I find it's always difficult to accurately review the first episode of a two-part story without having seen the concluding episode. It's akin to doing a half-time report at a football match. So, to continue the analogy, was the first of this Doctor Who game of two halves full of goals galore? Or a no-score bore?

The story so far . . .

Having been to Multiple New York five billion years in the future, The TARDIS has landed in 1930 New York, where The Doctor and Martha Jones discover an America in the throes of The Depression. They visit Hooverville, a camp in Central Park, where impoverished inhabitants are forced to live.

Unbeknown to The Doctor, he's not the only alien in the city - The Cult Of Skaro, with the assistance of Dalek Sec's Emergency Temporal Shift, have escaped being sucked into the void at the end of their last encounter with The Doctor, and those last four Daleks in the Universe have plans for the human race and the under-construction Empire State Building.

They have enlisted the help of a local high flyer, Mr Diagoras, who has been "recruiting" residents of Hooverville for Dalek experiments under the pretext of working in the sewers. The Doctor and Martha join the latest work party, and discover terrifying Pig Men lurking in the depths - as well as remnants of what appears to be an alien lifeform.

Escaping to the surface, The Doctor, Martha and the leader of the Hooverville camp, Soloman, encounter a local showgirl, Tallulah, who explains her boyfriend, Lazlo, has disappeared.

To The Doctor's horror, research on his discovery in the sewers reveals that it's of Dalek origin - but he has a more-pressing concern. Martha has gone missing (again) and he believes she has been taken back to the sewers. He and Tallulah head down there in pursuit, where they discover Lazlo, his face disfigured into pig-like form by the Daleks.

Martha has been captured by the Daleks and, while The Doctor watches from the background, the Daleks reveal the secret of their "final experiment" to her - Dalek Sec has absorbed Diagoras inside its casing, and created a human Dalek hybrid. Their plan is to evolve into a new species . . .

Sounds like a goalscoring feast to me!

I thoroughly enjoyed this episode, as I have this whole series so far. Four episodes in, and I've found Series 3 has stepped up considerably on the previous two series, as the production team gain more confidence and experience.

I'm a fan of the two-episode format. The Empty Child/The Doctor Dances and Bad Wolf/The Parting Of The Ways in Series 1 and The Impossible Planet/The Satan Pit and Army Of Ghosts/Doomsday in Series 2 are widely regarded by Doctor Who fans as the pick of their respective seasons, and the fact that these were longer stories is no coincidence. At the "old-style" four parts, the story has much more time to breathe and affords the writer space for improved characterisation. It would always be five two-parters and three single-parters for me. Possibly, some viewers are now accustomed to the faster pace of single episodes, and find two-parters slow by comparison but not me.

Script Editor and Doctor Who writing debutant Helen Raynor (doubtless with assistance from her mentor, Russell T Davies) delivered a fine script, with good background work and some promising ideas, notably the human Dalek, of course. The Pig Men - although why they were actually in that form is a curiosity (file in the writers' prerogative box) - were horrible-looking things. Kudos to the prosthetic team!

The Daleks were great here. Excellently voiced by Nick Briggs as always, seeing the individual Daleks with personality (of sorts) and interacting with each other as opposed to simply the "I obey" and "Exterminate" mantra, gives them an added dimension. Doctor Who moves up a level when the Daleks are around. And that was the case here, without them even engaging our eponymous hero. Loved the idea of the human Dalek, and it was superbly realised - a really great, dramatic cliffhanger, right up there with the end to Army Of Ghosts. And the Dalek Sec prosthetic was another triumph.

More marvellous work from The Mill, too, with the absorption of Diagoras into Dalek Sec's casing and converting Cardiff into New York, and Murray Gold's show tune was great fun and a welcome spot of light relief. James Strong, who did such a sterling job on The Impossible Planet/The Satan Pit is a good director at the helm. He really has the knack of making a TV series look anything but.

The performances (because that's what they look like) of the extras and sometimes the supporting cast is a slight negative in many Doctor Who stories, I find, and some of the back-up and the accents did leave room for improvement. Hugh Quarshie was pleasing as Soloman, though and Miranda Raison was great as Tallulah (three els and an aitch). Obviously introduced as a lighter character to contrast the bleakness of the Daleks' plan, her Phantom Of The Sewers love story with Lazlo is another nice addition which couldn't really have been expanded upon in a single-episode story.

There was also a brief reminder of the background one-sided love story between The Doctor and Martha, in her exchange with Tallulah (amusing that she observed that The Doctor's liking of musical theatre meant he must be gay!). The Doctor's aside to himself that "(the Daleks) always survive, while he loses everything (he has)" shows his hostility towards his bete noir will never diminish - and that his loneliness has not been eased by Martha's presence. His feelings towards her are much more in keeping with the classic series Doctors' aloofness. This may change later in the series, but there's little sign of it so far. I've come to take Freema Agyeman and David Tennant's excellence as read this series. The latter has this role absolutely nailed with last year under his belt. He is going to be very difficult to replace when the time comes.

Very much looking forward to seeing how the adventure unfolds next week. Eight and a half out of 10 so far.

I'm wondering if we really need Daleks every year. Perhaps a Dalek-free year wouldn't be a bad idea...but the production team seem to think we need them every year and that means an extra special story is required. As the Doctor said during this episode, he keeps defeating them but they always return.

The Manhattan setting is truly stunning, though at least one composite scene didn't quite work blending the real NY footage with a studio shot. But given what The Mill are being asked to achieve, overall they do a fantastic job.

The idea of the Daleks being behind the building of one of the world's most iconic structures is very clever, as is the plan for the antenna atop the Emipre State Building. We still don't know what they are hoping to transmit (or recieve) with that antenna.

So the Doctor and Martha arrive in NYC, 1930...the depression and Hooverville - poverty living alongisde the wealthy with the latter apparently doing nothing to help the former. Politics over with we learn that some of the poor in Hooverville seem to be disappearing. This is classic Who, the Doctor arriving and everything seems OK except one thing is badly wrong...and he must investigate.

Cue atmospheric scenes in dark tunnels, and pig-men. I was a bit worried this might turn out to be as unsatisfying as the genetically engineered pig in "Aliens Of London" but here the pig-slaves are given more personality, explanation, and they get our sympathy. The prosthetic faces are superb.

But the stars are the Daleks, the "masters" behind the push to complete the building almost impossibly early. The cult of Scaro has survived the Doomsday battle and ended up here, where Dalek Sec has decided they must evolve...they can no longer afford to be "pure Dalek" and must meld with the humans.

Whether the 'half man, half Dalek' monster works as an adversary will be seen next week. I have a hunch that this story will be a significant part of the overall arc for this year's series. My suspicion is that the cult of Scaro will be wiped out, but when the Doctor discovers some weeks hence that he "is not alone" I believe we may get Gallifrey back. There's been a lot of talk about Gallifrey lately, the Doctor naming it in th Christmas special, reminiscing, describing Gallifrey to Martha...even some GCI scenes last week. Russel doesn't place references like these for no reason. Indeed we've seen and heard more of Gallifrey than we have of Mr Saxon.

And what of Martha? She continues to be likeable, and very intelligent. I felt she really hit her stride in this episode, somewhere in those tunnels completely won me over.

James Strong, as I expected, did a marvellous job of directing. The tension built up well, even though the Daleks were revealed early on and the new monster was shown in the Radio Times.

8.5/10

Ok, crass title aside, I will put my hand up now and say that all concerned are trying to pull all the stops out. This is certainly a far more promising opening episode to the touch-and-go Rise of the Cybermen of last year, and its pointless parallel Earth approach.

After the surprisingly entertaining and inevntive Gridlock, which seemed to defy all my previous expectations regarding RTD scrips, Daleks in Manhattan seems relatively pedestrian - a sort of Eric Saward riposte to last week's Andrew Cartmel-esque venture. Though at the time I preferred the former, in retrospect I prefer the latter. So that is a thumbs up, for once, for RTD. But then my review of Gridlock speaks for itself: a minor classic in my opinion, and not something I say very lightly.

Daleks in Manhattan is much more traditional Who fodder: a bit of spectacle, some mystery and build up, token rebels, lots of shots of Daleks hovering through gloomy catacombs, and so forth. All very traditional Who, but in a largely good way.

I would have preffered Ogrons as opposed to Pig-Men, as in the same way I would have prefered Sontarans to Rhino-faced Judoon in the facile Smith and Jones. But then, much as he tends towards the nostalgic at times, RTD obviously still seeks to put his stamp on his reinvention of the series. I can understand this to an extent - even if I don't particularly like it.

I do feel though that 'pigs' should be left alone now: a similar concept having previously cropped up in the embarrassing debacle that was Aliens of London, I did feel the old imagination was a bit lacking in this quarter. The prosthetics were questionable also I felt: I couldn't help thinking of how comparatively more convincing the old Rice Crispie-strewn mutant in Revelation of the Daleks and the visceral Lucosa was in Mindwarp.

But this aside - it was quite refreshing to have the Daleks back again with a token new henchmen race, and I think this somehow leavens their presence. As does the quite inspired debut of the evolved Dalek-Human at the end of the episode, which is brilliantly realised, strikingly reminiscent of the last of the Jagaroth in City of Death, but refreshingly more Ray Harry Haussen-esque than the usual CGI-garbage. I also appreciated the way in which this entity emerged from the Dalek in a very similar pose to that of the Cyber Controller in Tomb of the Cybermen.

Is this motif of a Dalek-Human perhaps a metaphorical projection of how we Earthlings might evolve in the future? I think it might be - and it makes it all the more disturbing for that. 'I am your future' - and maybe it is. What an irony it would be if we were to become the next Kaled race. In post-Thatcherite society, this still feels a real possibility too.

As for the rest of this episode: visually this is absolutely top-knotch (apart from the token CGI-lapse re the squid-like Kaled). I cannot fault the production team on any level. The slightly art decco set designs are beautiful; particularly the lift, and its very Dalek-esque eyestalk design. Brilliantly realised. And seeing a Dalek come up in a lift was highly memorable. Design-wise, this is a very classy episode - one of the most stunning ever produced in the cannon. It is faultless in that regard. Though the promised 'art decco Dalek' is so far sadly not forthcoming.

Re all the showbiz elements: fairly nicely done and reminiscent in a way of Talons of Weng-Chiang. The Brooklyn accents are refreshing, if arguably a bit overdone in places. Some of the other American accents are a little embarrassing in places, but can be forgiven.

The chappie from Holby City is convincing in his role - he is a naturally charismatic actor anyway, so can carry it all well (very much, to my mind, a modern day TV Sidney Pottier).

The Doctor is on form here too, continuing his much more subdued portrayal from Gridlock (bar the very irrtating opening exclamation: 'smell that Atlantic breeze').

Having said all this, I do feel Davros deserves an appearance sooner rather than later. But maybe RTD, being a fan who sprung during the Pertwee years, isn't intending on re-introducing that iconic character.

The revelatory evolution theme may just about knock out any necessity to reintroduce Davros, yes. But remember, regarding the seemingly profound twist of the Daleks seeking a more human recourse to 'imagination' in order to better survive - arguably this has already been covered in their preoccupation with The Human Factor in Evil of the Daleks.

But overall, not a bad episode - exceptionally good-looking - but it all hangs on next week's.

6/10

An episode from former script editor Helen Raynor and she gives us a dark love letter to the classic series and the Daleks. The 'ashes and diamonds' tone of the story with its sinister pig-men, Daleks gliding through sewers, musical numbers and Gothic romance immediately take us back to 'Evil Of The Daleks', 'Day Of The Daleks' and 'Talons Of Weng Chiang' for starters. For me there was also the ghostly presence of 'Once Upon A Time In America' and 'The Godfather' (Murray Gold paid homage at least with a score that bounced between Franz Waxman and Nino Rota) with the detailed 1930s New York setting.

And the Daleks were back to their diabolical best, scheming and planning and exploiting the weaknesses in those around them. We haven't seen Daleks plotting away and conversing like this for a very long time and it reminded me of the similar way they were treated in 'Evil Of The Daleks'.

Their appearance also, and very cleverly I think, echoed and reflected the decoration and architecture of the period. Thematically, as Dalek Sec sought to ensure the survival of the race by reconfiguring his appearance, we see the elite of New York building skyscrapers whilst people starve and die. What's the betting that the rest of the Cult Of Skaro don't like the new improved Sec? The betterment of the species above all else fits in perfectly with the times when fascist groups were already prevalent in the US and the UK and Hitler's rise to power was only just around the corner. Also note the references to war in the script with both Sec and Solomon referring to the wars they have respectively participated in. This again reflects the post-war narrative subtexts that the original series often contained up until the mid-1970s.

The Daleks obsession with their genes and racial purity also reflects the debates on Eugenics that many leading figures were engaging in at the time. It was also an academic discipline that was funded by the Rockefellers in the States. As well as nods to Aldous Huxley we also get a big slice of Wells' 'Island of Doctor Moreau' with the Daleks transforming humans into animals to do their bidding. Not only that but we also get a merging of Dalek and human as the climax of a series of transformations wherein animalistic impulses are grafted onto the cold, controlling nature of the child psyche of the Daleks. A final image is of rebirth as Diagoras is devoured by the womb of Sec and then reborn as a Proteus like figure, the conscious being emerging from the dark, unconscious Dalek mind.

Will the other Daleks reject this figure? Can they conceivably have any reason not to? They can't behave like Tallulah who upon seeing the transformed Laszlo does not reject the man she once knew. She embraces the changed man because she can still recognise him beneath the bestial appearance. The episode plays subtly with the animal and human condition, with bestial mindlessness and human reason, with constructed bodies and natural forms. It echoes well the Gothic romance of 'Phantom Of The Opera' and the fairy-tale psychology of 'Beauty And The Beast'. All this benefits from some lovely performances from Miranda Raison and Ryan Carnes as the seemingly doomed lovers.

James Strong's direction is assured, with great pacing, and gets the maximum from the exemplary production design, whether it's the low shots of Daleks gliding through sewers or the sweep through the Dalek's Frankenstein-like lab. The episode exudes tension with a distinct undercurrent of oddness pervading some scenes such as the clever juxtaposition of hordes of pig-men chasing their victims through the sewers with the 'Bugsy Malone' musical number with its 'you put the devil in me' lyrics. The realisation of Hooverville is also very good and Hugh Quarshie puts in some sterling work as Solomon. The realisation of the supporting characters as well as the evocative atmosphere is certainly a great strength to the episode.

Tennant is again on form and has now been consistent over four episodes. His bitter 'they always survive, while I lose everything' neatly reminding us of just how badly most encounters with the Daleks tend to end. He's very in control of his performance now and he's making this series work so much the better for it. Freema continues to build on her fleshing out of Martha and we often see how the character now deals with similar situations that Rose has dealt with in the past. The fact that she has a different take on things is refreshing. Her chat with Tallulah about her relationship with the Doctor tells us volumes with her facial expressions alone without recourse to masses of exposition.

The slight downside is perhaps that there is slightly too much exposition early on between Martha and the Doctor and it's a bit clunky. Some of the effects were variable with some great plate shots of New York setting the scene apart from one of the Doctor and Martha looking at the skyline which wasn't as accomplished. The prosthetics are great for the pigs, particularly the work on Carnes and the pig-man found in the sewer but I wasn't entirely happy with the Sec/Diagoras hybrid. It wasn't realistic enough to be convincing. The digital effects of Sec opening its casing were great as was the CGI Dalek inside and the merging with Diagoras. Maybe they should have gone with a CGI hybrid?

But these are only minor problems. The episode is a terrifyingly dark piece of 'Doctor Who', atmospheric, scary and with well realised supporting characters. New York of the 1930s is beautifully captured and seemed a strangely natural home for our Dalek friends to conduct their bizarre experiments. Let's hope the conclusion is as rewarding.

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.

There are several elements to this story that not only make it great - but even make it a bit beautiful: 

The first and most obvious one is the character of Tommy. Although we're never told why a person with special needs is allowed to roam freely about a monastery (and, from an extremely budhist point-of-view, it's almost sort of nice that it's never explained), his involvement in this story is crucial to its noteworthiness. As a viewer, I grew attached to Tommy in ways that I never have before in a Doctor Who story and, for that matter, never have since. I like him quite a bit already even before the Blue Crystal changes him, but as I journey with him after the change I, pretty well, fall in love with his character. So that when he finally dives in the way of the blast of mental energy in the basement, my fear for his safety caused me to produce an audible yelp. Amusingly enough, others who have watched this story with me had a similar reaction to that moment. Which just goes to show, really. 

Another really downright fantastic element of this story is K'anpo/Cho-je. At last, we meet this mysterious mentor of the Doctor's. Even though we only ever heard of him for the first time a season or two ago - we were immediately fascinated with him. And it's almost a bit sad that he does get referenced one or two more times in the series, but we never do actually see him again. Still, the meeting they have near the end of the story is completely worth stopping the whole plot for. It's a magnificiently scripted and performed scene. And the ultra-cool regeneration that follows as K'anpo morphs into Cho-je almost "steals the the thunder" of the Doctor's regeneration. 

Almost, but not quite. 

The strongest, most powerful, element of this story is the demise of the Third Doctor. Written in a way that is still quite grandiose (after all, Pertwee did carry the role for five years and deserved a noteworthy swansong) without being quite so intentional about it as "Logopolis" was. The grandness, in fact, is executed in what I feel is the "right" kind of way: through some really strong characterisation. The Doctor, because of the nature of his character, is frequently a "constant" in his stories. With little or no real sense of growth to him. But the journey he takes in this tale leaves him a changed man by its conclusion. And not just in a literal sense. And though there have been other stories where the Doctor had brief "snippets" of character growth (ie: the little moment in "Ressurection of the Daleks" after Tegan leaves where he feels he "must mend his ways") - this story really makes the Doctor's character growth its most pivotal point. And this is what really causes the whole story to shine. So that, as he collapses to the floor of the UNIT lab and bids his adieu - I am truly touched by his departure. It is, in my opinion, some of the most compelling drama of the Pertwee era. Thus making it the best note for the lead actor to leave on.

As has been discussed in other reviews, Planet Of Spiders has some very "clunky" moments to it too. If there's any evidence that the show was getting too dominated by Pertwee's personality, it's the chase scene. Purely a twenty-minute throwaway that becomes difficult to watch after seven minutes or so. It does almost seem like they're just completely indulging Pertwee's love of strange vehicles. But it does have, at least, some fun little comical moments to it involving the police officer and the sleeping bum. And even the Whomobile flying is kind of a neat twist. Even as fake as it may have looked. So, as bothersome as the chase sequence might have been, in some ways, it's still not as bad as all that.

I'm probably more bothered by the apparent "woodeness" of the cast of villagers on Metebellis Three. Wow, there's just some really bad acting going on in some of those scenes. Most cringeworthy of them all is the woman who played the mother. I'm sure she was cast because she was related to the right person. No one could have been impressed with her as an actress! The fact that she really painfully flubs one of her lines just makes matters worse. Easilly, one of the worst performances ever done in a Who-story - and there have been some bad ones over the years! But, if given the choice of going back in time and being able to alter only one facet of this story - it would be the re-casting of this character before it would be taking out of the chase scene. 

There are probably a few more weaknesses to this story but the strengths, I feel, definitely outweigh them to the point of making them painfully irrelevant, for the most part. The story shows some very strong continuity with the way it wraps up a few important ongoing threads that have been weaving through the series. One of particular noteworthiness was the final progression of Mike Yates. Ever since "Green Death", the series seemed to be doing some interesting things to him. Which I felt was a great move. Compared to the Brig and Benton, Mike was painfully bland in most of his stories. To take him through the journey they did was a nice touch. 

Another really nice touch was the fact that, although the story celebrates many of the quintessential aspects of Pertwee's era, it also strays from it in other vital ways. Thus giving the whole thing a bit of a "Caves Of Androzani" kind of feel. Like that story, things happen in Planet of Spiders that don't normally happen in the Third Doctor's tenure. And that aspect, in itself, makes the story all the more enjoyable. Particularly to someone who found much of this era just a tad too formulaic for his liking. 

So, the final verdict is that the story does have its fair share of flaws. But it also "transcends" (you can't help but use that word in a story about Budhism) a lot of the restrictions the series imposed upon itself at the time. And that, more than anything, is what makes Pertwee's farewell both memorable and even a bit beautiful. A very deftly-crafted sentimentalism that could have been easily messed up in less-capable hands.