Dalek (2005) Review

The mornings after are always a bit awkward.

It's strange returning to Dalek with the knowledge that the new series will ultimately surpass the Time War concept. It feels like an ending, as if the show is tipping the hat to the classic era, but ultimately saying goodbye to the Daleks as a relic of a bygone era. Of course, that's not to say it doesn't also reboot them as the most fearsome of monsters, but it is dated in a way that other Doctor Who stories are not.

WRITTEN BY

Robert Shearman, based on his Big Finish Sixth Doctor story Jubilee. Shearman is universally beloved by fans of the audio dramas.

PLOT

A distress signal draws the TARDIS to an underground museum in Utah, 2012 where the Doctor and Rose discover a wealthy magnate named Henry van Statten has imprisoned a Dalek. After taking advantage of Rose's emotions, the Dalek breaks free and the stage is set for a final confrontation between Dalek and Time Lord.

ANALYSIS

On its own, back in 2005, it's an awesome thriller where we get to see the Dalek realised by the show's grown-up fans as the force of destruction it was always meant to be. With the context of the Time War, the interactions between it and the Doctor are charged like never before, the Doctor's eloquent arguments from bygone times replaced with a barely contained snarling fury.

Now that I think of it, it's also a great example of a modern Base Under Siege. Shearman adds detail into the Dalek's thinking that no writer before or since has, little things like how he kills his victims as slowly as possible to savor the moment, and uses electricity to do it as slowly as possible whilst also making sure the Doctor would see it.

And of course there's the juxtaposition of the two - the Doctor channeling his fear and hatred to try and kill the Dalek whilst the Dalek evolves to understand human concepts of mercy and wonder. It's a layered and fascinating exploration of the effects of war on the two remaining survivors, and honestly it's such a shame that the show retconned it as much as it did.

CHARACTERS

Christopher Eccleston's take on the role really solidifies with this episode now that we're given a deep insight into how he changed as a result of the Time War. Being a veteran, and trying to learn from it, and pass on those lessons in order to move on himself largely composes his identity.

I like how the show keeps emphasising Rose's youth. She's this 19-year old girl who's like a child being slowly educated about the world of Dr Who. And without the massive baggage, she manages to get to the truth of things often faster than the Doctor himself.

Bruno Langley's Adam strikes me as basically a parody of Adric. He's a mathematical genius made to resemble the Doctor in certain aspects and thus be the "superior" boyfriend to Mickey until it all goes wrong in the next episode...

He is a bit of a caricature rich person, but I did enjoy Corey Johnson's performance as Henry van Statten. His sheer shamelessness and confidence in his power are worth a smile, and Johnson is effortlessly charismatic. He's a fun guy to hate, and gets a perfect comeuppance at the end.

I already know Anna-Louise Plowman as a great actress from Stargate SG-1, and it was kinda weird to see her on a British show. But hey, she's awesome here too. Love the dynamic between her and the other characters, and how you can subtly see her evolve into a stronger person as the episode goes on.

NOTES

*Having the episode take place in the near future of 2012 is neat. It could've easily been 2005, but it's natural that they wouldn't always go between distant history, 2005 and far future.

*Why would Rose call the Doctor an alien out loud in front of the armed guards?? She's lucky one of them didn't blab to van Statten before he realised he needed the Doctor to defeat the Dalek!!

*I realise van Statten is uber-powerful, but nobody reacts to "wipe his memory"? Or raise an eyebrow at his idea of replacing the president? Also, can we blame van Statten for Trump?

*Wouldn't a guy as rich as van Statten have cameras everywhere in his museum of alien devices that may come to life any second? How did nobody know the TARDIS materialised, or at least notice the big wooden blue box that's not supposed to be there?

*I love the Doctor's change in attitude from where he's about to rant at how he's different from the Dalek, to where he realises he has no moral standards to keep up to now that the Time Lords are gone and just decides to try and exterminate the Dalek. Very dark, but brilliant. Shades of Waters Of Mars there.

*So Adam thinks aliens are real, but people claiming to have been aboard spaceships are nutters? What a hypocrite.

*When they said the Dalek crashed on Earth approximately 50 years ago(around 1962-1963), I was already wondering if it was going to be a reference to Remembrance Of The Daleks, but that was daft, given that he was from the Time War! Anyway, Goddard claims the Dalek landed into a crater in the Ascension Islands. So instead of Remembrance, I'm thinking about Resolution instead! I'm assuming none of those protectors ever heard about the 2nd Dalek.

*Given that people knew the Dalek was alive, how was it sold in collections up to modern day? And what was it doing sitting around for fifty years anyway?

*How was van Statten going to patent the Doctor's binary vascular system? And how is that the only specialty that his bizarrely torturous scanner picked up on?

*Assuming van Statten is as old as Corey Johnson, he would've been in his 20s when he patented broadband in the 1980s.

*The Doctor states that a Dalek can "calculate 1000 billion combinations in one second flat". With that level of computing power, how come he even has a chance of defeating them?

*Why doesn't van Statten or Goddard prevent the Doctor from opening the bulkheads? I mean, he's putting them all at risk for Rose.

*Rose asks the Doctor whether there's a potential the Time Lords are still alive and he firmly says no. That he'd feel it. I can guess maybe Gallifrey being at the end of the universe would prevent him from sensing them, but how come he never felt Missy in 2014-15, or Simm's Master in late 2009(I know the Archangel network masked Simm during his tenure as Prime Minister and maybe the Vault somehow shielded Missy during her captivity)? Did the Doctor just never visit those timeframes?

CONTINUITY ADVISOR

1) Van Statten's museum contains the head of a Cyberman from Revenge Of The Cybermen. I guess we can just assume the different design appeared offscreen in either The Tenth Planet or The Invasion.

He also managed to retrieve a stuffed Slitheen arm after the events of World War Three.

There's also a dinosaur(from Invasion Of The Dinosaurs?) and I think I also spotted an Ogron head(I don't remember if a dead one was left over in Day Of The Daleks, or if it's just from some offscreen story).

All nice little callbacks.

2) When asked about the Daleks' creation, the Doctor references Davros's lording over the Dalek bunker in Genesis Of The Daleks by calling him a "genius, a man who was king of his own little world."
Love the ambiguity of it over the straight-up backstory that the Doctor fed Ace in Remembrance.

BEST QUOTE

"You would make a good Dalek." Sick burn.

CONCLUSION

If you can get over its retconning in future stories, this is one of the best Dalek episodes. Tense, gripping and it really does idolize the Daleks' military ability.