The Evil of the Daleks episode 2 discussion:
Sp: Humans have some the Daleks lack. Kilts!
P: Thumbs!
Sp: That’s why they’re experimenting on Jamie.
P: Actually a kilt would go well on their body form. Then you could peak underneath and see the ball.
R: I always thought that thing around the Dalek’s waist was.
H: They do call it a Dalek skirt.
Sp: I just want to hear the Dalek’s say “Exterminate” in a brogue.
H: If they haven’t done a Welsh Dalek yet I don’t think we’re going to get a Scottish one.
Sp: And man, Dalek weight watchers is harsh!
K: Yeah, no kidding!
P: My scale said I lost two pounds yesterday.
Sp: <Dalek voice> EAT! EAT!
R: I thought that scene was really creepy and chilling.
Sp: Yes, it was.
SG: However the scene when the Dalek burst through the door was NOT creepy or chilling.
P: Hilarious! It was like an ax murderer tripping on the way to the door. Scary, funny.
SG: I don’t even care. They were the best doors the Daleks could have come through.
Sp: It wasn’t the doors. It was the way the Dalek said “DOC-TOR” It was like they caught him with his hand in the cookie jar.
P: I believe the expression is sucker cup in the cookie jar.
<discussion about the proper use of ‘sucker cup’ as an insult>
H: It was pretty clear that the Dalek was taking joy in the fact that they’d led the Doctor on this merry chase and they could come in and say “ha ha, we caught you.”
Sp: Again, as with the first episode, the “leaving a trail for the Doctor” bits were really well done. Not patronizing, not dumb, just sensible and smartly and quickly done.
P: I disagree. How could the Doctor not think there was a trap when the electrically closed door opened mysteriously.
K: Yeah, that was my Admiral Akbar moment.
H: I think the Doctor knew very well that it would be a trap. At that point it was like “let’s just follow it and see where it goes.”
A: Since when has the Doctor ever spotted a trap and not walked into it knowingly?
R: I believe that the Doctor actually said as much last week . I seem to remember Jamie noting that it was probably a trap and the Doctor was like “yeah, but what kind?” And do not ever forget the security code to your Dalek home security system.
H: “Who are you?” Just say something. Anything. “I’m Steve.” I don’t know.
P: I’m the Dalek repair man…
H: <New York accent> I’m the plumber, I’ve come to fix your sink.
Sp: <Dalek Voice> IS THAT A PLUNGER JOKE? THAT IS INSENSITIVE!
Sp: So that was a rockin’ beard on Maxtible.
R: Yeah, it’s like he was bald, but his beard covered the top of his head.
Sp: He had a monk’s fringe around his chin.
A: It was like a lion’s mane.
Sp: You could tell he’s done experiments with static electricity.
H: It was a very Victorian look. Between that and Waterfield’s side burns.
R: It was Dickensian.
H: There you go.
SG: That was the Victorian era.
P: Yet, he opened his cigar with a straight razor, which I found out of place.
Sp: I thought it was bad ass! Demon Barber of Fleet Street stuff.
SG: I like it even more that when the Doctor is being threatened by the Daleks, the other two are hiding behind a wooden table with a bunch of chemicals, and one is smoking up a storm. What is this even doing? Puffing on his cigar!
R: <silly voice> Fortunately the Dalek beams were deflected by my lucky cigarillo case.
K: So I did note one dialog flub from Maxtible called him Whitefield instead of Waterfield. I was confused for a moment.
R: Maxifluff.
K: Sounds like something you’d find on the bathroom shelf.
Sp: Maxtible Fluff. Cutest secret agent ever! So, speaking of foreshadowing, I like the note of alarm in the Doctor’s voice when he’s being told about the various experiments about static electricity.
H: Yeah, that was really nice clever writing.
K: Assuming everyone remembers the connection between Daleks and static electricity. But the viewers already know because of the story title.
Sp: Well The Doctor doesn’t know the story title. Doesn’t know it’s the Daleks, he can’t see the story title.
P: And even if he could see it, it would be backwards because he would be seeing out.
H: <Doctor voice> “Jamie, we’ve got to watch out for the live Kaleds. Or perhaps it’s Kaled’s live?”
R: For myself I was amused by the cross-temporal continuity of thugs.
Sp: No matter when you are, there’s a thug.
R: <cockney accent> “’Ello sir. My name’s Rasmus, I’ll be your thug for this epoch.”
Sc: I thought it was kind of interesting that they shot Kennedy in 1966.
Sp: That’s creepy.
H: That hadn’t even occurred to me.
Sc: I think it would have been obvious to an American audience. But maybe not so much to the British audience.
<Note, that Kennedy’s assassination was the day before Doctor Who premiered in 1963. See very early TARDIS Project entries for more.>
Sp: What do the Daleks want the Doctor to do? We have Fuzzy’s inference about what the Daleks want.
H: I think we can take Maxtibles inference to be correct, because we saw in a later scene that he’s having a conversation with the Daleks without anyone else there. So I think he knows more than he’s telling.
Sp: Well he must because Maxtible’s explanation isn’t enough. If the Daleks just need to get more human they could take any human. They don’t need a git in a kilt.
Sc: It’s their plan to breed Daleks with Scotsmen.
K: So Kennedy was a Scotsman?
H: So the Daleks seem to want to find out what it is that the humans have that allows them to keep defeating the Daleks.
R: <Dalek voice> SERIOUSLY, WHAT IS IT THAT THIS GUY HAS THAT I DON’T HAVE?
H: And, of course the answer is… the Doctor, honestly. How do the humans defeat the Daleks every time we’ve seen it? The Doctor. But that’s not really what they’re going for. So there were some other characters in this episode that were introduced. Maxtibles daughter…
<discussion about the difference between daughters and wife>
A: In a huge skirt. I really wanted to see Maxtible’s daughter get through the door.
H: We also met Waterfield’s daughter Victoria. In an awesome skirt. That dress was pretty fantastic.
Sp: Probably a Dalek under it. <mimes extending plunger out from under the bustle> KEEP MOVING.
K: And the maid.
H: And the thug. But really, it’s the two daughters and the maid and the two scientists. The thug we haven’t really met yet, I suppose.
K: So is Victoria named after the queen?
H: Yes. It was a pretty common name for young girls, after the queen.
<conversation derails for a bit…>
H: So, final thoughts?
Sc: I got nothin.
A: I got nothin.
SG: I got nothin.
H: Wow. I mean are you guys enjoying this?
All: Yeah!
P: Pictures moved!
R: Witchcraft!
P: Okay, so this is really weird, because how often do we have an episode that’s always inside that’s not inside of a spaceship. Or a cave. Which is technically outside, but whatever.
H: It’s all studio bound. At least so far.
Sp: Well that didn’t dictate the script thought, did it? Did he have to write the story with the set in mind? “We just filmed at an airport. We’re broke. Do it all on one set.”
R: “We blew our entire budget trying to demonstrate British Airways actually going somewhere.”
H: It’s a really great question. As far as I have been able to determine, so it wasn’t a cost saving measure. There is outside out of studio shooting later in the story. But it’s a very good question as it does happen quite a bit. Still happens, actually.
Sp: “This week the enemy is in the Doctor’s mind!” “Oh, black box theater. All right, we’re broke.”
H: Getting back to final thoughts. How about music?
P: I didn’t notice much about the music. There was some.
SG: There was a lot of clock ticking.
P: I thought that the flow of the episode, maybe because it was a moving picture, the flow was very continuous, like a stage play. Sometimes these episodes are scene A, scene B, scene C. This one is different. The writer did a very good job with flow. For example, we changed scenes and time by following a character that was not the Doctor. The story didn’t always revolve around the Doctor or companions was a refreshing change. Also there’s quite a bit of violence in this episode. The same thug takes out two people in a row.
H: To be fair, last episode saw a guy knocked out and then another guy killed. But I think the reason the violence is so blatant to you is because the feel of the story is so different than the last few. The violence interrupts rather than being part of the flow.
SG: I hate it when violence interrupts my flow.
K: That’s what the Maxifluffs are for.
Sp: <silly voice> With the power of static.
SG: The weirdest Tesla coil ever.
P: Ohm My God. I can not resist saying this to shock the crowd.
K: Did I really type that?
P: Wait, I’m not done …
K: <ignores him>
H: Moving on.
Sp: So, Waterfield’s daughter engages in resistance of the Daleks. Hunger strike thing. By feeding the birds. Or as the Dalek put it, the flying pests.
H: I loved that. DO NOT FEED THE FLYING PESTS!
Sp: It just felt like a very Disney moment. The innocent princess, held against her will.. lalalala… feed the birds. Blam!
P: I sort of expected them to shoot the bird.
H: That would have taken too much money.
P: I agree.
Sp: Stunt bird’s got a union.
H: Anything else?
Sp: I liked their theory of time travel. The Victorian one, I mean. <Ringo voice> “So we got a mirror, right. And you don’t REALLY know how far you are from it. So, all we have to do, to get really far in time, is to get a bunch of mirrors and get really far from them. That’ll work.” <inhales> “Yeah… that’ll work.” “Have you ever looked at a Dalek? I mean, really looked at a Dalek?” <Dalek inhale> YES! WOOOOOW! I AM HUNGRY! ARE YOU HUNGRY? EAT! EAT!
<laughter>
Sp: <Dalek voice> I’M IN A LITTLE CAN! AH! AH! AH!
H: I just want to see a Dalek get MORE paranoid.
Sp: <Dalek voice>I AM YOUR MINDER! YOU WILL CALM DOWN!
H: Drug humor folks.
Sp: Always classy. I got nothin.
R: <Dalek voice> AH, DOCTOR. WE HAVE BEEN WAITING FOR YOU. BELOW STAIRS.
H: <Dalek voice>WE HAVE MET YOUR FRIEND JEAN MARSH. SHE IS VERY NICE.
<Upstairs / Downstairs jokes, folks>
R: Other than that, I got nothin.
K: Looking forward to seeing more of spoiler spoiler spoiler. Okay, I got nothin.
H: I love this episode. I love this story. I love that you guys are loving this story.
Sp: I love you too, man.
H: Other than that, I got nothin. That’s all for this week.
Sp: <Dalek voice> IT IS ‘I HAVE NOTHING.’ YOU WILL USE PROPER GRAMMAR.
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