Somewhere Over The Rainbow (We’re Not In Skaro Anymore)

So I know I’ve been talking about Doctor Who and Torchwood quite a bit recently, but that’s because they’ve had the most interesting controversies/problems to talk about. Today, I need to discuss Doctor Who. As you already know, the 5th season of Doctor Who is currently airing with a brand new Doctor (Matt Smith), companion (Karen Gillian), and head writer (Steve Moffat). I previously complained about the show’s rebranding through a new logo and theme song, but those have grown on me. Even the new TARDIS isn’t so bad (although I still refuse to get behind the green sonic screwdriver). What’s frustrating me now? The re-designed Daleks.

Taste the Rainbow...of Daleks!

I understand that the whole show is getting revamped because of the new Doctor (wait, didn’t we just do that back in 2005?) so I get WHY the Daleks have been redesigned. What I don’t understand is why they chose to give them the redesign that they did. They have colors. COLORS. Last I checked, all Daleks looked the same, with the exception of high ranking officers (just like in the military), and even then the differences were subtle. But these new guys look like teletubbies or something with their bright primary colors. According to the writers each color is meant to represent a specific job held within the Dalek ranks, but that distinction could have been achieved without recoloring their whole casing. The Dalaks praise conformity. That’s how their race functions. They are a military race who’s sole purpose is to take over the universe. Conformity works for them and makes sense. This rainbow nonsense just looks stupid and is the antithesis of conformity.

This Dalek debacle combined with the most recent 2-part episode has me very worried about the direction the show is taking. I was really pleased to see the return of River Song, but they definitely made a mistake in combining her with the Weeping Angels. The Weeping Angels were pretty darn creepy, and I’ll admit they were a great new villain to introduce back in season 3, but using them in this context makes it seem like the writers are running out of ideas. They have LITERALLY all of time and space to work with, but instead they are mixing and matching old plots. I’m more than a little disappointed. I had much higher hopes of Moffat as head writer. Let’s hope he gets his act together before the whole season is ruined.

DISCUSS: What do you think of the new Daleks?