1.6 - Dalek

Dalek is a hugely popular episode and one of the best of Chris Eccleston's brief tenure as The Doctor. It reintroduces Daleks but in an interesting way having a single Dalek being held prisoner and experimented on in a museum of extra-terrestrial artefacts deep below the Utah desert in near future Earth. The owner of the museum is Henry Van Statten a mega rich oligarch who is as obnoxious as he is wealthy. The Doctor believes all the Daleks were wiped out along with the Time Lords after his actions in the Time War and he is deeply shocked to find himself in a closed cell with a Dalek. The Doctor gives a rare demonstration of complete fear and panic before realising the Dalek is unarmed. He then shows a dark side as he takes delight in the Dalek's predicament. These elements including the revelations about the Doctor's actions in the Time War and his emotions surrounding it are the best element of this story. It is also magnificent when the Dalek inevitably shows its real potential for danger in scenes which add new menace to the Daleks abilities and strength.

The only tiny flaw for me is the first meeting scenes with Van Statten which I found a little bit cheesy and he is a bit of a pantomime villain in the way he is played.

Personally I was initially in two minds about the twist of having the Dalek as a tortured soul that we feel sorry for as he effectively commits suicide. It was a brilliant idea, no question about that, and it is done superbly well but I was not sure having that in the very first Dalek story in the reseurrected show was what I would have chosen. I would have thought it might undermine Daleks for the new generation of fans seeing them for the first time. That is not really a criticism though and the fame and high esteem in which this is held show it was not a mistake, it worked. RTD was right and I was wrong.

Great episode.

A single dalek in a underground base with a almost dictatorial powered collector thinking it’s all swell!
The dalek is his prize piece of the collection but when another alien by the name of the doctor arrives all hell goes loose.
Bleh ! Just watch it , it was amazing when it aired and still holds up strong , making a dalek more formidable than ever !

It's weird to think 11 years later that the Daleks nearly didn't return. That instead of 'Dalek', this episode could have been called 'Absence of the Dalek'. Thankfully, they did in a classic episode of the show many rightfully think of first when they think of Christopher Eccleston's series as the Doctor.

In Dalek, the Doctor and Rose arrive in the year 2012 at a museum of alien artefacts owned by Henry VanStatten (Corey Johnson). The Doctor soon discovers that Henry is keeping a Dalek he calls 'Metaltron' prisoner, sending technician Simmons (Nigel Whitmey) to torture it in an attempt to get it to speak. What's brilliant about this episode is we essentially get to see the Doctor become a Dalek himself; he even uses their catchphrase 'exterminate' when pulling the lever to electrocute the Dalek. It's great to see the Doctor just lose it and fires the imagination as to what the character must have seen during the Time War to make him like this. Of course, the Doctor and the Daleks have a lot of history too which obviously counts for a lot of the hatred but let's not forget this is a character that couldn't destroy the Daleks when he had the chance in Genesis of the Daleks. This Doctor would have done it without the flicker of an eyelid.

You also get to see it from Rose's side: someone who hasn't seen the Daleks in action and therefore has no existing hatred for them. Rose feels sorry for it and so touches the Dalek out of compassion, however her exposure to time travel regenerates it meaning she accidentally unleashes it on a killing spree. It's hard to not see Rose's point of view, even knowing that the Dalek's actions were inevitable and it really adds to the story to see a different point of view to the presence of a Dalek and establishes that the show's not just about the Doctor and his companion VS the latest monster/villain but can also be about one, the other or both trying to help the monster in the episode (something important to be established in the new series' first series).

Dalek also sees the introduction of Bruno Langley as Adam Mitchell; unlike many, I actually enjoyed him in the role. Before The Long Game showed his true colours, he seemed a likeable character played superbly by Bruno Langley and one whom I hoped would become a companion at the end. Of course, he did and he wasn't very good at the companion lark. Christopher Eccleston and Billie Piper are both on top form here, especially Christopher Eccleston showing the Doctor's built-up Time War rage.

The writing is also impeccable; Robert Shearman is an excellent writer and it's crazy that he has never returned to the show, especially someone who can write lines like 'I can feel so many ideas. So much darkness. Rose, give me orders. Order me to die.'. In fact, I'd even go as far as to say Robert Shearman would make a great showrunner. Basically, if future showrunner Chris Chibnall gets Robert Shearman to write a story for his era then I for one certainly won't be shouting for him to go.

Overall, Dalek is simply a masterpiece expertly written by Robert Shearman and featuring stunning performances from Christopher Eccleston, Billie Piper and Bruno Langley.

The first classic story of New Who finds a Dalek who fell to Earth to be traded by a collectible until at last being acquired by a rich man who keeps it in his collection and inflicts all kinds of torture on the creature in hopes of making it talk.

The Doctor wants to help the tortured creature until he finds out what it is and then he wants to kill it.

This is solidly directed and well-acted with a brilliant performance by Christopher Eccleston as a broken man, who believed himself the last survivor of the Time War only to find one enemy who lived while his entire planet died.

This was also a good story for Rose, who is at her best in this story. When trapped with the Dalek she tells the Doctor not to blame itself and that she wouldn't have missed coming for the world and then has a great moment during the final scene with the Doctor and the Dalek. On the other hand, she's behind inviting Adam Mitchell into the TARDIS, but at least her heart was in the right place on that one. Overall, a beautiful and brilliantly done tale.