So far in the series we have only seen the return of one
monster which were the autons in ‘Rose’, but that is about to change now as we
head into the year 2012 in a museum of extra-terrestrial objects in Utah. This is
the episode were we first encounter a Dalek.
Now this setup is excellent, it is our main heroes together with a couple of
soldiers and executives in an underground museum – with a Dalek set out to kill
them. It may sound like some kind of ‘Friday the 13th’ movie were
the Dalek kill them off one by one but it is not like that at all. It is
essentially just a showcase of what the Daleks can do and you need an episode
like this in order for the new audience to understand why they are so
dangerous. What really helps this premise too is that it is just one Dalek so
we can truly see just how much damage one of them can do. If we were
immediately introduced to a whole army of them then we may not be as threatened
because we do not know what each of them are capable of. Now of course this
episode is here to set up how big of a threat the Daleks are which helps out
the tension in the finale two-parter immensely (a stroke of genius on Russell T
Davies’ part).
This is the first and only episode written by Robert Shearman which is a shame
because
this is an excellent screenplay in almost every aspect. The pacing is
slow but never to the point where you feel it is dragging. Every scene is just
as long as it needs to be in order to keep the audience’s attention. The
dialogue is very sharp and the exposition is well delivered without feeling
forced or contrived. I do wish Robert Shearman could one day return to the
series but seeing as this episode came out over 10 years ago now, it does not
feel very likely.
‘Dalek’ is also one of the best directed episodes of the season as it could
almost pass for a
movie despite the TV limitations. Joe Ahearne (a regular for
this season) makes this Dalek look truly terrifying with pretty much every shot
of it being from a low angle. The eyestalk being a blue light makes its introduction
in the dark very chilling even if you do not know what a Dalek is.
I know I have pretty much mentioned just how awesome Christopher Eccleston is
in all my reviews of his episodes but I have to say it again, he is just
excellent here. Delivering probably his greatest performance so far in the
series (but not the best by the way). The scene where he talks to the Dalek
through a monitor after it had just exterminated a whole room filled with
guards is one of the best scenes of the entire season. Eccleston is able to show
so many different emotions in the way he delivers his lines where he just flat
out tells the Dalek to commit suicide. In fact all the scenes where the Doctor
and the Dalek are talking are perfect. I will not talk much about Rose though
as most of what she does heavily ties into my biggest problem which I will address
next but just know that she is insufferable here.
There is however one surprisingly big problem with this episode though, the
main message it is trying to convey is very weak and barely makes any sense.
Basically what the message is, is that the Doctor will never stop trying to
destroy the Dalek which introduces that he might become the very thing he is
trying to kill. For a new viewer of the series it could work but for anyone who
has seen an episode of the classic series with the Daleks you know that it is
not just the Time War that made him hate the Daleks. The Daleks have done so
much damage (destroying countless civilizations and even killing one of his
companions). The Doctor knows the Daleks, he knows that they are driven
completely by hate and is out to exterminate everything that is not Dalek. He
has every single right imaginable to get rid of them completely but this episode
paints him as the bad guy. Rose tells him “what about you Doctor? What the hell
are you changing into?” when the Doctor tries to destroy it. This line just
comes across as incredibly oblivious, she has no clue what the Daleks are
capable of and has no right to talk to the Doctor this way but the episode
still tries to make the audience side with her.
Out of the first six episodes it is definitely the strongest (and one of the
best overall in the season). It is just a perfect showcase of why the Daleks
are one of the best monsters in all of television while also telling a
captivating story that may have a heavily flawed concept – is still great to
watch and is one to remember. If you have not seen a single Dalek story then this
is by far the best one to start out with. Exterminate, exterminate,
exterminate.
9/10
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