DOCTOR WHO REVIEW : DALEK
Written By: Robert Sherman
Directed By: Joe Ahearne
"Dalek" was the first appearance of a dalek in Doctor Who since its revival in 2005. It introduced the Daleks to a whole new audience of viewers of young children, who would grow up running around the playgrounds at break or lunchtime shouting "EXTERMINATE!" One of those children, was me.
Dalek was my first proper experience of seeing a Dalek on television. I just remember being baffled by it and thinking "what is this" and then I got to know what a dalek was and how it operates, they later became to be one of my all time favourite enemies because they are unstoppable killing machines.
So carrying on my reviews of favourite Doctor Who episodes of all the doctors, we come to the ninth doctor. There a few stories of the ninth doctors year which I really like. The Unquiet Dead, Fathers Day, The Empty Child/ Doctor Dances, Bad Wolf/ The Parting of the Ways. But this story has to stand out on top as the best ninth doctor story for me. It says a hell of a lot about the doctor and his relationship with the daleks. That is clearly shown in the scene where Eccleston first meets the dalek, its the first time you see his doctor's eyes show true fear.
The idea for this story came about from new show runner Russell T Davies, who when deciding he wanted to bring the daleks back to Doctor Who had always wanted to do a story with one dalek on its own. Having decided he wanted to do that, he called on upon writer Robert Sherman to write the episode. Robert Sherman has previously wrote a Doctor Who story for BIG Finish on audio which was called "Jubilee" and that featured the Sixth Doctor and one Dalek. The problem that he had with the task of writing this episode was that it had been so long since the daleks last appeared on television, they hadn't been on tv since 1988 and he was concerned that he wouldn't be able to make the daleks scary enough.
Once the idea was established and Robert Sherman went to work on writing the story, the episode is set in a massive underground bunker in Utah in the year 2012. At the time, not far off from our future as Rose points out 'she'd be 26'. They find themselves in a museum full of alien artifacts, and we look upon an old cyberman head from Revenge of the Cybermen.
An alien signal draws the TARDIS off course and brings them to the museum, for which they get captured and taken to an underground bunker and they meet the boss Henry Van Statten who collects rare alien artifacts. But has something in his basement which he likes to call 'The metaltron" but actually the horrible truth is revealed that it is actually a dalek. The last surviving dalek of the time war who fell through time and gone insane.
Throughout this story its all about the doctor and how his relationship with the daleks has turned him into a hateful person. Throughout the episode he urges Van Statten to destroy it, because he knows if that dalek does get out it will kill every living thing in the world. The dalek as a dalek in this story is lost because he is the only dalek left in existence and it doesn't know what to do. As the doctor says "You're just a soldier without commands". So it goes on killing because that is the only thing it knows how to do.
With exception to "The Parting of the Ways" Christopher Eccleston gives his best performance as The Ninth Doctor. Before this point we had seen the jolly, adventurous side to his character but in this we actually are treated to something very different, true emotional in depth feeling towards his hatred for this dalek. To the point where he is screaming at the dalek to die and the dalek replies "You would make a good dalek" that implies "You're actually just like me, aren't you?' and that is the worst thing to be told by something you hate. In the end because Eccleston gives such a fantastic performance, you don't know who is better in that episode the dalek or the doctor. He himself finds himself turning into a dalek through his actions of wanting to destroy the dalek so badly, because he hates it so much. That's no difference to the attitude of a dalek.
I also like the scenes when the dalek talks to Rose. You genuinely feel for the first time, that is not really a monster. There is a sense of feeling in this thing, there is a repressed, tormented, shielded creature inside the dalek and its the first time the viewer can be entitled to feel sorry for a dalek.
I like all the set designs in this episode, that in turn is assisted by lighting which is also very noticeably good. There are certain attention to detail that the new series is able to pull off so much better than the classic who. A lot of the sets in classic who are very bland, re-used a lot, cheap and in some cases very dated. In the new series, there is more to go on and in this instance where you've got an underground bunker and all the various different levels, its truly believable that you're in a dirty underground bunker.
All round good cast, excellent script - the script was brilliant, atmospheric incidental music by Murray Gold. All round good story with lots of emotional connections between characters and the dalek and overall it makes the story very strong.
NEXT TIME: The Waters of Mars.
