By: Helen Raynor
**Spoilers**
If you have not yet seen this episode, please go and do so before proceeding.
Oh great...this two-parter. Thank you for reminding me that this existed. I had nearly blocked it from my mind, but of course doing these reviews means covering every episode. I'll confess that I have put off reviewing this for a while, unwilling to watch it again as I must for a review because it is one of my least favorite episodes of all time. Poor Martha! Her run wasn't very good and this was the worst! Something about the pig-slaves just doesn't sit right with me...
This is the summary Netflix gives for the episode: "When people inexplicably vanish from the New York City streets, The Doctor discovers that the Daleks and bloodthirsty Pig Men have invaded." Now call me crazy, but even by Doctor Who summary standards, that sounds pretty lame. Needless to say, I went into this episode with low expectations, and yet was still disappointed. The thing about this show you have to understand is that a lot of times the summaries and ideas do sound dumb. Daleks? Hilarious! Clockwork Men? Dull! Vampires that are actually fish from space? IDIOTS! But they work...so I was willing to give the Pig Men a chance. And they struck out within five minutes of being on screen.
I expect so much better from this show!
This is the summary Netflix gives for the episode: "When people inexplicably vanish from the New York City streets, The Doctor discovers that the Daleks and bloodthirsty Pig Men have invaded." Now call me crazy, but even by Doctor Who summary standards, that sounds pretty lame. Needless to say, I went into this episode with low expectations, and yet was still disappointed. The thing about this show you have to understand is that a lot of times the summaries and ideas do sound dumb. Daleks? Hilarious! Clockwork Men? Dull! Vampires that are actually fish from space? IDIOTS! But they work...so I was willing to give the Pig Men a chance. And they struck out within five minutes of being on screen.
I expect so much better from this show!
Favorite Moments & Random Thoughts:
- The couple at the beginning made me do a double-take and check the title to make sure that I was indeed still watching Doctor Who. But all was made right in the world whenever the guy (Laszlo was his name?) went off into the dark backstage to investigate a noise. Why do they look? Why do they always go and look?!
- I did appreciate their use of Gershwin in the soundtrack.
- If this episode had just been a historical one about the struggles of those living in Hooverville (terrorized by a rogue Slitheen, perhaps) then this episode could have garnered a more favorable reaction from me. As it stands, we're less than ten minutes in and I already hate it.
- Solomon literally broke bread in two to settle an argument. Leave the Biblical references to Supernatural, Raynor. They're much better at it!
- It is nice how he says that in Hooverville there's finally a place where class and race literally don't really matter much anymore because they're all fighting to survive together. If only the world really worked like that...
- How don't those people pick up on the British accents that The Doctor and Martha are sporting? I mean...I know the cheesy New York accents are a bit distracting and all that (and the TARDIS translation circuits, blah, blah, blah) but surely someone would have noticed?
- This episode actually wasn't so bad until the Daleks showed up. I actually liked the bit in Hooverville and all of the talk about equality and what mankind has to do to survive. But then those pesky pepperpots (complete with Pig slaves and scenery-chewing lackeys) show up and ruin the show. Gosh I wish they would just give the Daleks a rest already!
- That Dalek is unusually hoarse...even for one of its kind. Is it related to Christian Bale's Batman or something?
- I swear that's the guy from The Amazing Spider Man!
- Is it wrong that I think he's kinda cute? Because, y'know, he is. Good actor too.
- I really wish that Frank had stuck around for a while. He would have made a great companion, seemed like a decent guy, and kept his head in a tense situation.
- And this is the episode where they took away Martha's cool factor. I took issue with her infatuation with The Doctor throughout her first three episodes, but I could deal with it because she was honestly a great addition to the TARDIS. She was a doctor (or nearly one, once she passes her exams) and she looked after him despite the crap he threw at her. She was resourceful, knowledgeable, and a fast-thinker in a pinch. But this episode? This has her grimacing at the alien jellyfish brain-thingy in the sewers, giving her medical opinion that it is not human (obviously), and being kidnapped again while kicking and screaming. Come on!
- I just can't forgive them for the way they ruined Martha here. Really, writers! Are you trying to make us compare her unfairly with Rose?
- Diagoras is such a cartoony villain! I can't take him or the Daleks seriously. He is also wearing a polka dot tie with a pinstriped suit as he chews scenery like a cow chews its cud.
- Even the Daleks are jumping on the 'Aren't humans amazing?!' bandwagon. Wow.
- Those wagging eyestalks of the Daleks just crack me up. They're just not kill-y enough or clever by any stretch of the imagination...so I find myself laughing every time they're on screen. A respite from the crushing boredom, I'll admit, but not the reaction the writers were going for.
- Okay. So why did the Daleks need to turn all of those guys into pigs? I mean - it's not like they were police officers or anything, so I can't assume that it was for the sake of social commentary - but what was the purpose? They don't look intimidating, they just look kind of stupid, so it can't be for the scare-factor. So why? Couldn't they figure out how to brainwash someone without going through all the trouble of turning them into an Expendable Pig? Honestly all I can think about every time they are on screen is this:
- Why is there an entrance to the sewers inside the theater's backstage? Do they dump the leftover props down there or something?
- The brain thingy that The Doctor is scanning looks like a diseased jellyfish...or my sad attempts at making an omelet, I'm still deciding.
- Okay. Want to know what the one saving grace of this episode is, aside from the adorable Frank? Tallulah, that's who! Her accent may be horribly stereotyped and her appearance that of a dumb blond...but I could watch her scenes all day. Somehow she actually made me feel for her and her relationship with Laszlo...and that's not an easy thing to do.
- And that song is just too catchy!
- Why did Martha try to sneak across the stage like that? There is ample space behind those back wall curtains for a woman to make her way across undetected. What was she thinking? Is this just another case of this episode ruining Martha's character? I say yes!
- I'll admit that as much as I hate this episode, probably the best thing about it (apart from Frank's general hug-able qualities) is the love story between Tallulah and the pigafied Laszlo. While on the surface at first they look like a couple of dumb kids (Tallulah the dumb blond and Laszlo the handsome idiot) it is revealed that there is actually a lot more to their characters. Laszlo fights off the brainwashing of the Daleks and continues to leave flowers for Tallulah from afar. And Tallulah, far from being disgusted by his new form, completely bypasses that clichéd initial reaction and simply looks at him with compassion and love.
- "I. Am. A. Human. Dalek." Why? Just why?!
Daleks in Manhattan was a terrible experience. The story was rambling, tired, and boring. The characters had some redemptive qualities, but ultimately failed to capture my interest (other than dear Frank and Tallulah, that is) and I found myself checking out more than once as the mystery unfolded as well as sniggering at key dramatic elements. Maybe it worked for some people, but I just couldn't get into it. Definitely a 2/5!
- I did appreciate their use of Gershwin in the soundtrack.- If this episode had just been a historical one about the struggles of those living in Hooverville (terrorized by a rogue Slitheen, perhaps) then this episode could have garnered a more favorable reaction from me. As it stands, we're less than ten minutes in and I already hate it.
- Solomon literally broke bread in two to settle an argument. Leave the Biblical references to Supernatural, Raynor. They're much better at it!
- It is nice how he says that in Hooverville there's finally a place where class and race literally don't really matter much anymore because they're all fighting to survive together. If only the world really worked like that...
- How don't those people pick up on the British accents that The Doctor and Martha are sporting? I mean...I know the cheesy New York accents are a bit distracting and all that (and the TARDIS translation circuits, blah, blah, blah) but surely someone would have noticed?
- This episode actually wasn't so bad until the Daleks showed up. I actually liked the bit in Hooverville and all of the talk about equality and what mankind has to do to survive. But then those pesky pepperpots (complete with Pig slaves and scenery-chewing lackeys) show up and ruin the show. Gosh I wish they would just give the Daleks a rest already!- That Dalek is unusually hoarse...even for one of its kind. Is it related to Christian Bale's Batman or something?
- I swear that's the guy from The Amazing Spider Man!- Is it wrong that I think he's kinda cute? Because, y'know, he is. Good actor too.
- I really wish that Frank had stuck around for a while. He would have made a great companion, seemed like a decent guy, and kept his head in a tense situation.
- And this is the episode where they took away Martha's cool factor. I took issue with her infatuation with The Doctor throughout her first three episodes, but I could deal with it because she was honestly a great addition to the TARDIS. She was a doctor (or nearly one, once she passes her exams) and she looked after him despite the crap he threw at her. She was resourceful, knowledgeable, and a fast-thinker in a pinch. But this episode? This has her grimacing at the alien jellyfish brain-thingy in the sewers, giving her medical opinion that it is not human (obviously), and being kidnapped again while kicking and screaming. Come on!
- I just can't forgive them for the way they ruined Martha here. Really, writers! Are you trying to make us compare her unfairly with Rose?
- Diagoras is such a cartoony villain! I can't take him or the Daleks seriously. He is also wearing a polka dot tie with a pinstriped suit as he chews scenery like a cow chews its cud.
- Even the Daleks are jumping on the 'Aren't humans amazing?!' bandwagon. Wow.
- Those wagging eyestalks of the Daleks just crack me up. They're just not kill-y enough or clever by any stretch of the imagination...so I find myself laughing every time they're on screen. A respite from the crushing boredom, I'll admit, but not the reaction the writers were going for.
- Okay. So why did the Daleks need to turn all of those guys into pigs? I mean - it's not like they were police officers or anything, so I can't assume that it was for the sake of social commentary - but what was the purpose? They don't look intimidating, they just look kind of stupid, so it can't be for the scare-factor. So why? Couldn't they figure out how to brainwash someone without going through all the trouble of turning them into an Expendable Pig? Honestly all I can think about every time they are on screen is this:
- Why is there an entrance to the sewers inside the theater's backstage? Do they dump the leftover props down there or something?
- The brain thingy that The Doctor is scanning looks like a diseased jellyfish...or my sad attempts at making an omelet, I'm still deciding.
- Okay. Want to know what the one saving grace of this episode is, aside from the adorable Frank? Tallulah, that's who! Her accent may be horribly stereotyped and her appearance that of a dumb blond...but I could watch her scenes all day. Somehow she actually made me feel for her and her relationship with Laszlo...and that's not an easy thing to do.- And that song is just too catchy!
- Why did Martha try to sneak across the stage like that? There is ample space behind those back wall curtains for a woman to make her way across undetected. What was she thinking? Is this just another case of this episode ruining Martha's character? I say yes!
- "I. Am. A. Human. Dalek." Why? Just why?!
Daleks in Manhattan was a terrible experience. The story was rambling, tired, and boring. The characters had some redemptive qualities, but ultimately failed to capture my interest (other than dear Frank and Tallulah, that is) and I found myself checking out more than once as the mystery unfolded as well as sniggering at key dramatic elements. Maybe it worked for some people, but I just couldn't get into it. Definitely a 2/5!
What did you think? Do you agree with my rating? If not -
what would you say differently?
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