The Best of Doctor Who - Dalek (2005)

This post will be the start of a series of articles dedicated to exploring the very best stories offered by the illustrious science fiction titan Doctor Who, one of my favourite television shows of all time.

Of course, almost sixty years worth of greats is too long for any modest specimen, so I will only endeavour to cover the Revived series (2005 - present). This is a terrific review of a fantastic episode. Was so much fun to see that Dalek float up stairs, after years of people joking that Daleks could easily be defeated by fleeing to another floor.

This space shouldn’t just be about cinematic media. It should also be about exploring and discussing ideas and opinions about television as well as there is as much beauty in television as in film.

30 April, 2005 was the day that the Revived series of Doctor Who won over the newest generation.

The previous five episodes leading up to this one feel like set-up stories for the main event. This was the episode that made Doctor Who worthy of being watched again… and scrambling to get behind the sofa.

This episode singlehandedly redefined the iconic Daleks for a whole new generation of Whovians as well as being the greatest exploration of the Ninth Doctor’s character.

The Ninth Doctor and his companion, Rose Tyler, find themselves in an underground museum in Utah which exhibits scavenged alien material. It belongs to a business mogul, Henry Van Statten, a self-proclaimed genius with a nonchalant greed for alien tech and a minuscule attention span for those that do not interest him.

Apart from Diana Goddard, that is.

Simple, effective introductions like these are what Doctor Who is lacking these days. We have our main characters’ personalities ascertained from their first line of dialogue and we can either root for, or against, them.

The Doctor and Rose are escorted by Van Statten’s guard to his office. Van Statten explains that he collects alien tech and mentions he has only one living specimen in his whole collection: a ‘Metaltron’, sealed down in the Cage.

Rose is saddled with van Statten’s recruited cataloguer Adam Mitchell while he, Diana and the Doctor venture down to the Cage. The Doctor elects to step inside with the creature.

He tells the creature in the blackness that he has come to help and is the Doctor. The creature raises its eyestalk and repeats “Doc-tor?”

The lights flash on and…

The Metaltron is in fact a Dalek.

Admittedly, this reveal loses some of its sting from the title and from the ‘next time’ trailer of the previous episode, yet it is built up to magnificently.

Immediately crying its infamous “Exterminate!”, it tries to fire on the Doctor but cannot, for its energy blaster has malfunctioned. Even the Doctor - not commonly afraid of whatever monster he faces - yells for the guard to release him from the Cage and cowers in terror at the sight of one Dalek.

I should mention at this point something very critical to understand the Ninth Doctor’s characterisation - both in this illustrious episode and in Series 1. This is the Doctor that emerged as the lone survivor from the Last Great Time War - an epic, final battle between his race, the Time Lords, and, as revealed here, the Daleks.

To end the war, he had to destroy both of them.

This Doctor is much more emotionally distant. He’s not a hero, but a survivor. The last one, he thought. Until he sees the last, lone Dalek in all creation before him.

And he goes on the bloody offensive.

This shot is interestingly set form the Dalek’s perspective and I adore how it distorts the Doctor’s face as his quintessential heroic nature is starting to be questioned - gloating “I MADE it happen!” when talking about how instrumental he was in the War’s end - and how aggressive he is with the Dalek.

Christopher Eccleston had flashes of darkness in previous episodes, while maintaining a chipper, if condescending, exterior with other people. However, this is where Eccleston’s prowess as an actor shoots off into space.

As soon as he sees the Dalek’s weapon fail to fire, he starts cackling madly. His iconic “Fantastic!” motif is now twisted with an dark sense of ecstasy. He delights in seeing this Dalek - one of the deadliest creatures in the universe - so pathetically powerless.

He encircles the Dalek, taunting it over its apparent purposeless in its inability to kill. He brings up the Time War, telling the Dalek that it will never receive any more orders, for its race is dead.

However, this is the first instance where the Doctor truly begins to confront his suffering from the Time War. The return of his old foe forces him to see how lonely he really is. The Dalek then makes the mistake of saying that it and the Doctor - the last survivors of their respective races - are ‘the same.’

This throws the Doctor into a rage and he electrocutes it in an attempt to murder it. Perfectly demonstrable of how scarred his psyche is by the War and how this exposes a flaw in him as a character.

Later on, Rose and Adam manage to slip inside the Cage. The Dalek feigns sympathy - of course, Nicholas Briggs’ vocal work is nothing short of perfect - to gain Rose’s trust, and she touches its casing.

Because the Daleks evolved to use background radiation as a power source during the War, Rose’s touch as a time-traveller rejuvenates the Dalek and it breaks out of the Cage and starts massacring Van Statten’s security body.

The re-definition of the iconic pepper-pots is thanks in large part to Russell T. Davies’ passion and the exuberant excellence of writer Robert Shearman. Strangely, this is the only story he has ever written in the Revived series, being inspired by his own Big Finish audio story Jubilee.

This episode is fantastically directed as well. You have some breath-taking shots (pictured above) that are chillingly evocative of the immense power of a single Dalek.

Each sequence is aided spectacularly by Murray Gold’s phenomenal soundtrack (a recurring praise). Each melody perfectly conveys urgency, horror, atmosphere and emotion almost without fail.

As seen in this sequence, the story strives to prove that the titular pepper-pot is a villain to be feared. It has already used its ‘plunger arm’ to crush its gaoler’s skull, exterminated a dozen men and is now proven to be able to ascend flights of stairs (one of the most common mockeries of the monsters in the Classic series).

This story is not just one of Doctor Who’s all-time best ones, but also the best Dalek story of the Revival. It perfectly captures what makes the Daleks so terrifying: their intense, racialised hatred driving them to exterminate every other organism that isn’t a Dalek.

Even across the Davies era, the Daleks were consistently treated with the utmost respect. Their presence meant the stakes were higher like never before.

This masterful re-introduction of the Daleks is achieved successfully by showcasing how powerful a single Dalek is.

This is achieved through the “show, don’t tell” maxim. There are plenty of shots and dialogue between characters - and their reactions - that demonstrate the tremendous power that the lone Dalek possesses.

Moreover, Shearman’s script for this episode is genuinely brilliant. Each line reads with consecutive punch and the audience feels the weight of each line, notably on what the Doctor says the Dalek is capable of.

Doctor: What’s the nearest town?

Van Statten: Salt Lake City.

Doctor: Population?

Van Statten: One million.

Doctor: All dead.

The story doesn’t merely just demonstrate how deadly - and strategic at that - the Dalek is, but also the effect it has on the Doctor.

The Doctor’s morality has always sided with the good, with some incarnations behaving more immoral than others. However, in this story, the line blurs and muddies between the Time Lord and Dalek. Nowhere is this best exemplified than in one of the episode’s most dramatic zeniths.

The Dalek has finished slaughtering a dozen guards using its weapon and the sprinkler system. It demands to speak to the Doctor.

Here, a clever parallel is drawn. The Dalek becomes more existential over the episode’s course, questioning the point of its existence. Both the Dalek and the Doctor have lost their homes and their races are eviscerated.

However, the Doctor refuses to see this parallel. He instead launches into a verbal tirade - frustrated, anxious over Rose’s safety and desperate beyond relief - and bellows at the Dalek to kill itself. He uses rather vehement language on the same level as the Dalek’s own hateful rhetoric. It reveals the dark and angry core born out of his suffering in the Time War and unmasks his own moral low ground.

But the Dalek has to have the spiteful last laugh.

“You would make a good Dalek.”

However, it is the climax of the final act where we see the resolution to this dramatic story.

The Dalek manages to catch up with Rose, but it doesn’t exterminate her. Instead, Rose’s DNA has mutated the mutant creature further, allowing it to feel emotions other than hate. When it has the opportunity to kill Van Statten, it instead wants ‘freedom’, and it walks with Rose to a corridor where it can blast the roof and feel the sunlight.

This is the first time in the Revival where we see an explicit picture of the Dalek mutant inside the armour. It is lit gorgeously by the sunlight, looking so weak and frail. This climax overall is poignant.

However, the Doctor soon arrives with a great alien weapon in his hands, intent on finishing the Dalek off. However, Rose stands her ground and shows the Doctor how it only wants the sunlight.

He cannot comprehend how it could want that, but Rose brings up a verbal mirror to show the Doctor what he is currently doing.

“What the hell are you changing into?”

It challenges the Doctor’s very conception of what a Dalek is. His weapon falls to his side and his voice breaks as he struggles to articulate why he was pushed to this point.

But this is integral to the Ninth Doctor’s growth and ultimately shows why he is better than the Daleks overall. Even when pushed to murder, his morality overrides his darkness. He’s a coward, not a killer.

The story also deepens the audience’s conception of a Dalek. Rose’s DNA is essentially poisoning it with compassion and imagination. As the Doctor sadly notes, it’s not better “for a Dalek.” The cyborg refuses to live with this ‘sickness’ and orders Rose to make it self-destruct.

The episode then ends with Van Statten’s decommission and the Doctor and Rose departing, the Doctor finally having buried the hatchet with his grief from the War.

Overall, Dalek is an outstanding Doctor Who story.

There are a few hiccups here and there, but this adventure is an unparalleled success. The design of the Dalek is stunning and is perfectly re-introduced to instil fear and awe into the next generation.

The performances from the cast are great, with Eccleston proving to be an exceptional star. His prowess in the role - and Nicholas Brigg’s work as the Dalek - is practically faultless. The direction, script, editing, cinematography and writing behind this story is magnificent.

Yet, it is the use of the Doctor’s most ruthless foes in a way to push him to his ethical boundaries where Dalek presents us with one of those fallible - thus, compelling - iterations of the Time Lord ever committed to screen.

Picture Source

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