If we played Family Fortunes & asked 100 people to name something associated with Doctor Who, where do you think the Daleks would place? Higher than the sonic screwdriver, jelly babies, David Tennant and long scarves I’d bet. In fact I think there’s only really the TARDIS that would come close to pipping them to the top spot, and even then it would be a close run thing. Daleks are an integral part of the show; right from the second story, that cliffhanger to The Dead Planet – the fifth episode broadcast – launched Terry Nation’s creations into the public consciousness, helped the show be a success, and survive throughout the decades. I’ve already discussed how Daleks helped start the 2nd Doctor’s era, so of course they would be front and centre of the revival back in 20051.
The question when they came back, though, was how to tell a Dalek story that was interesting? Familiarity breeds contempt, and while the Daleks bowed out the classic era in considerable style, after 40 odd years, how many Dalek stories are there actually left to tell? Rusty knew the story that he wanted to tell, the one of 100,000 Daleks invading – a story that was impossible to tell without 21st century budgets & effects. But before that, Rob Shearman told us the tale of a single Dalek.
If Bad Wolf / Parting of the Ways is the Dalek version of the film Aliens, then Dalek the episode is very much Alien2: rather than hordes of Daleks to beat, the story focuses on one single Dalek, and how deadly that can be. The Dalek here is an unstoppable, unrelenting killing machine. Bullets don’t even bounce off it – they just don’t get close enough. It can take out a whole platoon of van Statten’s soldiers with just 3 shots. It has the air of James Cameron’s Terminator, slowly but surely making its way through the compounds with a sense of determined unstoppability. And yes, you hacks of the broadsheets, it can go up stairs. In both design and ability, it’s a step up from the Daleks that we last saw, who’s heads wobbled coming down the street, and could be taken out with a well placed baseball bat.
But the improvements to the Daleks is not the most interesting thing about this story. Oh no. It’s all about the character work. For most of the preceding 40 years, Daleks have been faceless robots, especially after Davros came along and became their mouthpiece. There’s a bland uniformity that goes hand in hand with the Daleks – understandable given their drive for racial purity, but one that reduces them to blunt weapons, much like the Cybermen. That can work perfectly well, of course, but it’s much more interesting to stop and peek under their dome & see what’s going on inside.
Shearman does what David Whitaker did so well in Power of the Daleks and remembers that there are actual creatures inside the Dalek machine, and that they are cunning creatures. Shearman’s Dalek is nothing special, it’s just an ordinary grunt on the front line of the Time War, but it is still capable of playing Rose like a fiddle and using her to engineer it’s escape. But Shearman doesn’t stop there, he goes further into it’s psyche: what is the Dalek’s raison d’être? What is it there for? When all that is taken away, what will it do? Not even the Dalek has an answer to that question, with it’s lack of orders torturing it more than anything van Statten can inflict on it.
Into this scenario comes Christopher Eccleston’s 9th Doctor; the Doctor with PTSD from what he has done during the Time War, and who reacts to the Dalek with nothing but fear. Eccleston plays the scene where the Doctor meets the Dalek for the first time to perfection, moving from total terror to excitement when he realises he has the Dalek at his mercy. Eccleston is just stunning throughout this episode, moving from this scene to the one where he’s demanding the Dalek kill itself through to the final confrontation and nailing every. Single. One. The best of the best has to come in the scene where the doors have shut & it’s thought Rose has been exterminated; we know she hasn’t, but Shearman & director Joe Ahearne linger on the Doctor’s reaction to the idea has been long enough to give us an insight into how damaged The Doctor is at this stage. That his fear & hatred of the Dalek has essentially lead him to sacrifice Rose is pretty powerful, Eccleston again selling the torment. That he can row back from this and save Rose a few minutes later is testament to the impact she is having on him.
Ultimately this is Eccleston’s best performance in the role, but he’s also been given a golden goose by Shearman, who’s script is outstanding. There’s enough thrills & spills & shootouts to keep us on the edge of our seat as the Dalek advances, relentlessly, but Shearman really mines the character of the two leads for all it’s worth. That’s the Dalek & The Doctor mind, not Rose: the real drama here comes from the comparison of The Doctor to the Dalek, positioning them as very much two sides of the same coin. “You would make a good Dalek” is a devastating insult to The Doctor, but it’s spot on: this story holds a mirror up to the Doctor’s soul and shows him how close he is to those enemies he’s desperate to defeat. By the time we get to the end, we find ourselves in the position of being on the side of the Dalek, just like Rose. It takes a very special writer to achieve that.
And Rob Shearman is a very, very special writer. If you haven’t heard the audio play that this story is based on, Jubilee, then I suggest you do so, and then follow it up with the rest of his work. Jubilee is a lot darker tale than this, but Shearman is also an excellent horror/ghost story writer, as shown by the audio The Chimes of Midnight (perfect for this time of year) and his short story collection We All Hear Stories in the Dark – all strong recommends. Shearman is my favourite writer for Doctor Who, I’d love for him to come back and do some more, as he’s never let me down yet.
This is an important story in the arc of Rose healing The Doctor’s pain from the Time War. There’s a lot of lore, we get to find out exactly what The Doctor did during the war and see the impact ir had on him. This is the 9th Doctor stripped bare (iterally in one scene) with his soul laid bare. It’s a stunning piece of drama, the perfect example of not just what the show could be but should be when it came back. Sadly, we don’t get to see the Daleks – or any other monster – examined it quite such forensic, psychological detail again, and so this story stands as a beacon as what the very best of the RTD era has to offer.
COMING TOMORROW: “Tag, you’re it…”
Skies Full of Diamonds 