Doctor Who: Dalek

Rose: "It wasn't your fault. Remember that, okay? It wasn't your fault. And you know what? I wouldn't have missed it for the world."

Rob Shearman did an interesting thing this week. Using Rose as the show's moral compass, he managed to elicit sympathy for the Dalek, whilst making the Doctor look like the out of control, maniacal bad guy. That's some pretty cool writing. When the Doctor sees the imprisoned Dalek, all he can see is a creature devoid of pity and compassion... a monster, fueled by hatred and the need to conquer and dominate all who stand in opposition to the Daleks. Yes, the Doctor hates the Daleks. But what makes his hatred different from theirs is it's based on experience. It's personal. He doesn't hate them purely for the sake of it. He hates them because he knows them; and he knows what they're capable of.

Things, however, are not as they seem. By absorbing Rose's DNA, Van Statten's Dalek becomes contaminated with humanity. It starts to feel things that it's never felt before and is overwhelmed by these new found emotions and thoughts. Fear prevents it from exterminating Rose; and in the end, devoid of its life's purpose and the leadership and proximity of other Daleks, its sole desire is to die. The question is; how should the Doctor view this "mutant" Dalek? Before, the Daleks were inherently evil. They thought nothing of killing the innocent, and thus there was no basis for mercy. But this Dalek's different. It's aware of its own predicament and is able to sense its own helplessness. Is it possible that, given time, it may even feel remorse?

Rose sees the Dalek's slowly developing humanity and responds as any human would; with compassion. The Doctor, however, has suffered such terrible loss at the hands of the Daleks that he's lost all perspective. His reaction is 100 percent understandable. In fact, it's perfectly human. But when Rose draws his attention to what she sees in him ("It's changing. What about you Doctor? what are you changing into?"), the Doctor quickly comes to his senses. He sees what he's become... essentially the thing he hates the most ("You would make a good Dalek").

The Daleks themselves have never looked so good. I've been critical in past weeks of the visual effects in new Who (why, I have no idea... the special effects in the old series were a hundred times worse; I guess we just expect more in this day and age). But no such complaints tonight. The Dalek "look" is essentially the same. There's been no radical redesign; but they are better! For a start, they're more robust and certainly less prone to wobble. They also now have an all over metallic brass finish... a glowing eyepiece.. and seemingly bigger ear wotsits (forgive me if I'm getting too technical). But their screeching, electronic wail remains intact; and it still sounds fearsome!

And I can't speak highly enough of the acting in tonight's episode. Eccleston was superb. We always knew he could do to the serious stuff; he's made a career of it, but tonight he truly showed us a Doctor still smarting from the effects of Time War. The Doctor's anger is palpable and it's easy to understand why. He's lost everything he ever had. It just goes to show that, despite the Doctor's superiority in many areas, his emotional make-up is essentially that of a human.

Billie was excellent tonight too (sure, she was married to Chris Evans for a while; but we can't hold that against her forever, right?). Her character Rose is cute, devilishly cocky and from the get-go, has embraced time travel in a surprisingly grown up fashion. Yes, she's been all girly glee and giggles at times. But along with that youthful exuberance there's been the very adult realisation that time travel is a serious business. It's not like going on holiday. They travel through time for a reason and are often exposed to grave personal dangers. And when she says to the Doctor... "It wasn't your fault... I wouldn't have missed it for the world"... we can see just how far Rose has come. In one sentence she both absolves the Doctor of any future guilt and sends out the bold message... "No regrets". For Rose, it's all been worth it.

Another hint too this week of a more romantic relationship developing between the Doctor and Rose. Even the emotionally stunted Dalek could sense the Doctor's love for Rose ("What use are emotions if you won't save the woman you love?"). I wonder when the Doctor and Rose will cotton on?

Bits and Pieces:

-- Bearing in mind the episode was set in 2012, why didn't Van Statten know what a Dalek was? The Daleks attacked earth circa 2009 in the episode Journey's End.

-- There's an urban myth that the Daleks look like pepper pots because that's what Raymond Cusick based them on. However, in his own words....

"When I had to come up with the Dalek I went to lunch will Bill and I remember sketching out my design for it on a napkin. I explained to him how it was intended to move and to demonstrate this I slid the pepper pot across the table. Or it might have been the salt pot – I’m not sure! That is where the mistaken belief that I based the Dalek on a pepper pot probably comes from. I never did, I just used it to demonstrate what I wanted to do".

http://dwasonline.barryrward.co.uk/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=115&Itemid=34

-- Rose recognises a Slitheen arm in one of Van Statten's display cases. Of course, we learned from last week's episode that Slitheen isn't a race, but a family name. So the arm is actually Raxacoricofallapatorian in origin, not Slitheen.

-- I thought the "what are you going to do, sucker me to death?" comment was amusing. When classic Who was running on British television, much derision was aimed at the Dalek's sink plunger-like appendage. I guess we should think twice about laughing at it now. The advent of CGI has turned a laughable protrusion into a deadly weapon.

-- Some may have recognised the actress playing Diana Goddard as New Zealand born actress Anna-Louise Plowman. She's previously appeared in both Stargate SG-1 and BBC medical drama Holby City.

-- Van Statten's helicopter call sign is "Bad Wolf One".

Billie says...

Now, see, this is where my Doctor Who-deprived childhood comes into play. I was never frightened by a Dalek when I was six, so they really don't do anything for me. Yes, mutated killer humanoid trapped in the body of a powerful machine, definitely a scary concept. But for me, that's the Borg.

That said, let's face it: if they did the new Who without Daleks, the fans would most likely be up in arms. And starting with one lonely, tortured Dalek was a lot more new-viewer-friendly than scads of pepperpots flying through the sky. Plus, they gave Christopher Eccleston a great opportunity to show off his considerable acting talents, as we saw the Doctor and the Dalek as sole survivors of their races,and two sides of the same coin. The Daleks did terrible things. The Doctor was ready to do terrible things to a helpless Dalek. Is there a difference? Well, sure. But still -- yes, we got it.

Rose the experienced time and space traveler, made a serious mistake, and hundreds died. (Not that it was her fault; *she* wasn't torturing a Dalek in the basement.)

Bad American accents. Oh, well. They went with the bad American stereotypes.

Quotes:

Doctor: "The stuff of nightmares, reduced to an exhibit. I'm getting old."

Van Statten: "I'll tell you how they got in. In tru-da-window. In tru-da-windows... that was funny!" (Really? Oh yes...I get it now....haha).

Van Statten: "She's English too. Hey, little Lord Fauntleroy. I got you a girlfriend."

Adam: "Spacecraft, aliens, visitors to Earth. They really exist."
Rose: (unimpressed) "That's amazing."
Adam: "I know it sounds incredible, but I honestly believe the whole universe is teeming with life."
Rose: "I'm gobsmacked, yeah."

Soldier: "What are you gonna do? Sucker me to death?"
(Dalek suckers him to death.)

Dalek: "I demand orders!"
Doctor: "They're never gonna to come. Your race is dead! You all burnt! All of you. Ten million ships on fire. The entire Dalek race, wiped out in one second!"
Dalek: "You lie."
Doctor: "I watched it happen. I made it happen."
Dalek: "You destroyed us?"
Doctor: "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."

Doctor: "Rose? Did you make it?"
Rose: "Sorry, I was a bit slow."

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(Season 1, episode 6)