Remembrance of the Daleks - Part Two
Ace recovers in time to knock down the headmaster which knocks him out. She opens the door for the Doctor before the Dalek kills him. She locks the door on the Dalek but moments later it blows the door off its hinges. The Doctor and Ace have by then fled the building. Outside they find an army truck which has a supply of anti-tank rockets.
The Doctor and Ace rush back in to the school with the intent of destroying the transmat device. Ace instead uses the ATR on the Dalek, destroying it. Group Captain Gilmour, Professor Jensen, Allison, Smith show up. They talk briefly but then the Doctor runs off leaving Ace in their care.
The next day the Doctor goes to a funeral parlor. He is there to see a coffin. He leaves with the coffin which floats out with him. He takes it to a graveyard where he meet a priest. The coffin is buried in a recently dug grave.
Smith shows up at the graveyard. He is attacked by the headmaster who wants to know the location of the Renegade Dalek base. Smith doesn't know what the headmaster is talking about but he overpowers the headmaster and leaves him unconscious in the graveyard.
The Doctor and Smith meet up with Professor Jensen and Allison. They all go to meet up with Group Captain Gilmore but they leave Ace behind. They get some readings from a satellite and the Doctor concludes that there is not one but two Dalek groups, at war with one another. Gilmore wants to mobilize the army but the Doctor convinces him that it would only raise the suspicion of the Daleks.
Ace returns to Coal Hill School. She looks around a bit before she runs into a Dalek. She knocks it quite hard with her bat, inflicting a fair amount of damage, and runs off. She avoids another Dalek before three of them catch up to and surround her.
Thoughts
I cannot follow everything in this episode. I assume that the coffin contains the body or at the very least the hand of Omega. The Doctor seemed to be taking care of some unfinished business from his first incarnation. I'm not sure what role that is going to play in the rest of the story or if it is just a nod to older episodes of the Doctor Who.
There's scene with Ace by herself at the boarding house, run by Smith's mother, after the others have left. She finds a sign in the window that says "No Coloureds". She frowns when she sees it, possibly unsure of what it means. She goes to ask Mrs. Smith but then she doesn't. It is an excellent example of show, don't tell.
What is up with the little girl? Is she cybernetically controlled like the headmaster? I'm not sure.
I don't understand how the Doctor figures out that there are two Dalek factions. The only thing that I can point to is the fact that the first Dalek he encounters in this story looks different from the other ones.
I do wish they would give some of the other characters more to do, without the Doctor. One of the things I loved about the previous Dalek story was how many of the characters had their own little story. That doesn't seem to be the case here. Everyone seems to be dependent on the Doctor.
On the whole this feels very different than earlier seasons of the show, including stories like Revelation of the Daleks. It has yet to grow on me. I want to like it more than I do. I think there are some great ingredients in the mix but I don't love the way they are combined.
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