Time and Space: A Doctor Who Journey

Series 1, Episode 6 : Dalek
Written By : Robert Shearman
Directed By : Joe Ahearne
Villians : Dalek, Henry Van Statten
Synopsis : Deep in an underground bunker in Utah, the Doctor and Rose are drawn to an alien distress signal.  They find billionaire Henry Van Statten and his collection of alien artifacts, including the Doctor's oldest and most deadly enemy, the Dalek.

This is truly a brilliant episode.  They have done an amazing job of re-inventing the Dalek and introducing them to a new generation.  From the tongue in cheek nods to the past to the slow reveal of the Dalek in the darkened room, this is a frightening and entertaining ride.

The redesign of the Dalek's s brilliant!  I love how they stuck to the original look and feel as I feel it's important to connect with past audiences that have loved this show for years.  The pepper pot shell, plunger and whisk are all still there but are sleek and elegant in their design.  Nicolas Briggs, who voices the Dalek, is amazing at creating fear through his staccato delivery of his lines and the tiniest inflection of emotion.  I also love how they address all the things that fans from the past have commented on about the Daleks.  Oh no, not a plunger!  Whatcha gonna do now Dalek, I climbed a flight of stairs.

Probably one of the most intriguing scenes in this episode is the one in which the Doctor meets the Dalek for the first time since the Time War.  Eccelston masterfully swings from fear to a manically laugh when he realizes the Dalek has no weapons.  He shows anger at the thing he hates most and we see a glimpse of the Doctor that could make a decision to destroy not only the Daleks but his own people in order to end the Time War.  Then in the blink of an eye, we see his remorse over the agonizing decision that has plagued him since he destroyed both races.  To show that many emotions so believably and so quickly really demonstrates how wonderful an actor Ecceston truly is.  I also really love when the Dalek tells the Doctor that he would make a good Dalek after the Doctor tells him to kill himself.

This episode also introduces the mini companion, Adam Mitchell.  I find his character interesting because he demonstrates why the Doctor often travels with just one trusted companion.  More on this in the next episode.

There is another brilliant moment near the end of the episode where Rose stops the Doctor from killing the Dalek and helps him find his way back to being himself and not the soldier that he was forced to become in the past.  It is beautifully written and well acted.  Billie Piper really shows some strength in this one and show us why Rose is one of the most beloved companions of all time.

Really the things that make this episode so wonderful is how it develops the characters of the Doctor, Rose and the Daleks.  The presence of other characters, including Adam and Van Statten, really takes a back seat to this.  Are you starting to enjoy the ride yet?  I know I am.

Rating: 8 out of 10

Interesting Details:

• The TARDIS can be drawn off course by a distress signal
• This is the first trip to the United States.
• The museum contains chunks of meteorite, moondust, the mylometer from the Roswell spaceship, a stuffed Slitheen arm and an old Cyberman head with a label on the case identifying it as being from the old episode "The Invasion".
• The call sign for the helicopter is Bad Wolf One
• Lame joke: "I'll tell you how they got in.  In-tru-da window"
• This is this first time we see directly through another character's eyes (Dalek) instead of our usual third person observer status. 
• Van Statten claims to own the internet 
• The Doctor reveals that it was him who ended the Time War and destroyed not only the Daleks but also the Time Lords
• This is the first time we see the Doctor actively resort to violence instead of reason or others doing t for him.
• The Daleks cry of "have pity" mirrors the line said by Davros, the creator of the Daleks, in the old episode "Genesis of the Daleks"
• The Doctor compares Van Statten to Davros 
• The Doctor reveals he did not survive the Time War by choice
• We get to see the Doctor's two hearts in this episode
• Van Statten reveals that he has scavenged from alien artifacts to invent things including broadband and the cure for the common cold
• The device used to torture the Doctor looks a lot like a Dalek eye stock
• Rose unwittingly provides the Dalek with all it needs to heal and also what ultimately destroys it by touching the Dalek
• No one will question the effectiveness of the Dalek plunger after watching it "sucker" someone to death, download the internet and open a lock
• The Doctor says the Dalek can calculate a thousand billion combinations in one second flat and yet it takes 13 seconds for the Dalek to open the lock.
• The Dalek has a field surrounding its body that stops bullets
• Van Statten shows just how despicable he is by totally dismissing the deaths of all the humans and wanting the Dalek left unharmed.
• The Dalek's mighty enemy, a flight of stairs, if finally conquered with the chilling cry of "Elevate".  This is not the first time a Dalek has levitated, contrary to popular belief.  They mastered hovering in the past episodes "The Chase", "Revelation of the Daleks" and flew up a flight of stairs in "Remembrance of the Daleks"
• The Dalek's evil nature is apparent in the battle with the soldiers and scientists when it kills everyone in a very intricate water/electrocution rather than taking them out one by one and allows the Doctor to watch.
• Rose learns to run a lot faster in the future after being sealed in with the Dalek in this episode
• The Dalek reveals that it is feeling emotions and is therefore contaminated
• This is the first time we see inside the Dalek's shell
• A Dalek is so bent on destroying all that is non-Dalek that it wishes to die but cannot without being ordered to like a good soldier.
• Van Statten gets his just reward by having his memory wiped and dumped on the streets just like he did to an employee at the beginning
• The Doctor is reluctant to bring Adam along with them.
• There are 3 mentions of the words Time War and multiple references to it
• There are multiple mentions of the title in this episode
• There are no mentions of chips in this episode