Day 759: Victory of the Daleks

Victory of the Daleks, whilst not a brilliant story, is still one that I admire deeply. Perhaps I don't admire what turned out on screen – a poor design for the rebooted Daleks doesn't quite live up to expectations and is notably discarded as the series progresses – but I do admire what the plot sets out to do in terms of the ongoing story of the Doctor and the Daleks.

The title of the story: Victory of the Daleks, proves to be the most important part of the episode because this is a story where the Daleks unambiguously win. They don't set out to destroy the human race, instead they just want to survive, and the second half of the story is entirely based around this notion. We have the Doctor coming up against Daleks on their last legs, ready for him to take them out once and for all, and yet he still loses to them because they outwit him, running away when the time is right. But how do they manage to win in this story when they are on the verge of loss?

Consider that their attack on London is halfhearted, consisting of them turning all of the lights of London on, and then when that fails, turning an android into a bomb. It's not that Mark Gatiss and Steven Moffat aren't writing the Daleks to be dangerous, it's instead that they're writing the Daleks to be cunning. They take advantage of the Doctor wishing to save people and so they distract him at every possible opportunity such that they can make him do what they need him to do whether that be leave the Dalek ship so that they can escape, or recognise the Daleks so that they can activate the progenitor. It presents the Daleks as far more interesting villains than the simple forces of destruction that they were in the latter half of the Russell T Davies era, and it's a shame that this wasn't followed up on more in the Moffat era.

But still, it provides the backbone for what is an enjoyable, if a little underwhelming story, but another key part of the fantastic Series 5.