Episode six’s writer, Robert Shearman, was always expected to deliver an excellent script based on his reputation forged in the Big Finish Doctor Who audio dramas. Perhaps particularly so given that Dalek was based on one of the most successful of those scripts, Jubilee, a tale featuring the Sixth Doctor encountering a lone Dalek imprisoned in the Tower of London in an alternative timeline. Taking the basic set-up of the lone Dalek and its relationship with its captors and being alone in the universe, Shearman manages to craft an effective tale less than half the length of the play upon which it is based, which is similar enough to retain what made Jubilee so good, but different enough not to make thus of us who have heard the earlier story feel cheated. While I did have problems with some of the story elements, there was nothing I felt to be badly written as such, with the exception of one line. The Dalek’s “What use are emotions if you will not save the woman you love?” was without a shadow of a doubt the worst piece of dialogue to have been uttered so far in the new series, so bad it sounded exactly like the sort of tagline a third-rate Hollywood movie might have. That it came from the pen of usually so reliable a writer as Shearman makes it all the more surprising, but then again when the only piece of dialogue you can fault in an episode is one brief line, it shows what a difference there is between this and your average classic series story.

Outside of this, Shearman’s use of the Dalek was interesting – for the first time since the 1960s we got to see a Dalek that was more human in its dialogue, something that is particularly noticeable if you go back to the original Dalek story, long before they started to become mere caricatures of themselves. There is also a distinct Power of the Daleks feel in terms of the Dalek’s use of guile and cunning, but I have to confess that I do like my Daleks to be the hard-arsed bastards of the universe, killing anything that gets in their way, so I did take a particular sadistic joy in the scenes of the creature going on the rampage and wiping out van Statten’s troops. Of particular note was the electrocution scene, another ingenious example of the Dalek – and the writer of the episode! – putting some thought into things, even if the pedantic might put out that showing us a shot of the rubber soles of the soldiers’ boots surely suggests they ought to have been insulated from the electricity…

I’m not sure about the end of the story, however. The idea of it being ‘infected’ with Rose’s DNA was a good one, and there is an established link of a Dalek bonding in some way with a young human female, touched upon in Remembrance of the Daleks and expanded upon in the novelisation of that story. But still, the way it ended… I can accept that in a way it was the Dalek being true to how we’ve always known them before as it wanted to destroy itself rather than to live with the sickness with which it had been infected, but I think the idea of trying to make us sympathise in a way with the Dalek was a mistake. Daleks should be irredeemable, evil, merciless destroyers, and despite the fact that it’s just killed two hundred people Rose won’t let the Doctor destroy it, which seemed wrong to me.

Having said that, Rose’s appalled reaction to the Doctor wielding a gun was an excellent piece of scripting. Most fans would be horrified at the Doctor packing a weapon, and it was awful when he said ‘lock and load!’ after finding a gun that worked. (Although the “broken… broken… hairdryer” line almost made up for it!). I can accept, however, that it’s his sheer fear of the Dalek, his horror at finding one still alive, which drives him to this – after all, it was Resurrection of the Daleks which showed the usual pacifistic Fifth Doctor happily wielding a pistol at a loose Dalek mutant. Plus the Doctor’s horrified realisation of what he had become at that moment – earlier foreshadowed by the Dalek’s taunt of ‘You would make a good Dalek!’ – justify the brief, horrible image of the Ninth Doctor as gun-wielding action hero, and provide a neat contrast between what the Doctor should be and what he occasionally lets himself become, and why perhaps he needs Rose’s humanising influence around him. This is a Doctor clearly scarred by the events of the time war, the great conflict about which we learn so much in this episode – good, intriguing backstory that helps add to the mystery and enigma of this incarnation of the Doctor, and factors which always go towards making good Doctor Who.

Rose continues to shine, with Billie Piper performing as excellently as always in this episode, never putting a foot wrong. Despite my misgivings over the Dalek plotline, Rose’s reaction to it and the sympathy she felt early on before she knew the true nature of the creature were all excellently written and portrayed. My only problem with the character in this episode was the moment of amazing stupidity she displayed at the end of the pre-titles sequence, happily mentioning that the Doctor is an alien. Is it not, to put it bluntly, a bit bloody thick of Rose to point this out when they’re surrounded by dead, stuffed, mounted and encased bits of alien and several troops with guns?

Not being an American I can’t comment on how authentic the accents were of the US characters, although I believe that all of them were genuine Americans aside from Anna-Louise Plowman, who according to the IMDb hails from New Zealand, and the “tin robot” guy sounded off even to me. Wherever they were from, they were mostly excellent, with Henry van Statten being one of the best villains seen so far in the series. His interplay with the Doctor, his arrogance and his intelligence all came across well, with my favourite scene between him and the Doctor being the discussion over the alien musical instrument. The Doctor’s simple delight in playing the thing, and his gently instruction to van Statten are wonderful, and van Statten’s sudden discarding of the instrument, throwing it carelessly into a corner, is really quite sad – I love the little upset look briefly visible on Eccleston’s face as he does that. This sets up the contrast between the two men very well.

Plowman was also very good as van Statten’s No. 2, Goddard, who seemed like she’d stumbled in from the solicitors Wolfram & Hart in Joss Whedon’s Angel. That’s by no means a complaint, however – no, I’ll save those for Bruno Langley as Adam, who I wasn’t particularly taken by. He did seem to improve as the episode went on, I admit, but he lacked anything in the way of charm, charisma or anything else that might make me want to take an interest in his fate. All he seemed to be was, as the Doctor said, “a bit pretty”, and that’s not enough to interest me. For one thing, if he’s such a genius, then why has he never bluffed his way down to the cage before? He clearly wants to, and manages it easily enough when Rose wants to go down and stop the Dalek from being tortured. Perhaps he’ll improve in the next episode, but I have to say I am relieved to know that he won’t be travelling in the TARDIS beyond that.

One problem that did arise from characterisation was that, for the first time this series, the pace did seem to be something of a problem for me. The first half of the episode flew by too quickly for my tastes, and I would have liked a while longer to get to know the various characters, particularly those who were being killed off. Di Maggio’s decision to attempt to stand and fight the Dalek on the stairwell and allow Rose and Adam more time to escape, for example, would probably have been a lot more affecting if we had been given a little time to get to know Di Maggio first. I accept that such characterisation is probably difficult in the confines of a 45-minute episode, but establishing sympathetic characters in minimal screen time has been a particular strength of Russell T Davies’ scripts thus far in the series, and the contrast is notable. The problem didn’t affect Mark Gatiss’ The Unquiet Dead, as he was working with such a small cast of characters in the first place.

On the production side of things, Joe Ahearne was always the most hotly-anticipated director to be hired to work on the series, given his experience in UK telefantasy productions such as his own Channel 4 vampire serial Ultraviolet and Andrew Marshall’s Strange for BBC One, and more recently the docu-drama Space Odyssey – Voyage to the Planets. Indeed, so limited has been the production of fantasy-orientated dramas in the UK that Ahearne is probably the only director currently working in British television who is particularly associated with the fantastical. This expectation that he would thus deliver the goods for Doctor Who is more than justified here – my own personal favourite shot was the Doctor’s face and head being encased within the reflection of the Cyberman head on the glass early on. Whether you take this to be a sign of the Doctor’s forthcoming ruthlessness and desire to destroy later in the episode or just a nice piece of framing, it’s still a nice touch. I also liked the Doctor’s comment in that scene about “the stuff of nightmares reduced to an exhibit” – a comment on what happened to the old series after it ended, perhaps? And the Doctor reaching out as if to brush away the tears moulded into the eyepieces of the mask was also a lovely little touch.

Ahearne proves more than adept at handling the action sequences too, giving great style and flair to the sequences of the Dalek wiping out van Statten’s troops. Overall the direction gives much more imagination and creativity than the rather flat approach of Keith Boak in the previous two-parter, perhaps no surprise given Boak’s background in more standard BBC drama fare such as Holby City.

The whole look of the episode was wonderful – from the fan-pleasing selection of alien nasties in the museum to the superbly-realised Dalek itself. The other production areas more than kept up – some have complained about the look of the Dalek in its CGI state, but I didn’t have a problem with any of the effects. Perhaps I am just easily pleased!

Overall then, I have to say that despite all the build-up, Dalek was not the best episode of the series so far, for me anyway. It was, however, a wonderful piece of Doctor Who, well-written, well-performed and well-made. If the series can keep up this high standard for the rest of the run then I will be more than happy – however, I can only hope that the Daleks themselves will be given another chance to show what utterly malevolent, destructive pepperpots they can be somewhere along the line.

The Unquiet Dead excepted, this week's instalment of Doctor Who seemed like a different programme altogether to, in particular, the comparitively appalling two-parter preceding it. Dalek is certainly the most convincing, compelling and dramatic episode of Who since, well, Ghost Light 1/Curse of Fenric 4/Survival 3. But I would go even further than that to say - despite one or two quibbles which I will mention in a bit - Dalek compares to some of the latter classics of the old series such as Curse of Fenric, and in its unusual intensity, pace and edginess, harks back to the inimitable direction of Graeme Harper's Revelation of the Daleks (with which it has much in common including Gothic-angle on the Daleks and noticeably similar incidental music) and, more importantly, the iconic Caves of Androzani: of course Dalek is still some way from being as superb as the latter story, but is very much in a similar vein, especially regarding intensity and pace, and more importantly, a quite vulnerable Doctor at the mercy of ruthless, capitalistic humanoids in a very gritty and overwhelmingly dark scenario. We also have a convincingly brutal torture scene with the Doctor chained up in almost crucificial posture, strongly reminiscent of the Fourth Doctor's interrogation by Hildred in The Deadly Assassin (though this time the direction goes one stage further from Tom Baker's open neck shirt and has Eccleston with naked, sweaty Ben-Hurish torso as he undergoes torture via a mechanism obviously modelled on the Dalek's eyestalk). Further harking back to the past series, we have easily the grittiest and most intellectually orientated study of the Daleks since Genesis of the Daleks (Revelation being focused solely on their creator, whereas Genesis split this analysis between the creator and, crucially, his creation); there is also, obviously, a very well written and realised echo of the Troughton classic Evil of the Daleks, in which the Human Factor seminally played a part in the Daleks survival-inhibiting downfall as it does, once more and arguably even more poignantly, in Dalek.

By the end of World War III I was seriously starting to think the consummate Unquiet Dead was perhaps just a one-off aberration in this new series of generally diluted and dumbed down, formulaic Who. One only needs to compare Aliens/War III with Rob Shearman's brilliant contribution to now see very clearly how RTD's writing credentials are seriously under dispute: so far he has only really offered one episode, End of the World, which, in (too few) places, could compare to some of the - more average stories - of the old series, but which was overall ruined by some highly inappropriate gimmicks. For my part, Rose and Aliens/War III are not worthy of the cannon, and this conviction has been strengthened by Dalek, a truly riveting episode which harnasses Who traditions with sharp reinventions, most obviously the most compelling and substantial portrayal and realisation of a Dalek since Genesis (or arguably since Evil back in 1967). Hats off to - the normally grating - Nick Briggs for an exceptional vocal performance as the Dalek - also worthy of note, the convincing and surprisingly quite restrained visual beefing-up of said entity.

This for me is the first episode in which Eccleston presents us with a truly compelling Doctor and in especially the one-on-one scene with the Dalek near the beginning, Eccleston's acting is quite literally superb; arguably no other actor has played the Doctor as intensely (in an emotional sense - Tom Baker's more subdued alien intensity being something else altogether, as well as his angry outbursts in Seeds of Doom and, ironically, the otherwise shabby Invasion of Time re his shouting at Borusa; and Colin Baker in the opening scenes of the even more shabby Twin Dilemma) as this before, displaying an almost unadulterated show of hate-fuelled emotion which re-cemented my thoughts on him prior to Who as sometimes being very similar to Ralph Fiennes, in facial characteristics and mannerisms - in this scene particularly Eccleston demonstrated he could have been an equally good choice for the Nazi character played by Fiennes in Schindler's List.

Ironically however it is on Eccleston's extremely powerful and memorable performance that I wish to briefly touch with regards the very few concerns I have with this episode: whilst this sort of face-contorting, angst-ridden acting from Eccleston is highly impressive and in some ways welcome, the tangibly violent nature of his verbal confrontation with the imprisoned and powerless Dalek is extremely disturbing to say the least when issuing from the mouth of a traditionally (bar some abberations in the past such as the pugilistic Sixth Doctor) pacifistic character and again the braun over brain syndrome of this latest incarnation manifests most worryingly in his ultimate confrontation of the Dalek, wielding a Ridley Scott-esque anti-tank gun; this scene is made all the more alarming due to the Dalek having become humanised by this point and evidently more vulnerable than ever before. Of course, thankfully, the Doctor finally assimilates this, partly due to Rose's influence, and lowers his weapon, then displaying a very tormented and confused emotional response regarding his grief for his dead race. I suppose then in the end these emotionally aggressive outbursts of the Doctor are finally reconciled as he comes back to his senses, however, there are shades of the Vietnam-vet approach to the Ninth incarnation which should perhaps be toned down more. Ultimately the magic of the character is his cerebralness and other-worldly ability to see through and around things which to human minds might seem less ambiguous - I find his earlier attempts to electrocute the captive Dalek particularly uncomfortable to watch. Yes, even the impassive Fifth Doctor did hold a gun at Davros in Resurrection, but this was softened by his lowering it during Davros's manipulative speech in an attempt to convince the Doctor he had mended his ways and was planning on doing good deeds with his creations; ultimately Davison's Doctor was taken off guard in this scene and missed his opportunity at carrying out the assassination of Davros, which I suppose was Saward's cop-out clause - detectably, there is something of the Saward blood and thunder approach to Who creeping in to the new series and the other scene in this vein which I really disliked was the Doctor mocking Adam with the - admittedly very amusing line- 'What are you going to do? Throw your A Levels at him?', then picking up the monstrous weapon and wielding it like a bloodthirsty weapons expert. Certainly the Ninth Doctor's uncompromising aggression towards the Daleks is light years away from the very moral ruminations of the Fourth Doctor when contemplating destruction of the Daleks in Genesis; and thus lacks the profound sophistication of his predecessor's compelling angst.

Another note is why is the Doctor feeling such a weight of grief at the destruction of the Timelords who in the past drove him away due their fascistic parochialism, exiled him to Earth (War Games) and took away his knowledge of piloting the TARDIS, continually manipulated him to do their dirty work (Genesis of the Daleks) so as not to spoil their 'lily white hands' (Brain of Morbius), turn his heroism on their behalf into ungrateful spurious propaganda cover ups (Deadly Assassin), attempt to execute him (Arc of Infinity), put him on trial (Trial of a Timelord) and generally piss him off throughout time and space? Perhaps a hint of grief at the loss of his own race, yes, but not to the point that he wishes to annihilate the last, humanised member of their special nemeses. The Doctor also says 'he has nothing left' now Gallifrey is gone - this seems odd considering his voluntary exile from the Timelords in pursuit of desired independence and his general contempt for them in previous years (especially the Fourth Doctor's almost irrational attitude towards them and anything related to them). A nice touch though was the Doctor saying he knew he was the only one left in his mind: hinting at the Prydonian telepathic ability.

Apart from the more overtly aggressive tendencies of the Doctor in Dalek, and two irritating lines, 'God, I can almost smell the testosterone' (Rose between the Doctor and Van Statten) and Van Statten's line about '...the girl you love' when referring to Rose - why not just 'a girl you love?', or better still, 'a human girl you love/a human you love', which would take away emphasis on Rose being a girl the Doctor is conceivably in love with - this episode was otherwise brilliant and very much definitive Doctor Who in plot, style and direction. An obviously nice touch was the Cyberman head at the beginning - it was great to have that first initial link to the past, leading up to something even more integral to the show's origins, as well as refreshing to see a circa Invasion Cyberman, quite possibly salvaged from the Mondasians's invasion of 1968 London (for me this echoed of the mini-scope teaser in Carnival of Monsters).

Also worthy of note are all the incidental characters who were as well realised as one might expect in only 45 minutes. Adam promises to be one of the more likeable male companions of the cannon, if he is to stay, which I think would be good and certainly preferable to the more tedious and superfluous Mickey. Nice also to have the first male companion since the superbly charismatic Turlough predicted to also be of ambiguous motivation (and not forgetting the equally turncoat-ish Adric, much less convincing a character though than Turlough). During the Colin Baker and McCoy eras I always wanted there to be a third, male companion, as I think this always gives the best dynamic and ideally gets someone else to do the testosterone-charged action bits while leaving the Doctor to be the more cerebral one.

Other brilliantly directed scenes in Dalek for me include the highly disturbing shots through the screaming Dalek's eyestalk as one of Van Statten's men tortures it - brilliant stuff, truly unpleasant to watch and reminiscent of some of the more gritty Troughton stories; the Dalek fighting the soldiers in the rain; and of course, the beautifully directed and genuinely moving final scenes in which the very convincingly realised Kaled reveals itself to the sun for the first time (its eye looked very real, though I did feel it should have had the hint of a second eye too in order to detract from the accidental and (as we know from Genesis) specious implication that Kaleds, prior to mutation, were Cycloptic).

The underground museum sets were brilliant; all production standards were A1 and even the CGI Dalek was convincing; another nice aescetic touch was the Art Deco-esque painting of Van Statten behind his desk. Clearly a lot of thought had gone into the set designs and visual details.

This is also only the second episode (Unquiet Dead being the other) to perfectly fit 45 minutes with absolutely no padding whatsoever, nor conversely any feeling that it needed more time to develop/to flesh out characters/to flesh out storylines (or in the case of Rose, actually include a storyline) - significantly in this sense, it and Unquiet Dead are the only two episodes so far to not be tediously interrupted by pointless domestic scenes (yes, even End of the World was with the brief Aerial commercial of the paroxide blond Miss Tyler bundling clothes into a washing machine whilst nattering to Rose on the phone near the beginning). There you are RTD: just cut out the domestic tedium and you have time to fully utilise the 45 minute time slots for the good of the storylines, which is supposed to be the point after all.

Dalek is undisputably a classic (in both the new and old sense), and has even exceeded the superb though more traditional and less dramatic Unquiet Dead as by far the best and most compelling episode of the new Who so far, and one which, unlike the RTD episodes, I will return to again and again on video, which is how the series should always be made: with layers and layers of detail.

9/10.

Let me take you back a little. When the interviews for the new series of Doctor Who began, Russell T. Davies was asked about the return of the Daleks. He famously said, many a time, that we would cry for the Dalek. "I'll believe it when I see it!" I thought. Saturday 30th April 2005 was the day of reckoning. From the pre-credit sequence it was clear that this was to be a different style of episode from the previous 5 weeks, and it was going to be something of an emotional rollercoaster. "Look at you!" exclaims the Doctor, a mix of awe and sadness in his voice, as he sees the severed head of a Cyberman in a display case. Surrounded by Alien artefacts in some kind of museum, Rose states what we - the viewers - are all thinking... that the Doctor, as a live specimen, must be Exhibit A. In rush a swat team, and in rush the credits. The scene truly setting the tone for the following 42 minutes.

As the Doctor and Rose meet Van Statten and "Little Lord Fauntleroy" Adam, the opposing views are set. Van Statten, an obnoxious man who's only true achievement has been to steal Alien technology and patent it as his own, is clearly set up as the villain of the piece - who is blissfully unaware that his prized possession, the eponymous Alien of the show, is in reality the most dangerous artefact that he is ever likely to possess. Cue a wonderful scene, beautifully edited, with swift retorts between the Doctor and Van Statten. Jump cutting between the two characters we feel how Rose must feel, and once again she airs the thoughts of the viewer "you can almost smell the testosterone" - she is our eyes and ears in these stories, a connection with is used to it's utmost in this story by it's writer and director.

When the moment the world has been waiting for happens, and the Doctor meets his arch-enemy, the eponymous Dalek, we are suddenly swept into a whirlwind of emotions. From the Dalek's futile attempt to exterminate the Doctor, who frantically tries to escape from The Cage, to the verbal confrontation between these two enemies, we are whirled from Fear, to Hate, to Guilt. The Doctor's 'in your face' confrontation of this, almost impotent, Dalek really hits a chord with the viewers. Taunting the Dalek, he finds himself on the recieving end of some pretty harsh criticism, and searching questions. And from this scene we learn that the Doctor was, in his view, responsible for the Time War - and therefore responsible for the demise of his own race. We feel his pain, we feel his loss, and we feel his anger. Yet, this reviewer felt these emotions for the Dalek too. A lone survivor, who somehow slipped through some kind of time eddy and escaped the fate of it's race. The story skillfully shows similarities between the Doctor and the Dalek, whilst maintaining their differences. Perhaps it is these similarities which make some of us start to feel sorry for the Dalek.

The pivotal scene of the story comes whilst the Doctor is being 'examined' - which really means tortured in the name of science - and Rose sees the Dalek being tortured on the cctv system. Her travels with the Doctor have already brought out her caring side, and through her visit to Platform One Rose has learnt to be more tolerant of Aliens, and not to automatically think that because they're different they're evil. Wanting to see the Metaltron, as Van Statten and his team refer to the Dalek, and feeling remorse for the ignorance of the humans holding it prisoner, Rose comes face to face with the Dalek. As she approaches it, we hold our breath in anticipation. We've already heard that the last person to touch it burned to death, and yet Rose reaches out and places a hand on the Dalek's dome - after some rather moving dialogue which truly expresses Rose's compassionate nature. From hereon in, the Dalek goes on a rampage, and finds itself on an ever increasing emotional rollercoaster. Yes, I said emotional. You see that's the clever thing with this story. Having used the DNA from a Time Traveller - Rose has just recently travelled in time - the Dalek rejuvinates itself enough to break free of it's shackles and make a bid for freedom, after suckering it's torturer to death. (Frankly I found this moment shocking, and rather scary. "Whachay gonna do? Sucker me to death?" I laughed at this line, thinking that nothing would happen. Boy, was I wrong! Don't ever think a Dalek's sucker is a humourous whimsy, with no threatening purpose.) But what this Dalek didn't bank on was the mutating effect of the Human DNA on it's own DNA. Over the remaining time of this story the Dalek begins to question it's actions, it's instincts. It develops feelings, and emotions.

But all this isn't to say that the Dalek is the only one showing emotions in this fine story. Overcome with his guilt, the Doctor slowly begins to descend into a sort of madness. And things aren't made any better when he has to shut the Dalek in, creating what could have been a wonderful cliffhanger. "I'm sorry, I was a bit slow" says Rose, staring at the closed bulkhead, tears in her eyes, and with the Dalek somewhere in the distance, closing in on her. "I wouldn't've missed it for the World" and I choked up on tears that somehow never came. The Doctor, facing the thought that he's killed Rose, becomes more vitriolic, his anger and guilt mingling. The relief we all feel at seeing that Rose is still alive, is short-lived, as this manipulative new Dalek forces the Doctor to put the world at risk again for the sake of his companion. And yet, the emotional aspect of this story is still only just beginning! As Rose persuades the Dalek not to kill Van Statten - why Rose, why? - we see the her DNA beginning to mutate the Dalek.

It is in the final segment of the story we see it's true sorrow. As the Dalek searches for freedom, and in it's final moments reaches a faltering tentacle out to the sun, we realise just how human it's become. For old fans this is the moment we realise just how determined this Dalek will be on suicide, and the futility of it all saddened me. It is no longer a Dalek, and no, Rose, that isn't better. A Dalek's natural instincts for racial purity will not accept anything un-Dalek, and that is what this Dalek has become. At this point, I cried. Yes, Russell was right. I cried for the Dalek, I cried for the Doctor, and I cried for Rose. As the Doctor tried to explain himself, in faltering tones "I didn't... I couldn't...", the Dalek pleads with Rose to instruct it to kill itself. This lone DNA-altered Dalek, searching for orders, seems now to see Rose as it's leader. Something she is unwilling to be. But when it comes to the crunch, she sadly tells it to "do it then", and steps back. After such a conclusion to this emotional rollercoaster, the final scene, of the Doctor and Rose returning to the TARDIS feels bitter-sweet. Rose and the Doctor are obviously still reeling from their encounter, but the Doctor trying to be more normal - when Rose asks if Adam can travel with them the Doctor says "He's a bit pretty".

For me, this story has been the highlight of a wonderful new series. The story was incredibly well written, and the tight direction felt like it wasn't there - which is, of course, the best kind of direction. The acting from both Eccleston and Piper was beautiful. I was gripped, and actually forgot that I was watching a pair of fictional characters on TV. The sets, and designs were wonderful. Creating a real world feel to the setting. The slight injection of humour into the story actually added to the emotional nature of the story, and was perfectly integrated. The Dalek was a revelation - how can we escape them now, with their geared mid-section? And full credit must go to Nick Briggs for his Dalek voice. Somehow, Briggs managed to portray a thinking, feeling, Dalek without producing something which felt camp, or cheesy. My only complaint - and it's a small one - is that one of the CGI effects felt unreal. As the Dalek elevated up the stairs, after being taunted by Adam in the way we - and the press - used to taunt them in the 80s, things started well. But as the camera angle changed and the Dalek came towards us, there seemed to be something wrong. Somehow it looked fake. But this was one scene, and for the rest of the episode everything was perfect. My only worry now is that this story is an extremely hard act to follow, as is Eccleston's Doctor.

I noted when I reviewed ‘The Long Game’ that Russell T. Davies’ remit of focusing on characterisation in the new Doctor Who series has actually resulted in characterisation of the two regulars but left the supporting characters shallow, two-dimensional ciphers, and that it has fallen to the other writers to show him how it should be done. Paul Cornell becomes the third writer to do this, bringing all the strengths the best of his previous work to the screen with powerful effect.

Paul Cornell’s detractors tend to dismiss his work as sentimental, but the reason for this is that in all his Doctor Who novels and audios he’s focused on the triumph of the human spirit over adversity. It’s so rare to see this in modern British television writing, in which grim and gritty plotlines are currently in vogue, that I can’t bring myself to condemn the optimism that permeates his work, and ‘Father’s Day’ is no exception. It is sentimental, yes, but the emotions on display here ring true and its’ hard not be moved during the scenes between Rose and her father. The plot of ‘Father’s Day’ is predictable, but only in the way that a tragedy always is. Even viewers who hadn’t seen the trailer at the end of ‘The Long Game’ must have been able to guess what would happen when Rose asks if the laws of time permit her to witness her father’s death and the Doctor quietly tells her, “I can do anything, I’m just worried about you… be careful what you wish for.” Rose’s inevitable interference allows her to see the relationship between her parents first hand and bereft of the, erm, rose-tinted view her mother imposed on her own memories. Naturally, she gets a bit of shock as she realises that her dad is human; she sees them bickering incessantly, with Jacky yelling at Peter, “You bring home cut price detergents, tonic water, betamax tapes, and none of it works”, generally accusing him of being useless, and assuming that he’s having an affair with the young blonde she finds him with. He shouts back, “Yeah, cos I’m that stupid – I play around and then bring her to meet the missus”, eventually prompting a distraught Rose to shout, “Stop this! You’re not like this, you love each other!” Which is of course the truth, as Rose realises moments later when they make up.

Rose’s dad is a great character and his scenes with her are crucial to the success of the episode. For all of his self-deprecation, he isn’t stupid and having been assaulted by flying dragons he soon works out what is going on, telling Rose, “A wound in time… you called me “Dad”” The subsequent scene (“You are, you’re my Rose”) is very moving, especially when he starts asking about his hair and is met with silence, and he quickly realises exactly why she’s traveled back in time to see him, especially when he asks her “Am I a good dad?” She replies “You were there for us all the time. Someone I could really rely on”, and he realises, “That’s not me.” Billie Piper again gets to show her worth, portraying Rose’s emotions very convincingly throughout, and especially at this point, and Shaun Dingwell complements her beautifully as her dad. As soon as the car that should have killed Rose’s Dad starts materializing and dematerializing around the church, the resolution of the plot is obvious, but the point is that it is also obvious to Peter and he chooses to sacrifice himself to save everyone in a very noble and touching moment. We get a genuinely emotional scene as he tells Jacky, “I’m meant to be dead Jacky. You’re finally going to get rid of me” and Piper is superb when he tells her, “Thanks for saving me” and goes out to get run over. Rose’s dad works very well. For all his self-deprecation, he resolves to do the right thing, and sacrifices himself to save the world.

My main criticism of ‘Father’s Day’ is that, yet again, we get an ineffectual Doctor who achieves nothing. In fact, most of what happens here is technically his fault, since he takes Rose back in time in the first place, and when the Reapers appear and start devouring the world, despite his best intentions all he actually does is get eaten. Given the importance in Cornell’s script of the human spirit triumphing over adversity however, this actually works, as it removes him from the picture to allow Rose’s Dad to save the day. The problem therefore is not that the Doctor achieves little in the this episode, but that he repeatedly comes across as ineffectual through the season thus far and therefore rather than being the exception that it should have been, ‘Father’s Day’ boasts just another example of his dithering and incompetence. That said, the Doctor gets some magnificent scenes here, and Christopher Eccleston puts in one of his best performances. I’m coming to the conclusion that his performance achieves its potential far more in episodes not written by Davies, which require him to do some serious acting instead of just grinning like an idiot, rattling off atrocious puns, and acting like Rose’s jealous boyfriend. After Rose saves her dad’s life, Eccleston conveys the Doctor’s emotions through facial acting alone until the Doctor gets the chance to speak to her without Peter being present. Although he does shout, “I did it again, I picked another stupid ape” at her, his best line here is when he coldly gives voice to his concerns that he’s been manipulated all along, reminding Rose, “When we met, I said “travel with me in space”, you said “no”. Then I said “time.”” The moment passes, but it’s an interesting insight into a hitherto unexpected insecurity, and afterwards we get a quietly delivered but heartfelt reference to the Time Lords, as he tells her, “My entire planet died, my whole family. Do you think it never occurred to me go back and save them?” Later, when he finds the Doctor finds the empty TARDIS shell, the look of panic on Eccleston’s face is very convincing. And whilst I have criticized the fact that he achieves little here, the Doctor’s willingness to step between the Reaper and the crowd in the church, announcing, “I’m the oldest thing in here!” is the sort of behaviour I expect from him. But the Doctor’s finest moment here, and one which is also typical Paul Cornell, is when Stuart and Sarah ask him, “Can you save us?” and there follows a conversation culminating in the great line, “Who said you’re not important? I’ve traveled to all sorts of places, done things you couldn’t imagine. But you two… street corner, two in the morning, getting a taxi home. I’ve never had a life like that. Yes, I’ll try and save you.”

The Doctor’s relationship with Rose gets strained here as a result of Rose’s actions, but by the end of the episode, they’re as close as they usually are. Despite nearly bringing about Armageddon, the Doctor only remains angry with Rose until she says she’s sorry, after which he concentrates on trying to solve the problem rather than blaming her. He shows great concern for her when she initially witnesses her father’s death, demonstrating that for all his moaning about “domestics” in previous episodes, he does understand human emotions, and he tries to find an alternative to the obvious solution to try and spare Rose further turmoil; as Peter realizes, “The Doctor worked it out ages ago, but he tried to protect me.” However, whilst I’m on the subject, the answer to Rose’s question, “We’re not a couple, why does everyone think we’re a couple?” is probably due to the Doctor’s jealously of Mickey and Adam in Davies’ episodes and their constant sixth form flirting.

It’s worth discussing the logic of the plot at this point. Some critics have already started questioning how much sense the rules of time travel on display here make sense, especially since the Reapers apparently feed on wounds in time, but disappear when Rose’s Dad dies even though history has still been altered. The model of temporal mechanics utilized here is very much the model previously established in Doctor Who, and also that used in much of Cornell’s work. There is an obvious distinction between the massive paradox caused by Rose saving her father’s life, and the slight hiccup in the time line that is all that is left at the end; the idea that history can change but in ways that time can cope with has been seen previously in Cornell’s debut Doctor Who story ‘Timewyrm: Revelation’ (Chad Boyle’s altered past by the end of the novel). It clearly contrasts here with the situation initially caused by Rose, as she basically causes a reverse Grandfather paradox, travelling back in time to save her father and thus altering her own past fairly drastically. By the end of the story history is still altered, but the wound is much less gaping; Rose ends up having always been part of her families past, Jacky’s memories alter accordingly, and the man responsible for Peter’s death waits for the police. Note that she tells the young Rose at the end, “The driver was just a kid. He stopped. He waited for the police. It wasn’t his fault” whereas originally he was never caught; in both cases, he in a sense “gets away with it”, so it’s entirely possible that the overall picture of his life remains unchanged. What doesn’t really make sense is the fact that Rose can’t safely make physical contact with her past self, but this too is part of the background mythology of the series, first established in ‘Mawdryn Undead’ and since then revisited in such diverse works as ‘Turlough and the Earthlink Dilemma’, ‘Happy Endings’, and ‘The Time of the Daleks’ so I have no problem with Cornell using it here. The only problem with all the temporal shenanigans here is that Rose is seemingly unable to understand the consequences of changing her own past; she’s supposed to be intelligent, but whilst Doctor Who writers have always belabored points such as this in an attempt to explain them to even the densest audience member, it shouldn’t be that hard to explain. I know this, because I have in the past explained the Grandfather paradox to a nincompoop, and he understood it perfectly when I’d finished. There’s also no real logical reason for all of the phones in the area to start receiving “the very first phone call, Alexander Graham Bell” either, but as a means of generally indicating that something is wrong with time, it is quite a nice touch.

The guest cast is generally very good here, with even Camille Coduri getting a few decent scenes, and conveying genuine sadness when she tells the young Rose about her father. Mind you, once Rose meets her in the past, I soon found myself wanting her to fall under a car instead of Peter. Bonus points are awarded to the episode for the Doctor’s, “I’ve waited a long time to say this: Jacky Tyler, do as I say! Go and check the doors! I should have done that ages ago.” Overall then, ‘Father’s Day’ is a fine episode. In addition to everything I’ve already mentioned, there is some gentle humour, including Jacky saying of the young Mickey, “He just grabs on to whatever’s passing and holds on for dear life. God help his poor girlfriend if he ever has one” and the Doctor telling baby Rose, “You aren’t going to bring about the end of the world, are you? Are you?” The episode is well directed too, with the shots from the Reapers’ point of view notably creepy, as people start to disappear. The Reapers themselves look good from the side, although from the front when they scream at people, there is something about them that puts me in mind of Muppets. And having provided several episodes worth of aural effluent, Murray Gold’s does his best work for the series thus far, with a score that is entirely appropriate to what is seen on screen.

‘Father’s Day’ ultimately reinforces my growing suspicion that, whilst I’ve generally enjoyed Davies’ episodes, the other writers are far better at writing for Doctor Who than he is. This feeling is further enhanced by the trailer for ‘The Empty Child’, the first of a two part story written by Steven Moffat, which looks extremely promising…

The most touching, poignant and emotional episode of Doctor Who ever screened with performances so on the nail it should shut up those nay sayers who constantly criticise its acting. Unfortunately all the good work done by the director and the actors is undone by one of the most ridiculously stupid scripts ever written.

Stupid mistake number one: The Doctor takes Rose back to the point of her father’s death. I can see now what the point of Adam was in the grand season one plan, he was there to show us how much the Doctor trusts and respects Rose in comparison so he can be totally let down this week when she makes some silly mistakes. Why on Earth doesn’t he just say no to her request? Taking somebody back to their fathers death and not expecting them to do something to stop it is like shoving a steak in front of a starving man (or a missing episode of Doctor Who in front of an anal fan)…something that is bound to give in to no matter how much you trust them not to. The Doctor makes a horrific mistake in flaunting his abilities to her here and the consequences are all his fault, not hers.

Stupid mistake number two: He takes her back to see her father again! What a bastard! Not content with risking one visit back he pops her back to a point when they are already there the first time they went back. Isn’t this incredibly dangerous? And utterly irresponsible? When she ran out and rescued him I was laughing my head off, the Doctor’s horrified reaction makes him look like such a prat. When he turned on her and blamed her for being a stupid ape I thought he was being hypocritical to the point of insanity, if anybody was being stupid in this episode it’s him. Remember the BBC past Doctor adventure The Witch Hunters? That book had a similar plot where the time travellers re-visited a time they had just left because Susan wanted to change something and it was Susan who set the controls and took them back. The Doctor was wise enough and smart enough to realise that staying during the witch trials would be dangerous and Susan would not be able to resist changing things. And he has every right to be angry when she pre-programmes the controls and does attempt to change things. The book still deals with these gripping time travel ideas but doesn’t spoil the Doctor’s integrity. Father’s Day is the work of a good writer so it baffles me that he could get the Doctor so totally wrong.

Stupid mistake number three: Don’t touch that baby, Rose the Doctor tells her knowing full well it will cause a temporal paradox and give the Reapers extra strength so what does he do? Leaves her within arms reach of the child throughout the rest of the episode. Why the hell didn’t he get that kid as far away from her as possible? Get Rose into the belfry or shove her down in the vestry? Nope he leaves them nice and close and suddenly gasps with horror when somebody hands her the kid. What a dickhead. (Was this really Eccleston’s favourite script?)

Inexplicable rubbish: The first phone call blaring through everybody’s phones. What the hell was all that about? The glowing TARDIS key and it suddenly materialising in the church and the empty TARDIS. How on Earth do the Reapers have the ability to affect the TARDIS so? Where the hell did they come from anyway? For what purpose do they cauterise time? Why did the car keep re-appearing waiting to claim Rose’s dad? How does his death in a different place rewind everything that has happened? How comes the Reapers are satisfied that no changes are made at the end when it is made blatantly clear by the two scenes with Jackie and child Rose that in the original timeline nobody was there for her dad when he died and because of their interference Rose was in fact there and holding his hand whilst he died? Why didn’t the Reapers see that as an adjustment to the timeline and disinfect Rose from the scene? Did anybody think this script through at all?

Blatant plagiarising from the book series: Russell T Davies made a very eloquent speech in the last Doctor Who magazine that the books have to follow the series lead and that they just aren’t quite as important as the series. Fair enough, but why then does this episode borrow wholesale ideas that have thrived in the series for the past four years? Gallifrey has been destroyed in a Great War, the Doctor the lone survivor. Dealt with in the books. Time travel mistakes made possible thanks to the Time Lords no longer existing. Dealt with in the books. Evil creatures appearing to police time travel in their absence, turning up and killing people horribly when diversions are made. It’s Sabbath and the babewyns innit? This episode flaunts these ideas as though they are original and refreshing but I have been intimately associated with them far superior works than this. Go and read Adventuress of Henrietta Street instead. I am such a huge fan of the books and to see them being treated so shabbily (their arc plot ignored in favour of an identical one for the TV series!) and yet being ripped off all the same is pretty annoying.

It is the character work where the story triumphs, namely Rose’s relationship with her father and unexpected closeness of Rose and the Doctor during the second half. Going back in time to a period you have been told about but not experienced is always a terrible mistake, you are bound to find out something terrible you did not know about. Rose’s realisation that her father was not the genius her mother made him out to be is inevitable but still extremely moving and then to discover even though he was a bit of a Del Boy, her father would still step in front of a car if it would make an important difference. Rose gets all the best scenes in Father’s Day from her mumbling awkwardness with the Doctor after she has changed history, not wanting to face his wrath, to her hilarious reaction to her fathers flirting and her moving reaction when she realises he will have to sacrifice himself anyway, despite her actions.

The Tyler family achieves a whole new layer of depth in this episode and as usual it is a joy to see Jackie back. She is as chavvy as ever, deeply humorous and dramatic in equal measures and with a tongue as sharp as ice. It was Jackie’s vehement anger towards her husband that gave Rose her biggest culture shock and her sudden turnabout at the climax, crying and begging for her husband not to sacrifice himself that proved how much she loved him anyway. Camille Coduri is as marvellous as ever, looking stunning in her wedding attire and once again finding new layers for the increasingly complex Jackie Tyler.

Despite the horrible choices he is given Eccleston gives a meaty performance that will go down as one of his best, a far cry from the dopey grins in earlier episodes. I know he wanted to show the world he could play a nice guy but the truth of the matter is Eccleston is better at playing nasties and when his Doctor is allowed to get angry and emotional he provides some sit up and pay attention fireworks that few of his predecessors could have managed. This is the episode that cements his relationship with Rose, having been to the brink of splitting up and still walking away hand in hand. When he admits that he wouldn’t have left her and she says she knew that already you feel a genuine bond that cannot be broken, no matter how bad thin get. And the Doctor accusing her of having an agenda for travelling with him was pretty low but her quiet reaction to this proves it has been in the back of her mind for a while. Perhaps as far back as The Unquiet Dead. I take back what I said about Billie Piper in Dalek, I could not fault her performance in Father’s Day and if she doesn’t have you blubbing before the credits come up you have no soul.

The direction was absolutely smashing. Pretty much every episode this has been extremely pretty on the eyes and so when this episode started with its incredibly drab looking location work (a horrid, grey windy day) it was already uncomfortable BEFORE time was messed up. The POV views of the Reapers attacking were stunning and proved once again that you only have to imply violence for it to be more effective than actually showing it. The music was a huge step up from last week, creepy and poignant in equal measures. And considering it was a slower, character based episode it was certainly not dull for a second, filmed by a director who knows how to inject drama and pathos into the programme.

I want to write this off as a spectacular triumph because of the sheer amount of talent that has gone into it. There are scenes in this episode that rank higher than anything else I have seen on television in ages. But the script is so irritatingly flawed I had a constant sense of anger surging through me throughout the episode.

Who would have thought there would ever be a time where the production and performances of Doctor would be its selling points and the script would be its biggest failure. My my, how things have changed.

After weeks of waiting and anticipation we finally see the Daleks back on screen, in an episode that not only is the best in the 2005 series so far, but also one of the greatest Doctor Who stories of all time.

The beginning of the episode salutes the classic series wonderfully, with a rather touching scene containing some superb dialogue from the Doctor regarding the Cybermen. It's well executed and well written and is a fantastic teaser for the main episode.

The plot execution is pacey and interesting, but the moment everyone has been waiting for is certainly a scene to behold. The confrontation between the Doctor and the Dalek is fantastic. We finally get some more insight into the great 'Time Wars' and learn of the Daleks' involvement. The Doctor seems to be unable to control himself, as his mood swings do begin to get slightly questionable by the end of the scene although this is understandable considering the characters current state of mind.

The prospect of having the Doctor lashing out and attempting the Dalek is a wonderful piece of drama, and a bit of a shock to the viewer considering the Doctor's passiveness towards violence. The final confrontation between the two foes is also quite interesting, and we see how Rose has something of an influence on the Doctor in the way of bringing him back down to Earth.

The CGI of the episode id good, although the CGI Dalek goes seem somewhat plainer and simpler than the actual model so there is detraction. The death of the Dalek is very interesting as we finally find out what those bumps are for. However, the death is very smooth and in retrospect, a bit of a let down as it seems slightly anti climactic (there could have been an explosion at least)

The characterisation of the Dalek is a daring leap into the 21st Century. We're not used to the Daleks speaking dialogue that is typically 'human', but then again it does possess Rose's DNA and so would take on some of her characteristics. In all, the characterisation is good although a little OTT at times 'I AM FRIGH-TENED'

Bruno Langley has a somewhat small role in the episode but it will be interesting to see how and if he develops in the next episode. The last scene is good but Langley just doesn't seem to be on top acting form in his very last few lines, a little too whiney for the moment.

The teaser trailer for the next episode is good, but does seem to be a bit of a muddle, with there being no plot exposition to it when compared with others. The Daleks episode in all is a fantastic one and a dead cert at being a ratings phenomenon.