Crikey! Russell T sure knows how to have a good time. Seriously good episode from a fanboy point of view. Can you really fault it? The Doctor, Sarah Jane, Torchwood… even Harriet Jones makes a heroic return as the core of the resistance, the head of the Doctor’s Army.
The episode made sly references to the past and Bernard Cribbins did make a connection – as they make reference to moving planets and the Doctor comments that someone has tried to move the Earth before. In Daleks – Invasion Earth 2150 AD, the Daleks attempt to move the Earth by dropping a bomb into the planet’s core – and The Doctor, his granddaughter, his niece, and a policeman, Tom Campbell (Cribbins), do everything in their power to ultimately defeat the maniac pepperpots.
I knew that Dave Ross was returning long before the start of the series, though I had hoped for one or two other surprises (like a return visit from a previous Doctor). The make-up was absolutely fabulous – incredibly realistic and deliciously creepy. The whole business that he chose to recreate the Dalek from his own body, making them of pure (if mutated) Kaled stock, fits into the whole Nazi slant and eugenics. The Cult of Skaro showed the same self-sacrifice for the survival of the Dalek race, cannibalizing their own armour – and Dave takes it a step further.
So, regenerating, huh? What is that all about? Given the general consensus that David had agreed to do the Christmas Special and the extended one-off episodes next year, what the heck is going to happen there?
Funny that 18 months ago to the day, The Sun reported that David would be leaving the show and started guessing who might replace him…