Creators and Cast:
- Written by Helen Raynor
- Directed by James Hawes
- Episode Cast:
- David Tennant ... The Doctor
- Freema Agyeman ... Martha Jones
- Miranda Raison ... Tallulah
- Ryan Carnes ... Laszlo
- Hugh Quarshie ... Solomon
- Andrew Garfield ... Frank
- Eric Loren ... Dalek Sec
- Felix Schwinn ... Myrna
- Alexis Caley ... Lois
Official Summary:
Dalek Sec is reborn in human form and plans to build a Dalek empire in 1930s New York. While Martha fights for her life at the top of the Empire State Building, the Doctor must enter into an unholy alliance in order to change Dalek history forever.
Key Moments:
Though the pig slaves' forced hybridization means they only survive a few weeks, the Doctor is able to save Laszlo -- but still as a pig slave, providing a bittersweet ending in which the Daleks' hideous outrages cannot be wholly undone. This is matched by the Doctor's extension of compassion to the last Dalek, which is brusquely rejected -- a fitting bookend to the taunting the Doctor gave the lone Dalek he met at their first reintroduction in the new series (season 1's "Dalek").
Doctor Backstory Revelation:
The Doctor once again demonstrates that he can withstand electrocution.
Fun Guest Alien Factoid:
The Daleks seem incapable of learning that whenever they adapt humans to serve them, the humans
always turn on them. Hello?
Season 3 Mister Saxon Reference:
None.
Bottom Line: Worth Watching?:
Solomon's death scene, underlining the Doctor's helpless anguish, the Dalek's cold mercilessness, and the hybrid Dalek Sec's conflicted surprise strike to the heart of what makes the best Doctor/Dalek confrontations so chilling: the Dalek's simple ruthlessness gives them a huge advantage over the Doctor, and yet it is at the same time their greatest weakness.
