MovieChat Forums > Doctor Who (2006) Discussion > Revolution of the daleks thoughts

Revolution of the daleks thoughts

posted 3 years ago by peter_t_2k3 (957)
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What did People think of the new years day special?

I liked bits I just felt like the whole prison thing was rushed. The trailer didn't show us any of the Doctor apart from in the prison so I thought it would be interesting having the companions dealing with the threat thinking she'd abandoned them.

We could then have scenes throughout showing the Doctor trapped, lonely and possibly losing her mind. The doctor is someone who rarely sits still so seeing her stuck in one place with just her own thoughts would have been interesting.

I did quite like the risky plan of calling the daleks in to wipe out the new daleks. It was also nice to just get a normal ending and it's something I've been saying the show should do although I have to admit i felt it was possibly slightly anticlimactic.

At least with lets say Martha, you saw what happened to her parents and the fact the doctor didn't love her like she did. Maybe if they had kept the doctor away for longer you could have shown them realising they can't just rely on the doctor and maybe having them leave a little bitter that she abandoned them

Also interesting reveal with John Bishop. New companion?

[–] [deleted] 3 years ago

Honestly, I was underwhelmed.

I thought the prison escape was far too easy, Captain Jack seemed more subdued than I would have liked and Ryan and Graham’s departure was disappointing and anticlimactic. I’m glad they didn’t die but I didn’t feel the proper emotional impact I think those characters deserved.

I’m also sick to death of bloody Daleks.

[–] peter_t_2k3 (957) 3 years ago

Yeah I liked the design of the new daleks more than I thought as wasn't keen on them from the poster. When Jack Robertson said take me to your leader I expected davros.

But yeah for a special it didn't seem as big as it could be. I think with the companions one of them should have nearly died which would have made them leaving understandable. They are still bitter from the doctor not turning up till the last minute and never want to be in that position again so decide to take things into their own hands

[–] [deleted] 3 years ago

Jack Robertson, that was another issue for me. Why on earth resurrect a weak character from one of weakest episodes from the past few years, just to have him be weak once again?

Enough of you Mr Big!

[–] peter_t_2k3 (957) 3 years ago

Yeah. He worked better in this one but was very odd considering how many seemed to dislike arachnids in the UK.

[–] [deleted] 3 years ago

You think? I thought he was worse in this one myself. As far as aspiring politicians in the show go, he’s no Harriet Jones, that’s for sure.

I fear Chinballs has something of a hard-on for him though and the end made it seem he’ll be back again, damn it all!

[–] sati_84 (441) 3 years ago

Yep, at this point in the history of DW, it's really-really hard to build even a passable plot involving the Daleks. I get that out of respect for the series as a whole, Daleks must be featured from time to time, but this episode was also abysmal.

Completely agreed - the departure of these 2 companions had no emotional impact, largely because they weren't really charismatic in the first place.

I take issue with one more thing: why does the Doctor suddenly kill? I mean at the start of the episode we witness the gang outright blowing up a Dalek. They did not do this with a hand grenade or a rocket launcher, but in effect the poor guy blew up, so it was a kill. The Doctor gets a pass on inviting the Dalek squad, but that's also dangerously close to killing them. But at the end when she crumpled the TARDIS up while the Dalek squad was inside... that's also murder... I mean WTF happened to the "no killing" policy? I expected something much more creative from the writers, but Chibnall is clearly a hack, so I was not surprised after all.

[–] [deleted] 3 years ago

Well I’m not sure we’re 100% on the same page here, to my recollection the Doc has never had much of an issue with killing Daleks, throughout all of their incarnations.

Also I personally liked both Ryan and Graham. Particularly Graham. I thought it a nice twist to have an elderly male companion on board the TARDIS and even though his character’s arc was ultimately a case of diminishing returns, I still think Walsh created a charming and loveable addition to the crew.

But yeah, the special was weak. Not that I’m overly concerned, I’m happy to be part of the minority who dig the unexpected turn the show took in S12, and as long as the writers continue to be bold and daring with the storylines in the upcoming season I’m pretty sure I’ll continue to be pleased.

[–] peter_t_2k3 (957) 3 years ago

Someone mentioned something interesting on a YouTube video.

It would have been great seeing the new daleks being used by the government. Like we saw a couple of shots but not much.

What about showing more of how they where being used. It seemed they wanted to show a message of a dystopian government like 1984 but they didn't show really enough.

I really like the idea of things that look like daleks being brought in as security measures and seeing them around the country. I'm wondering if this should have been how the group found out about the daleks. Imagine that, suddenly the daleks appeared and the group are the only ones knowing what the daleks are and knowing something is up.

I still think the whole prison thing needed to be longer. It's like this episode was a couple of episodes merger into one and so didn't have enough time. I can imagine the prison part even being part one, a doctor only episode similar to heaven sent, exploring the doctor and taking them to the edge

[–] sati_84 (441) 3 years ago

Point about killing Daleks accepted, but the current lot of companions was really disappointing overall. Graham could have been great, but... he kind of wasn't. Wasted opportunity after wasted opportunity, in S11 and 12, all episodes were really weak, almost nothing interesting happened in them. It doesn't help that most of the time we were on Earth and in Earth's past. What happened to exciting new worlds, weird alien species and whatnot? This was a huge appeal for me watching DW in the past, but... it's in the past now, clearly, as this special took place also on Earth, and to make matters worse, it was present day. The story was meh and the resolution of the situations were rushed.

And even if we accept Daleks to be killed, is it really that easy to plant C4 on their ship? The Daleks should be a threat, but Graham and co just ran around on their ship, and got done with planting the bombs in 10 minutes, without running into a single Dalek. I mean come on. Same with the prison escape. Same with inviting the Dalek hunter squad to the planet. Everything was too easy and effortless. No sense of dread, no sense of danger, no stakes, overally extremely weak storytelling - inkeeping with the overall quality of S11 and S12 as a whole.

[–] peter_t_2k3 (957) 3 years ago

I agree with the companions. I liked Graham the most. In series 11 he was the voice of reason and while they tried to keep him like that in series 12 he just seemed like someone who was there most of the time. Ryan wasn't too bad in series 11 because he had the arc with him and Graham but didn't really do much in series 12 and he always seems to be played one note.

Yaz is annoying because she probably has the most potential with her working for the police but this is rarely used and in the fugitive of the Judoon the doctor was the one to bring it up. They should have used her skills a lot more for dealing with situations and issues.

But yeah while I'm not one of these people kicking off about the show being woke or what not I do think the writing is often subpar.. chibnall is bad with the rule show not tell often telling us things that would be far better to see on screen.