Daleks in Manhattan (TV story)

"I am a Human Dalek. I am your future!"

- Dalek Sec

Synopsis
The Daleks invade 1930s New York in their most devious plan yet.

Plot
A young man, Laszlo, gives Tallulah, a showgirl, a rosebud before her nightly performance. As she leaves to take the stage, he investigates a sound, and is attacked by a creature that resembles a humanoid pig.

The Doctor and Martha arrive at the Statue of Liberty. Seeing the uncompleted Empire State Building, the Doctor estimates the date, while Martha finds a newspaper dated 1st November 1930. The Doctor notes the headline 'Hooverville Mystery Deepens' and reads about people going missing. He then takes Martha to Central Park where a Hooverville is located. Solomon, leader of the Hooverville, tells them that people disappear at night, leaving behind their few possessions. He asks the Doctor why people can build the tallest building in the world but not help the starving people of Hooverville.

At the top of the Empire State Building, Mr Diagoras orders a foreman to speed up construction on the mast. When the foreman refuses, Mr Diagoras summons one of his 'Masters' to deal with him. Dalek Caan and two Pig Men emerge from the lift, and Mr Diagoras tells them that the foreman is disobeying his orders. Dalek Caan has the foreman taken away for 'the final experiment'. He then orders Mr Diagoras to recruit more 'bodies' for the final experiment.

Mr Diagoras arrives at the Hooverville to recruit workers to clear a collapse in the sewers, offering a dollar a day. Intrigued by an admission that people sometimes fail to return, the Doctor accepts the job. Martha goes with him, along with Solomon and a young man named Frank. Mr Diagoras sends them half a mile in, but they find no obstruction, just a green lump of alien flesh. The Doctor examines and pockets it. Next they come across a lone Pig Slave. As the Doctor talks to it, more Pig Slaves arrive, and chase the Doctor and friends through the sewers.

Mr Diagoras orders the crew working on the Empire State Building to attach strange strips of metal (taken from a Dalek's 'skirt') to the base of the mast, and to complete the task that night. The workers complain about the unsafe conditions, but comply after Diagoras threatens to replace them. After they leave, Dalek Caan discusses the construction with Mr Diagoras, and mentions that his planet was destroyed in a war, while humans survive across time, building and rebuilding New York City. Mr Diagoras tells the Dalek that he fought in a war, and that he promised himself he would survive at any cost. Noting that Diagoras is most like them in mentality, Dalek Sec orders him to the basement, where he is seized for use in their 'final experiment'.

The Doctor, Martha and Solomon escape the sewers through a manhole, but Frank is captured. The others emerge in the theatre, where Tallulah points a gun at them. She demands to know what they did with Laszlo, who disappeared two weeks earlier. The Doctor gets Tallulah to discard the gun (which was only a prop), and Tallulah tells them about Laszlo's disappearance. The Doctor and Solomon search for equipment the Doctor can use to examine the alien flesh, while Martha and Tallulah compare notes about Laszlo and the Doctor. Solomon confesses that he left Frank behind because he was scared. Solomon then returns to the Hooverville, telling everybody about what happened to Frank, and that they must now fight.

Dalek Sec states that, to survive, the Daleks must evolve. Dalek Thay questions the results of the experiment, arguing that merging with humans (an inferior race) is directly against the Dalek philosophy; Dalek Sec counters that, after everything that has happened, there remain millions of Humans but only four Daleks. Dalek Sec intends to sacrifice himself for the survival of the Dalek race, just as Dalek Thay sacrificed the metal from his casing. Dalek Sec opens up his casing and uses his long tentacles to grab Mr Diagoras. He pulls him closer and envelops him in his own body before dragging him into his casing to begin the 'evolution'.

Martha is watching Tallulah's dance number when she notices a Pig Slave watching from the other side of the stage. She tries sneaking behind the dancers to reach him, but he runs away. Noticing that he is more human than pig, she follows him into the prop store, where he disappears down the manhole.

The Doctor studies the alien flesh, and learns its planet of origin: Skaro. He rushes to find Martha, and hears her scream as she is seized by Pig Slaves. He goes down the manhole after her. Tallulah follows him, despite the Doctor's warning. Moments later, he grabs her and hides as a Dalek glides by. The two then find the Pig Slave that Martha saw: Laszlo, who managed to escape the Dalek lab before his alteration into a Pig Slave was completed.

Back in the Dalek lab, smoke billows from Dalek Sec's casing while he shakes violently. His comrades urge him to cancel the experiment, but he refuses and asks for an injection. Dalek Jast plunges a syringe containing a "chromatid solution" into his casing.

Martha is thrust in with a parade of captives, including Frank. They are met first by Dalek Caan, and then Dalek Thay who reports that "the Dalekanium is in place." The Daleks use their plunger arms to scan their captives' brains as the Doctor hides nearby and watches. Laszlo explains that the "low intelligence" captives become Pig Slaves, while the "high intelligence" ones are designated for 'the final experiment'. Laszlo urges Tallulah to go back without him. The Doctor joins Martha in the high intelligence group as they proceed towards 'the final experiment'. Tallulah runs through the sewers, but gets lost.

The captive party reaches the Dalek lab under the Empire State Building, where Dalek Jast attends to Dalek Sec. The Doctor tells Martha to ask what they are doing; he does not want the Daleks to notice him. Martha steps forward and demands to know what is happening. The Daleks tell her she will bear witness to the rebirth of the Dalek race. Dalek Sec's casing opens, and a humanoid creature emerges, with a Dalek mutant-like head and yellow hands, wearing Mr. Diagoras' suit. It flexes its new limbs as the other three Daleks recoil from it. "I am a Human Dalek," it tells them all, "I am your future..."

Cast

 * The Doctor - David Tennant
 * Martha Jones - Freema Agyeman
 * Solomon - Hugh Quarshie
 * Tallulah - Miranda Raison
 * Frank - Andrew Garfield
 * Laszlo - Ryan Carnes
 * Mr Diagoras - Eric Loren
 * Myrna - Flik Swann
 * Lois - Alexis Caley
 * Man#1 - Earl Perkins
 * Man#2 - Peter Brooke
 * Foreman - Ian Porter
 * Dalek Voice - Nicholas Briggs

Crew

 * Helen Raynor wrote this story and is the first woman to ever write a televised Dalek episode.


 * Dalek Operators - Barnaby Edwards, Nicholas Pegg, Anthony Spargo, David Hankinson

Story Notes

 * The working title for the episode was originally "Daleks in New York" but was changed due to the fact that it would be easier to say Manhattan.

Ratings

 * 6.69 million viewers - BARB final ratings
 * 6.3 million viewers - Overnight ratings
 * 1.13 million viewers - BBC3 Repeat ratings

Myths
to be added

Location Filming

 * Some location filming in New York.
 * Bute Park, Cardiff.

Discontinuity, Plot Holes, Errors

 * The Daleks' statement that Skaro was destroyed in the Last Great Time War appears to contradict Remembrance of the Daleks (as it was destroyed then), although it is possible that this is considered part of the war. Possibly, it is what started the war in the first place.
 * Some of the buildings seen were not built until the 1990s.
 * The upper floors of the Empire State Building were not complete until 1933.
 * When the workers are told to put the Dalekanium on the mast it has the bumps on both sides, and when it shows the damage on Dalek Thay the metal is flat with no indents. (The metal appears to have been added onto Thay's body. It may be covering any indents or an empty space leading to the interior of the Dalek. Alternatively, the Dalekanium on the mast may have been two pieces back to back.)
 * Given the time period when African-Americans were still discriminated against and treated poorly, the respect Solomon is shown is historically inaccurate. It wouldn't be inaccurate but unusual. Most racism in New York was perpetuated by rich, high-society whites, rather then the homeless. But Solomon does mention this. At this time period, most discrimination against African-Americans only took place in the southern states of the USA, and African-Americans were reletively free in the northern states.
 * There is a point where a Dalek is looking at Mr. Diagoras and his eystalk is moving up and down but when it cuts to the view from the Dalek, it is still.
 * Why is the Cult of Skaro reluctant to merge with humans, even though they are made from human genetic material? They're not made from human genetic material! They're pure daleks from the era of the time war
 * When analysing the organic tissue found in the sewers, the Doctor uses a Strand 765 followspot, which didn't get made until at least the 50s.
 * All very sweet, the rosebud and all, but dancers never wear fresh flowers onstage as a dropped petal can be lethal. And where’s Laszlo getting them from after he’s pigified, anyway?
 * They’re just bums, he’s just a stagehand – what does it take it get the police interested in investigating crime in this town? Surely policemen would study or question hooverville

Continuity

 * The Cult of Skaro last appeared in DW: Doomsday.
 * This is the first time that Skaro had been mentioned on screen in the new series (the last mention on screen was in DW: Remembrance of the Daleks). The Cult of Skaro, of course, were menioned in Doomsday, but Skaro was not explicity stated as being the Dalek's home planet until this story.

DVD Releases

 * This episode was released alongside Evolution of the Daleks, The Lazarus Experiment and 42
 * It is also part of the Series 3 box set.