That was quite a fast-paced romp. A bit too fast actually. I think this was a story that unquestionably would have been better as a two-parter giving it time to breathe.
Having said that, I did enjoy it quite a bit. I liked the relationship between the Doctor and Churchill and I also liked the character of Bracewell although his revelation came too quickly and early in the story to give it time to truly be a mystery.
Amy was a bit underused in this episode but with so much going on its understandable why and its also understandable why the Doctor leaves her behind before confronting the Daleks. Although you would have thought she would have put up more of a protest. After all, didn't the Doctor take off in the TARDIS twice before leaving her behind fpr 12 years and 2 years respectively? Wouldn't she be worried how long it would take for him to get back to her?
As for the new Daleks I must say they're certainly not a "radical redesign" or nearly as bad as been posted elsewhere. They are perfectly fine and I think the only reason people are so bent out of shape is that the previous design actually looks better. If these where the Daleks introduced during Doctor Who's 2005 rebirth I think people would be fine with them. And although there's a lot of hating on the colors, I like that the different colors actually mean something now and I hope they stick to those job designations consistently over their next few appearances at least.
One side note is that there's a cameo by writer/actor Mark Gatiss (The Unquiet Dead, The Idiot's Lantern) who formerly played Dr. Lazarus in The Lazarus Experiment as the pilot Danny-Boy although his face is covered, most likely to avoid confusion with Lazarus.
There's a lot of rumors that Gatiss is the next "chosen one" whenever Moffat relinquishes the reigns as showrunner. Although his writing tends to not be as strong as Moffat, he is on par with RTD in my opinion so far. I think if this does indeed happen years from now, Doctor Who will be in most capable hands as Gatiss is another hard-core lifelong Doctor Who fan. Although I suspect we would again see the thing Doctor Who fans fear more than the Daleks: CHANGE! Obama sure would have been screwed if it had been solely Doctor Who fans voting.
Here is my now traditional list comparing the Doctor's respective third stories.
1. The Sontaran Experiment by Bob Baker and Dave Martin
2. The Unquiet Dead by Mark Gatiss
3. Vengeance On Varos by Philip Martin
4. Kinda by Christopher Bailey
5. Victory of the Daleks by Mark Gatiss
6. The Edge of Destruction by David Whitaker
7. Tooth and Claw by Russell T. Davies
8. The Ambassadors of Death by David Whitaker, Trevor Ray, Malcolm Hulke and Terrance Dicks
9. The Underwater Menace by Geoffrey Orme
10. Delta and the Bannermen by Malcolm Kohll
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I knew there was something I forgot to mention in my post. I was going to follow your lead. Here's how I'd pick them:
1. The Ambassadors of Death by David Whitaker, Trevor Ray, Malcolm Hulke and Terrance Dicks
2. The Sontaran Experiment by Bob Baker and Dave Martin
3. Victory of the Daleks by Mark Gatiss
4. The Edge of Destruction by David Whitaker
5. Kinda by Christopher Bailey
6. The Unquiet Dead by Mark Gatiss
7. Vengeance On Varos by Philip Martin
8. Tooth and Claw by Russell T. Davies
9. The Underwater Menace by Geoffrey Orme
10. Delta and the Bannermen by Malcolm Kohll
...which may be subject to change after I rewatch Kinda.
And I also forgot to mention that I liked the double-play on "Victory" in the title. "Victory" the fact that it did in fact turn out to be a Victory of the Daleks, and for Winston Churchill's famous making a V-for-Victory with his fingers. Which just goes to show that Mark Gatiss understands the meaning of "V" better than the producers at ABC! >:P
Cool! You liked the stories a bit different but the only drastic differences are The Ambassadors of Death I'd say and maybe The Unquiet Dead.
That's one thing Mark Gatiss is good at, is historical detail. All of his stories for TV so far have been pseudo-historicals.
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