Victory of the Daleks (TV story)

Victory of the Daleks was the third episode of the fifth series of BBC Wales Doctor Who. In it, the Eleventh Doctor met the Daleks and Winston Churchill, each of whom he had met several times in past incarnations. Like Daleks in Manhattan before it, it involved the last Daleks in the universe desperately trying to rebuild the Dalek race in a famous period of Earth's recent past.

The episode was notable for its redesign of the Daleks into multi-coloured units, each with its own specific function. Writer Mark Gatiss acknowledged the controversial nature of this redesign in his in-vision commentary on the DVD box set. In conversation with principal Dalek voice artist Nicholas Briggs, and Dalek operator Barnaby Edwards, he said that the new shape of the Daleks, especially in the dorsal region, was not particularly to his liking. Briggs agreed but, with Edwards, swiftly noted that in their experience of taking the new Daleks on live exhibition to the public, British kids invariably loved the new design. The decision was revisited in DWM 431 with critics voicing their opinions on the design. A comparison was made with the RTD-era Daleks but no conclusion as to which was the better-made.

Synopsis
The Doctor and Amy are called to London during World War II by an old friend of the Doctor: Winston Churchill. To the Doctor's horror, he finds the Daleks posing as a manmade "secret weapon" that Churchill calls "ironsides" and hopes will win him the war.

Plot
In World War II, one of the female phone operators receives distressing news on a line as Winston Churchill enters the room, asking for an update. A Luftwaffe squadron will be flying in, out of range. Churchill tells them to move out the secret weapon. An operator moves a piece on the strategy board. When the camera zooms in on it, it is a model Dalek.

The TARDIS materializes in the Cabinet War Rooms, setting off an alarm. The Doctor exits to be met by four soldiers pointing guns and him with Churchill behind them. Amy pokes her head out of the TARDIS. Ignoring the guns, the Doctor introduces Amy to Churchill. The Doctor greets Churchill as an old friend. Churchill demands the TARDIS key. The Doctor locks the TARDIS. Churchill wonders if he'll have to use force to take the key, but the Doctor calls his bluff. They grin.

Amy guesses correctly where and when they are as Churchill comments on the Doctor changing his face again. Apologizing for being late because the newly-configured TARDIS is still inaccurate, the Doctor learns Churchill wants to show him his latest secret weapon. On the roof, Churchill introduces Professor Edwin Bracewell, head of the Ironside Project. Stukas come into view over Blitz-torn London and Bracewell gives the order to fire on them to a figure behind sandbags. Energy beams shoot from behind the sandbags and bring down the planes. Saying energy beams were never human technology, the Doctor demands to see what fired them. Churchill announces it's their new, secret weapon as a camouflaged, Union Flag-wearing Dalek emerges from behind the sandbags. The Doctor demands to know what the Dalek is doing there, but only gets "I am your soldier" as answer.

Angry, the Doctor demands it stop its charade as the Daleks always know who he is. Yet, the Dalek doesn't know who he is. Professor Bracewell tries to clear the Doctor's confusion. He invented the Ironsides to help with the war and they are obedient soldiers who are happy to make tea.

Back in Chuchill's office, the Doctor tries convincing his friend that the Ironsides are not obedient drones, but Daleks. Churchill insists they were created by Bracewell. He has schematics, field tests and photographs.The Doctor tries to explain calmly that the Daleks are alien, but Churchill is adamant, showing the Doctor a poster with a Dalek on it.

Walking back to the main war room, the Doctor asks why Churchill called him if he won't listen to him. Churchill had doubts when he made the call, but that was a month before. Churchill talks about what he can do with a one or even a thousand Ironsides. The Doctor orders Amy to tell Churchill about the Daleks, but she has no idea who they are. The Doctor tries to remind her about the Dalek invasion of Earth, saying planets in the sky isn't something anyone would forget. Amy still has no idea who the Daleks are.

In the war room, the Doctor and Amy watch an Ironside. Ignoring the Doctor's warning, Amy asks an Ironside if it's an alien, only to get "I am your soldier" as an answer. The Doctor cannot change Churchill's mind.

The Doctor goes to see the Ironsides' "creator." He asks Bracewell how he came up with the idea for the Daleks. Bracewell shows him other impossibly advanced inventions.The Doctor warns him that whatever the Daleks promised him, they won't hold up their end of the deal. As the Daleks and Churchill enter the room, the Doctor strikes the Dalek with a heavy wrench, ordering it to attack him. He tells them they are the most hated thing in all creation, he has defeated them many times, he is their greatest enemy and declares "I am the Doctor, and you are the Daleks!" before kicking it across the room. The Dalek recovers and agrees.

The Dalek transmits the "testimony" to the Dalek ship hidden behind the moon. Two soldiers run in and are promptly exterminated. The Professor yells for them to stop and obey their creator. One of the Daleks blasts his hand off, leaving exposed wiring -- Bracewell is their android, and they created him. They teleport away, gloating.



Amy is agog. The Doctor explains the Daleks wanted to lure him to give testimony about their true idenities. He runs to the TARDIS, ordering Amy to stay in the Blitz, the safest place at the moment. Amy is annoyed and wonders what the Doctor expects them to do now. Churchill answers "K.B.O. - keep buggering on" as they head back to the war room.

Inside the Dalek ship, a third Dalek, running the ship, closes the chamber as the two Ironsides teleport in. They bask in victory as the TARDIS lands in the corridor just outside. The Doctor emerges. The Daleks prepare to exterminate him, but the Doctor brandishes a TARDIS self-destruct control -- in fact, a Jammie Dodger biscuit -- claiming he will blow them all up and ordering them not to try scanning it or he will use it. He says that when they last met in the Medusa Cascade War, they were supposed to have been wiped out. The Daleks explain they fell back in time and found the last Progenitor device, a genetic archive of pure Dalek DNA. The Doctor realizes they built Bracewell and pretended to be servile to have him give his testimony on their identity. The device did not recognise them as Daleks because they were created from Davros's DNA. The Progenitor accepted his testimony as proof because he is the Daleks' greatest enemy and an expert on them.

The Daleks order the Doctor to leave or they will destroy London. He refuses, knowing the ship does not have the firepower to wipe out a city. It barely has enough to keep the lights on. The Daleks activate a dish on the ship's bottom that shoots a beam at London. The lights of London go on, destroying the blackout Amy realizes the Daleks must behind this. Churchill worries about incoming German bombers. Amy tells him they have to take the fight to the Daleks, but the technology currently on Earth is no match for that of the Daleks.

Amy has an epiphany -- they have an android built by the Daleks! -- they can use Bracewell's knowledge of alien technology. They find him trying to commit suicide. He is confused. He has memories of before he created the Ironsides. Amy talks him out of this. Listing things Bracewell said he had ideas for, Amy gives Chuchill the idea of sending something up to fight the Daleks. Bracewell says they can use a gravity bubble and is told to "think big".

Back in the Dalek ship, the Doctor threatens to blow up the TARDIS if they do not turn off the lights. The Daleks announce a stalemate. They demand he leave the ship and allow them to leave to their proper era and begin the Dalek empire again. The Doctor dares not let them escape. The chamber with the progenitor device glows red and opens with a cloud of smoke. The Daleks announce the resurrection of the master race has happened. A new paradigm of five "pure" Daleks emerge from the chamber in an assortment of five colors. The white one declares the older Daleks are "inferior", to which the three agree. It tells them to prepare and the three announce they are ready. . The new Daleks disintegrate the old ones. The white Dalek recognises the Doctor and declares he must be exterminated. The Doctor once again brandishes his Jamie Dodger and warns them not to mess with him.

In the Cabinet War Rooms, Bracewell has arrived with a radio that can pick up Dalek transmissions while the Spitfires he has upgraded with anti-gravity technology and laser cannons are being manned. They hear the white Dalek explaining the roles and ranks of the new Dalek paradigm to the Doctor. It is the Supreme, the blue Dalek is the Strategist, the orange Dalek is the Scientist, the red Dalek is a Drone and the yellow Dalek is the Eternal. On earth, Bracewell gets the call the Spitfires are ready. He orders them into battle.

On the Dalek ship, the Doctor orders the Daleks to shut off the device or he will blow up the TARDIS with himself and the Dalek. However the Strategist Dalek has scanned the Jamie Dodger and declares it harmless. Before the Daleks can exterminate him, pilot Danny Boy calls the Doctor for orders. The Doctor ordera the Spitfires to take out the dish under the ship. The Daleks fire on the Doctor, but he evades the blasts and enters the TARDIS. The Dalek ship is shielded and all Spitfires save Danny Boy's are lost. The Doctor disrupts the Dalek shield and Danny Boy idestroys the dish, allowing London's blackout to be restored.

The Doctor orders Danny Boy to destroy the ship. However, the Daleks contacts the Doctor, ordering him to call off his attack or they will destroy the earth. The Supreme Dalek announces Professor Bracewell is a bomb powered by an Oblivion Continuuum.

The Doctor orders Danny Boy to return to Earth on the double and does the same. The Daleks activate the bomb anyway. The TARDIS lands and the Doctor runs out into the war room and knocks down Bracewell. He opens the fake human skin of Bracewell's chest, revealing the Oblivion Continuum. The Doctor's sonic screwdriver cannot deactivate it. Seeing another way to stop the bomb, the Doctor asks Bracewell about his past and the pain of the memories from losing loved ones. Despite Bracewell's distress, the countdown nears its end.

Amy asks Bracewell if he's ever fancied someone he shouldn't. Bracewell remembers a girl called Dora Bella and how beautiful she was. The countdown retreats, cancelling the detonation. The Doctor welcomes Bracewell to the human race, congratulating everyone for their help. He prepares to leave and wipe out the Daleks, but Bracewell tells him they have left.

In their ship, the Dalek saucer flees via a time corridor. On earth, Bracewell tells the Doctor the Daleks are gone. His head is clear. The Doctor yells and mopes about letting the Daleks loose on the universe. However, Amy reminds him that he saved Earth again. Chruchill offers him a cigar. The Doctor declines

The next day, Amy gushes over having met Churchill and bids him farewell. The Doctor explains that he removed the alien technology that Bracewell put in the Spitfires. Churchill complains that the technology would have won him the war in a day. The Doctor assures Churchill that all Britain needs is him. They hug and bid each other farewell. Amy stops Churchill, demanding the TARDIS key he took when he hugged the Doctor. The Doctor takes the key back and they head to check on Bracewell. Bracewell is expecting to be deactivated, but the Doctor has no intention of doing so. They return to the TARDIS. The Doctor tells Amy that there is something she has forgotten, She didn't rememeber the Battle of Canary Wharf or the War in the Medusa Cascade. They enter the TARDIS and it dematerializes, revealing a shining crack in the wall.

Cast

 * The Doctor - Matt Smith
 * Amy Pond - Karen Gillan
 * Winston Churchill - Ian McNeice
 * Bracewell - Bill Paterson
 * Blanche - Nina De Cosimo
 * Childers - Tim Wallers
 * Dalek 1 - Nicholas Pegg
 * Dalek 2 - Barnaby Edwards
 * Dalek Voice - Nicholas Briggs
 * Lilian - Susannah Fielding
 * Todd - James Albrecht
 * Air Raid Warden - Colin Prockter
 * Civil Servant - Jamal Nasir (uncredited)
 * Spitfire Pilot - Mark Gatiss (uncredited)

Story notes

 * This episode had the working titles of The Dalek Project and The Dalek Tea Party.
 * In this episode, each Dalek was given a different title, which corresponded with their armour colour; namely, "Scientist" (orange), "Strategist" (blue), "Drone" (red), "Eternal" (yellow) and "Supreme" (white). In Doctor Who Confidential, Mofatt and Gatiss both admit they don't know what the title "Eternal" means yet ("but it sounds cool").
 * The red, blue and yellow Daleks were first revealed in the Radio Times and the colours were used to symbolise the different colours of the three major British political parties: Labour (red), Conservative (blue) and Liberal Democrats (yellow).
 * This was the first Dalek story since DW: Dalek, back in 2005, not to feature David Tennant as the Tenth Doctor, as well as the first Dalek story since then to not be a multi-parter.
 * Colin Prockter previously appeared as the Head Chef in DW: The Long Game.
 * Like DW: The Unquiet Dead in Series 1, this episode is the third in the series, is a pseudo-historical, is penned by Mark Gatiss, and is both preceded and followed by two episodes by the head writer.
 * Ian McNeice previously portrayed Winston Churchill in the Royal National Theatre's 2008 production of Never So Good.
 * This is the second Dalek episode in the new series to use the infamous "...of the Daleks" title scheme, the first being DW: Evolution of the Daleks.
 * Mark Gatiss said in the Radio Times: "They're bigger than they've ever been; and in technicolor!" This would show that the new Daleks shall be different colours like the 'classic' Daleks of the earlier eras.
 * This is the third time in the new series that the Daleks have been featured mid-way in the series, following DW: Dalek in series one and then in series three two part story DW: Daleks in Manhattan and DW: Evolution of the Daleks.
 * The Daleks seen since series 1 were designed so that the eye stalk lined up with Billie Piper's eyes. The new Daleks are designed to match Karen Gillan's height.
 * For narrative and filming purposes, the Cabinet War Rooms in the episodes are far larger than the real ones and have an RAF "spotter" table that was not really present.
 * The Dalek model on the "spotter" table appears to be a Character Options Dalek toy painted grey, likely the "mutant reveal" Dalek figurine with the removal front given the visible separation lines on the front of the model.
 * This episode holds the record for the most non-CGI Dalek models used in a single story, with no less than eight Dalek models on-screen at the same time.
 * The Doctor mentions how the Daleks always manage to recognise him despite his regenerations, as they first did in DW: The Power of the Daleks with his second incarnation. However, this has not always been the case: in DW: Revelation of the Daleks, only Davros' Daleks recognised his sixth incarnation; the other faction disbelieving that he was the Doctor. Furthermore, in DW: Doomsday, the Cult of Skaro failed to recognise the Tenth Doctor but acknowledged that he registered as an enemy.
 * It is not clarified whether these Daleks were part of the half-human faction from Parting of the Ways or members of the New Dalek Empire from Journey's End. They are implied to be from the latter but it is never stated. The Progenitor won't recognise the gold Daleks, the ones seen thus far in the series, because (according to the Doctor) it doesn't recognise their DNA as Dalek. This could mean that these Daleks are part of the fleet developed by the Dalek Emperor from human DNA or part of Davros' Medusa Cascade fleet developed from his own Kaled cells. The latter seems more likely, as Rose, empowered by the Time Vortex, wiped out the Emperor's fleet in an instant, making it extremely unlikely that one saucer would be able to escape. The Dalek Handbook also states they are Daleks who survived the War in the Medusa Cascade.
 * Amy refers to the Daleks as the Doctor's "Archenemies".
 * This episode aired on the same day the K9 episode, Jaws of Orthrus was first broadcast on Disney XD in Britain. It also aired on the same day that The Korven was first broadcast on Network Ten in Australia.
 * Although Terry Nation originally based the Daleks on the Nazis, this the first time the race has appeared in World War II - ironically, helping the British fight against the Nazis.
 * This is the first Dalek episode of the new series to not show any Daleks in flight.
 * Cookies known as "jammie dodgers" are added to the Doctor's list of favourite foods, as he'll ask for them later. DW: Night Terrors

Ratings
6.2 million - First broadcast

7.82 million - Final BARB ratings

Filming locations
to be added

Rumours

 * Adolf Hitler was rumoured to make a brief appearance. He was mentioned, but not seen.
 * Fans speculated that the Daleks had been digitally re-coloured for the Radio times election special covers, and the Daleks featured in the episode would be uniformly coloured. This was proven false, and Daleks coloured red, blue and yellow were seen in the episode alongside others.

Production errors

 * In the scene where the Doctor and Amy are discussing Bracewell's possible deactivation, editor John Richards fails to match the frontals of the Doctor with the reverses looking at Bracewell. In the frontals, Matt Smith clearly has his hands in his pockets or clasped together in front of him. On the reverses, his right hand is seen dangling rather lifelessly at his side.
 * At the end, when Churchill is talking to the Doctor and Amy, he bends down to light a cigar, and puts it in his mouth. When he gets up, it is no longer anywhere to be seen.
 * When the Doctor was talking to the Dalek Supreme on the "actual" shot he was further away from the Dalek but on the screen provided by Bracewell the plunger is nearly touching him. The Supreme Dalek was also seen moving towards the Doctor after the 'cleansing' of the old Daleks, but immediately after seen starting to move, it is back in its original position and immobile.
 * There were numerous points in the episode where the 'earlights' of the Daleks did not light when a Dalek was speaking.
 * Before the Doctor arrived, a Dalek states "Commencing stage two!", but, its earlights aren't on. The next Dalek that speaks speaks with another's voice instead of its own.
 * Before the new Daleks emerged, an old Dalek states that they had succeeded, but none of their earlights were on.
 * The Supreme Dalek had numerous incidents; when it ordered the extermination of the Doctor, and stating that the Daleks would return, its earlights weren't on.
 * The Scientist Dalek's earlights didn't turn on when it was monitoring the energy pulse and the shields. Also notable is that its earlights were on, when it wasn't speaking, when the Supreme Dalek ordered the Doctor to 'explain'.
 * The cockpits of the spitfire pilots glow green when firing their lasers, but they fired red lasers.
 * When the TARDIS dematerialises and causes wind to blow against Churchill and Amy their clothes are affected but the cigar smoke in the air is unaffected and actually drifts towards the TARDIS.
 * In many scenes, the Doctor will see a Dalek in one room, and then more in the next room. This is impossible, because there are only three Daleks that survived the backfire of the Reality Bomb in DW: Journey's End, and they are not fast enough to move that quickly from one room to the next.

Continuity

 * The Doctor mentions sending the Daleks back into the Void (DW: Doomsday) and saving all of reality from them. He further states that Amy should have remembered them from when there were "planets in the sky" (DW:The Stolen Earth/Journey's End), and is concerned that she doesn't remember.
 * Subservient Daleks is also the theme of the first Second Doctor adventure. (DW: The Power of the Daleks)
 * The end of DW: The Beast Below directly leads into this story.
 * The Dalek Saucer seen in the dogfight with the Spitfires is similar to those from DW: Bad Wolf/The Parting of the Ways and DW: The Stolen Earth/Journey's End
 * The Doctor has had a group of soldiers point weapons at him shortly after or while exiting the TARDIS before, in the Torchwood Tower and in Albion Hospital (DW:Army of Ghosts, Aliens of London). It will later happen again in DW: A Good Man Goes to War.
 * The Doctor mentions that his TARDIS is a Type 40 TARDIS. (DW: The Ribos Operation)
 * The new Daleks use a time corridor to depart from the era. The last time a Time corridor was used on-screen was in DW: Resurrection of the Daleks.
 * Another one of the cracks can be seen on the wall of the Cabinet War Room after the TARDIS dematerialises.
 * In Doctor Who Confidential, Gatiss confirms that the brightly coloured restored Daleks are a nod to the 1960s Amicus films.
 * Churchill remarks that the Doctor has changed his face again, implying that he has encountered at least two other incarnations of his. The Doctor had already met Churchill in his sixth incarnation in PDA: The Shadow in the Glass and both his second and sixth incarnations encountered him in PDA: Players and The Shadow in the Glass.
 * The Dalek saucer is hidden on the dark side of the Moon. The Cybermen hid a craft there in DW: The Invasion.
 * The Spitfire Pilot known as Danny Boy later appears in Series 6 as one of many who owe a debt to the Doctor. He takes part in the Battle of Demon's Run where he destroys their communication array. (DW: A Good Man Goes to War)
 * The Doctor exclaims to the new Daleks that it is the final end - something that he had said at the end of DW : The Evil of the Daleks.

Timeline

 * This story occurs after: DW: The Beast Below
 * This story occurs before: NSA: Apollo 23

Home video releases
BBC Video - Doctor Who Series Five - Volume One was released on DVD and Blu-Ray on 7 June 2010 (UK only), featuring The Eleventh Hour, The Beast Below, Victory of the Daleks and the featurette The Monster Files. This episode is also featured on Disc 2 of The Complete Fifth Series Box Set.