Dalek was astonishing. One of the most consistent aspects of this new series of Doctor Who has been how astonished each episode has left me (for very different reasons) and this was perhaps the most breathtaking so far. Perhaps it was because, after seeing all of the hype and publicity pre-transmission, I had catalogued it in my mind as the 'event' episode of the season - all big guns, big action, lots of soldiers and old enemies coming back shiny and new. A kind of Earthshock for 2005 - shouting impressive, griity action and set-piece scenes with the old foes, but not a lot else. I was probably then not really prepared for the intense 45 mins that were to follow as I sat down and (once again) caught the end of Graham Norton's dance fest.

The striking thing about Dalek, in comparison to what has preceded it in the new series, is how dark, humourless and, at times, positively horrific it was. The fart gags and iPod jokes have gone, to be replaced by gunfire and screaming. We knew that Dalek was going to be more hard-edged (which was needed for some balance in the series) and it certainly delivered. Completely shot in darkness, or dim light, the violence was unending. I suspect that the BBC may get the odd complaint! The shots of dead bodies, the screaming of the woman killed on the stairs (what a pointless act of self-sacrifice that was!), the moment when Simmons is 'suckered', the skeletal exterminations, the Doctor's 'crucifiction' - all very cinematic stuff. However the scenes that I found the most disturbing (and actually a little difficult to watch) were the ones where Simmons was torturing the Dalek - his drill thing not quite managing to drown out the Dalek's screaming. Yes, the Doctor's been wired up to some machine or other that electrocutes him in the past, but the depiction of torture here was quite shocking. It was probably even more so as we were actually being forced to feel sorry for a Dalek, just as Rose did.

And this is the key to why Dalek was so astonishing. It completely turned the tables on us. There was I, expecting my Earthshock-style romp, all guns and no story, and instead I am faced with an episode that ends with a bitter, crazed, hate-filled Doctor, brandishing a massive gun, about to blow up a tortured Dalek that doesn't want to kill and just wants to be free to do some sunbathing. When Rose asks the Doctor "what are you changing into?" and the Doctor almost breaks down, it's a devastating moment. That last scene is one of the most emotionally intense that the series has produced and dares to do something wonderfully different and eschew all-out action in favour of depth of character and story. It was absolutely fantastic.

Christopher Eccleston is at his most angry (and probably most effective - I'm not sure that humour really suited him as well), Billie Piper is wondeful (again) and Bruno Langley is also good. When the Doctor comments on how pretty Adam is, it's another indication of the refreshing relationship that the Doctor and Rose have - close, fun, loving and very almost sexual. When before has a companion been refered to as "the woman you love", or whatever the Dalek said? But how true would it have been if it had been said of the Third Doctor and Jo? Or the Fifth Doctor and Nyssa? (well maybe not fun - for all of her intelligence, Nyssa could hardly have been labelled the most 'fun' person in the world!). It will be interesting to see what happens to Adam next week...

So, despite the fact that I had to watch it a second time before I could make up my mind (and also to get my head around all of the Rose DNA stuff), Dalek was truly astonishing - in a good way. Adult, gripping, intelligent, emotional, well-acted, well-realised and ground-breaking Doctor Who. I had some very minor gripes (the editing seemed a little jumpy, the Slitheen arm a little conveniently placed, and Van Statten a little too much), but the tear-jerking end made me forget all of that. Probably best of the series so far (with The End of the World coming in at second place).

Back in 1965, the production team sent up the Daleks. We had one interrogating a talior's dummy, one "thicko" (which doesn't sit well with the idea of purity and perfection) and the Doctor calling one "Aunty".

There's no time for that now. Since Terry Nation died the Daleks have been mocked left right and centre, and have been turned into figures of fun. Rob Shearman has been given 45 minutes to make them cool again-and he wipes the floor with everyone who ever took the mick.

Starting at the beginning, the Cyberman reference was great, but I would have kept it in the background more. (Not that I'm complaining, but does this mean that if the Cybermen ever appear they'll have to be the Revenge style ones? Because, frankly, there are better).

The Dalek itself...all the elements that people laugh at (the monosyllable voice, the sink plunger, and of course the stairs) are subverted beautifully. So now we get a deadly sucker (in more ways than one) and a fantastic job by Nicholas Briggs as the voice to make the creature far more realistic. Their agenda is obvious, but it's worthy and carried off with brilliance.

Certain scenes had me gasping-something I haven't done with Doctor Who for ten years-such as the part where the Dalek breaks free and the spinning mid-section that nullifies the joke about them being able to move at two mp/h; now they can draw like Clint Eastwood. In fact, it was so good when it was over my mum rang me and we had a long conversation about how great it was, to the bemusement of my housemate.

But the best part of the episode, the very very best part, is that the Daleks are characters again. The last time they were characters, the series was in black and white. Pertwee's Dalek stories were colourful runarounds (except Death To The Daleks, which was a runaround in various shades of brown) and after that Davros turned up. By Remembrance they were boring drones that squawked nothing by "exterminate" three thousand times and couldn't shoot straight. That catchphrase can be very badly used; here, the number of times it is uttered more or less matches the number of people who get exterminated. That's good. People have complained that the Dalek was made into too sympathetic a figure; frankly, the noisy little cliches from Resurrection and Remembrance can take a jump.

Add to this some superb special effects (the exterminations were a wow!) and some nice characterisation from both the Doctor and Rose, and the episode just gets better and better. The Americans were characterised as corny G.I. Joe types, which I'll peg down as satire from the pen of an English writer. Even with tiny little uncomfortable bits, like the Doctor relishing holding a huge gun, this is still an utterly, utterly brilliant episode.

The one final question is how it relates to the other Dalek stories. It beats every colour Dalek story bar Genesis; it beats Revelation by inches, as the Doctor's lack of involvement in that story means it can never truly satisfy. The black and white ones are harder to judge-it's better than The Chase, but after that I'm hedging my bets. Still, this is a superb episode and while I can understand that being asked to sympathise with a Dalek can be hard to swallow for some, with time I think this episode will be very well remembered indeed.

Here is the episode most of us have been waiting for. Did it disappoint or did it meet expectations? Let's find out.

The story opens with a nice scene in a museum featuring a few references to past stories including one that will have fans jumping for joy! This was one of the best opening teasers so far in its writing and build up to the opening credits sequence.

The rest of the story follows at the very fast pace which is now firmly established for the current series which does not allow for some of the characters like Goddard and even Adam to develop enough for us to care if they are in danger or not. Which is a shame given the apparent importance of Adam's character especially. Yet it does yield the best character moments between The Doctor and a Dalek ever. Van Statten is another nicely developed character and well played by actor Corey Johnson who brings a subtle performance to a role that most actors would have had overacted in tremendously.

Billie Piper again brings an impressive performance and is easily establishing herself as one of the best actresses to ever play a companion and Christopher Eccleston is proving to be a very versatile actor with all the different emotions he has to convey. He may become known as the conflicted Doctor as his morales and range of emotions are being tested like no other Doctor.

The Dalek itself is just brilliant with its new modifications and new budget for special effects. I can't imagine the devastation these new improved Daleks could accomplish with their upgrades. One Dalek by itself has never been this threatening before. The special effects people as did a wonderful job with the Dalek creature as it is able to convey a surprising amount of emotion with just a fine voice performance by Nicholas Briggs and only an eye to convey feeling. A tremendous act to accomplish without a mouth or facial expressions.

The story also does a nice job at providing just enough of a piece of the puzzle to the overall season storyarc to make it move forward and yet keep us wanting to know more.

One downside to the story is that if you've heard the audio story "Jubilee" by Robert Shearman himself, a lot of this story will seem like a retread of past material. I'm glad to hear that Shearman was commissioned to adapt his audio story into a TV story, because I was left wondering at his lack of originality at first. There are a lot of new things to offer however and the story is just so good anyway that its hard to hold that against it too much.

At six episodes in, I have to say that from a story standpoint, Doctor Who works best in a 90 minute format whether that be as episodes or movies. As good as some of these stories are, if they were given an extra 45 minutes to develop, I believe they would be even better. There is just too much to establish with introducing new characters, setting and threats in every episode for a show running less than 45 minutes. Having stated that criticism, I think that Russell T. Davies and crew are doing a fabulous job with the time limitations they have. With only 45 minutes or less to work with, I seriously doubt anyone could do better. It is also appropriate to note that in a world where there is so much entertainment to distract you, it does make sense to shorten the episodes to attract an audience that either doesn't have the time to devote 90 minutes to one programme, or the attention span to see it unfold.

So despite some criticicisms about the format of the show itself and the retreading of old material, I have to say that "Dalek" is still one of the best Doctor Who stories ever and the best one of this series so far. The story has great tension, action, special effects, acting and writing. Truly a triumph!

Sorry RTD, but it seems (so far) your contracted writers have the edge on you. Until now, Mark Gatiss' script was the best of the bunch but Rob Shearman has just topped that. So Mr Davies, you are trailing sir.

Contrary to most reviews, I am going to list the negatives I found in this episode. 2 . Well saying that, 1 because the other is a plot query rather than a negative. The first (only) thing I can have a niggle at (not even a proper complaint) is the big selling point of the episode next to the reveal of the Dalek itself. The stairs. I found Bruno Langley's taunt a little weak asnd the cgi effect a little cgi effect-ish. I much preferred the (4 guys witha pole behind the stage) effect in Remembrance of the Daleks.

And the plot point - It just seemed too easy to me that Van Statten realeased the Doctor so quickly before the Dalek threat had really became evident.

Otherwise the episode was exactly what I hoped. I have critised myself before for watching these episodes with the eyes of Joe Public but this Saturday I just didn't care. I was giggling when the cyberman exhibit appeared, again at the Dalek's first reveal, the sucker both in its use for death and puzzle solving. I was still giggling at the Dalek's rampage and the slo mo bullet fire and spinning mid-section. I'm sorry but I'm just not going to fault it.

I had some trepidation before about the Dalek's emotional revelations in the media butI found them believable and spot on. In fact my partner had a little tear during the final conversation with Rose (awww).

The guest cast were also excellent with Van Styatten being the first out and out villian of the new series and (other than his ease at releasing the Doctor) he was far more menacing than the Autons, Cassandra, Geth (I wont even mention the Slitheen) and even the Dalek itself. Even the pun early on was in character.

Anna-Louise Plowman as Goddard too was a fine accomplice and she had her moment at the end with a retort on Van Statten's earlier disposal of his first assistant.

Bruno Langley moved easily from his gay persona in Corrie to totty for both sexes in Who flirting awkwardly with BilliePiper. But is it a trend that the male support are such cowards. Billie Piper just shines again. Her performance brings real feelling to the episode.

It seems to be common to knock Chris Eccleston's performance as the Doctor in the series but in this episode he was, to coin a phrae, FANTASTIC. His interplay at the episode's start was well played, his eventual fear and anger were beilevable and his frustration, sadness and remorseful moments moved on easily from his early feelings in the episode. His occassional jolt into a comic line was inspirational - "Broken, Broken Hairdryer, Lock 'n' Load". FANTASTIC (again)

I can't say I or anyone I know found the Dalek scary but it certainly was menacing and violent and finally accomplished sympathy which was the writer's intent I guess. And to get a 'performance' from a special effect, that's gotta be class and all kudos to Joe Ahearn and the speceial effects team. Of course not forgetting Nick Briggs vocal performance.

And finally, Murray Gold's soundtrack fitted this episode perfectly and I loved the choral accompanyment to the first appearance of the Dalek.

Some of the people I have spoken to didn't like this episode but I cannot fault it. Another snippet to the Who history (two hearrts) and more hints to the overall Season arc. Oh go on, I'll say it one more time......FANTASTIC!

Almost half way into the new series of Doctor Who and the writers have thrown us, to my mind, two stories that will stand out as classics. "Dalek" joins "The Unquiet Dead" as being an episode that not only feels like Doctor Who but which has real suspense and fear, and which brings something new to the programme. Really, this was not only high quality television (so rare these days) but Doctor Who at it's best.

The first thing I noticed, vague similarities to "The Space Museum" excepted, was the reference to "Bad Wolf" again as the helicopter landed. Surely another piece of the jigsaw that is the story arc. I now assume that we'll have to wait until the very last episode of the series to put that jigsaw together.

Of course we'd all seen the bronze Dalek in the newspapers and trailers, and it looks faithful enough to the originals to be acceptable to "old" fans like myself. But what of the promise that we would "cry for the poor Dalek"? Surely this would require some revision of accepted history?

Well no, because the Dalek takes on some of Rose's DNA by tricking her into touching it so we ended up with a genetically modified Dalek that had a range of emotions not seen before and quite appropriate to its situation. Indeed we got something of a role reversal with the Doctor ranting and shouting at the creature, who replied chillingly "You'd make a good Dalek". That was a masterful piece of dialogue and quite true. It makes the viewer and the Doctor think about the situation.

Also important with regard to the story arc, we now know that the mysterious "time war" involved the Time Lords and the Daleks, both ending up destroyed. Clearly the Doctor blames the Daleks for the destruction of his race and world and actually seems to go mad, red mist descending as he looks for the nastiest weapon with which to obliterate his foe.

But what of the poor Dalek? It begins by going on a killing spree, as it hasn't metamorphosised yet or gained feelings. The idea of even a lone Dalek on an isolated base running (hovering!) around picking off the inhabitants ought to frighten today's kids. Then it begins to get feelings, is persuaded by Rose in particular and the Doctor that there may be more to life than taking orders and destroying things. Opening up its casing, it desires only to feel the sunshine before it dies.

Here is my only problem, though the Dalek creature looks much like the innards of the 'old' daleks of days gone by, I don't recall seeing an eye. It's there for us to empathise with the Dalek but I didn't like it. However that is one small quibble in a story otherwise consisting of excellent visuals, dialogue and perfect suspenseful timing.

It was just a little thrilling to see a Cyberman's helmet, reminding us that this really is following on from the previous television Doctors. I was also pleased to notce several references to the past, but these would not in any way have detracted from a new viewer enjoying.

I do wonder how many children are watching this series. I work in a school and the kids don't ever talk about Doctor Who...the staff do! However, when a Dalek made a guest appearance in my local shopping centre late last year it scared the crap out of little children so clearly the nasty pepperpots still do the business. I wonder what those children made of seeing the metal killing machine on their television screens yesterday evening?

This must have been the strongest story in the series so far and certainly the most anticipated (with the possible exception of “Rose”). Whilst Russell T Davies undisputed genius has revived this series he does sometimes tread a thin and slightly dangerous line with the humour occasionally (alien farting and laughter laid on a bit too thick maybe), which has never the less always been an integral and necessary part of the show, but if overdone can lapse into the self parody seen towards the end of the original series. Done well the humour doesn’t detract from but rather enhances the show (“I like a happy medium” and his put downs of “Ricky”).

However, Rob Shearman in this episode gave us much darker and more adult Dr Who. Christopher Eccleston is up there with the best of the Doctors of all time in my view, again walking a thin line between the humour and the horror, its only right the program should show a wide range of emotions afterall, but this time his acting went up several levels and the mugging, the Baker-esque grinning and the “Fantastic” of previous episodes were replaced by some very adult emotions of fear, hate, anger and sorrow.

His fear of the Dalek and what it represented; the death of his people and the destruction of his planet was real and palpable as was his panic at being locked in the same room as the Dalek.

His complete hatred of the creature was almost xenophobic. Whilst the Dalek absorbs Roses DNA and mutates, becomes almost human with human emotions that are completely new to it, the Doctor becomes the thing he hates. He becomes the executioner; the judge, jury and exterminator. Only Rose stops him from blasting the Dalek.

It is here we see probably Ecclestons best acting in the series so far. His deep hatred and anger for the Dalek; ranting, with spittle flying from his mouth, to the part where he puts the gun down, shocked at what he has become; the exterminator of the last of the Daleks.

When the Dalek says that as they are both the last of their race and that they are the same, angrily he denies this, but then he agrees with the Dalek. Maybe they are the same. Maybe the Doctor IS capable of genocide, of racial cleansing of the Daleks, which apparently he caused in the Time War. Eccleston warned that his Doctor would have a dark side and he has not disappointed. “You would make a good Dalek” is the Daleks ultimate comendation.

The moral of this episode is simply that we become the things we hate; we are reduced to their level; we lose our “humanity”, whilst the Dalek ironically gains humanity. The Daleks new found emotions were as touching as was the Doctors hatred appalling.

The Dalek itself was a revelation. Shearman was correct that the 1960’s pepper pots would today be laughable; especially to an audience brought up on Alien and Predator and there were elements of both with the stalked becoming the stalker. Taking all of the original Dalek weak points and making them terrifying, such as the sink plunger being dexterous enough to punch keys at high speed on a keypad on a wall; sucker a persons face off, and absorb the contents of the internet makes for a rather hi-tech sink plunger! I was a bit disappointed the Dalek didn’t have 360 degree vision but how you would show that on a TV screen without distracting and detracting from the action? All in all a very impressive hi tech flying and killing machine that can hack into any computer security system. The “Omen” style music was ideal for the demonic nature of this beast!

Nit picking? The exterior of the Tardifs looks like it was knocked up at B&Q yesterday, the paint looks too new, not the battered old police box we remember of old. When are we going to see some of the other parts of the Tardis? And Ecclestons departure, badly mistimed, is seen as selfish by many; but remember what this top class actor has given to the show before you slate him! I like his “dark side” and gravitas.

This series seems to get better and better. I like my Who a bit serious, deep and with gravitas. If this is what they can do with one Dalek just think what they can do with a whole army. Somehow I don’t think we have seen the last of the Daleks! 9/10