This review convinced me to watch Dr Who. Craig Ferguson's DW episode in November had already sown the seeds, and after this came out I still had to wait to find the show available for free online for a few more weeks, but the idea of watching so formidable a hero have to deal with the very common problem of blaming one particular person for everything that's gone wrong, of being desperate to find redemption yet backsliding to the brink of psychosis by the desire for revenge, is what won me over
this is still my fav Dalek story. a classic monster from the past appears in a morden day story. it is way out of date, the last of its kind and deadly like hell.
all hail the Daleks.
2 dislikes? how can you not like a trailer for something you havnt seen yet? sfdebris didnt even say anything in this one.
If SfDebris is taking taking us back to the origional poinof his reviews - to look at bad science fiction and lazy and uninspired writing, then the revamped Who is excellent subject matter. Russel T Davis' writing lacks any form of subtlety. I hate that the sonic screwdriver has now become some form if raygun and the answer to all the doctors problems in every episode. Its lazy amd predictable.
@MSP2K1 Well, that is its purpose. Ever since the Jon Pertwee era (and maybe before that), the sonic screwdriver does more than just sonic. I'm pretty sure you're exaggerating, but the sonic screwdriver isn't used in all episodes, and even in episodes in which it appears, it isn't the solution to the big problem. I believe the original reason why JNT decided to get rid of the sonic screwdriver (supposedly, for good) was because it was always the answer to all the doctors' problems.
You didn't say much about Rose in this review, though I'm curious as to what your opinion of her is. I've found that, on the whole, fans of the show really enjoyed her character, but I personally don't like her. She does evolve over the course of the series, but she still comes across to me as going from hopelessly inept to magical plot device. She is ultimately good for the Doctor, I just don't understand what he saw in her. The phrase "Mary Sue" also comes to mind.
@aboutagirl113 Yeah, but you can say the same about Amy. Nobody fawned over Rose's brilliance or credited her every victory. Granted, series 5 is a fairy tale centered on Amy, so I'll give it a pass. But the fans didn't start to dislike Rose until her perfunctory and useless Series 4 appearance. She was given a perfectly good send-off in Series 2, why go ruin it?
Rose's main flaw is that she was constantly weepy. But then, so was the Tenth Doctor! ;)
@zprodigy I am rather fond of Amy, she's clever. Rose, to me, just isn't the sharpest tool in the shed; I think the writers wanted to emphasize her humanity, which was what the Doctor valued, but after a few episodes of the first season, I was ready to just push her into traffic. And I agree she is ridiculous in season 4, especially since there is no way she became a super-genius in two years. Donna was written along the same lines as Rose was, but her character was handled much better.
@aboutagirl113 Amy Pond is be-all, end-all key to the fate of the universe. That's kinda the definition of Mary Sue. And she's equally reckless, cavalier, and hot to get in the Doctor's pants as any the companions of late.
But maybe my perspective is different, I've seen far worse than Rose Tyler. Go watch some Smallville and then we can talk Mary Sues.
@zprodigy Haha, I hated the episode where she tried to get into his pants! REALLY, AMY? And I think the idea was the Doctor's enemies used Amy to lure him into their trap, but he was able to use their own weapon (Amy) against them in the end. Donna was the same way too, wasn't she? "Turn Left" was all about how important she was. It's totes cause they're both ginger. =p
Oh, there are definitely worse Canon!Sues out there... *shudder*
@aboutagirl113 :D yeah, Moffat has the right idea: Companions ≠ DOCTORS GIRLFRIEND. He only threw it there to appease fangirls, then turned it around by having Matt play matchmaker with Amy and Rory. Genius. He's done a good job of gently phasing out RTD's tenure, w/o erasing it entirely. Really why do we need constant love interests for the Doctor? It's obviously not gonna last, and then the Doc's going to walk off crying while Freddie Mercury sings "WHO WANTS TO LIVE FOREVER". Blegh.
@zprodigy Donna was the best companion. The Tenth never had a girlfriend, I think Moffatt fanboys are pretty hilarious when they went on for months about how we're not gonna have a companion wanting to shag the Doctor (DONNA) and Amy wants to do that from the first episode, rather than developing like an actual character like Rose. Amy and Rory are some of the worst companions ever, they're nothing more than sitcom characters who haven't had much in the way of development.
@zprodigy I was ready for the companions to stop wanting to shag the Doctor by the end of Martha's tenure (and this is coming from a guy who actually really LIKES Martha). It was an interesting idea to explore with Rose (and probably started with Grace Holloway), but didn't pan out as well as one would hope. I liked that Amy actually had the choice (and unlike some others made a move), but in the end chose Rory over The Doctor. If you ask me, that should've happened with Mickey.
@JamesOhGoodie Maybe so, since Amy's devotion to Rory is the only thing redeeming her character. Like Rose, Moffat is trying really hard to make me like Amy, and it's having the opposite effect. She flirts with everyone on the planet (even Van Gough), keeps her "boys" under her heel, and her intelligence is *inferred* but rarely shown. I dunno. I'll forebear it, since that's what sci-fi action girls do. I just think the female companions get more obnoxious in the name of being "strong".
Best part of the review was the almost casual aside that "each Doctor's incarnation seems to be a reaction to the experiences of his predecessor"... I've often believed this, but I thought I was the only one! :)
@BanjoOz Or, to put it another way, each Doctor's incarnation is a reaction by the Doctor Who producers to the what the viewers thought of his predecessor
@abk0100 Yes, which is interesting because there would be a temptation - with someone very successful - to go down the same path... but Three, Four and Five all differ from each other radically (for example).
IMO, it would have been better to review The Daleks or even Geneis of the Daleks first, since a lot of your audience are non Who fans. I also humbly think that an 'overview' as you did for Red Dwarf might have been a good idea, but maybe I'm just spoiled because you did SUCH a good job with RD and introducing it for new viewers. That aside, for us long-time Who fans, it's nice to see you reviewing this show (even if I personally consider most of the new series up there with Voyager! :) ).
@BenjaySama I couldn't agree more, BenjaySama... in fact, I was about to post something similar! I also consider this the best of the first series (one of the few new series eps I actually still like, too), but Jubilee is far, FAR superior. IMO the ending isn't as good as the start, but that's definitely the case with Dalek too! Still, a much better 'adaptation' than Spare Parts would get later! I think I need to hear Chimes of Midnight now, though?
This episode is really item one in the case against RTD, the fanfic hack.
The Daleks have all been destroyed! FOREVER! Oh, wait... here's another one! NOW they have all been destroyed forever! Oh, wait - more of 'em! Well, now they're definitely destroyed forever! Oops, there's more of 'em! Well, absolutely sure they're gone - oh, look! etc.
Also, was the music played while the Dalek is regenerating and escaping the cell released in a soundtrack? I know it's not "The Daleks", that what was playing when the War Fleet showed up in "Bad Wolf".
This was by far my favorite episode of the first series, and the defining moment for Nine. And "Stephen Hawking as a supervillain" is a pretty good description of Davros.
Fanboy theory alert. I actually think the Dalek faked its own suicide. I think it found other Daleks when it scanned our radio telescopes and then pulled an intelligence-gathering routine. Having assessed that the Doctor was compromised, it realized it could win the time war. Never stated or hinted on screen, but I use this lone Dalek as my private reason why the Emperor and his hybrid minions escaped the war.
Chuck missed the point of the Dalek's self-destruction. It didn't kill itself to eliminate it's "foul" alien DNA. (It could have done that anytime.) It destroyed itself because it absorbed Rose's compassion, and thus realized what a freak of nature it was, unable to feel or experience anything. So it killed itself rather than suffer one more second.
@zprodigy your half right, it WAS because it was feeling compassion, but it wasn't what that made him feel, so much as the very fact it HAD compassion, which was so antithetical to the nature of Dalek..actually thinking about it, it's both...the human it absorbed hated the Dalek part, the Dalek hated the bit of human it now had, it really was just messed up.
SFD/Chuck has a couple of Doctor Who and Babylon 5 reviews over on Blip, plus some of his old Trek reviews, and several of the Red Dwarf reviews that were on this channel.
Apparently the BBC aren't fans, and tried to have the channel shut down because of the RD reviews.
I really liked this eps. Probably my favorite with the 9th Doctor.
Since he survived the Time War, I have no problem with one (of a few) of the Daleks also surviving it. But then they screwed it up by having more lots more Daleks (9th Doctor final)...and more Daleks (several times during the 10th)...and again more Daleks (featuring the 11th). It only diminished this episode to me and the whole impact the Time War had. I think that after this one eps, they should've stopped using the Daleks.
@MaxRawhide I completely agree, they have overused the Daleks and now the storyline is completely unrealistic. It's just an action packed show for 9 years old now.
I knew of Doctor Who returning and I wasn't sure about what to expect, but like many, this was the episode that drew me into the new series. Though it's ironic that the one thing that connects this awesome episode with some of the most awful finales, Daleks. Russell T. Davies did go on overkill on them after this episode.
Man this is the episode that won me over too. I'd never seen Doctor Who before but this one made me a definite fan, even if I had no idea what a Dalek was.
I have to agree with Chuck that it's a shame the sprinklers didn't turn on while Rose was still in the room... Good thing we've got Secret Diary of a Call Girl.
By the way I love this episode because it establishes that old enemies of the Doctor would make returns in the new series. Heck every single season finale has featured an old villain.
Wonderful review, and for those that have not yet heard Jubilee... correct that as soon as possible. The first few minutes justify the purchase entirely. Big Finish does some truly fantastic work, and any Who fan should really look into their website.
@oEQjet Lol. Relax, he probably does it this way because of the somewhat droconian copyright system here on you tube, it's a bit less severe on bliptv. this channel just informs you when the new stuff is up.
@PuppyZwolle Lol shes a character from a soap opera in the UK. The actress plays a part in one of the recent Doctor Who stories. I have a vague memory it was a dalek one.
when dr who was good
drifter402 2 days ago
This review convinced me to watch Dr Who. Craig Ferguson's DW episode in November had already sown the seeds, and after this came out I still had to wait to find the show available for free online for a few more weeks, but the idea of watching so formidable a hero have to deal with the very common problem of blaming one particular person for everything that's gone wrong, of being desperate to find redemption yet backsliding to the brink of psychosis by the desire for revenge, is what won me over
aperson22222 6 months ago
who sings the song you use in the theme song. The only place I can hear that version is in your videos.
BlackScarabZ 7 months ago
Where can i find the full episode?
robto333 8 months ago
Opinionate! Opinionate!!
clownpenisfart 1 year ago
this is one of my fav eps ever :P
TheHarryMason 1 year ago
"Remember Doctor, the safe word is Bad Wolf". LOL.
Great review.
neemz2000 1 year ago
That was an awesome review
amberace 1 year ago
this is still my fav Dalek story. a classic monster from the past appears in a morden day story. it is way out of date, the last of its kind and deadly like hell.
all hail the Daleks.
2 dislikes? how can you not like a trailer for something you havnt seen yet? sfdebris didnt even say anything in this one.
henkman00 1 year ago
oh the review is on an other site? why? why border placing a video on youtube. a home made video based site, to get people to go to another?
henkman00 1 year ago
@henkman00 Because Youtube is a lot stricter about copyright,
CommissarRed 1 year ago
If SfDebris is taking taking us back to the origional poinof his reviews - to look at bad science fiction and lazy and uninspired writing, then the revamped Who is excellent subject matter. Russel T Davis' writing lacks any form of subtlety. I hate that the sonic screwdriver has now become some form if raygun and the answer to all the doctors problems in every episode. Its lazy amd predictable.
MSP2K1 1 year ago
@MSP2K1 Well, that is its purpose. Ever since the Jon Pertwee era (and maybe before that), the sonic screwdriver does more than just sonic. I'm pretty sure you're exaggerating, but the sonic screwdriver isn't used in all episodes, and even in episodes in which it appears, it isn't the solution to the big problem. I believe the original reason why JNT decided to get rid of the sonic screwdriver (supposedly, for good) was because it was always the answer to all the doctors' problems.
mitmfan 5 months ago
You didn't say much about Rose in this review, though I'm curious as to what your opinion of her is. I've found that, on the whole, fans of the show really enjoyed her character, but I personally don't like her. She does evolve over the course of the series, but she still comes across to me as going from hopelessly inept to magical plot device. She is ultimately good for the Doctor, I just don't understand what he saw in her. The phrase "Mary Sue" also comes to mind.
aboutagirl113 1 year ago
@aboutagirl113 Yeah, but you can say the same about Amy. Nobody fawned over Rose's brilliance or credited her every victory. Granted, series 5 is a fairy tale centered on Amy, so I'll give it a pass. But the fans didn't start to dislike Rose until her perfunctory and useless Series 4 appearance. She was given a perfectly good send-off in Series 2, why go ruin it?
Rose's main flaw is that she was constantly weepy. But then, so was the Tenth Doctor! ;)
zprodigy 1 year ago
@zprodigy I am rather fond of Amy, she's clever. Rose, to me, just isn't the sharpest tool in the shed; I think the writers wanted to emphasize her humanity, which was what the Doctor valued, but after a few episodes of the first season, I was ready to just push her into traffic. And I agree she is ridiculous in season 4, especially since there is no way she became a super-genius in two years. Donna was written along the same lines as Rose was, but her character was handled much better.
aboutagirl113 1 year ago
@aboutagirl113 Amy Pond is be-all, end-all key to the fate of the universe. That's kinda the definition of Mary Sue. And she's equally reckless, cavalier, and hot to get in the Doctor's pants as any the companions of late.
But maybe my perspective is different, I've seen far worse than Rose Tyler. Go watch some Smallville and then we can talk Mary Sues.
zprodigy 1 year ago
@zprodigy Haha, I hated the episode where she tried to get into his pants! REALLY, AMY? And I think the idea was the Doctor's enemies used Amy to lure him into their trap, but he was able to use their own weapon (Amy) against them in the end. Donna was the same way too, wasn't she? "Turn Left" was all about how important she was. It's totes cause they're both ginger. =p
Oh, there are definitely worse Canon!Sues out there... *shudder*
aboutagirl113 1 year ago
@aboutagirl113 :D yeah, Moffat has the right idea: Companions ≠ DOCTORS GIRLFRIEND. He only threw it there to appease fangirls, then turned it around by having Matt play matchmaker with Amy and Rory. Genius. He's done a good job of gently phasing out RTD's tenure, w/o erasing it entirely. Really why do we need constant love interests for the Doctor? It's obviously not gonna last, and then the Doc's going to walk off crying while Freddie Mercury sings "WHO WANTS TO LIVE FOREVER". Blegh.
zprodigy 1 year ago 5
@zprodigy Donna was the best companion. The Tenth never had a girlfriend, I think Moffatt fanboys are pretty hilarious when they went on for months about how we're not gonna have a companion wanting to shag the Doctor (DONNA) and Amy wants to do that from the first episode, rather than developing like an actual character like Rose. Amy and Rory are some of the worst companions ever, they're nothing more than sitcom characters who haven't had much in the way of development.
philyburkhill1 1 year ago
@zprodigy I was ready for the companions to stop wanting to shag the Doctor by the end of Martha's tenure (and this is coming from a guy who actually really LIKES Martha). It was an interesting idea to explore with Rose (and probably started with Grace Holloway), but didn't pan out as well as one would hope. I liked that Amy actually had the choice (and unlike some others made a move), but in the end chose Rory over The Doctor. If you ask me, that should've happened with Mickey.
JamesOhGoodie 1 year ago
@JamesOhGoodie Maybe so, since Amy's devotion to Rory is the only thing redeeming her character. Like Rose, Moffat is trying really hard to make me like Amy, and it's having the opposite effect. She flirts with everyone on the planet (even Van Gough), keeps her "boys" under her heel, and her intelligence is *inferred* but rarely shown. I dunno. I'll forebear it, since that's what sci-fi action girls do. I just think the female companions get more obnoxious in the name of being "strong".
zprodigy 1 year ago
Best part of the review was the almost casual aside that "each Doctor's incarnation seems to be a reaction to the experiences of his predecessor"... I've often believed this, but I thought I was the only one! :)
BanjoOz 1 year ago
@BanjoOz Or, to put it another way, each Doctor's incarnation is a reaction by the Doctor Who producers to the what the viewers thought of his predecessor
abk0100 1 year ago
@abk0100 Yes, which is interesting because there would be a temptation - with someone very successful - to go down the same path... but Three, Four and Five all differ from each other radically (for example).
BanjoOz 1 year ago
IMO, it would have been better to review The Daleks or even Geneis of the Daleks first, since a lot of your audience are non Who fans. I also humbly think that an 'overview' as you did for Red Dwarf might have been a good idea, but maybe I'm just spoiled because you did SUCH a good job with RD and introducing it for new viewers. That aside, for us long-time Who fans, it's nice to see you reviewing this show (even if I personally consider most of the new series up there with Voyager! :) ).
BanjoOz 1 year ago
@BenjaySama I couldn't agree more, BenjaySama... in fact, I was about to post something similar! I also consider this the best of the first series (one of the few new series eps I actually still like, too), but Jubilee is far, FAR superior. IMO the ending isn't as good as the start, but that's definitely the case with Dalek too! Still, a much better 'adaptation' than Spare Parts would get later! I think I need to hear Chimes of Midnight now, though?
BanjoOz 1 year ago
This episode is really item one in the case against RTD, the fanfic hack.
The Daleks have all been destroyed! FOREVER! Oh, wait... here's another one! NOW they have all been destroyed forever! Oh, wait - more of 'em! Well, now they're definitely destroyed forever! Oops, there's more of 'em! Well, absolutely sure they're gone - oh, look! etc.
ProphetTenebrae 1 year ago
Also, was the music played while the Dalek is regenerating and escaping the cell released in a soundtrack? I know it's not "The Daleks", that what was playing when the War Fleet showed up in "Bad Wolf".
thunderphoenix440 1 year ago
This was by far my favorite episode of the first series, and the defining moment for Nine. And "Stephen Hawking as a supervillain" is a pretty good description of Davros.
thunderphoenix440 1 year ago
Daleks don't climb stairs, they level the building.
Eban11235 1 year ago
@shadowhexogram
Have you seen the Empty Child? That's some creepy shit right there.
mushroomshrub 1 year ago
Right at the beginning, is that Colin Baker with the Dalek?
Foebane72 1 year ago
Oh wow I actually started watching doctor who and saw this episode not too long ago.
Daleks are really scary.
shadowhexogram 1 year ago
Fanboy theory alert. I actually think the Dalek faked its own suicide. I think it found other Daleks when it scanned our radio telescopes and then pulled an intelligence-gathering routine. Having assessed that the Doctor was compromised, it realized it could win the time war. Never stated or hinted on screen, but I use this lone Dalek as my private reason why the Emperor and his hybrid minions escaped the war.
typeNtardis 1 year ago
Chuck missed the point of the Dalek's self-destruction. It didn't kill itself to eliminate it's "foul" alien DNA. (It could have done that anytime.) It destroyed itself because it absorbed Rose's compassion, and thus realized what a freak of nature it was, unable to feel or experience anything. So it killed itself rather than suffer one more second.
zprodigy 1 year ago
@zprodigy your half right, it WAS because it was feeling compassion, but it wasn't what that made him feel, so much as the very fact it HAD compassion, which was so antithetical to the nature of Dalek..actually thinking about it, it's both...the human it absorbed hated the Dalek part, the Dalek hated the bit of human it now had, it really was just messed up.
7Seraphem7 1 year ago
No joke, but the person who wrote this (Robert Shearman) is going to be staying in our village just down the road from us!! I AM NOT LYING!!
karkrashinc 1 year ago
What is the point of all this? Will you be making reviews of Dr. Who?
davideshafer 1 year ago
Comment removed
David171985 1 year ago
@davideshafer
Search for 'SF Debris blip'
SFD/Chuck has a couple of Doctor Who and Babylon 5 reviews over on Blip, plus some of his old Trek reviews, and several of the Red Dwarf reviews that were on this channel.
Apparently the BBC aren't fans, and tried to have the channel shut down because of the RD reviews.
David171985 1 year ago
I really liked this eps. Probably my favorite with the 9th Doctor.
Since he survived the Time War, I have no problem with one (of a few) of the Daleks also surviving it. But then they screwed it up by having more lots more Daleks (9th Doctor final)...and more Daleks (several times during the 10th)...and again more Daleks (featuring the 11th). It only diminished this episode to me and the whole impact the Time War had. I think that after this one eps, they should've stopped using the Daleks.
MaxRawhide 1 year ago
@MaxRawhide I completely agree, they have overused the Daleks and now the storyline is completely unrealistic. It's just an action packed show for 9 years old now.
TheFlidaisElixir 1 year ago
*giggles* Personally I've never found the Daleks scary. Even when I was little I thought they looked goofy and sounded daft
Redrally 1 year ago
0.08 What is the nearest town? I didn't catch that.
Toxie207 1 year ago
@Toxie207 salt lake city
philyburkhill1 1 year ago
I knew of Doctor Who returning and I wasn't sure about what to expect, but like many, this was the episode that drew me into the new series. Though it's ironic that the one thing that connects this awesome episode with some of the most awful finales, Daleks. Russell T. Davies did go on overkill on them after this episode.
dc8r17 1 year ago
Man this is the episode that won me over too. I'd never seen Doctor Who before but this one made me a definite fan, even if I had no idea what a Dalek was.
MediocrePear 1 year ago
lolwat? evil coffeemachines from space D:
happosai27 1 year ago
Fantastic!
Tseuhadon 1 year ago
First episode of Doctor Who I Ever saw.
CapyGuy 1 year ago
I have to agree with Chuck that it's a shame the sprinklers didn't turn on while Rose was still in the room... Good thing we've got Secret Diary of a Call Girl.
By the way I love this episode because it establishes that old enemies of the Doctor would make returns in the new series. Heck every single season finale has featured an old villain.
shuboy05 1 year ago
@shuboy05
In fact I'll say that this was the episode that won me over to the new series.
shuboy05 1 year ago
Awesome sauce! I really liked this one. I'm interested to here your opinions on season 5 of the new series, hint hint. XD.
mushroomshrub 1 year ago
Wonderful review, and for those that have not yet heard Jubilee... correct that as soon as possible. The first few minutes justify the purchase entirely. Big Finish does some truly fantastic work, and any Who fan should really look into their website.
TheDrekal 1 year ago
Great episode, & another *awesome* review by sfdebris. I can't wait to see what you've got in store for us next :)!
MrHicks091 1 year ago
The Doctors that get the most praise are 1, 4, 7, and 10. That's much funnier than the rule about the even numbered Trek films.
fnatsy 1 year ago
Sweet, not even Tuesday
ThePolysyllabist 1 year ago
OK OK ALREADY, I'LL UNSUBSCRIBE
geeeeez, I get it, you want us to stop using the channel. Seems insane but who am I to judge.
oEQjet 1 year ago
@oEQjet Lol. Relax, he probably does it this way because of the somewhat droconian copyright system here on you tube, it's a bit less severe on bliptv. this channel just informs you when the new stuff is up.
anothergazman 1 year ago
The Music is a bit too loud, it's taking over the narration.
RestamSalucard 1 year ago
Is this the episode with Chrissie from EastEnders?
mrgeo89 1 year ago
@mrgeo89 Who's Chrissie? (get it? Who's Chrissie?)
PuppyZwolle 1 year ago
@PuppyZwolle Lol shes a character from a soap opera in the UK. The actress plays a part in one of the recent Doctor Who stories. I have a vague memory it was a dalek one.
mrgeo89 1 year ago
@mrgeo89 The Daleks were involved but you're thinking of the episode that reintroduces the Cybermen
Redrally 1 year ago