Dalek

The Daleks are back. Well, one of them anyway. Indeed, it was the last Dalek, as Rob Shearman and Russell T Davies had obviously decided. So how did this story compare with previous Dalek adventures and most importantly, did it do a good job of 'reinventing' the Daleks for the 21st Century audience and the fans of the classic series.

So how does the story go? The TARDIS lands in a long corridor, lined with display cases. It turns out to be a huge museum 53 floors underground in Utah, containing alien specimens and owned by a multi-billionaire who owns the internet. So it will come as no surprise that within minutes the Doctor and Rose are surrounded by about a dozen, fully armed guards all pointing machine guns at them. After a chat about alien technology, the Doctor is taken to what the billionaire claims is his only living specimen. After being locked in a room with it, the Doctor finds out (...wait for it) that it's a Dalek that's fallen through time from the time war with the Timelords! The Doctor, somewhat out of character, tries to kill the Dalek, but is stopped by the billionaire. Meanwhile, Rose has been left in the capable hands of Adam, a young, self-proclaimed genius who soon shows off his genial skills by hacking into the security camera overseeing the Dalek’s torture session. He takes Rose to see the Dalek. She feels sorry for it and, lured by the Dalek, touches its case. Her time travelled touch enables the Dalek to start self-healing. With this new vigour, the Dalek (finally) shows what that sucker can do. Suck the life out of the torturer and single-handedly decode an electronic lock, before smashing a monitor and absorbing the entire internet. The Dalek proceeds to start it's killing spree, during which we find out it can repel bullets in true Matrix style. The ever resourceful Rose decides that the legless Dalek can't go up stairs. Wrong! With the simple word 'Elevate', the Dalek glides up the stair at a slight better pace than in 1988 (Remembrance of the Daleks), before entering a room full of armed guards. Now this is the best bit. The Dalek Elevates to about 10 foot off the ground, starts the fire sprinklers and uses the water to electrocute all the guards. Adam manages to get clear of the area before the bulkheads close, but Rose doesn't. The Dalek accuses her of 'infecting' it, as it feels her fear. The Doctor finds a big alien gun and heads for the room where, bizarrely, Rose and the Dalek are enjoying the sunlight. Rose doesn't let the Doctor kill the Dalek, but eventually the Dalek persuades her to order it to kill itself, because of it's 'Sickness'. Rose then persuades the Doctor to let Adam go with them.

In short, great story, great direction and great graphics. A brilliant achievement in television. So let's break it down.

The Story was, as previously mentioned, Robert Shearman. Shearman also so wrote the Big Finish Audio Adventure 'Jubilee' and the beginning of 'Dalek' was very similar to that of Jubilee. A lone Dalek being tortured and the Doctor's assistant feeling sorry for it. But the similarity ends there. This adventure had the Dalek go on a full scale killing spree and made the fact that they destroyed Gallifrey in a massive war all the more believable. But the best scene in the whole episode was undoubtedly the sprinkler electrocution scene. The clever way it was done showed just why the Daleks are the Doctor's most dangerous enemies. The whole story shows both the excellent talent of Rob Shearman and the supremacy of the Daleks over all other races in the art of war. Furthermore, the fact that the Daleks were wiped out in the time war too, makes it all the more likely, if the Daleks are to be brought back, that the Gallifrey will also be brought back. All in all, a thoroughly brilliant experience.

The Direction of the episode was given over to Joe Ahearne for the first time and he has done a great job. The way the characters are presented on screen, including the Dalek, and the way the action scenes were shot was excellent.

The Graphics in Dalek were some of the best on British TV to date. The Dalek elevating up the stairs was hardly distinguishable as CGI to the casual watcher and exterminations were also of a very high quality. Add to that the great Matrix style bullet force fields; the mill has done an exceptional job with this episode, especially considering the short timeframe they had to do it.

So overall an excellent performance on all accounts, hindered only by the fact that Russell T Davies made the Dalek Designer change it from Steel and Gun Metal Black to the Bronze and Copper we saw on screen (exterminate him) and the continuing emotional instability of the Doctor. Great performance, as we expect from an episode featuring the Daleks.