She’s curious, she’s interested and she gets along well with Jamie and clearly cares for Kemel.  She bites the hand holding her mouth closed to scream for help too, and then frees herself.  Yes. 

- Hahaha, Mollie just walking in on Jamie and Terrall sword fighting in the corridors.  Too bad about the hypnotism, huh? 

- Jamie still being pissed off with the Doctor.  Hah, no, really he tells the Doctor they’re over because the Doctor is too much of a coward for him.  Lover’s spat.

- Fun, playful Daleks. I love these three Daleks with the human factor.  They’re cute and fun and you can’t say that about many Daleks.

Dislikes

- Doctor, really, you should NOT be drinking while on this mission.  Not with Daleks involved.  Wait until after they’re gone and then you can drink. 

- Wow,  you know hypnotizing someone into forgetting something might be a bit more effective if the thing they keep on being hypnotized to forget is not still in the house.  Wow, Maxtible, you are an idiot…

- Can’t be said enough. Fuck Maxtible. 

- A normal Dalek telling the Doctor to be careful.  It just feels so wrong.

- Yeah, Waterfield, it’s a little too late to suddenly decide the plan should be stopped.

Awesome

- Again, the music is on point in this serial. 

- Secret passageway are awesome.  Wish I could actually see it…

- Victoria’s dress.

- That lab still looks like an awesome set.  

Shitty

- It’s missing, damn it.

- Bad quality recons…

- Ugh, I want to be able to see this fight between Jamie and Terrall…No, seriously give me more sword fighting Jamie, please.  

In Conclusion

Didn’t say as much as I usually do nowadays did I?  I got stuck into watching this episode, haha.  Especially after Terrall and Ruth leave.  The only problem with them leaving is that they apparently took Mollie with them. No.

I still say Terrall and Ruth were completely unneeded.  You have Maxtible’s hypnotism as a good enough reason for everything else.  Why bother adding in 2 characters just to get a sub plot in there about the Dalek’s controlling humans through little boxes?

Apart from that, I really enjoyed this episode.  Jamie is smart, Victoria is smart, Kemel is loved by all except Maxtible, but fuck him.  Maxtible gives the reason of how Victoria was taken in the first place, which is nice to know. 

Oh, and we get three Daleks who are like human children and are great.  Yes, can’t wait for next episode. 

Also, I have never sworn so much as I have in writing these episode reviews for the Evil of the Daleks because of Maxtible.  Huh, sorry for that.  I just really don’t like him.

Written by – David Whitaker       Director – Derek Martinus       Producer – Innes Lloyd

Part 5

(“I am not a student of human nature.  I am a professor of a far wider academy of which human nature is merely a part.  All forms of life interest me.” – The Doctor to Terrall about his love of life and the universe.)

Likes

- I like that Victoria was hypnotised into being captured and wasn’t just taken screaming away.  I also liked that when it was a good idea to scream, she tried to get help by doing so, even biting the hand over her mouth to do so.  It was a bit late and she had already been taken from the room but she isn’t completely helpless, getting away from Terrall.

- That Kemel is treated like a human being that just happens to be missing the ability to speak. He’s known as a friend to both Jamie and Victoria who treat him like an adult.  It’s only been Maxtible so far that treats him like an invalidated child for not being able to speak.

- Daleks playing games for fun is actually pretty fun for a cliffhanger, and adds an odd note to the end of the episode.

- I liked Maxtible a lot more in this episode.  I liked the added hypnotism aspect to his character.  Poor Molly gets what happened to her last episode forgotten.

- Ruth being there when Terrall’s mind control was broken and her fiancé came back to his senses. It must have been horrible for her to see him acting in such a bad and callous way, not only towards Molly, but Jamie too.

- The Doctor. Just…the Doctor.  His love of life, his curiosity about the experiment and what would happen, his loyalty and love for Jamie. 

Dislikes

- I don’t like that Kemel and Victoria ended up stuck in the cupboard and were never seen again by the end of the episode.  What are they doing in there?  How do they all fit in a cupboard unless it is bigger on the inside like the TARDIS?

- Fight scenes do not work. I wanted to see Jamie sword fighting Terrall.

Awesome

- Such a shame we can’t see this house clearly with the telesnaps, because it looks gorgeous in this episode. 

- The music is still much love.

- Positronic brains for three lucky Daleks, which have good human emotions included.  Nice.  Wish we could see these props better. 

Shitty

- Missing.  Whyyyyyy?

- Bad recon, though this one was easier to follow than the last two episodes.

- What does the control box on Terrall’s collar look like?  I don’t think I got a look at it at all.

In Conclusion

Things are really beginning to come together in this episode.

The experiment has started, with three Daleks now infused with human emotions.  Victoria has a bit more to do, though ends the episode on a low note stuck in a cupboard.  The Doctor working his experiment all night with no sleep and has a drink and is excited and happy.  Terrall, Ruth and Molly are rescued and get the hell out.  I’m actually glad that they survived and made their escape. Especially Molly.  Also glad that Ruth is so good at taking charge for a non fighting character.

Written by – David Whitaker     Director – Derek Martinus     Producer – Innes Lloyd

Episode Four

(“How many people should die, so my daughter shall live?” - Waterfield to Maxtible, feeling guilty about the deaths that are happening around him.)

Likes

- Haha first words to appear as what is happening in the scene were Kemel pulled Jamie into a bear hug. Yes, Jamie, hug the poor man who has been abused by his handler.  Hug him back, he needs the love.

- Jamie finding a sword and immediately arming himself.  Yes, good thinking.

- Jamie, not wanting to see Kemel falling to his death from the roof, helps him back up to safety. This is a guy who two seconds ago was trying to kill him.  Jamie, you are a good one.  Never stop being you.

- Kemel saving Jamie’s life in return.  And a friendship is born.

- I feel so sorry for poor Waterfield.  He’s trying so hard and doesn’t see any way out of his current situation, but boy will he try, preferably while holding onto his morals. 

- Waterfield ready to confess to what has happened to the police as soon as he has Victoria. Seriously, this guy is kind and has morals and they are being trampled all over by not only the Daleks, but Maxtible too, who doesn’t give a shit about anything but his experiments.

- Jamie not giving a shit that Kemel can’t talk, because he sees Kemel as a good man and that’s all that matters.  Yes, Jamie, yes.  This is the right attitude to have. 

- Kemel proving he isn’t stupid by being able to write and understand English, something that Maxtible said he was very simple in just last episode.  Funny how he doesn’t have any problems understanding a damn thing Jamie says, or answering him back in non verbal ways.  Communication is a beautiful thing. 

- Waterfield understanding that he is partially to blame for the murders by keeping silent.  He’s an accomplice and is obstructing justice. A crime.

- Maxtible getting beat up by a Dalek for talking back to it.  Hahaha, yes.  

Dislikes

- It took an absurdly long time for Kemel to recover from Jamie pushing him to the floor. Just…this guy is super strong and buff.  Why did it take him so long to recover?  Oh yeah, so Jamie could get to the next room without having to fight him.

- Yeah, I want Maxtible to die.  I really don’t like him. 

- Can I have Maxtible as a person on here again?  No reason other than he is a despicable human being and I don’t like him and that point is so important it just needed to be said twice.

- …Umm, was it Terrall or Maxtible that started saying “You will obey!” to the other? I wasn’t clear on that. 

- Wait…how do you get a huge metal ball inside a light and still have the light work? Am I misunderstanding something here?

- How did the Daleks get Victoria into that room?  Seriously, how?  As far as I see, there isn’t even any stairs for her to climb up, let alone the Daleks going with her because they can’t fly yet.  Just…what.

- Who dared hurt Mollie?! Was that Terrall?!  Ruth was saying about the two of them running off together, so I guess it was Terrall, who is her fiancé.

- Maxtible working with the Daleks voluntarily because they promised to give him the secrets of transmutation and turning metal into gold.  Okay, my dude.  You’re insane, but okay.

Awesome

- The music. Just…it’s on point in this story.

- The machines the Doctor is using for the human factor for the Daleks.  I don’t know, it makes weird noises, but I just really like the look of it, when we get clear pictures of it.  Reminds me a bit of some controls in Star Trek TOS. 

- I like the balcony/landing set of where Victoria was kept, even if it makes no sense from the outside.  

Shitty

- It’s missing

- Bad recons. Why? 

- It gets really confusing to understand what is happening if there are no words telling us, because this episode, outside the music is really quiet.  Seriously, except for the repeat of the last few seconds of the third episode with Jamie’s “Hello, who are you” barely anything is said until well into 5 minutes in.  

In Conclusion

Apart from the rather long list of dislikes, I actually really enjoyed this episode.  I like Kemel and Jamie basically saying fuck it, let’s be friends.  I like how pissed off Victoria is of doing the same thing over and over again and yelling at the Daleks for it.  I like the Doctor explaining emotions and why Jamie and Kemel act the way they do. 

I love Waterfield’s morality shining through and that as soon as the mess is over he plans on turning himself in for the murders that have been committed, because he doesn’t like not being held accountable since it is partially on him they are dead. And he gets that and is willing to go to jail for it. 

And yeah, if it wasn’t very obvious by now, I really don’t like Maxtible.  I don’t remember not liking him this much the first time. Wow.  Also, I read my old version posts after posting the new and…did I seriously believe that I liked the  so called mystery of Terrall for the last episode?  Past me, you suck and have terrible taste.

Terrall and Ruth are basically there to have other characters be there.  The show could go on just as well if neither of them existed.

Looking forward to watching next episode again.

Written by – David Whitaker     Director – Derek Martinus     Producer – Innes Lloyd

Part Four

(“If you want the human factor, a part of it must include mercy.” – The Doctor to the Daleks.)

Likes

- The Doctor doing science is always good to see.

- That this episode makes it clear that Kemel isn’t actually low in intelligence.  He can read and write and understand English.  He more than likely knows more than one language, as English isn’t his original language.  He just can’t speak.  He gets his point across in written words and gestures enough that he is able to communicate well with Jamie that the two barely need words anyway, which is awesome.

- That Jamie doesn’t think Kemel dumb at all. 

- I like Ruth going totally off at Terrall for his attitude while under control of the Daleks and goes to confront her father over his bad behaviour.  I think she is beginning to think dear daddy is insane.  And, yeah, Maxtible is totally acting that way.

- The Doctor telling the Daleks about human emotions, senses and instinct as they watch Jamie on his mission to save Victoria.

- Waterfield totally cracking under the pressure and totally meaning it when he says that he and Maxtible are completely just as guilty over the deaths of two men as the Daleks by working with the Daleks.  He wants to turn himself in for murder as soon as it is over.  I wanna hug this man.

Dislikes

- Action scenes just do not work in recons, which sucks.  I can’t even see the trap that dropped in one of the rooms.  I would have liked to have seen the fight between Jamie and Kemel.

- Are there or are there not stairs up to the room Victoria is in?  I cannot tell.  And for that matter, how did the rope get tied to the landing they climbed up? 

- Maxtible is going crazy. In an annoying way.  All this for the secret of transmutation?  Why?  Is it worth the lives of all these people, plus your own? 

- I don’t like Terrall going off at poor Molly. 

Awesome

- I really love the music in this story. 

- Science equipment in the lab and the lab itself. 

Shitty

- It’s missing.

- Bad recon.

- How did the Daleks get Victoria up to that room to begin with?  At this stage, they can’t fly yet, which mean no use of stairs or levitation. What.

In Conclusion

I liked this episode a lot.  I just wish I could have seen the fight, as it makes no sense in a recon. 

Victoria is being used badly here though, and thankfully she will be used a lot more and a lot better starting with the next episode, as she is now with Jamie and Kemel.

The mystery of Terrall is not so much a mystery anymore to the audience.  It is definitely Dalek control, as he is being used as some sort of human vehicle for their messages when they can’t be somewhere themselves. And it is making him into a bad person, which kind of sucks, because I don’t think Terrall is a bad person.

Loving the friendship between Jamie and Kemel. 

And the Doctor getting to give out lessons on human behaviour and senses to Daleks really starts here. And the Doctor gets to speak to the Daleks about mercy.  Something they don’t even know they have heheheh.

Written by – David Whitaker   Director – Derek Martinus   Producer – Innes Lloyd

Episode Three

(“If I agree, it means the creation of a race of super Daleks.” - The Doctor to Maxtible and Waterfield about why he doesn’t want the Human Factor testing to happen.)

Likes

- The Doctor just outright admitting to Jamie he was listening to the conversation he had with Terrall.  Just.  Doctor, you sneak. 

- Victoria asking questions.  Yes, learn what you can of your circumstances, Victoria. 

- Kemel!  I love him as a character.  Can’t say that about many mute characters, but he just has so much personality without saying a word. 

- Maxtible saying Jamie is evil and a cutthroat and other bad things…with the sweetest picture of Jamie ever as what he shows Kemel.  Just….these two things do not compute.  I mean, it’s so unbelievable even Kemel, the supposed dumb idiot can see through it after a fight.

- Booby traps!  Hah, I love that they think Jamie is such a fierce opponent they booby trapped the house to stop him.  Yes, fear the wrath of a Scot on a mission.

- I really like Mollie. Look at her giggling away at Jamie trying to get her to call him by his name and not Sir.  It’s so cute and fun and optimistic in a story that doesn’t have much of that in it right now.  Yes. 

- Weird to put on the likes but….The Doctor and Jamie’s first lover’s spat.  Look at Jamie go.  He’s jealous of the TARDIS, he’s sure that everyone is willing to sit back and watch this Victoria chick be captured with no help and he hasn’t seen a Dalek and so has no idea if they’re actually there or not or just something used to lie to him.  Poor Jamie. Also it was beautifully manipulated by the Doctor.  Sometimes it works for me, sometimes it doesn’t.  It works here.  I think anyway.

- Jamie telling Mollie he is going hunting after ghosties.  Just, hah.  She told him about the house being haunted, and now he is telling her back he wants to see the ghosts.  Nice plan.

Dislikes

- …Who even is Terrall? Was he in the other episodes?  If so, it’s news to me.  He seems just as useless as Ruth in just turning up for yet another character to be there.  Why are these two characters even here?

- Okay, so Victoria asks a good question about what was happening to her and if she was being moved and got no answer.  When she then asks another question about if she was going to go to her father, the Dalek answers no, that she is being moved.  I’m sitting here thinking “Well, DUH, she already figured that out.”

- Don’t call Kemel dumb. He’s a great character.  Speaking of Kemel…why did he strip to bend the bar?  Was he seriously taught he had to strip off his shirt to show off his strength? Yeah, I don’t like Maxtible.  I am expecting Maxtble to give him candy as a treat after every trick he does… Fuck people like this.  Fuck them.

- Ruth…why should Jamie be friends with Terrall just to please you?  He has met you once for about two seconds.  Just…what.

Awesome

- I wish we got a better look at the set of where Victoria was being kept.  It looks like a nice set.

- The music with Victoria.

- The bubbling noises of the beakers in the lab.  Nice little sound effect there.

Shitty

- It’s missing.

- Bad recon. Just…so bad.

- That noise they used to stop mind controlling Terrall, just ow.

- Why do the spikes not go all the way down?  

In Conclusion

More not to like in this episode, but the likes definitely make up for them.  A fun episode, with a Doctor/Jamie fight that makes sense, the Doctor being manipulative and helping Victoria by doing so.  I still feel sorry for poor Waterfield and really don’t like Maxtible.

Victoria is asking the important questions, Kemel rocks and nothing can change my mind about that. Mollie is still a ray of light in an otherwise dark house.  You go girl, giggle your way through life’s troubles.

Oh, also Ruth and Terrall are pointless and bring nothing to the story, except a person to plan a kidnap of Jamie.  Who was found minutes afterwards.

Written by – David Whitaker   Director – Derek Martinus   Producer – Innes Lloyd

Part 3

(“Do not be scared. You will not be exterminated.” – A Dalek to Victoria, as they have other plans for her and are moving her into position.)

Likes

I feel sorry for Terrall. Looks like he’s being controlled by the Daleks or something, and every now and then the programming gets mucked with and he can ask the real questions.  He’s interesting.

The Doctor and Jamie fighting so that Jamie doesn’t know he’s being used.  Jamie jut goes off at the Doctor because he overheard the Doctor talking with others.  And he refused to be used.  It’s a huge mess but, like Jamie said, the Doctor just can’t leave his TARDIS with the Daleks. 

Kemel has awesome strength.  It would have been nice to have seen him bend that bar in motion.  Ah well.

The cliffhanger. That is a nice cliff-hanger. 

I like how everything fell into place so that, regardless of what the Doctor said, Jamie probably would have gone looking for Victoria on his own anyway.   And he wanted to take Molly with him. 

Molly.  She’s not courageous.  She’s not smart.  Hell, she is a bit too giggly.  But she still shows Jamie around at night in a house known to be haunted.  And that in itself makes her totally awesome.  That and she’s cute with Jamie.

The Daleks trying to infuse humans into their DNA so that they can conquer humanity.  Done here first.  Awesome.

Dislikes

It dragged a bit in the middle, when it was just people milling about and moving rooms and talking. Nothing much happened in the middle.

I don’t like the whole so strong he’s dumb thing going on with Kemel.  That is very offensive in several ways.  Not to mention clichéd.

I don’t much like Toby either.  Just a two bit thug who dies over not being paid a half guinea.

Awesome

I really like the music in this episode.  Especially when it is in Victoria’s part.  She gets some nice music to go with her.

The background noise effects.  There is birdsong all the way through it when people are near windows or doors outside. It’s nice.  Makes it feel like a manor house out in the country.  Which it is, I think…

Love the lab room set.

Shitty

It’s missing.

Bad recon quality. You needed the scripts of background info that appear during quiet moments to know what is going on and they were blurry from the picture quality.

Why do the spikes only go so far down?  Should have had them go all the way to the ground.  Then Jamie would have had to have either looked for the switch to reset them, or look for another way in.  But, nope, they stop short and he can simply duck under them.  What challenge is that?!  So, yeah, I really didn’t like the spikes on the door.

In Conclusion

Okay, got to ask. How come a story with no Daleks got the Dalek music and this one with Daleks in it barely uses their theme at all.

Except for a bit in the middle which started to drag slightly this was a good episode.  A shame that it is basically all of Victoria’s part and some scenes before and after, that begin to drag.  This is a poor way of introducing a new companion.  Making her the damsel in distress.  Boo.

Last episode she was fighting the power by feeding birds and starving herself.  This episode she…stops for half a second to peer outside a window.  Poor Victoria has absolutely nothing to do except wait for rescue this episode.

The others more than make up for the slow start for Victoria though.  Terrall is immediately introduced as a mystery, which is interesting. The Doctor and Jamie have this huge fight which makes me both grin like an idiot and feel sorry for Jamie who has no idea what is going on, because he is always missing the action so far. He’s just run into some action of his own in different ways though. 

The Doctor worrying endlessly over the TARDIS is much love too

Looking forward to the next part!   

Written by – David Whitaker Director – Derek Martinus Producer – Innes Lloyd

Episode Two

(“If we cannot find Jamie, the Daleks will take pleasure in killing everyone in sight.  And their greatest pleasure will be in killing me.” - The Doctor to Waterfield about what the Daleks will do if they don’t get what they want.)

Likes

- The Doctor telling Jamie not to knock into anything and Jamie immediately knocking into something after he said it.

- Waterfield.  I just feel so bad for him being stuck doing things he doesn’t want to for Daleks who have his daughter captive…poor man.

- Pfff, Perry’s name being Keith and that being the name on the business card.  Ooops there, Doctor. 

- Jamie just grabbing onto Perry so he doesn’t go running off and them all walking into the dark mystery of a door opening all on its own. 

- Jamie cautiously touching the teleporter while the Doctor just climbs all over it.  Yes, Jamie, be cautious of new things. 

- Perry is so confused, poor chap.  I like him in his little part in this episode. 

- The Doctor having to think for a second when he hears Molly say the Master.  After thinking it was the Master, he thought of Waterfield, only to find out, no it’s Maxtible.  So many Master’s :P

- Victoria rebelling against Daleks the only way she can.  By starving herself and feeding the birds, even though that is against what she is told to do.  Yes, be a rebel.

- Maxtible using the fire of a bunsen burner to light his cigar.  Hah, nice.

- The Daleks using Jamie for their experiment for the human factor and not the Doctor.  The Daleks are smarter than humans it seems, who keep mistaking he Doctor for a human XD

Dislikes

- I don’t like Maxtible. Pretty sure I didn’t like him before either.  That man is terrifying.

- Victoria, I feel your pain.  The Daleks are cruel and torture you with sound.

- What is with the constant remarks of Victoria looking just like her mother?  What, can she not be her own person because she does? 

- Jamie being in so little of the episode and after getting up and finding out where he is immediately getting clobbered on the head by…a thief? 

- What the heck did Molly do to the thief guy?  Just…what? I like her.  She’s upbeat and flirty with Jamie and its great.  She’s the good kind of flirt.  Unlike Sam in the last story.

- Ummm…what was the point of introducing Ruth?  Apart from being the daughter of Theodore, there’s nothing there but her being a Maxtible. I will just think of her as the spare.

- Wait…how do the Daleks have a picture of Jamie?  Is it from the Doctor’s future?  Because I am pretty sure the last the Daleks were in the show, Ben and Polly were with them, but Jamie wasn’t.  Huh.  Time travel.

Awesome

- Bird song for the Doctor and Jamie to wake up to.  That’s nice.

- Victoria’s dress.

- Maxtible’s lab. Nice set.

Shitty

- You know how i said in the first episode I loved the music?  Well, the music may be awesome, but that high pitched biiiiing noise at the start during the Dalek scene hurt my ears so damn much…also it sounded more like the Doctor Who theme song than it does the Dalek music.

- The noise of the weight machine Victoria is forced into by Daleks, holy shit that is ear-splitting.

- Speaking of that weight machine.  The future is calling, they want it for reality tv shows.  

In Conclusion

I really enjoyed this episode, but for a few things.  Quite a few which are just nitpicking.  So much fun. You find out a bit of the Dalek plans. And that Jamie is to be their human experimental lab rat so is needed alive.  

 Ruth seemed like a waste of a character, but apart from that, evryone has their place.  I say I wish Jamie was in it more, but we will get plenty of him in the rest of the story. 

This one is so much better with context, especially that first episode. 

Next episode and the rest of this story will prove interesting to me and then season 4 is finished *gasp!* Yep, it’s happening.  After a very, very long time.

they have a policy of non-interference; with more power than any other species in the galaxy, they have the ability to help, and they don’t. they lurk on gallifrey with huge libraries of unread books, only travelling to earth for personal gain. they’re corrupt; they bring the second doctor to trial and kill him for saying, “while you have been content merely to observe the evil in the galaxy, i have been fighting against it.” they strand him on earth, remove his ability to time-travel, forcibly wipe his companions’ memories, and make him regenerate into the more cynical, guarded three. according to six, the entire timelord civilisation is “decadent, degenerate, and rotten to the core.” they’re jerks; they’re passive; they’re cruel. and the doctor isn’t like them!