Christopher Morley picks up the story from Daleks In Manhattan, with part two of the Tenth Doctor adventure - Evolution Of The Daleks.
Now then, are you sitting comfortably? Good - we'll begin! Last time out Sec had become a Human Dalek, & that transformation will govern a lot of what goes on as we see for ourselves the Evolution Of The Daleks, in which they learn that if there's one thing humanity really isn't, its an inferior species. Let's continue, then...
Now then, are you sitting comfortably? Good - we'll begin! Last time out Sec had become a Human Dalek, & that transformation will govern a lot of what goes on as we see for ourselves the Evolution Of The Daleks, in which they learn that if there's one thing humanity really isn't, its an inferior species. Let's continue, then...
Having emerged
from his casing, Sec stands toe to toe with the Doctor. Caan, Jast &
Thay want him exterminated as quickly as possible- but in the first
sign that some emotion might have crept into his mentality, he
rejects the idea out of hand ( which he now has, justifying the use
of the expression). Ten has a surprise for him though- its a radio!
Tuning to Planet
Rock, presumably, he proceeds to
make the Daleks & their Pig Slaves go a bit giddy by cranking
some choice Iron Maiden up to eleven while telling everyone that not
only has he had guitar lessons with Steve Harris but also actually
met the Beast itself ( The Satan Pit),
not to mention a Daemon at Devil's End ( The Daemons).
Sending their
captors nearly deaf allows the Doctor & friends to peg it back
through the sewers, & watching them leave gives Thay & Caan
some quality time to discuss their concerns at the growing emotional
capacity of their leader. Everyone else is now back in Hooverville,
Ten telling the rest of the residents the real story of what goes on
down in the sewers. Until, that is, he's rudely interrupted in the
process of putting a good finish to things by the arrival of Jast &
Caan as a sort of Dalek air force, picking off several of the fleeing
Hoovervillians. Sec, meanwhile, watches on from the Empire State
Building via 'visual link' ( bit like Skype, really).
Solomon makes the
elementary mistake of trying to reason with them, but his
extermination really riles Sec- he orders them to stop & return
to their genetics lab with the Doctor in tow. In return nobody is
allowed to meet the same fate as poor old Solomon. Ten is needed as a
bit of emergency help to fix things so that an anticipated 'gamma
strike' can happen, an important part of the enormously complicated
science required to create a new race of Dalek Humans.
What the Doctor
wouldn't give to be back in his Second incarnation, showing off a
lovely Beatle 'moptop' cut & finally getting the chance to learn
I Am The Walrus on his
recorder, perhaps ( see The Three Doctors
for possibly the best pop culture joke ' classic Who'ever managed). Goo goo goo joob indeed. In fact, as it's that good a
gag here it is-
...Before he can get
too involved in attempting to master the psychedelic Fab Four classic
though, he has to prepare a gene solution to be fed into the brains
of some Human Dalek ' shells'. The principle is simple enough
according to Sec- the intelligence of a Dalek mixed with a little
human emotion. That means getting rid of their burning ambition for
universal conquest!
At which point
Ten has a little ' say what?' moment- unsurprising, given that he's
spent quite some time & a good few incarnations stopping them
from doing just that. Until a rather large spanner is put in the
works!
Caan, Jast &
Thay have turned mutineers, sabotaging things & refusing to
recognise Sec as their captain on the grounds that he's no longer one
of them. Injecting the ' shells' with pure Dalek DNA, they work
towards ensuring that the ' experiment' goes in a direction more
pleasing to their beloved Emperor. So busy are they with their
treachery that they don't notice Laszlo & the Doctor escaping to
take the lift to the top of the building. Going up!
Meeting with
Martha, Tallulah & Frank ( another Hoovervillian) they quickly
work out what has to be done- get the Dalekanium, or skirt-metal, off
the top of the building. With some quite brilliant practical science,
a band of Pig Slaves that was making its way up the lift is killed
off. Mindful of the rule that every silver lining has a cloud, the
Human Daleks pick their moment to wake up under the command of Caan-
who gives himself the rank of 'Controller', which Sec had his
eye-stalk on before becoming quite literally a different thing
altogether. He's still angry though, & watches on as the 'Human
Daleks' are ordered to take up weapons ( Tommy guns augmented with
laser technology) & descend into the sewers.
Our not so merry
band of heroes hotfoot it to the theatre- clearly not in the mood for
a bit of song & dance though. The Doctor knows the Human Dalek
army will be making its way there for a very different kind of
matinee performance! Thay & Jast also pitch up with poor old Sec
in chains, reduced to crawling when he'd once stood so proud as the
poster boy of a better future for his race. Who'd have thought you
could ever feel sorry for a Dalek, Human or not?
At that moment
though, Ten does- acclaiming their prisoner as the most intelligent
Dalek ever created. Well, he was there when it all began (Genesis
Of The Daleks), so he should
know! Which only serves to anger the remaining ' true' Daleks into
making the latest of many attempts to kill him off. The Doctor's
getting cocky now, & tries to get the 'Human Daleks' to finish
the job. But they can't. Perhaps some incredibly clever gambit has
actually worked..just like The Evil Of The Daleks,
Two fans!
You see, the
Doctor was atop the Empire State Building when the ' gamma strike'
happened, which means that a little of his own genetic make-up went
into the very ' shells' that are now trying to do him a mischief...so
they've now got a little of his personality. Which means questioning
orders is now as easy as pie ( you might also recall Alpha, Beta &
Omega enjoying similar freedom if you've experienced the joys of
Evil) & kicks off
a civil war of sorts between creations & creators. Not so good
for Jast & Thay, who are quickly killed in the crossfire.
Which proves
quite enough for Caan, who's been watching from the Empire State, to
declare the whole thing a costly failure & triggers genocide with
a single word- ' destruct'. The Human Daleks are instantly killed,
which angers the Doctor. Catching up with Caan, he decides to try a
softly-softly approach. Extending a hand as someone who's now also
the last of his own kind with an offer of help, he's met with a cry
of ' Emergency Temporal Shift!' (by which means Caan will later
travel back into the Time War & haul a rather important friend
out of quite some predicament in The Stolen Earth/Journey's
End).
Living up to the
Doctorly part of his name he even manages to extend Lazslo's limited
Pig Slave lifespan. What a trooper! On which note he & Miss Jones
depart safe in the knowledge that not only does America have a nice
new landmark but everything’s tickety-boo. Caan will return though,
Ten knows. Funny how these things creep up on you..but its off to
stop a Professor Lazarus (clue's in the name, unless you've not read
the Bible, in particular the Gospel of John.
Let's just say 'back from the dead'). But as ever in these things,
with quite the twist.
Allons-y!
Allons-y!
