‘Dalek’ reintroduced ‘Doctor Who’s’ most enduring and iconic villains to a new audience, and at times during this story we can’t help feeling a kind of magic. When the Doctor approaches the hurt, shadow-shrouded alien in friendship, only to hear that horrible, familiar voice (“DOC-TOR? THE DOC-TOR?”), it’s a moment filled with horror and delight – an instant classic scene.

The idea of an emotionally tortured and stranded Doctor facing off against a *literally* tortured and stranded Dalek counterpart is a fascinating one, rich with dramatic possibilities, but unfortunately this story is not the mini-masterpiece it might have been. This is not really to do with the ‘time-traveler DNA’ element that seems to have angered so many fans (it’s really amazing to me how many of us seem to have convinced ourselves that classic ‘Who’ was above absurd – often *extremely* absurd – pseudoscience).

No, instead it’s more to do simply with the storytelling methods. If classic ‘Doctor Who’ can be criticized for giving its audience too much detail (and boy, can it ever), then ‘Dalek’ can be criticized for giving us too little. Oh, we have everything we need to follow what’s going on – but we have nothing more, and it is that ‘more’ that so often made the old series feel like it existed in its own true fictional universe. ‘Dalek,’ on the other hand, feels like a plot outline. Gone is the fun of the Doctor having to figure out where he and his companion have landed and why; this time he simply tells us in the story’s first minutes. (In fact, he tells us we’re in an alien museum before we can even *see* that we’re in one!) Then we are asked to swallow that the paranoid van Statten would immediately take an intruder found in his maximum-security compound and dump him in (unchaperoned!) with his most prized possession . . . . These problems aren’t really the fault of Rob Shearman’s script; the writer simply does what he has to in order to bring the viewer up to speed within the constraints of a single 45-min. episode. But to anyone approaching the new ‘Doctor Who’ in the context of the old, ‘Dalek’ can’t help feeling somewhat shallow and rushed – blink and you’ll miss it.

The supporting cast of characters doesn’t add much. Van Statten is an extremely annoying stereotype – he bellows his own *name*, for crying out loud – and his self-conscious banter with Goddard is shrill and witless. He’s as bad as Chinn in ‘The Claws of Axos,’ and the fact that the character is such an obvious joke makes it seem ridiculous that the Doctor would take him seriously enough to give him a Pertwee-esque indignant lecture. And the irritating Adam contributes little to this story, except for his obvious plot function as provider of the secret Dalek-killing weapons.

That’s not to say that all is bad about ‘Dalek.’ The fundamental premise is still compelling, and Christopher Eccleston effectively plays the Doctor’s jumble of emotions at the resurfacing of his oldest foe – bafflement, fear, fury and mockery all combine convincingly in this performance. Rose is plonked into a ‘Beauty and the Beast’ clichй, but Billie Piper makes as much of it as she can. The finale is rather melodramatic (especially Rose’s ‘What the hell are *you* changing into?,’ accompanied by ‘Tara’s Theme’ style sweeping music, which made me cringe a bit), but even so, it’s hard not to be touched by our first good look at the sad, lonely mutant inside the travel machine.

As for the Dalek itself, it is also somewhat better in the concept than in the execution (this is nothing new for the series, I suppose!). Nicholas Briggs seems to be channeling the ghosts of Dalek voices past – he sounds like Roy Skelton when angry, like Michael Wisher when hysterical, and like Brian Miller much of the rest of the time. It’s a messy, mixed bag of a performance: Briggs jumps up and down vocally where Dalek inflections traditionally go up and up and up, and I found it rather distracting. The Dalek machine itself does look very good, and it’s certainly nice to see its lights flashing in synch for once. But it also seems to move slower than any Dalek in ‘Doctor Who’ history (who would have thought that was possible?), and the production team has inserted a C-3PO-esque mechanical squeak when it moves its eyestalk, which makes it more robot-like than ever. As for the Dalek’s character, it does show cunning and manipulation in its dealings with Rose, true, but it doesn’t really resemble the resourceful, scientific Daleks of old at their best (the weaponless Daleks in ‘Death to the Daleks,’ for instance, take control of their situation much faster than this mopey old philosopher).

All in all, it’s of course worth watching, and nostalgia alone should raise it a couple points in any fan’s estimation. But there should have been another way . . . .

When I first saw “Dalek”, I had the same sort of vibe as I did when watching “The Green Death”, “Planet of the Spiders”, “Genesis of the Daleks”, “Earthshock” and “The Caves of Androzani”. In other words, here in 2005, we had another member of my personal “Doctor Who classic” club.

Subsequent viewings have confirmed that first impression (which, in my experience, are so often right). From beginning to end, I loved “Dalek”. It was my favourite episode of the new series – and I’d be surprised if it didn’t rank similarly highly in any season surveys.

It was a very shrewd move from Russell T Davies to position “Dalek” at Episode Six in the series running order. This guy plays the TV game beautifully, and he must have known there was a chance if things weren’t going well, ratings-wise, in the new series, the promise of the Daleks’ return – even if it was just the one truly-amazing Dalek – would provide a mid-season boost. As it happened, it did just that, even though the season’s success was already guaranteed by this point.

I’d thoroughly enjoyed the new series to this point, but “Dalek” took things to another level. It wasn’t “just” an excellent “Doctor Who” adventure, it was a first-class piece of TV drama in its own right. I’m sure even the people out there with no imagination could have found something in there!

And the “old school” fans who found the new series too far removed from what came before must have found an affinity with Robert Shearman’s beautifully-crafted, perfectly-paced piece. Unlike any of the other episodes in the series (with the possible exception of “The Unquiet Dead”) I think “Dalek” could have appeared in another Doctor’s tenure but, given the choice of any Doctor at their best to play the Time Lord in this story, Christopher Eccleston would have been my pick.

I’ve been a fan of Eccleston’s Doctor right from the off. I like the physicality he brings to the role. Jon Pertwee and both Tom and Colin Baker were all powerful men who really filled the screen – and Eccleston is of that ilk. And, without the bouffant or curly mops, his shorter hair marks him out as someone who can really handle themselves. I also enjoy his sometimes-criticised “inane grinning” – he’s playing an alien, why shouldn’t he grin inanely and have a rather odd stride pattern as he bounds along?

And he really delivers his lines with a passion. When Eccleston’s Doctor goes through a gamut of emotion when he uncovers the Dalek for the first time – fear, loathing, sarcasm, relief, anger, the lot, all in the space of a couple of minutes – you really feel those emotions with him.

I must admit I found the back-up characters in this story less remarkable than in previous episodes – including companion-to-be Adam Mitchell. However, this way have been because this was all about the Doctor, the Dalek and Rose.

The setting for the episode was ideal. The Daleks have always been at their deadliest in an underground setting (after all, that’s how it all began) and the basic idea of the last Dalek being held in a museum, and being tortured by a megalomaniac, was a cracker.

The initial encounter between the Doctor and the Dalek really was gripping. Nicholas Briggs’ Dalek intoning, “Doc-tor. THE Doc-tor!” emphasising the definite article was an edge-of-the-seat moment – one of the best scenes of the whole series. Simple, but so effective.

And displaying the Doctor showing genuine fear – an emotion never shown in previous incarnations – is one big improvement to the Time Lord’s character in the new series. Of course, the Doctor is a superhero. He’s physically powerful and mentally strong. But he’s seen terrible things. He may have caused terrible things in the Time War. His whole race have been destroyed. He isn’t invincible. He is vulnerable – and he knows it. And, although we’re not used to seeing the Doctor afraid, he is afraid here. Even of this chained-up, impotent Dalek. Very afraid.

Briggs – now, undisputedly THE voice of the Daleks – had some great dialogue to work with, but I really enjoyed the softer monotone he brought to his character looking for pity. “Character” being the operative word. Too often in the past, the Daleks have been one-dimensional killing machines or, as in “Revelation of the Daleks”, mere drones. But here, without Davros for the first time since the Pertwee years, a Dalek by itself was able to take centre stage and be a “character” in its own right.

And who’d have thought the viewer would have cared about that character? A tribute to Shearman, Briggs - and Eccleston and Billie Piper in their scenes with the Dalek. It must be difficult acting against what is essentially a giant metal pepperpot, and making it so utterly believable and watchable, but they managed to pull it off.

The Dalek itself was another triumph for the design team. I loved the transformation from old, battered Dalek to majestic, gold, killing machine after its extrapolation of Rose’s DNA. It really looked the part as it glided along the corridor (you can never have enough corridors and running in a Dalek story!) at no great pace, exterminating indiscriminately. This is part of the menace of a Dalek when it’s handled properly – you can’t stop it. It doesn’t have to be move quickly. You have nowhere to run to. It will catch you, and it will exterminate you.

Obviously, the effortless “elevation” upstairs was an added bonus, as was the “kitchen sink plunger” being used for more nefarious purpose than just being there. I wonder if the production team were tempted to go further with the “sucking” of the Dalek torturer’s face – now that would have been worth the 12 rating on the DVDs!

Talking of added bonuses, the Doctor actually allowing Rose to die (or so he believed when she was trapped by the Dalek) was a fabulous scene. The only thing from the old series which was comparable was Adric’s death in “Earthshock” (one of the great scenes in “Doctor Who” lore) and, even then, the Fifth Doctor didn’t directly seal his companion’s fate. More scope for great moments from Eccleston and Piper, who must look back on this episode with tremendous pride.

And a truly great ending to boot. Eccleston’s Doctor is, by this stage, mentally all over the place, waving around a huge gun for goodness’ sake! The Dalek’s plea for an order to die, and Rose’s softly-intoned clearance for the creature’s suicide was gripping stuff.

This was a great story – have you got that impression from these words? If there was a serious fault, it wasn’t one I could find. Even if the rest of the series had been rubbish, it would have been worth it for “Dalek”. Full marks to all involved. This was “Doctor Who” at its very best. And maybe time will show “Dalek” to be the best of the best.

Living half a world away from England can be difficult sometimes, especially for a Doctor Who fan during the first run of the new series. I’d been spoiled to death. I knew practically everything about this episode well in advance. Since its premiere in the UK eight weeks ago, Dalek had been hailed by many as the best episode of Doctor Who in a long, long time. Some were even calling it the best ever. Apart from these things, I was looking forward to this episode for another reason – in a week’s time, I’ll be leaving the country for a couple of months, thereby missing the rest of the show’s run completely. This was to be the last episode of new Who I would see in a long time. I was so glad – I am so glad – I got to see this one.

Joe Ahearne, I’ve just heard, masterminded the BBC documentary Space Odyssey, which was just shown on Australian television. I loved it. And when I discovered Dalek was directed by the same man, I knew I was in for something special. I was proven right only a few moments into the episode, when a classic-style Cyberman’s head was revealed. But it wasn’t just thrown into the background, Hitchhiker’s movie style – nor was it dwelt upon for ages like a fanboy’s wet dream. I guess it was somewhere in between. But it worked brilliantly. Henry Van Statten is a great character – evil, funny, clever, well-acted and well-cast – and his first scene strikes all the right notes.

When I first heard the Dalek scream, I winced. I suddenly felt as if I was trapped inside the Dalek’s armour, unable to get out, and being tortured to death. This feeling remained with me throughout the rest of the episode, and I put it down to three things – Joe Ahearne’s direction, Robert Shearman’s writing and Nicholas Briggs’ acting. When the Doctor faces off with it, the Dalek goes from gloating to immense pain within moments. And then we’re in for Nicholas Briggs’ greatest triumph so far – the Dalek’s first meeting with Rose. This is a meeting that could’ve happened in the first Dalek story, all those years ago, but instead it was decided the kids would prefer them to be mindless killing machines. That’s all well and good, but what if you were trapped inside there? The Dalek was in pain. Genuine pain. It was dying. That said, I was sitting up in my seat when Rose touched it, and it regenerated into its former, killing-machine self.

So the Dalek’s on a rampage. The best directed Dalek rampage in the history of this show. (Sorry, Mr Harper.) And I thought Euros Lyn was good! Joe Ahearne was perfect for this job. I’m glad he was kept on for the majority of the season, but at the same time disappointed that he won’t be back next time. Oh well. Dear me, this is brilliant stuff… the way the Dalek wipes out the entire squadron… without even touching the ground! The suspense is terrifying! I loved the reveal when it turned out Rose had been trapped behind the bulkhead. And when we heard the Dalek cry “Exterminate!” and fire, for a moment – despite what I already knew – I was sure Rose had been killed.

But this is a new kind of Dalek – a Dalek the Time Lords hinted at many years ago. Remember when Tom found the little Kaled mutant in the pit? Beautiful scene. And now, when this Dalek blows a hole in the roof just to feel the sunlight, we have the follow-up to that beautiful scene. Suddenly the Doctor turns up. At this point I realised the full extent of what the Doctor had gone through with this Time War. You might exile yourself from your home, but when you find out your home’s gone… destroyed by monsters… what is your gut instinct? Forget right and wrong – the one thing you want to do is find these monsters and destroy them. Thankfully this tends to wear off pretty swiftly. And it does with the Doctor, who watches helplessly as the Dalek begs Rose for one last order. We can now see this poor creature, reaching out to the light, and the one thing we want for it is… what? Do we want it to die? To become ruthless again? To be free? Wow. Existentialism in Doctor Who. This is new, isn’t it?

Yes, I cried. Again, I have Messrs. Ahearne, Shearman and Briggs to thank for this. (You gits.) And Billie Piper? Well done, kid, you pulled it off. I felt your fear too, because I was trapped inside that horrible casing, begging to be set free. I never thought I’d be writing such things about an episode of Doctor Who… but then again, this is indeed the Best.
Episode.
Ever.

Its been a long time coming, but finally, a series about time-travel has covered the consequences of time-travelling.

Back in the old days, we had the cautionary tale of Barbara interfering with the Aztecs, the Meddling Monk, the Time Warrior, and of course Day of the Daleks. But the actual exploration of the concept was a little lightweight.

Then along comes Father's Day. This episode, above all the others, really explores the depth of the Doctor/Rose relationship - although the Doctor is suspicious of Rose's motives for joining him, ultimately he is able to forgive her.

We also explore the mother's willingness to protect the daughter from the truth about her father, so that she can see him as a hero. And although that particular bubble is burst as soon as Rose meets her dad, in the end he becomes the hero he never was in real time.

The Reapers are a little too comic-book to be truly frightening, but they are exceedingly intricate monsters.

The costumes and make up really bring out the eighties setting, and the incidental music is never too distracting.

All in all, another highlight for the new show, avoiding the obvious trap of being too angst-ridden.

Doubtless, the "rent in time" storyline is going to feed the minds of the continuity freaks for years to come, but when it all comes down to it, Dr Who is not about continuity, its about a damn good story!

"Dalek" marks the best episode of the new Dr Who series to date and not too soon either, many would say, following on as it does from arguably the series' worst.

It's best to dispense with the only real quibble first, which is the inexplicable empowerment of the Dalek's motive units from Rose's brief touch. We are told of time traveller DNA being absorbed and extrapolated - no problem there; even the smallest amount of matter harbours a staggering amount of energy - but not how it particularly differs from other DNA or why it is the only DNA that works. As a general rule, if a concept can be understood by anyone with a high-school level knowledge of science, no need to explain, but if it requires some leap of logic then some attempt had better be made. Often enough the rational, even if technically improbable, works well enough in this quantum age for dramatic purposes, although I must confess being hard put thinking up anything that might enlighten us regarding this particular plot point. Still, there's no point getting stuck on this one anomaly, as it - thereafter logically - underpins so much of what follows, including the frankly wonderful denouement.

Several factors combine to elevate the overall standard of this episode. Most conspicuous is the presence of the Dalek itself and the fashion in which it is presented. Fans doubtlessly want the Doctor's arch-nemesis to figure as a credible and deadly threat, and the story certainly delivered that. Loved the subtle updating of its casing and weapons system, from the eerie blue light emanating from its eye stalk to the first ever decent use of its sucker.

Thankfully, we also had a more serious Doctor this time. After being desperately afraid that his emotional reaction to the Dalek would be mishandled, I was gratified to discover how well they actually did it - fear, anger, even commiseration was all there yet kept in check; just when the Doctor's dignity seemed about to shatter it managed to be maintained - for we don't have to witness him crying or ranting to appreciate his genuine distress (in fact, I find it far more powerful the more it is internalised and nevertheless evident, which is a feat good actors can accomplish and which should be always appreciated). That the ninth Doctor is more outwardly emotional than the others is by now beyond doubt, and that's fine so long as it isn't driven too far; he's still a Time Lord, remember - a title of dignity and distinction. One more grumble, however: I do wish he would stop feeling guilty every time Rose is in trouble. I mean it's going to happen, isn't it, every episode! Drop her back home for good if it's such a big deal.

In the final moments we have a Dalek committing suicide. Heresy?! Believe it or not, no, for the living creature inside was corrupted by alien DNA, it was no longer pure - the perfect and most ironic foil to its own racial hatred. In reality a Dalek did not suicide, something else did. One has to admire such a simple but poignant conclusion to some of the most exciting television I've ever had the pleasure to watch. That its central themes derive from earlier Dalek stories - "Power of the Daleks" and "Evil of the Daleks" as all good fans know - is no bad thing; for a start they are two classic but sadly lost episodes, and I also believe that with such a long history, Dr Who has every right to pick from its own vintage, especially when it can engineer such a fresh reworking as this one.

Little more need be said. Message to the BBC: this is what we want! They must have some feedback system in operation. I can only hope most people agree with me in thinking that less adolescent humour and more guts will keep this series going, not just for a few years but for whole generations, in the successful tradition of its earlier, venerable incarnation.

I have found in the past, during disappointing seasons of Dr Who (or imposter programmes which are broadcast under that banner), that there usually comes a pivotal story which bangs the nail in said season's coffin. For example, Silver Nemesis part one was the episode of season 25 which made me finally accept that nothing good was going to happen that year, and I basically gave up expecting it.

Watching Father's Day last Saturday evening was the moment that I gave up on the new show. Or at least gave up on this first season of it - maybe David Tenant's Doctor and the new batch of scripts will turn things around. Reading some of the other reviews that have published on Outpost Gallifrey, I'm at a loss to know where people are coming from with Paul Cornell's episode. The whole idea of the Doctor and his dramatic funcion in the show has now been as comprehensively undermined as it was in the McCoy era. Personally I'd rather have McCoy's all-seeing superhuman incarnation than the increasingly pathetic, ineffectual, unstable, nasty adolescent we now have pilotting the TARDIS.

I'm not going to bang on about what happened in the episode, we all saw it. I'd just ask everyone to step back for a moment, and imagine the best stories Dr Who has ever given us, but with their respective Doctors replaced by Eccleston's incarnation. The Doctor winds up trapped in the cottage in part four of the Seeds of Doom. "Sorry, I don't have a plan" he tells everyone, throws a big strop when Scorby comes on to Sarah, then gets eaten by the Krynoid. The Doctor gets dragged off to Androzani Major by Stotz in Caves of Androzani part three. "Wow, I can't believe it's going to end like this" he says, sitting back in his restraints and seething about the fact that Jek is now going to have his wicked way with luscious young Peri. "I really fancied her" he admits to himself, lost in his own impotence and despondant self-pity. The Doctor arrives on the Nerva space station in Ark In Space, calls Noah a stupid ape for allowing himself to become infected by the Wirrin, gets trapped in the control area, tells everyone he has no plan then gets eaten by a load of bubblewrap.

Come ON people!! The Doctor ALWAYS has a plan - he's the effing Doctor!! The whole joy, the whole blessed point of Doctor Who is that it is a programme about profoundly nasty people and creatures with profoundly nasty intentions, all of whom and all of which get thwarted by the brilliance of the Doctor. A Doctor who is never cruel or cowardly, who is always non-violent, who always uses his brain and who never, ever EVER despairs or stops fighting. Rob him of these qualities, tamper with his essential character and you are messing with the guts of the show. Any other considerations - quality of direction, guest performances, music, lighting - pale into utter insignifiance.

Bring back Doctor Who! The new show needs him.