Daleks in Manhattan

The current season is a juggernaut where even if you fasten your seat belt you are going to have a bumpy ride. Yet, this is the kind of bumpy ride that any Doctor Who fan enjoys to the max, and all you have to do is just picture yourself rocking and rolling inside the TARDIS with Martha and the Doctor and you'll fit right in with the current season. The fourth episode, "Daleks in Manhattan" successfully delivers what it sets out to do: re-introduce the Dalek menace in a setting previously unexplored. This turns out to be Depression-Era New York City where Hoovervilles fester in the shadow of a looming behemoth-to-be called The Empire State Building, being built as the episode begins, under the direction of an underworld boss who answers to higher powers. 1930's New York allows the producers to go all out with the visuals. The CGI skyline of New York City looks convincing and majestic and the soundtrack sparkles with an Irving Berlin ("Puttin' on the Ritz") tune and a Busby Berkeley musical number that cinematically puts us in the spirit of the era. Likewise, the accents are delivered by the largely British cast in a convincing manner, and if at times they sound a bit stereotypical, just listen to the patter from a screwball Hollywood comedy from the 1930's, and you'll realize that writer Helen Raynor has pinned the patter down successfully.

Thus far, the pairing of the tenth Doctor with his new Assistant seems to be one of the most complex in the history of the series, not just because of the inter-racial reality which accurately mirrors modern British society, but also because this Assistant is the most forward any of them have been about her feelings for the Doctor. Smith and Jones have the potential to be the most sexually-charged duo in the history of the series, and as each show goes by, Martha Jones appears to be less and less reserved about her feelings for her Doctor. Witness this girl-talk exchange between Martha and Tallulah, (played by Miranda Raison) a showgirl with a strident Billy Holiday accent and the kind of spunk that lights up even the shattered lights of Broadway:

TALLULAH: Hey, you're lucky though, you got yourself a forth-thinking guy with that hot potato in the sharp suit.

MARTHA: He's not... we're not... together.

TALLULAH: Oh, sure you are, I've seen the way you look at him, it's obvious.

MARTHA: Not to him.

Arguably, this is the kind of revelation that would have seemed awkward with Billie Piper's Rose with regards to either Christopher Eccleston or David Tennant. Rose's romantic tenure on the show focused on the dilemma involving the choice between Mickey and the Doctor. Martha's path appears to be a little less encumbered when it comes to this aspect of her character. By the way, the above exchange finishes with a cute little coda of a joke which hints at canceling any possibility of a romantic relationship between Martha and the Doctor. After she hears Martha's sad reply that the Doctor is obviously not interested in her, Tallulah answers Martha like this.

TALLULAH: Oh, I should have realized... he's into musical theater, uh? What a waste!

The flame of heterosexual love is kept lit later on in the show, however, canceling Tallulah's suspicions, when the Doctor comes to Martha's rescue, and she turns to him and says "I'm so glad to see you," and the Doctor replies with this forward statement "Yeah, well, you can kiss me later." The follow-up show to this one is called "Evolution of the Daleks," but what we have witnessed in "Daleks in Manhattan" is a clear evolution of the relationship between Doctor and Assistant.

This episode has the makings of landmark status in the series, in a season that constantly surprises us at every turn.