The Sentinel of the Fifth Galaxy / DALEKS!

The second instalment of the animated Dalek series has now premiered on the Doctor Who YouTube channel. 

Last week we saw the Daleks trundle into a trap, and this time we get to see what that trap entails. It's basically a big green lighting effect, which is supposed to be some sort of extra-temporal entity. It chases the Daleks back to Skaro, and we see the city exactly as it appeared in The Magician's Apprentice / The Witch's Familiar.

The planet falls, though we hear this but don't really see it. This is a problem this week. Later there is a battle between two Dalek factions and they just hover and shoot at each other. They don't seem to hit anything, yet we are told that one side is beating the other. It's just not apparent on screen.

Before we get to the battle, only the Emperor's ship seems to have survived, and he sets off to find reinforcements. There are 10,000 of them stored on a planet, guarded by the Sentinel of the title. Half the episode is taken up between the Strategist talking to the Sentinel, which is a rather stereotypical cartoon robot. It is voiced by Joe Suggs, who - according to Google, I had to look him up - is an "Internet Celebrity". I certainly didn't recognise the voice, so they could have hired any old actor.

The green lighting effect has got to the planet first, and turned the reinforcements against the Emperor - hence the big battle, which is just a glorified son et lumiere show.

The Emperor legs it once again, with the green lighting effect still in pursuit. A Dalek on the bridge explodes for no reason whatsoever...

As with last week's initial instalment, Daleks on their own are pretty boring. Only the Strategist has any kind of personality, but it's all one note. This really needs human characters.

I is for... Isolus

 

Isolus are a space-dwelling species which travel inside egg-like pods in huge family groupings. They thrive on the companionship of these groups, and cannot bear to be alone. One particular specimen was accidentally diverted from its course and crash-landed on Earth, the heat-seeking pod landing in some fresh tar on an East London street. Despite being mid-summer, the pod absorbed all the heat from the area, and it drained the energy from vehicles which passed over it.

The Isolus creature found a lonely and withdrawn young girl named Chloe Webber, who lived on the street. It merged with her and gave her strange psychokinetic powers. Desperate for companionship, it made Chloe draw local children who were then transplanted to another dimension. Its needs grew, and a few children weren't enough. Soon, it had made Chloe draw the whole of the Olympic stadium and its population, yet this still wasn't enough. Chloe captured the Doctor, to prevent him interfering with the Isolus' plans, as only the entire world would satisfy it.

Rose Tyler and a council workman dug up the pod, and the Isolus left Chloe and rejoined it. It homed in on the Olympic torch which was passing the end of the street, and this gave it an energy boost. It released its captives, and the Doctor used the Olympic flame in the stadium to give it the energy to leave Earth and rejoin its kin in space.

Appearances: Fear Her (2006).

I is for... Isabella

Daughter of a Venetian gondolier named Guido. Her father thought himself extremely fortunate that he managed to enrol her at the exclusive school for young ladies run by Rosanna Calvierri - a noted benefactor to the city.

However, he was shocked to discover that he could never see Isabella again. An attempt to make contact with her one day led to him discovering that she had become highly photosensitive, and her school friends appeared to be vampires. This was witnessed by the Doctor, who decided to investigate.

Amy Pond was enrolled in the school in order to find a way to help the Doctor, Guido and Rory to find a way in. She discovered that Rosanna and her son, Francesco, were really water-loving alien Saturnyns. They were converting young women so they would be suitable for breeding with Saturnyn males. They attempted to convert Amy but she was rescued by Isabella. As they tried to leave the school, however, the sun had come up and Isabella was forced to retreat. For her act of betrayal against them, the Calvierris had her thrown into a canal, where she was devoured by Saturnyn young.

Played by: Alisha Bailey. Appearances: The Vampires of Venice (2010).

I is for... Isaac

Marshal of the town of Mercy, Nevada, in 1870. When the Doctor arrived in Mercy and identified himself as an alien doctor, the citizens threw him beyond a barrier which they had erected around the town, where he was threatened by a cyborg gunslinger. Isaac rescued him and back at his office he revealed that he was sheltering the alien doctor which the gunslinger wanted to kill - Khaler-Jex. Jex had arrived some time before, and had given the town an electricity supply, as well as curing a serious infection.

However, the Doctor later discovered that Jex was really a war criminal, and the gunslinger sought revenge for the atrocities he had committed. When the Doctor had him thrown over the boundary, Isaac sacrificed himself to save the alien doctor, taking the shot intended for him. As he died, he passed his badge on to the Doctor and asked him to continue to protect Jex.

Played by: Ben Browder. Appearances: A Town Called Mercy (2012).

• Browder first came to fame as the astronaut John Crichton in Farscape (1999 - 2003). He later went into Stargate, and has featured in Arrow. 
• He turned down another role to play Isaac as he had always wanted to do a Western.

I is for... Ironsides

 "Ironsides" was the name given to the war machines invented by Professor Bracewell, to help Winston Churchill win the Second World War. Bracewell was continually coming up with scientific ideas. When the Doctor arrived in wartime London, at the behest of the Prime Minister, he was horrified to find that the Ironsides were actually Daleks. Bracewell had given them a khaki camouflage design, with utility belts below the neck section. A Union Jack was added beneath the eye-stalk, and they could be fitted with canvas coverings for their dome lights to comply with blackout rules.

They were allowed to roam freely around Churchill's War Rooms, and came across as helpful servants, as well as being lethal weapons - able to shoot down entire squadrons of enemy aircraft.

The Doctor had to find a way to reveal their true nature to Churchill. However, they were part of a ploy to get the Doctor to confirm their identity, so that a progenitor device on their spaceship would recognise them as Daleks. This was necessary as their DNA had become corrupted over time. Bracewell was really an android created by them, implanted with false memories.

The progenitor created a whole new Dalek race which saw the Ironsides and their like as genetically inferior, and they allowed themselves to be destroyed them.

Appearances: Victory of the Daleks (2010).

• The Ironsides were inspired by the Daleks of The Power of the Daleks, which pretended to be subservient to humans.

I is for... Irongron

 

Irongron was a robber-baron in medieval England. He and his mercenaries took advantage of a foreign war to take over the territories of nobles whose troops were fighting abroad. One castle he seized was neighbour to that belonging to Sir Edward of Wessex, and Irongron had set his sights on this. One night he and his men saw a shooting star fall into the forest nearby. Whilst he was determined to go and investigate straight away, his superstitious men, including his dim-witted henchman Bloodaxe, refused to go. The following morning they rode out and discovered a crash-landed Sontaran spaceship, and its owner Linx.

Linx agreed to provide Irongron with weapons in return for the facilities to repair his ship. The robber-baron was first given an android, but a stray crossbow bolt caused it to go haywire. Later Linx supplied him with rifles. Their relationship was a fiery one. An attack on Sir Edward's castle was foiled by the Doctor. When it was time to leave, Irongron finally turned against Linx, but the Sontaran shot him dead.

His men fled as the spaceship blew up the castle.

Played by: David Daker. Appearances: The Time Warrior (1974).

• The part was originally offered to Bob Hoskins, but he was unavailable. Instead, he recommended Daker to the director.
• Daker returned to the programme during Tom Baker's tenure, as Captain Rigg in Nightmare of Eden.
• The exact historical period of The Time Warrior is never specified. Many assume that it is the time of the Crusades, though it could be during King John's disastrous continental campaign.

I is for... Interface

 

The medical complex known as the Two Streams Facility on the planet Apalapucia employed many diversions to keep its terminally ill patients amused and entertained during what was, for them, a lengthy stay. The planet had been struck by the Chen-7 plague, which killed people in a day. Those infected were admitted to part of the Facility where a compressed time-stream operated - dragging out their day for years. Each patient had access to the Facility's computerised Interface, which acted as their guide. It appeared as a beam of light, and spoke with a soothing female voice. After becoming trapped in the compressed time-stream, Amy Pond was able over time to reprogramme her Interface to tell her about the workings of the Facility, so that she could avoid the Handbots, whose attempts at care could prove fatal to her. However, the one thing it couldn't tell her was how to escape.

Two versions of Amy were created - one newly arrived and one who had lived in the Facility for years. When the older Amy sacrificed herself to prevent her younger self from becoming trapped, the last thing she asked of the Interface was one last look at the planet Earth.

Voiced by: Imelda Staunton. Appearances: The Girl Who Waited (2011).

• Oscar nominated Staunton is one of a number of major stage and screen stars who have appeared in the programme in vocal only roles, due to their heavy workloads (e.g. Michael Sheen, Brian Cox, Sir Ian McKellen). 
• Her best known role is probably as the villainous Dolores Umbridge in the Harry Potter movies. She'll be taking over from Olivia Colman as Queen Elizabeth II in The Crown for the final two seasons.