Absolutely pitifully written epsiodes. I agree with the comments above on two key points--that it was too soon to bring the Daleks back after the Dalek/Cybermen/Rose's sacrifice finale last year and that this episode was ultra-corny. And to that I'd add that the Doctor didn't react nearly enough to seeing the Daleks again after they brought about his separation from Rose. Add to that the echoes of the Dalek storyline from a ways back about humans being turned into Daleks and it was really an all-around letdown. Things picked up a notch in the second part, but all in all, still a huge disappointment.

The return of the Daleks will depend heavily on the price tag the Nation estate puts on the series using them in the future. That's one reaons we've seen them at least once a year in the first three seasons--the new series got a three year contract to use them. I fully expect them to somehow show up in the season finale.....just to get the mileage out of them.

That said, I thought this two parter was in the mold of the old serials...basically for what served as part three, nothing happened to advance the plot. It was pretty to look at, but ultimately it was hollow for me. The whole thing of the Daleks basically saying "No, we're really going to exterminate you this time...we are not kidding this time!" got a bit much.

Also, I expected the Doctor to somehow trick them by helping them out.....

Oh well....

Usually I really like Dr. Who, but these two episodes, especially the second, were really not up to par.

Dr. Who is very campy. That's a part of the show's charm. But in these episodes they replaced camp with corniness. And it's not the same thing.

I also didn't buy the idea that any Dalek, even from the cult of Skaro who are supposed to think "outside the box", would consider mixing their DNA with another. One of the main points about Daleks, since the first times they appeared on Dr. Who many many years ago, was that they find such ideas totally abhorrent and repulsive. Heck, in "Dalek" there was a Dalek believing himself to be the last surviving Dalek who committed suicide because a human touched him.

And dragging on the hybrid Dalek-Sec on a leash?! That's not even close to how Daleks are supposed to behave. Destroying Dalek Sec, yes, sure, but tying him and keeping him around? No.

And with all that they still had the time to squeeze a large number of long winded inspirational speeches. Blah.

Not to mention, in this season they just keep putting the doctor in positions that traditionally would have required him to regenerate. Obviously they want to keep the current doctor for a while longer, so they don't want him regenerating. But in this case they should stop completely draining his blood, hit him with lightning, or doing anything else that should be so traumatizing.

Just got back an hour ago from visiting friends who showed me the two-parter, and while I enjoyed it (as well as tonight's 'Lost' which we watched first), it would be pretty hard for any TV show to come along and knock my socks off in the same week as this past Monday's episode of 'Heroes'.

Still, I enjoyed the story, the setting, the characters. I would have liked to have seen an overhead camera shot of swirling Daleks a la Busby Berkeley - that would have really captured the 30s showbiz feel!

But at the same time, enough with the Daleks. When Rose became god-like and obliterated them, that should have been their grand finale forever. At the very least they should have been retired for good after the fanboy dream battle between the Cybermen and the Daleks.

To keep bringing them back now just cheapens both of those events as well as the sacrifice made by the Gallifreyans.

Besides, wouldn't have been easier to just give them a big bang finish and not have to worry about dealing with the Terry Nation estate any more?

I got it in my head that they were going to reveal at the end that young Frank would turn out to be Frank Lloyd Wright - I guess it was just seeing him poring over the blueprints.

Oh, and enough of Martha pining for the Doctor. That got tired fast!

Two of the worst episodes of the entire season. We just saw the Daleks five episodes ago. And, this was just corny, all around. Move along...

I enjoyed the two-parter, but I must admit I wanted a little more....these Daleks of the new series die far too easily. I'm just wanting a big arch, of maybe four to six episodes where lots of things begin and lots of things get resolved, and RTD doesn't seem to want to give that to us.