The Dalek Occupation of Winter

In general, when I review a story, I try to avoid looking up how well a story is liked. I want to judge it on its own terms, without outside influence.

For this story, I saw the score when I was about halfway through, by accident. But it is kind of shocking. This isn’t just a high rating story, it is in the top 3 for this doctor.

And I try to see why, but I really don’t. This is a very standard Dalek tale, which has some notable moments at its end, but really isn’t a standout for me in any major way.

The party lands on the planet Winter. It’s a planet with a large focus on work. Turns out that work isn’t exactly pleasant though, since they are building Dalek casings.

And the original concept behind this is solid. Winter is a barren, cold wasteland. The Daleks provide food and other necessities, while the people build the cases. Of course, that still strengthens the Dalek army. So it’s not really something we want.

But the way this story goes about changing this, is as standard as it can be. It really doesn’t alter or play with the formula seen in most First Doctor stories. We arrive, meet the locals and the threat, cause a revolution and leave again. We go through the pattern just like any other time.

To expand on that pattern a little: We meet the society and learn it is mostly ruled by a military woman and a president. They are aware of the Dalek’s true nature, but also see the benefits, so they roll with it. Power over justice, in a sense. After this meeting, we see all the benefits the Daleks get from this society. Then we overthrow them, with help from the president.

Then the only really unique moment happens. After all is said and done, the president points a gun at the party and forces them to leave. While corrupt, he’s still in charge. The party accepts this and leaves. After they’ve gone, it turns out one more dalek is alive and has formed a pact with the military woman. They shoot the president dead and start a new reign.

And okay, yes, that’s truly unique. The party has lost. But it feels unearned for multiple reasons. First of all, this is in the last 5 minutes, making it some sort of cliffhanger and not really giving us a chance to show the impact. Second, it has some major, major character flaws. How often has the doctor had a gun pointed at him? How many times has that stopped him?

Exactly. Why would he leave, just because there’s a guy with a gun? It undermines all his efforts in the story up to that point without any good reason. It’s running away with your tail between your legs. And I’m not against that entirely. Getting overwhelmed can be interesting. But it has to be earned. One old presidential guy with a gun does not earn that at all. It leaves the party in a depressed state, but just think about what has happened to the planet because of this writing snafu. The party flees before they were done, which leaves room for the Dalek and military lady to take over. The people on this planet are now absolutely f**ked. And this is not something the story earns by being clever or breaking the mold.

While it is unique for a story to not end on a hopeful note, this story decides to do it in the most cowardly and out of character way possible. The rest of the story is as standard as it gets, with no new ideas or expansion on old ideas. Everything this story does before the ending, can be found in better stories. It’s far from insulting though. It’s just very standard, but with poor ending. I wish I was on the hyped side. The side that loves this story and thinks its perfect. But I just see a rehash of old ideas and a bad twist.

Oh, and as a final tangent: the Doctor hypnotizes someone with his ring, which also feels cheap. The doctor wins because he’s clever, not because of something like that. Otherwise, why would he not just hypnotize his opponents every time?