Here’s what I was going to do. I was going to write a separate review of this episode, and then a full review of the Aliens Of London two-parter. And now, I find myself unable to do that. Why? Because the two episodes are so different from each other. So, so different. I shall explain…

We open with our cliffhanger, and the Doctor very quickly gets himself out of it. But remember, this was a three-tier cliffhanger! No matter. In one swift move, the Doctor solves every problem. For now. Cue titles. I gave a cheer. This set the standard for the rest of the episode. I cheered a lot. And laughed a lot.

Seriously, this was a hilarious episode. Right from the very beginning, with the Doctor’s pathetic-sounding explanation to the military about the alien cover-up, I was laughing every few seconds. We have a lot of chasing through corridors this time around, with another cheer from me. I’ve warmed to the Slitheen, too, partly due to the way blink, partly to the way they move. Velociraptors, anyone? A few belly-laughs later, the Doctor, Rose and Harriet (great character!) have locked themselves in the Cabinet room. And spend the remainder of the episode there.

This was a great move on the part of RTD, who’s delivered a script here that’s about as good as The End of the World. The Slitheen’s plan, with its subtleties and intricacies, is pure genius. Keith Boak has done a better job here too, and manages to keep the action going even while our main characters are stuck in a room for half an hour.

Oh! The dialogue! This is cracking stuff… the best RTD dialogue so far, and acted beautifully. Meanwhile, Mickey and Jackie are fighting off their own monster, and we’re treated to our first “gross monster explosion” of the season. Vinegar, Hannibal, “You kiss this man?”… gorgeous stuff. The Doctor and Mickey are again displaying a wonderful chemistry together, even when just talking on the phone.

David Verrey, by the way, delivers an excellent performance here as Joseph Green, the acting PM (although we all know what he really is). The direction and the music add to the atmosphere the moment he announces to the world that they are at war. At this point, I realised I was no longer laughing – I was too riveted by the drama. I’d always thought Joss Whedon had created an amazing thing with Buffy, a perfect fusion of comedy and drama. We all know RTD is an immense Buffy fan, and if you look at Queer As Folk, it’s obvious he knows how to pull off exactly the same fusion. Never has this been clearer than in World War Three. Did I say this was cracking stuff? Well… er, it is.

The effects, too, are gorgeous. That missile heading across England’s south-east had me completely convinced. The resolution of the story is perfect, and we all know Harriet Jones will make a wonderful PM.

But back to Rose’s domestic life. Camille Coduri as Jackie deserves a mention here for adding a bit more substance to her character, just as Noel Clarke did with his character of Mickey in the previous episode. I was really touched by the way she handled Rose’s decision to join the Doctor permanently on his travels. When I heard the closing sting, I sat back with a satisfied grin.

As a whole, I don’t think I could ever watch Aliens Of London followed by World War Three. Oddly enough, in the event of a huge new series marathon, I might even skip the former and move straight onto the latter. Like I said before, the two episodes are just so different! The acting, the script, the music, the direction, the effects, the pacing, the humour, the fear factor, the drama… with Aliens Of London, I really thought this series was about to go downhill, at least for a little while. Mercifully, World War Three proved me wrong. It only dipped for one week, then shot straight back up. My confidence in this series has been reassured. Bring on the Dalek!!!

As the first Second Part of a previous story, this very much feels like writing a review I have already written. I’ll try and separate the 2 as best I can. I never have reviewed the Classic show in separate episodes (or Big Finish for that matter) – but the nature of the new series means that thinking has changed – and 13 reviews will result. A separate episode title also emphasizes the new episode.

For those who loved Aliens of London, it’s like an extra helping of goodness. For those like me who thought it was an entertaining slice of new Who, even though not upto the excellence of previous episodes, then mixed feelings arose. It would be nice to see Rose in her home environment again. Would the Doctors jealousies be strengthened? Jackie would in it more – plus point. Mickey would be in it more – the characters growing on me. More Harriet Jones – excellent. More overweight politicians – no thanks. Runaround in Downing Street – sounds fun. More Big Bouncy monsters – increasingly not so sure about more of them.

The original title of 10 Downing Street actually suits this episode far more than the overly dramatic one used. It’s not as sensational – but this World War Three business just never really convinced. It never happened for a start.

The Cliffhanger was nicely resolved, and that’s where the runaround started, in very effective doubles for the real place may I add. I’m not completely struck on the Music employed in the new series – and this was another example of it not quite gelling to the action smoothly. It was fun seeing CGI Slitheen chasing after our heroes though. The tense scene with Rose and Harriet hiding in a back room was also effective. The Doctor took the rise too much though – especially as he kept opening the doors to gloat at the Slitheen – why didn’t they just go for him then? But then the Slitheen were so incredibly slow – except when they were CGI!

The standard of the supporting cast has been excellent this series – and Harriet Jones more than lived up to her introduction in the previous episode. A caring, compassionate MP may be a contradiction to the popular view – but that’s exactly what we get from Penelope Wiltons lovely portrayal.

The fat MPs were better this week too. I was really impressed with David Verrey as he faced the press, in an attempt to get the access codes. I also enjoyed the mellowing of the Doctors attitude to Mickey – as he finally showed his mettle. The whole UNIT business on the Computer was a ridiculously contrived solution, but fun all the same.

However the Slitheen never quite made the grade as Monsters for me. The intergalactic Scrap Merchants was a good idea – very Hitch Hikers Guide to the Galaxy, but they were a bit embarrassing overall. I thought the new Doctor Who was going to play everything straight. I thought Russell Ts Script took the mickey of the aliens a little too much. The whole gastric emissions, that continued forcefully throughout this episode, stripped them of any scariness and seriousness. Maybe Russell T knew this, so had some fun instead. Certainly my nephews and nieces were not remotely scared by them.

I really don’t care for big blobby monsters anyway, in any show. Doctor Who is better when it doesn’t have too many, and it looks like there aren’t this series – and that’s good. Most of Doctor Whos Monsters are rubbish anyway – but I suspect I may be in a minority with that theory. Saying that though DW has got it right in numerous occasions (Ice Warriors, Sontarans, Sea Devils) – but the Slitheen are not one of them. For every 1 brilliant DW Monster, there’s a dozen rubbish ones.

What I particularly enjoyed about this episode actually had nothing to do with the main threat though. It was the wonderful interplay between Mickey, Jackie, Rose and Doctor. I was happy for the main threat to disappear 35 minutes in, as that provided some excellent character scenes for these wonderful personalities. That’s what enthused me about World War Three – the way Rose was pulled this way and that. Mickey levering himself onto the bin at the end, waiting for Rose, was lovely. Let’s get the marvellous Jackie in the TARDIS too, just for a few adventures – now that would provide some tension for the Doctor.

Never short of entertaining again, the 5th Episode continued the bizarreness and silliness of Aliens of London. It’s hardly the best bit of Doctor Who I have ever seen – but it’s professionally performed and produced. It’s just wonderful to talk Who with my work colleagues, most of who watch it, but were never fans. They see it as a light-hearted romp – and who am I to disagree. Light-hearted romps have always had a place in Doctor Who – with this being as fine an example as you will find. 7/10

There's an old tradition when it comes to two-part storylines on "Star Trek". The writers spend so much of Part One setting up for an amazing cliffhanger, that Part Two almost always feels like a let-down. Before seeing tonight's episode of "Doctor Who", part of me was thinking something similar might happen here. Well, I'm pleased to report that "Doctor Who" has not travelled the same path as "Star Trek".

Russell T Davies returns with a very good script, full of some classy one-liners and the usual wit we have come to expect from his pen. Thankfully, Russell doesn't rely on wit alone to carry the story. The sheer scope of events is magnificent, with some serious dramatic tension on the line here. There's also some nice touching moments, especially as Jackie tries to come to terms with Rose's relationship with the Doctor.

As I suspected when I reviewed 'Aliens of London' last week, the overall story arc doesn't move along very much at all. In fact, aside from a slightly humourous bit at the end (bringing closure to the graffiti bit in 'Aliens of London'), there's no mention whatsoever of any of the "bad wolf" or "time war" elements already mentioned in the series. Which is no bad thing, I must admit. Makes for a nice change.

Christopher Eccleston and Billie Piper continue the tradition of this series, with both of them giving very good performances. Billie really seems to be shining in this series, and is making every effort to silence whatever critics she might have left. Christopher, meanwhile, is obviously enjoying the role, and the wide variety of challenges that it asks of him as an actor. The scenes these two share are wonderful to watch.

The guest cast is generally the same as last week, with some rather fine performances from all involved. It was indeed nice to see the slightly larger members of the British acting community getting a chance to sink their teeth into some meaty roles (no pun intended). Of the guest cast, Penelope Winton comes off best, with her portrayal of Harriet Jones being perfect. It was also nice to see Camille Coduri and Noel Clarke once more.

The production values continue the high standard of Part One, but its obvious why things look so good in this particular adventure - all the sets in 'World War Three' are the same as those featured in 'Aliens of London', and its clear the money has been well spent. It was a shame more wasn't made of the team's visit to the Cardiff Royal Infirmary, as I'd hoped that impressive location would end up being used more often.

Special effects-wise, the episodes come off quite well. There's a wonderful balance between costuming and CGI for the Slitheen (although some of the CGI shots featuring the Slitheen looked a little too fake), while Mike Tucker's impressive model work comes into play once again as the episode ends, and the script calls for 10 Downing Street to be blown up! Nicely handled, and it made for an explosive end to a very good episode.

As this is the final episode to be directed by Keith Boak, part of me is sad to see his contribution over (he was, after all, the first director on the new series), but it means that we've finally moved past the first block of filming, with all its inherent problems. Things can only go up from here. Finally, Murray Gold does his usual impressive piece of work on the episode, although I spotted some re-use of cues.

Overall, 'World War Three' brings the new series' first two-part storyline to a spectacular finish. I suspect in future years this particular two-part adventure won't be held in the same high regard as the original series classics like 'Caves of Androzani' and 'The Talons of Weng Chiang'. It is, however, still an impressive piece of work, and should be celebrated for pushing the boundaries of British TV.

Overall Score: 5 / 6 (Very Good)

More than any other episode before this (and probably after this too), this one owes itself the most to the sterling work of Big Finish Productions and to those of us here and elsewhere who've supported them over the last six years. (Six?!?) That it has turned out to be by far the best episode so far and recognized as such in almost every quarter is a tribute to all the hard work and experimentation that's been done in the audio drama format spearheaded by Jason Haigh-Ellery and Gary Russell, to the attention and feedback (and not to mention cash) we all have given them, but most especially and personally on this occasion by two of their most stalwart, reliable, talented, and creative people: Nicholas Briggs and Robert Shearman. I knew in my gut from the first time their names were mentioned in connection with this episode that the episode would therefore simply have to rock... it had no alternative really, and I knew the general British public would be surprised and amazed by what hit them, as indeed they seem to have been. They, and we, have at last got to _see_ what we here have been hearing for the past six years, and now we all get to look a bit smug at all the doubters and naysayers who said it couldn't be done. This is fun in itself. What's more fun though is to watch and enjoy full-blooded, sophisticated, 2005 "Doctor Who."

That all being said, there are still a few small things that aren't quite there yet, and I'll mention them as I go chronologically through the episode here. I say that here because the very first scene is one of those small things, and that's how in this new "abbreviated" format of 45-minute episodes there just isn't time to do the full "part one" type explorations. The short wander of about seven paces in the museum before the credits is all we get here. Mind you, we don't need 25 minutes of it... but I do wish there was just a bit more time available for peering around corners to see what's on the other side of them. The little we did get to see was fun though, particularly the Cyberman head, though I'm a bit puzzled why it was a "Revenge of the Cybermen" model instead of an "Invasion" or "Silver Nemesis" one, given when and where each of those stories took place. (Perhaps there's an untelevised adventure here?) I was also a bit puzzled how all those heavily armed soldiers surrounded the Doctor and Rose _that_ quickly when the Doctor set off the alarm. I mean, they were there in less than 2 seconds. Do they normally all just stand watch in full gear _right_ around the corner of this room this deep in the museum?

We get introduced very quickly to billionaire Van Statten and his team, suddenly let by the very hot Goddard when the previous team leader gets fired, mind-wiped, and dumped in Memphis or Minneapolis... somewhere beginning with M (says me, Manfred, from near Minneapolis...hmmmm. ;) )

Van Statten's a somewhat stereotypical character, yes, but his dialog's so good I don't care. I personally liked the "intruder window" joke even before he insisted "that was funny!" (which only made it moreso) I love the idea that he "owns" the internet... I wonder if he hypnotized Al Gore to think that he did just to distract everyone from himself. I've recently been watching my five-year-old cousin play with Transformers, and his dad and me have been having just as much fun playing with them again as we did when we were kids. I get the sense that Van Statten's much the same (witness his name "Metaltron" for the Dalek), only his are real and life-sized.

The "Jubilee" mimicry in this story begins with the famous scene of the Doctor being locked in the cell with the helpless Dalek, but I was happy to see that the mimicry was one-sided, in that this Dalek goes on a similar emotional journey to the one from Jubilee, however, the Doctor does not. The Sixth Doctor and the Ninth Doctor have different reactions, and the Ninth's are clearly down to the "damage" he's suffered from the Time War that I've been commenting on in the previous episodes. The "damage" shows itself in full when the Doctor starts shouting how "fantastic" it is that this Dalek is helpless and imprisoned, and how he starts taunting it. (He sounds not unlike Morebi in "Dalek Empire" in fact.) Then he has this exchange with the Dalek regarding the destruction of all the other Daleks. "I watched it happen! I made it happen!" Dalek: "You destroyed us?" Then the Doctor seems to have a moment of regret as he says, "I had no choice." Dalek: "And what of the Time Lords?" Doctor: "Dead. They burned with you. The end of the last great Time War. Everyone lost." Dalek: "And the coward survived. I am alone in the universe. So are you. We are the same." This enrages the Doctor and he rounds on the Dalek exclaiming "We're not the same! I'm not... no, wait... maybe we are. You're right, yeah. Okay. I know what to do... I know what you deserve... exterminate!" and then he, the Doctor, pulls a switch to try and _gleefully_ destroy the Dalek. Even the Doctor is not immune to the emotional damage that war has caused to him and the evil it can spread into him. And then we hear the Dalek say a word that didn't used to be registered in a Dalek vocabulary bank: "Have pity!" And the Doctor answers, "Why should I? You never did!" (Van Statten's people step in and save the Dalek at this point.) The scene is played brilliantly by Christopher Eccleston and Nicholas Briggs, and between this and the later scenes, it really ought to earn them some industry awards. (Prejudice against s.f. will prevent that, I'd guess.)

Rob's script wisely turns away from that intensity for a little while as Rose gets to know a young genius named Adam in Van Statten's employ who studies and catalogs all the alien artefacts. I love how Billie plays these scenes where Adam's trying to show off how he knows all about, gosh, aliens, and she's like, "That's amazing. (not) I'm gobsmacked. (not)." She's considering herself an old pro at all this again, and again I think that's going to get her into trouble in some future episode. As for Adam, it's like they're trying to do Adric again but with charm this time. I like this actor, Bruno Langley, and I like that Adam's thought to keep some alien weapons he shouldn't have, but beyond that we don't really learn that much about him here. Since he leaves with the Doctor and Rose in the TARDIS, next week's episode will probably rectify that.

I like the lift scene and the pot shot the Doctor takes at Von Statten and how he would've loved the Daleks' creator. We get a bit more backstory here too, that the Dalek fell in a meteorite 50 years ago, and the Doctor theorizes that it "must have fallen through time... the only survivor." He also interestingly says that his own survival was "not by choice." This Time War intrigues me more and more.

The shorthand that has to be used in this length comes up again in the scene where the Doctor tells Van Statten that a Dalek is honest and therefore better than Van Statten. This lesson in the hypocritical nature of humanity was one that "Jubilee" let wash over us slowly, but here we just have to have the Doctor say it in a few sentences. It's just as true either way, but it's more fun if you have to work it out for yourself. Still, that can't be helped I think at this length.

Another shorthand (literally), is having Rose touching the Dalek be the trigger for the humanizing of the Dalek. We're told that this is "DNA absorption for regeneration" and later that "extrapolating the biomass of a time traveller regenerated [the Dalek]." Ummm... yeah... This is quite a stretch really, but I don't mind it as I've already heard Rob do it the proper way in "Jubilee" by Evelyn's nurture, but that took a good three 35-minute episodes to accomplish, so I don't mind him taking a "nature" shortcut here.

Now we get to the part where the production team get to strut their stuff as the Dalek breaks out and goes on the rampage. I adored all of the new improvements to the Dalek design, from the more malleable sucker hand that can actually do things now (like kill people or push buttons) to the mid-section that can rotate to it's stair-gliding (yes, it could do this before, but it looks better now) to its static electrical tactic of dousing the soldiers with sprinkler water and then electrocuting them all. I'm less happy about it being able to suck up both the entire internet and the entire west coast power supply through that one outlet on the wall... I can swallow that the Dalek could do it, but not all the nodes and connections between it and the rest of the infrastructure... they'd break under such a strain. Mind you, if Enron could do it, maybe one Dalek could too... hmm. Still, all these improvements really help sell the old idea that "one Dalek is capable of exterminating all," and one really does start to think that it could single-suckerdly exterminate everyone in Salt Lake City.

And two more little points about the Dalek, production-wise... I notice that Nicholas Briggs isn't using his very best Dalek voice for this one, which I (and I think he) think is the one he does for the Dalek Supreme in the BF audios. That makes me wonder if perhaps that one's being saved for later use? The second point is that I like the little motor whirring sound effects they've put on the Dalek's stalk and sticks when they move... that plus the new glossy, Mini-Cooper sheen it has make it seem much more like a real robotic thing.

The best zinger in the whole piece comes around here, where the Dalek seems to truly realize that it really is the only Dalek left and asks the Doctor where it's going to get more orders from. The damaged Doctor yells at it, "Why don't you just die?" and then the Dalek responds with, "You would make a good Dalek." Watch Eccleston's left cheek after the Dalek says this... one little vein in it twitches while the rest of his face stays still... like the Dalek has literally hit a nerve in the Doctor here. I wonder if CE knew that he'd done that. Whether he did it on purpose or not, it's brilliantly brilliant.

Then we come to the bit where the Doctor has to close the bulkheads to confine the Dalek, but in doing so he seals Rose in with it. It's emotionally extremely powerful and very well played by Eccleston and Piper... but I did have two niggles with it. One is that I don't think it's made quite clear enough that Van Statten needs the Doctor's help in getting the bulkheads down. Earlier he claimed he could do the whole software-rerouting thing himself, so he'd presumably be the one to press "enter" and lower that bulkhead, but when the moment comes, he tells the Doctor to do it for him, thus putting Rose's life into his hands (well, one finger anyway). I just don't quite buy why it's got to be the Doctor who's got to press that button at this point and not Van Statten (or even Goddard)... I think we needed a clear reason here.

The second thing I didn't like about this scene (and a few others) is the incidental music by Murray Gold. I think he completely blew it here, and laid down these swells of thick synthesized brass and cymbals that he thinks are big emotionally evocative things but which instead just sound like superficial music-by-numbers choices. In listening to Gold's music throughout the series, it's becoming clearer to me that he doesn't really feel the emotion of the scenes himself when he writes the music to accompany them... he just puts on stuff that he thinks is supposed to go there as though he's doing it by rote. Russell T. Davies has gone to Big Finish people in many other areas in this series, and it's worked every time, and I really think he needs to at least try some of their composers or ex-composers. I really think we'd be better served with the likes of Russell Stone, Alistair Lock, David Darlington, or Steve Foxon doing the incidental music for the new TV series. Or failing them, how about going back to the original series and getting in Mark Ayres, Paddy Kingsland, or Peter Howell again?

Back to the action now, and a very good exchange that's almost getting lost in amongst all the other ones, where Rose tells the Dalek, "They're all dead because of you." and it answers, "They are dead because of us." It's got a point here... that these exterminations wouldn't have happened if Rose hadn't felt sorry for it and touched it, but this point isn't something there's any time to really delve into here. Perhaps this might come up in a future episode, if indeed Rose will get a show where her over-confidence in the companion role gets herself or more other people into big trouble.

The Doctor gets to undo his decision to "kill" Rose and releases her and the Dalek when the Dalek threatens Rose instead of killing her and asks, "What use are emotions if you will not save the woman you love?" That he made the first decision the first time might be another symptom of his psychological damage, given that we saw that the Eighth Doctor repeatedly couldn't make that same decision for Charley. The next scene where he exclaims, "Lock and load" after finding an appropriate alien weapon to kill the Dalek with definitely is part of that damage, as no Doctor before this would've said something like that even in a confrontation with a Dalek. Indeed, Rose points this out to him, with her "It's not the one pointing the gun at me," and "What about you Doctor? What the hell are you changing into?" The Doctor then suddenly seems to realize how easily he's made this decision that he didn't used to make very easily and how he is becoming the good Dalek that the Dalek predicted he'd be. But thanks to Rose, he steps back, and realizes what he was about to do... and that was to kill something that in the past few scenes has been becoming something new that can't bring itself to exterminate people anymore and instead just wants to feel the sunlight on itself...

Which brings us nicely to "the sun scene," where the Dalek opens it casing up and we see the full mutant and how sad and old it looks, with that weak little tentacle, that one wizened eye, and those bits that virbate in sync with its speech. Nick Briggs really makes it sound sick as it says "this is not life, this is sickness. I shall not be like you" and then orders Rose to order it to destroy itself. In this one scene we really get a sense of the tragedy that's befallen all the Daleks down the millenia and the hell that is any Dalek's existence... it's just that not until now has any Dalek recognized that for what it is. The scene can be read in two ways, as the Dalek being so disgusted with becoming more human that it kills itself, or as the humanity making it realize how horrible it is to be a Dalek. I personally think it was both at the same time, which makes its decision to kill itself even more logical.

Some have speculated that perhaps it didn't really die here but instead teleported somewhere. I hope that's not the case as that would cheapen this story, and that the eventual Dalek return happens by other means. By the way, are we to now believe that those spheres on the casing have always been part of its self-destruct mechanism?

I liked seeing Goddard take over and send Van Statten to San Diego, Seattle, or Sacramento... someplace beginning with S. I just wonder where she got the authority to do this from, given he had all the cash... maybe if we see her again someday we'll find out? I'd like that.

I've gone through this whole review without mentioning director Joe Ahearne's name yet, which I shouldn't have done as he's given us the best directed episode yet. Though I complained of abbreviations due to the 45-minute length, his sense of pacing of scenes and knowing where to keep it snappy and where to put the pauses really mitigates that to the point you almost don't notice as it's going. The Dalek combat scenes were all very striking, in particular the moment where Van Statten is yelling at his guards not to harm the Dalek, and he and we listen as the sound of the bullets in the distance slowly go down to a trickle and then to nothing as each guard is killed one at a time. He also really knows how to pull the best performances out of his actors. I'm very happy to see his name on so many more upcoming episodes... it should be a lot of fun to watch those as well.

And finally, I note that this is the first new series episode with no TARDIS interiors in it. Not that that means anything... just a point of trivia.

This review has gone through fourteen drafts, because I lost the right to say the word Dalek halfway through the process.

Overall rating then: 9.5 out of 10. (I'm holding back on the full 10 mostly because of Murray Gold's music.. and to leave room should something else in the season actually surpass this one.)

When I discovered that Robert Shearman would be writing the first Dalek episode of the new Doctor Who series my heart sank, since I had heard that the episode would feature a lone Dalek and predicted that Shearman would rehash the basic plot of ‘Jubilee’. Whilst Shearman is my favourite Big Finish writer, ‘Jubilee’ is my least favourite of his audio stories, and although the vast majority of the viewing public would not have heard it, I also found it vaguely disappointing that a writer of Shearman’s calibre would recycle his own material. Fortunately however, ‘Dalek’ is sublime, a stripped down, leaner version of ‘Jubilee’ without the awful, generically unconvincingly “mad” Rochesters and the nonsensical temporal paradox, and the result is, for me at least, by far the best episode of the new series to date. It also occurs to me that it is actually highly appropriate for Shearman to write a new Dalek story by plagiarizing his prior work, since Dalek creator Terry Nation was never a man to let an idea go un-recycled.

‘Dalek’ is, in keeping with Russell T. Davies direction for the new series, a character piece. Shearman’s gift for characterisation means that virtually every supporting character makes a mark upon the memory, but it is the interaction between Rose, the Doctor and the Dalek that leaves an indelible impression. As in ‘Jubilee’, Shearman has a fine grasp on the Doctor’s most popular enemies, exploring the Dalek as a character without actually resorting to twee rot; the audience is invited to feel sympathy for the Dalek, especially during the poignant ending, but the writer remembers that the Daleks are above all else cunning, manipulative psychopaths, who only become even remotely sympathetic when they’ve either gone mad or been infected with the human factor. So here we get a Dalek that proves supremely capable of not only going on an impressively directed killing spree, but also of getting under the Doctor’s skin and bringing out the worst in him. The moment the Doctor realises what van Statten’s “Metaltron” actually is, he hammers on the door of the cage and starts screaming “Let me out!” Once he realises that the Dalek’s gun isn’t working, he positively gloats, shouting at it, “If you can’t kill, then what are you good for, Dalek?” The ensuing scene is fascinating, as we learn, rather predictably, that the Time War mentioned throughout the series was the final battle between the Daleks and the Time Lords, in which both perished. The Doctor snarls, “You all burned, all of you. Ten million ships on fire, the entire Dalek race wiped out in one second.” He sounds utterly traumatized, and the Dalek capitalizes on the moment, smugly adding, “And the coward survived.” It then adds, “I am alone in the universe. So are you. We are the same”, prompting the furious response, “We are not the same!” before he tries to destroy it.

The point of all of which is that we get a reminder of just how much the Doctor hates the Daleks, none of which would have any impact, if the acting were crap. Having admitted that Christopher Eccleston’s performance was starting to irritate me in ‘Aliens of London’/‘World War Three’, I was far more impressed with him here, as he conveys the Doctor’s sheer hatred extremely well, as well as his obvious fear and near-panic when trying to convince van Statten to release him, insisting, “That thing downstairs is going to kill every last one of us… it’s woken up, it knows I’m here!” The scene in which he screams at the Dalek on the communication screen shows the Doctor at his most vitriolic, as he demands, “If you want orders, then follow this one… why don’t you just die?” The look of shock on his face as the Dalek ripostes, “You would make a good Dalek” is magnificent. Of course this all culminates in the climax of the episode, as he stands facing the increasingly vulnerable and confused Dalek with a massive gun, forcing Rose to stand in the line of fire to stop him destroying it. When she asks him, “What about you Doctor? What are you changing into?” he again looks terribly shocked, and Eccleston is superb when the Doctor starts weeping and tells his companion, “Oh Rose, they’re all dead.” It’s another insight into just how badly he’s been traumatized by the Time War, and it’s a powerful moment. Eccleston gets some other great moments here too, including the Doctor’s gentle use of the alien musical instrument and his subsequent coldness when van Statten discards it, and his deadly seriousness when he informs van Statten that the population of Salt Lake City is dead if they can’t stop the Dalek. His impassioned rant at van Statten when he thinks Rose is dead, as he tells him, “”You’re about as far from the stars as you can get. And you took her down with you” is convincingly delivered.

Impressive though Eccleston’s performance is however, he’s almost upstaged by Nicholas Briggs, who finally gets to voice a Dalek onscreen after several years of honing his performance for Big Finish. As an avid fan of Doctor Who, one can assume that Briggs was like a dog with two dicks when given the role, and he gives it his all, fully exploiting Shearman’s dialogue. Anyone who has seen such “classic” Dalek stories as ‘Planet of the Daleks’ and ‘Death to the Daleks’ might find it surprising that a single Dalek could pose much of a threat, but the script gives us a Dalek that is phenomenally dangerous; we learn at the start that the last person who touched it burst into flames, and it’s got a fair few other new tricks as well. Exactly how it is able to absorb the DNA of a time traveller in order to regenerate itself is not clear, but this isn’t important; what is important is that as soon as it realises that Rose is the Doctor’s companion, it starts spouting self-pitying dialogue such as “I am dying” in order to make her feel sympathetic in an example of cunning and understanding of the human psyche not seen since ‘The Power of the Daleks’. The moment she pats it, a note of triumph enters its voice, as it starts to regenerate, and snaps its chains. Briggs delivers all his lines here extremely well, emphasizing the fact that the Dalek is very, very devious. Having plaintively told the Doctor, “I am a soldier, I was bred to receive orders”, it quickly proclaims that the Dalek race survives through it, and quickly decides, “I shall follow the primary order, the Dalek instinct to destroy!” Its subsequent killing spree is magnificently directed by Joe Ahearne, and the Daleks have never seemed so dangerous; we get the amusing sight of a Dalek actually making use of its sucker arm, firstly to kill its torturer and secondly to override computer locks; we see the Dalek single-mindedly gliding through a hail of bullets and finding a computer terminal through which it absorbs most of the national grid and the whole of the internet (as the Doctor tersely notes, “The Dalek’s a genius”); we get a hugely impressive gun battle in which the Dalek almost elegantly rotates its torso section and blasts dozens of guards down; and best of all another generation of kids gets to see a Dalek floating up a stairwell. The silliness of the Dalek saying, “elevate” before it does so is quickly forgotten under the circumstances. Best of all is the Daleks elaborate slaughter of the guards by silently rising into the air, then setting off the sprinklers to flood the room and then electrocuting them all, simply to show off to the watching Doctor. With the swanky new gold-coloured design, they’ve not been this impressive for a long time. The Dalek’s new means of opening its casing is also rather impressive, as is the Dalek creature inside; although we’ve never full seen one before, we’ve seen enough bits of Dalek over the years and the creature revealed looks absolutely right, a cross between Raymond Cusick’s original design from the nineteen sixties as seen in Jeremy Bentham’s Doctor Who – The Early Years, and the tentacled green blobs glimpsed in ‘The Five Doctors’ and ‘Resurrection of the Daleks’. Its self-destruction is also quite nifty, although as some fans have noted, it seems strange that a Dalek would be designed with a self-destruct mechanism that limits collateral damage.

‘Dalek’ is also a good episode for Billie Piper. Rose gets a nice scene with Adam, when he tells her “I honestly believe the whole universe is teaming with life” and she tries to keep a straight face, but her best scenes are of course with the Dalek. Having inadvertently resuscitated it, she drives it insane, as it absorbs rather more than just DNA from her, and it cries in anguish, “I am contaminated!” Having gained emotions beyond the usual Dalek repertoire, it exploits them; when the Doctor proves willing to sacrifice Rose to stop the Dalek once, he can’t bring himself to do it a second time, as it holds her hostage and asks him, “What use are emotions if you will not save the woman you love?” Piper conveys Rose’s fear extremely well when she thinks she’s going to be exterminated, and is also very good when Rose tries to bond with the Dalek. When it asks her in frustration, “Why are you alive? My function is to kill! What am I?” she takes advantage of its confusion to save Van Statten’s life by dissuading it from killing. Despite Rose’s attempts to save the Dalek, Shearman resists the temptation to have it happily go off travelling in newfound happiness; it wearily tells her it wants freedom, and blasts a hole through the roof to see sunlight before it dies. The scene in which it opens its casing to feel sunlight on its skin, and raises a slightly phallic tentacle to the light, is strangely poignant, but it remains true to its race, insisting, “This is not life, this is sickness. I shall not be like you!” and ordering a reluctant Rose to order it to self-destruct. It’s great stuff, and Piper portrays a whole battery of emotions largely through facial acting and body language.

‘Dalek’ also demonstrates Robert Shearman’s gift for characterisation in the supporting characters, most of whom are memorable, even if they don’t do a great deal. Corey Johnson’s Henry van Statten is a stereotypical ruthless billionaire, who secretly owns the internet, wipes the memories of fired staff members, and chooses the outcome of presidential elections, but he works rather well, especially when he starts to crumble under pressure. He panics once his guards are shot down, and is desperate to flee until his assistant Goddard sharply informs him that there is no power to the helipad. Having half stripped and tortured the Doctor, he is forced to ask him for help, and he becomes increasingly frightened, most notably when he desperately tries to think of a way to bargain with the Dalek. The Doctor stonily informs him, “If the Dalek gets out, it’ll kill everyone. That’s all it needs” and he snaps, screaming, “But why would it do that? Why?” He looks utterly horrified when the Doctor replies, “Because it honestly believes they deserve to die.” Having failed to save any of his soldiers, van Statten is inevitably hoist by his own petard, as Goddard orders him to be taken away and have his memory wiped. Then there is a new (temporary?) companion in a shape of Bruno Langley’s Adam, who brims with enthusiasm, is pragmatic enough to stash weapons so that he can, if necessary, fight his way out of van Statten’s base without having his memory wiped, proclaims himself a genius, and obviously fancies Rose. Interestingly, the Doctor treats him in a similar way to Mickey, offering him withering sarcasm, and pointing out his flaws to Rose in very jealous fashion, which culminates in his worried observation, “Rose, he’s a bit pretty.” Even the female soldier who tries to stop the Dalek on the stairs is memorable, desperate to prevent further deaths and sacrificing herself in an attempt to give Rose and Adam time to escape.

‘Dalek’ also contains some nice but unobtrusive nods to the past, such as the Doctor wistfully telling the Cyber head, “Look at you… the stuff of nightmares reduced to an exhibit” and his reference to Davros in the lift with van Statten. Murray Gold’s incidental score is also perhaps the best of the series so far, managing for the most part to be stirring and epic, and only occasionally intrusive and pompous. Overall, ‘Dalek’ is perhaps the first episode of the new series that I might genuinely call a classic.