Dalek

American Doctor Who fans are a funny lot. We accept that the series is created for children (or "Family audience", if you will..) but most of us old-time fans began watching the series in our teens. I, myself, began a life-long love for the program in the early eighties as a teen sci-fi fan looking for something more fun to watch than Star Trek or Battlestar Galactica. What fun! What charm! It's meant to be ..what?

Scary?

Honestly, I could just never get my head around the idea. Millions of English children diving behind the sofas in sheer terror of the Daleks. The Daleks?

Don't get me wrong, I love The Daleks to bits. Really. I love the single-mindedness and the blind "dislike for the unlike" and those fantastic scratchy/electronic voices....

But I can't imagine anyone being scared of them.

Fast forward. I'm a typical fan with loads of videos and Dapol Dalek action figures and Big Finish audios. I'm also the step-dad of a wonderful young girl named Jessica Jones, who I very much want to enjoy the series with me. Over the years, I tried many different items. Pyramids Of Mars? Yep. Dapol toys mixing with her own toys? Sure, I tried that.

Not much interest.

Over time, she would watch episodes with me. Peter Davison episodes ,mainly. Season twenty. No monsters. Still, her opinion of Doctor Who was pretty low. One night, we were driving home and I knew that the trip would take roughly thirty minutes. "Hey, guys..", I said, "how about an episode of Doctor Who on the cd player? Just so happens I have one in the car." My better half, Teresa, rolled her eyes and sighed that particular sigh (the "what a geek" one) and settled in for some Doctor Who. "Jubilee" episode four played in tandom with a clear starry night as I drove home listening to another class production from Big Finish. That's when I learned something.

Jessica is TERRIFIED of The Daleks. She can't so much as look at them, let alone listen to those evil-filled voices.

Really?

In recent months, I've had the good fortune to see episodes of the new Doctor Who series (lots of squinting, though. Thank goodness I have a multi-region DVD player and DVDs are right around the corner). I have loved the good old mix of cheeky self-reference and adventure, wit and thrills I first enjoyed in Doctor Who mixed with a fresh new breakneck pace. And, boy! Am I enjoying Christopher Eccleston's Doctor Who! By the way, how sad a fanboy am I that I actually cheered when I saw him listed in the end credits as "Doctor Who"?

Jessica watched "Rose" over my shoulder at first, then found herself drawn right into the action. She really loves it, but is most taken with Rose Tyler. Billie Piper's Rose is just heroic enough to be a role model and just normal enough to be an everywoman.

And so we've watched most of the episodes together, when possible.

When the preview for Rob Shearman's frankly brilliant episode "Dalek" started, Jessica froze. "Daleks...", she hissed." I don't like Daleks..." When the Dalek began shouting "Exterminate!" , she began to shake. I told her that there was only one Dalek in the episode.

"oh....that's okay then..."

The Doctor and Rose land in an impressive alien archive, complete with the head of a Cyberman ("Hey! I've seen one of those!"). Suddenly, armed guards take our heroes to visit our villain Van Statton, who seems to have an alien fetish. Along with him, they meet Adam, working for Van Statton ("Ohh...he's british, too. Is that why he thinks they will like each other?") And The Doctor is taken to visit the prize of the collection ("uummmm..."), a living alien life form. All alone in the dark (At this point, Jessica begins to position herself closer to my chair). When The Doctor introduces himself, the lights come on and we see a lone Dalek. The Dalek goes mental at the sight of The Doctor and begins shouting "Exterminate!!" (At this point, Jessica screamed and hid behind my chair. It's true. Kids DO hide behind the sofa.)

When The Dalek realizes that he and The Doctor are the last survivors of a great war, he also realizes that he is all alone in the universe ("Aww", says Jessica. She was pants-wettingly scared of The Dalek and now she feels SORRY for it?) When The Doctor offers to free him from life by electrocuting him, Jessica went ballistic. "What? He can't do that! The Dalek's chained up! That's not fair!"

In the labs, Adam begins making goo-goo eyes at Rose ("They like each other....wonder what The Doctor will think?")

Angered by The Doctor's attempt to kill his prize, Van Statton begins a scan of The Doctor that seems like torture. "You have two hearts", Van Statton coos ("Cool!", Jessica exclaimed)

Thanks to Rose ("No! Rose! Get away from it!", Jessica shouts. This is followed by "I think that Dalek likes Rose. She feels sorry for him.")

Suddenly, The Dalek re-energizes and breaks free. Jessica screams. I cheer wildly.

"What are you gonna do," a doomed man asks, "Sucker me to death?"

It does. Jessica screams. I cheer wildly.

Over the next thirty minutes, we are treated to a massacre the likes of which Doctor Who has never seen. My jaw drops several times throughout as the production team do everything humanly possible to make that Dalek the coolest (or scariest) thing ever.

Jessica picks up the theme of the episode early on, noting that The Doctor is acting like a bigger monster than the monsters! She gasps every time that Rose is in danger (RTD, you've done quite a job with this one..) and cheers when Van Statton gets what's coming to him.

And she feels very sorry for The Dalek at the end.

And, hey! So do I.

She chuckles as Adam finds his way aboard The TARDIS ("Is he going with...ha! ha ha ha! He's only going because he likes Rose, y'know..")

And as the episode ends, she asks "Can we watch again?"

I loved the episode. I got action, suspense, and a great character study of the tenth Doctor. But I also got to see what the show looks like to a nine year old, non sci-fi fan.

I saw the Daleks as children see them. Behind the sofa scary.

RTD, you are on to a winner!