Victory of the Daleks (TV story)

Victory of the Daleks is the third episode of Matt Smith's first series. It marks the re-appearance of the Daleks and the Eleventh Doctor's first encounter with them.

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
The Doctor and Amy are called to London during the Second World War 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. The ironsides have been created by Professor Edwin Bracewell and are extremely effective at shooting German Heinkels down; however, rather than being typically aggressive, they are docile, offering to help their human colleagues and serving them cups of tea. Confronting them with their true names, the Daleks reveal that their goal all along was to encounter the Doctor and that Professor Bracewell was an Android created by them. One of the Daleks transmits a recording of the Doctor's voice, described as a "testimony", to a Dalek in a spaceship which is seen hiding behind the moon. After their last encounter with him, a three Daleks were able to escape in a single Dalek ship equipped with a 'Progenitor device' capable of recreating the Dalek race, but due to the Daleks having been grown from Davros's cells the Progenitor would not recognise them as 'true' Daleks until the Doctor did so himself. The Doctor's testimony is enough for Progenitor device to recognise the Daleks and accept instructions to create a new race of Daleks. When these new Daleks appear they exterminate their predecessors and begin the countdown on a bomb capable of destroying the Earth, which is inside Professor Bracewell. Despite wanting to end a new Dalek reign of terror before it can begin, the Doctor is forced to allow them to depart through a time corridor in order to return to Earth and stop the detonation of the bomb.

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
 * This cast order is interesting, from an historical perspective, because it marks the first time Dalek Operators have been credited so high in the list of players. Generally they are amongst the last, if not the last to be credited.

Uncredited cast

 * Civil Servant - Jamal Nasir
 * Spitfire Pilot - Mark Gatiss
 * In addition, there were, according to Doctor Who Confidential, a number of new Dalek Operators in this production, necessary because of the unusual number of Daleks onscreen simultaneously. None other than the "lead" operators were credited however

Story Notes

 * In Doctor Who Confidential, it was revealed that each Dalek was given a name or title. Whilst it is unclear which title belongs to which Dalek, Steven Mofatt mentioned "Soldier", "Drone", "Scientist", "Strategist", and "the Eternal", but Moffat and Gatiss both admit they don't know what that 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 British Parliment parties: Labour (red), Conservative (blue) and Liberal Democrats (yellow). The yellow Dalek issue was produced with less quantity and are therefore harder to get than the blue and red.
 * Colin Prockter previously appeared as the Head Chef in DW: The Long Game.
 * Winston Churchill wants the Doctor's TARDIS key. (It is implied that he met the Doctor once or twice before, this could be a reference to the PDA novels where he makes a few appearences).
 * 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 featured mid-way in the series, following Dalek in series one and then in series three two part story Daleks in Manhattan and Evolution of the Daleks.
 * The Daleks are deliberately bigger, designed to match Amy Pond's size rather than Rose.
 * 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.DoctorJammyDodger.jpg
 * 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.

Ratings
to be added

Filming Locations
to be added

Rumours proven false

 * Adolf Hitler was rumoured to make a brief appearance.



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.

Continuity

 * The Doctor mentions sending the Daleks back into the Void and saving the whole of reality from their efforts. (DW: Doomsday, The Stolen Earth/Journey's End) Amy Pond being unaware of the last adventure is flagged up as a sign that something is wrong.
 * 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 follows up into this story.
 * The Dalek Saucer seen in the dogfight with the Spitfires is the same sort as those from DW: Bad Wolf/The Parting of the Ways and DW: The Stolen Earth/Journey's End
 * The Doctor has been pointed at by guns while exiting the TARDIS before, in the Torchwood Tower. (DW: Army of Ghosts).
 * 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.

DVD/Blu-Ray release

 * BBC Video - Doctor Who Series Five - Volume One is scheduled for release on DVD and Blu-Ray on 7th June 2010 (UK only), featuring The Eleventh Hour, The Beast Below, Victory of the Daleks, and the featurette The Monster Diaries.