I Love Evil of the Daleks
There is no reason to be ambiguous about it the title says it all I love this story to pieces. I had pretty high expectations going in but even reading the novel and loving that I was still afraid that EOTD would not meet my lofty expectations, but let me say it did ten fold.
Now before I begin my unadulterated praise I will say EOTD is not perfect.
* Yes the Dalek plan is very convoluted. There seems little reason to send the Doctor & Jamie back to Victorian times but I personally love the 3 periods this story takes place in so I don't care.
* Kermel the mute Turkish strong man is a walking stereotype, but I highly enjoy the friendship he forms with Jamie. And despite Maxtible saying Kermel is stupid, I don't believe he is (the novelization makes a good claim for this as well).
* For a new companion, Victoria's introduction is disappointing. I mean she is pretty much just a damsel in distress. This is unfortunately the role Victoria gets to play for most of her run. Don't get me wrong I can't help but love Victoria and she had great chemistry with Jamie & the Doctor but Zoe right from the start is given a better role as a female character. Actually Molly is probably the stronger female character in this story and I wish there was more of her. The actress who played her was fantastic.
* Perhaps the Jamie test/rescue Victoria scenes drag on but as a very biased Jamie fan there is never too much Jamie for me so I can't look at this objectively.
* In the scheme of things the subplot with Terrell being controlled by the Daleks doesn't really go anywhere and seems rather pointless but it does give me one of my absolute favorite Doctor quotes
No Mister Terrell, 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.
Now what do I love about this story:
Setting
The 3 very distinct locations that the story takes place in are awesome and can even be said to represent the Present (1960's the first part of the story), the Past (the Victorian times, middle and majority of story) & future (Planet Skaro, the ending of the story).
Doctor Who is a story that can take place anywhere in time & space and we really get that notion in this story. I love how we get Jamie & the Doctor hanging out in a coffee bar listening to the Beatles (sadly the song was changed on my audible copy).
I also really love how the serial displays the Victorian era, obviously set wise it all takes place in one Victorian mansion but little touches of Maxtible & Waterfield experimenting with mirrors to create their time machine, discussions about turning metal into gold, static electricity and alchemy, etc. bring a sense of that era.
Finally we have the epic conclusion on the planet Skaro.
The Dalek's Master Plan also takes place in various different times & places but that didn't work quite as well for me.
The Human Villain
First of all Maxtible is a pretty good villain, while he is no Kevin Stoney, Marius Goring does a confident job and he looks like Karl Marx which is awesome (I also just found out he played the french guide in a Matter of Life & Death who I love, actually pretty shocking would never have known it).
Anyways Maxtible's story has a ring of Faust to it and I quite love it. The Daleks as the devils really work in the Victorian setting as well
Of course the real villains are the Daleks & they take center stage (more on them later)
The Human Redemption
While we see the fall of Maxtible we also see the contrast of the redemption of Victoria's father Waterfield. Waterfield is the one who starts the ball in motion by bringing Jamie & the Doctor to the past because the Daleks hold his daughter prisoner.
Although he is devastated by what the Daleks are doing he sits by and lets them do it for his daughter. In the end Waterfield is able to help save his daughter and redeem himself by saving the world. Waterfield acts as a nice mirror to Maxtible.
The Daleks
Okay I am going to say it right now David Whitaker is my favorite writer for the Daleks. Okay he only wrote two Dalek stories but they were both brilliant and they explored the Daleks in ways no one else really has.
While I give full credit to Terry Nation for creating the Daleks (and as I said before I adore Genesis of the Daleks) his Daleks tend to be universe conquerors who like to say Exterminate. Big conquest is the name of the game and for the most part New Who has followed this formula. As someone who really loves the Daleks I am surprised how few great episodes that actually have. When it comes to New Who the only one I really loved was Dalek (which happened to be my first experience with them) and this happens to be written by Robert Shearman whose Big Finish work I love (I still need to listen to Jubilee which Dalek was based on).
Anyways back to Whitaker’s Daleks….what I like about his Daleks is they aren’t just evil, hell bent on extermination (although they are that too) they are clever and conniving and actually worthy adversaries for the Doctor. Although I think the Daleks themselves are never better villains than in Power of the Daleks…I still love them as villains in Evil.
I love how while the Doctor thinks he is one step ahead of the Daleks with the human factor, they are one step ahead of him with the Dalek factor. Of course the Doctor ultimately outsmarts the Daleks but this is more fun when the Daleks come off as clever, it makes the Doctor appear really intelligent, not just smart because everyone else is so dumb in comparison. Actually to me this story might be the Doctor at his smartest.
But then Evil explores the Daleks even further with the human factor. OMG Alpha, Beta, and Omega have to be the best Daleks ever. They are still creepy but somehow cute at the same time. Saying things like friend, dizzy, and most importantly why… because Daleks never question. Its so simple and yet so brilliant. Really the Daleks playing trains with the Doctor…best cliffhanger ever.
That’s another thing about Whitaker’s Daleks he gives them the best lines. I also loved “don’t worry we will not exterminate you” and “stop feeding the flying pests”
Oh and there is of course the Emperor Dalek (have to admit I was a bit disappointed in his voice) but we do get the first classic “look at the size of that thing Doctor” in this story.
Jamie & the Doctor
And finally what I probably love most about this serial is it adds depth to the Jamie & Doctor relationship.
Jamie was one of the Doctor's most loyal companions. He never questioned him, would follow him anywhere, even when Victoria left (who Jamie was quite fond of) he still chose to stay with the Doctor. And Jamie only left the Doctor's side when forced.
Seeing Jamie & the Doctor argue (at least not seriously) never happened in the series except in this story. As a Jamie/Two fan instead of being upset at this, I actually love it. It is probably another reason I love the Big Finish story Glorious Revolution so much. I don't think it makes Jamie & Two any less close, instead I think it adds depth to that very close relationship.
Jamie already felt pretty close to the Doctor at this point, even though they were only together for a short time. With Polly & Ben gone, the Doctor was the only person he had so it must have hurt Jamie when he thought he was being manipulated by the Doctor. And I think it hurt Jamie more when someone he thought he could trust was using him.
Perhaps another weakness of EOTD is Jamie & the Doctor never talk about what occurred in this story. After their last argument, the Doctor just shows Jamie the "human daleks" and everything is okay.
Of course the story moves so fast that Jamie really doesn't have time to talk to the Doctor. Their last lines on the subject
Two: Do you think I let you go through that Dalek test lightly?
Jamie: I don't know did you? Look Doctor just whose side are you on?
The Doctor never has a chance to tell him, so Jamie is left on what he sees and his own faith. And in fact Jamie is put in a situation where he has to put his faith in the Doctor. Jamie sees the Doctor seemingly get turned into a Dalek (he is devastated by this showing how much he still cares about the Doctor) and then the Doctor asks Jamie to trust him and go through the converter that turns people into Daleks. The Doctor tells Jamie that he will be fine, but still Jamie has to take this on a leap of faith (he even says how do we know we can trust him?). But Jamie does take that leap of faith and goes through and is fine because the Doctor changed the machine back to the human factor.
So while the Doctor/Jamie didn't have a heart to heart (which admittedly I would have preferred) I think this scene nicely shows that the Doctor has fully earned back Jamie's love and trust. Now the novel says Jamie is pushed through by the Doctor, but I don't see anything like that in the soundtrack or Frazer's narration so I am sticking to my interpretation for now.
It also makes me think that Jamie wasn't even mad that he was being manipulated by the Doctor. It just that he was scared that the Doctor he thought he knew was a person who didn't value human life. When Jamie realizes that the Doctor was fighting for the greater good after all, I think he was even fine with being manipulated by him because he believed in what the Doctor was fighting for.
If anything to me this story makes the Jamie/Two relationship stronger because their relationship was put through a test and while there was some bumps they got through it and Jamie was probably even more loyal to two then before.
Random Thoughts
* This is the first time I believe the Doctor states he is from another planet I believe. The first doctor and Susan mentioned other world but I don't think they specifically said planet.
* The 2nd Doctor has no problem starting a civil war on Skaro as opposed to the 4th Doctor who doesn't want to commit genocide of the daleks in Genesis
* I love the scene when the Doctor softly tells Victoria he would sacrifice them all to save the Earth because 5 lives against a whole planet is not really a choice.
* The Doctor/Jamie are mostly separated in this story but they do get some fun scenes in the 1st episode and early parts of the 2nd episode. It is funny to compare the 1st episode of this serial to New Who. I mean in a 7 part serial you can have one whole episode of the Doctor/Jamie just investigating like Holmes & Watson.
Fun scenes from episode 1:
Foreign, you’re the one that is foreign; I’m Scottish”- Jamie
2) Doctor - “Jamie I’m being stared at, is there something wrong with me”
Jamie- “You mean up here Doctor?”
Doctor- “Is my hair in disarray”
Jamie- “No More than Usual”
Doctor- “Do I look strange, bizarre?”
Jamie- “Well maybe I’m used to you”
Doctor- “That’s some comfort”
* I also love that Alpha, Beta, & Omega could be said to be the children of Jamie & the Doctor. I want to believe those 3 adorable creepy daleks survived somehow.
In conclusion while there are many stories I dearly want found, this is my most wanted for sure.
Now before I begin my unadulterated praise I will say EOTD is not perfect.
* Yes the Dalek plan is very convoluted. There seems little reason to send the Doctor & Jamie back to Victorian times but I personally love the 3 periods this story takes place in so I don't care.
* Kermel the mute Turkish strong man is a walking stereotype, but I highly enjoy the friendship he forms with Jamie. And despite Maxtible saying Kermel is stupid, I don't believe he is (the novelization makes a good claim for this as well).
* For a new companion, Victoria's introduction is disappointing. I mean she is pretty much just a damsel in distress. This is unfortunately the role Victoria gets to play for most of her run. Don't get me wrong I can't help but love Victoria and she had great chemistry with Jamie & the Doctor but Zoe right from the start is given a better role as a female character. Actually Molly is probably the stronger female character in this story and I wish there was more of her. The actress who played her was fantastic.
* Perhaps the Jamie test/rescue Victoria scenes drag on but as a very biased Jamie fan there is never too much Jamie for me so I can't look at this objectively.
* In the scheme of things the subplot with Terrell being controlled by the Daleks doesn't really go anywhere and seems rather pointless but it does give me one of my absolute favorite Doctor quotes
No Mister Terrell, 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.
Now what do I love about this story:
Setting
The 3 very distinct locations that the story takes place in are awesome and can even be said to represent the Present (1960's the first part of the story), the Past (the Victorian times, middle and majority of story) & future (Planet Skaro, the ending of the story).
Doctor Who is a story that can take place anywhere in time & space and we really get that notion in this story. I love how we get Jamie & the Doctor hanging out in a coffee bar listening to the Beatles (sadly the song was changed on my audible copy).
I also really love how the serial displays the Victorian era, obviously set wise it all takes place in one Victorian mansion but little touches of Maxtible & Waterfield experimenting with mirrors to create their time machine, discussions about turning metal into gold, static electricity and alchemy, etc. bring a sense of that era.
Finally we have the epic conclusion on the planet Skaro.
The Dalek's Master Plan also takes place in various different times & places but that didn't work quite as well for me.
The Human Villain
First of all Maxtible is a pretty good villain, while he is no Kevin Stoney, Marius Goring does a confident job and he looks like Karl Marx which is awesome (I also just found out he played the french guide in a Matter of Life & Death who I love, actually pretty shocking would never have known it).
Anyways Maxtible's story has a ring of Faust to it and I quite love it. The Daleks as the devils really work in the Victorian setting as well
Of course the real villains are the Daleks & they take center stage (more on them later)
The Human Redemption
While we see the fall of Maxtible we also see the contrast of the redemption of Victoria's father Waterfield. Waterfield is the one who starts the ball in motion by bringing Jamie & the Doctor to the past because the Daleks hold his daughter prisoner.
Although he is devastated by what the Daleks are doing he sits by and lets them do it for his daughter. In the end Waterfield is able to help save his daughter and redeem himself by saving the world. Waterfield acts as a nice mirror to Maxtible.
The Daleks
Okay I am going to say it right now David Whitaker is my favorite writer for the Daleks. Okay he only wrote two Dalek stories but they were both brilliant and they explored the Daleks in ways no one else really has.
While I give full credit to Terry Nation for creating the Daleks (and as I said before I adore Genesis of the Daleks) his Daleks tend to be universe conquerors who like to say Exterminate. Big conquest is the name of the game and for the most part New Who has followed this formula. As someone who really loves the Daleks I am surprised how few great episodes that actually have. When it comes to New Who the only one I really loved was Dalek (which happened to be my first experience with them) and this happens to be written by Robert Shearman whose Big Finish work I love (I still need to listen to Jubilee which Dalek was based on).
Anyways back to Whitaker’s Daleks….what I like about his Daleks is they aren’t just evil, hell bent on extermination (although they are that too) they are clever and conniving and actually worthy adversaries for the Doctor. Although I think the Daleks themselves are never better villains than in Power of the Daleks…I still love them as villains in Evil.
I love how while the Doctor thinks he is one step ahead of the Daleks with the human factor, they are one step ahead of him with the Dalek factor. Of course the Doctor ultimately outsmarts the Daleks but this is more fun when the Daleks come off as clever, it makes the Doctor appear really intelligent, not just smart because everyone else is so dumb in comparison. Actually to me this story might be the Doctor at his smartest.
But then Evil explores the Daleks even further with the human factor. OMG Alpha, Beta, and Omega have to be the best Daleks ever. They are still creepy but somehow cute at the same time. Saying things like friend, dizzy, and most importantly why… because Daleks never question. Its so simple and yet so brilliant. Really the Daleks playing trains with the Doctor…best cliffhanger ever.
That’s another thing about Whitaker’s Daleks he gives them the best lines. I also loved “don’t worry we will not exterminate you” and “stop feeding the flying pests”
Oh and there is of course the Emperor Dalek (have to admit I was a bit disappointed in his voice) but we do get the first classic “look at the size of that thing Doctor” in this story.
Jamie & the Doctor
And finally what I probably love most about this serial is it adds depth to the Jamie & Doctor relationship.
Jamie was one of the Doctor's most loyal companions. He never questioned him, would follow him anywhere, even when Victoria left (who Jamie was quite fond of) he still chose to stay with the Doctor. And Jamie only left the Doctor's side when forced.
Seeing Jamie & the Doctor argue (at least not seriously) never happened in the series except in this story. As a Jamie/Two fan instead of being upset at this, I actually love it. It is probably another reason I love the Big Finish story Glorious Revolution so much. I don't think it makes Jamie & Two any less close, instead I think it adds depth to that very close relationship.
Jamie already felt pretty close to the Doctor at this point, even though they were only together for a short time. With Polly & Ben gone, the Doctor was the only person he had so it must have hurt Jamie when he thought he was being manipulated by the Doctor. And I think it hurt Jamie more when someone he thought he could trust was using him.
Perhaps another weakness of EOTD is Jamie & the Doctor never talk about what occurred in this story. After their last argument, the Doctor just shows Jamie the "human daleks" and everything is okay.
Of course the story moves so fast that Jamie really doesn't have time to talk to the Doctor. Their last lines on the subject
Two: Do you think I let you go through that Dalek test lightly?
Jamie: I don't know did you? Look Doctor just whose side are you on?
The Doctor never has a chance to tell him, so Jamie is left on what he sees and his own faith. And in fact Jamie is put in a situation where he has to put his faith in the Doctor. Jamie sees the Doctor seemingly get turned into a Dalek (he is devastated by this showing how much he still cares about the Doctor) and then the Doctor asks Jamie to trust him and go through the converter that turns people into Daleks. The Doctor tells Jamie that he will be fine, but still Jamie has to take this on a leap of faith (he even says how do we know we can trust him?). But Jamie does take that leap of faith and goes through and is fine because the Doctor changed the machine back to the human factor.
So while the Doctor/Jamie didn't have a heart to heart (which admittedly I would have preferred) I think this scene nicely shows that the Doctor has fully earned back Jamie's love and trust. Now the novel says Jamie is pushed through by the Doctor, but I don't see anything like that in the soundtrack or Frazer's narration so I am sticking to my interpretation for now.
It also makes me think that Jamie wasn't even mad that he was being manipulated by the Doctor. It just that he was scared that the Doctor he thought he knew was a person who didn't value human life. When Jamie realizes that the Doctor was fighting for the greater good after all, I think he was even fine with being manipulated by him because he believed in what the Doctor was fighting for.
If anything to me this story makes the Jamie/Two relationship stronger because their relationship was put through a test and while there was some bumps they got through it and Jamie was probably even more loyal to two then before.
Random Thoughts
* This is the first time I believe the Doctor states he is from another planet I believe. The first doctor and Susan mentioned other world but I don't think they specifically said planet.
* The 2nd Doctor has no problem starting a civil war on Skaro as opposed to the 4th Doctor who doesn't want to commit genocide of the daleks in Genesis
* I love the scene when the Doctor softly tells Victoria he would sacrifice them all to save the Earth because 5 lives against a whole planet is not really a choice.
* The Doctor/Jamie are mostly separated in this story but they do get some fun scenes in the 1st episode and early parts of the 2nd episode. It is funny to compare the 1st episode of this serial to New Who. I mean in a 7 part serial you can have one whole episode of the Doctor/Jamie just investigating like Holmes & Watson.
Fun scenes from episode 1:
Foreign, you’re the one that is foreign; I’m Scottish”- Jamie
2) Doctor - “Jamie I’m being stared at, is there something wrong with me”
Jamie- “You mean up here Doctor?”
Doctor- “Is my hair in disarray”
Jamie- “No More than Usual”
Doctor- “Do I look strange, bizarre?”
Jamie- “Well maybe I’m used to you”
Doctor- “That’s some comfort”
* I also love that Alpha, Beta, & Omega could be said to be the children of Jamie & the Doctor. I want to believe those 3 adorable creepy daleks survived somehow.
In conclusion while there are many stories I dearly want found, this is my most wanted for sure.