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Reviews for Renaissance of the Daleks

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Paradoxical Hodgepodge

By:Doug, Pocono Summit, PA, USA
Date:Friday 21 September 2007
Rating:   5

"What are you thinking, Doctor?" "What am I thinking... Well, I've got a TARDIS full of strangers, and ah... yes - the TARDIS has been locked off to an undisclosed destination by a couple of toy Daleks. That's what I'm thinking, Nyssa."

In Renaissance of the Daleks, we are treated to nonsensical technobabble terms like "pan-temporal ambience," and concepts like "nanodaleks" that are spawned from a humanoid "seed-dalek" who is largely a mental construct of the Daleks who seems to exist on an "island of time."

"This expanse is not space at all, but time - an island of time - carved out of the dimensional nullity."

Is writer Christopher H. Bidmead getting a bit batty, or did this kind of linguistic rubbish come from the script editor? It's been messed with so much that the writer's credit says the story is, "From a story by Christopher H. Bidmead." Good luck, Chris. If it was me, I would've tried to find a way to get my name off of this completely.

"This is the place where all time tracks meet. To come here once is to come here... always. You have always been here, Doctor." Yet, there is no justification given for this statement - in no sense are we shown how this is true. It's like these asinine statements are liberally splashed throughout the script with wanton abandon.

Doctor: "This must be the point where all the time tracks converge."

Wilton: "Like a... a kind of North Pole of time?

Ummm...

Other questions: When, exactly, did Nyssa start hearing the "voices"? How does the new zero room instantaneously heal any injury or disease in the universe (apparently)?

And so, the Daleks doubled back after being repelled (by the First Doctor in 2067 - 'The Dalek Invasion of Earth') and tried again, only they didn't (yet). Dear oh dear. Didn't you fellas learn from Lawrence Miles that this sort of thing doesn't tend to work out very well?

The bottom line is that Renaissance of the Daleks is about communication across time and space (and all of the cast give it a good go). Other than that, have fun putting all of the pieces together. It sure is quite a spectacle.



Having Daleks isn't always enough

By:writingbluebear, Jersey
Date:Monday 17 December 2007
Rating:   7

This was a mix of old plots, soliders from other times, exiles in alternative universes, tardis in a white void, alternative earths. It through in a lot of traditional flavours and almost pulled it off, even with a little sillyness "toy daleks" good fun. But it lacked something at the end. The real issue is the Daleks, they have been destroyed and come back so many times it's had to believe future stories, even it they are good



This is brilliant....

By:Matthew David Rabjohns, Bridgend, United Kingdom
Date:Tuesday 18 March 2008
Rating:   10

I dont know what it is about this tale but i just love it to pieces. for a snapshot of who as it was, with decent plot and not too many recycled elements this story really does have a lot going for it. Apart from the new zero room, i cant actually see any recycled ideas at all. Chris Bidmeads stories for the original series were involved and interesting too. And this dalek tale is packed with cool moments.

This has the feel of a film too, the first few earth scenes are particularly impressive, and the toy daleks are a neat new idea. And the Graylish sounds like a great new find in the..well i wouldnt say monster. But not an ally either. I like it when some parts of the story are left largely unexplained, it gives you room to use your imagination. So once again everyone is on fine form too. The hoparound from place to place works in this story for once, and doesnt become laboured at all. Chris Bidmead always knew how to write great stories, and i disagree with most people that this is rubbish. I think it is class!



Typical Davison

By:David Layton, Los Angeles, United States
Date:Wednesday 24 December 2008
Rating:   7

Despite the vast scope of the second half, this story is fairly typical of Davison-era Who. We get the TARDIS as #9 bus, picking up three strays in time and one spy and three teentsy Daleks to pack into the console room. The story has our Doctor caught in a conundrum and stumbling upon the solution almost by accident. There were apparently significant changes to the original script for reasons unknown, so that writer Christopher Bidmead felt he should not get full writing credit. Bidmead still provides some of his characteristic touches. These include an "is it real?" plot, huge threats of violence but not much actual violence, and the Doctor's playing a battle of wits against an enemy. There is some fun with deadly toy Daleks. A few problems remain. One has to do with the three time waifs Nyssa picks up. Why these three in particular? When we finally do get them on board, their main purpose is to get the TARDIS into the Dalek city. Other than that, they serve no real plot function at all. Some tighter plotting was needed here to band all the time threads. That Wilton is a spy is telegraphed far too blatantly. Plus, we have the dubious prospect of American actors putting on fake American accents. Still, the tale moves along briskly and follows a natural Who-type story structure.



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