Gallery: Review - Doctor Who: Into the Dalek Gallery Gallery: Review - Doctor Who: Into the Dalek + 3

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A militarised hospital ship, a desperate crew on the verge of destruction, and a mission seeing the Doctor and Clara shrunk down and injected into the shell of the one good Dalek in the universe -- this week's Who throws a ton of exciting ideas at the viewers, while continuing to establish Peter Capaldi's presence as the irascible Time Lord.

Yet in other ways, it feels to be a bit of a rush job. Not within the episode itself -- Into the Dalek is a well-paced, action-driven counterpoint to last week's lengthy and padded introduction to the Twelfth Doctor. Yet in throwing the newest incarnation into a Dalek-centric episode almost straight off the bat, it feels like almost an exercise in checklisting. "Introduce Doctor to Daleks, check. Follow up with whimsical episode focussed on historical figure, check." Given next week's sees the Doctor and Clara meeting up with Robin Hood, that pattern seems firmly in place.


Written by Phil Ford and Steven Moffat, and directed by Ben Wheatley, the episode is inspired by the film Fantastic Voyage -- openly so, with the Doctor commenting "Fantastic idea for a movie, terrible idea for a proctologist." After materialising the TARDIS several centuries in the future, mid-coffee run (a nice call back to the end of the previous episode, with Clara's off-hand comment that he would fetch the coffee), the Doctor is forcibly conscripted to help salvage the human forces' last-ditch weapon -- a damaged Dalek that hates its own kind.

It's a tight ethical dilemma for a Doctor who is already regretting the choices of some of his past incarnations. Save the life of his most hated enemy, or leave it to die? Dare to hope a species responsible for incalculable death and destruction can be redeemed (or perhaps not incalculable -- Twelve does day he's been keeping count), or give in to his own prejudices?

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Meanwhile, Clara (Jenna Coleman) is back in present-day London, settling into a new term at Coal Hill School where she meets new teacher, and former soldier, Danny Pink (Samuel Anderson). Although we know he's set to join the TARDIS as a companion this season, here he just gets an introduction, and is shown to be clearly tormented by his military past. How tormented?

A single tear rolls down his face when a pupil asks if he's killed anyone who wasn't a soldier. He's sensitive, see?


Pink is deliberately contrasted against Journey Blue (Zawe Ashton), a future soldier rescued by the Doctor just as her ship is blown up.

Driven, angry, and committed to the cause, despite a warmer sensitivity of her own that she's had to bury, she's the emotional centre of the episode. After Twelve agrees to perform surgery on the Dalek, which he nicknames Rusty, he grabs Clara to serve as his detached conscience, and along with Journey and her fellow soldiers Gretchen (Laura Dos Santos) and Ross (Ben Crompton) gets shrunk down to enter "the most dangerous place in the Universe."

The actual journey through Rusty's innards is fairly by-the-numbers -- well, as by-the-numbers as you can get when running around the biomechanical guts of a mutated space racist.

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The mission continues the parallels with Fantastic Voyage almost without surprise, other than some creative approaches to the specifics of Dalek biology. A jaunt through the digestive system after an escape from anti-bodies (saying goodbye to a nano-exterminated Ross in the process, largely as a result of a very bleak move on the Doctor's part) feels almost predictable, as does the procedure to save Rusty inevitably restoring his (its?) murderlust for all things non-Dalek. Turns out, a radiation leak had allowed Rusty to acknowledge the beauty and inevitability of life in the Universe, despite the Daleks' best efforts, and realise the error of his ways. With the leak sealed, it's back to the prescribed ideology of EX-TER-MIN-ATE, breaking free of his contraints on the hospital ship and signalling the rest of his murderous fleet.


It's here where the real conflict of Into the Dalek comes into effect, with the Doctor all too willing to give up, almost happy that his expectations of his enemy's nature is re-confirmed, and damn the soldiers being reduced to atoms by Rust.

That doesn't sit too well with Clara though, who literally slaps some sense (and perhaps a speck of compassion) into the Doctor, her humanity reminding him that he himself has become as single-minded as he accuses the Daleks of being. The problem with this is that it thematically feels like a repeat of the Christopher Ecclestone episode, Dalek, where then-companion Rose Tyler made the Ninth Doctor realise he was making things worse.

Along the way, Gretchen sacrifices her life so the others can try to restore the warm and fuzzy, literally pro-life memories Rusty experienced, while Journey wrestles with her own internal conflict of training and duty versus morals and hope. It proves a small but imporant moment for both her and the Doctor.

Unfortunately, after entering into a psychic link with the patient, it's not the joy of endless life in the universe that turns Rusty away from his kill streak, but Twelve's own hatred for Daleks.

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Instead of redeeming one of his oldest enemies, the Doctor's darkness turns it into yet another weapon. Again, it's similar to the outcome of Dalek, in message if not exactly event.

If Moffat and Ford were going for a pyrrhic victory vibe, they broadly succeed. Rusty's rampage is quelled, the ship survives, and the Dalek fleet is driven off. The cost is the Doctor realising (once more) that he's part of the problem, just as responsible for the cycle of intergalactic violence, and unsure of his own righteousness. Gretchen's death comes almost out of nowhere and seems cheap and meaningless, but she's snatched up by the eccentric Missy and materialises in her "Heaven", much like the Half-Face Man did. Missy is clearly building a collection of those whose lives are lost around the Doctor, a plot thread we expect will build weekly until the season finale.

One likely controversial plot point is Journey's request that the Doctor take her with him, only to be denied because she's a soldier. Considering one of the Doctor's best pals for years was the Brigadier, it's a little inconsistent, but it's a stance that's clearly being set up to create conflict when Danny Pink comes onboard. While she has all the makings of a one-shot wonder, one of many guest characters in Whohistory, we'd like to see more of Journey Blue though -- she shows considerable character growth in just a single episode, and Ashton is great in the role.

Visual effects were significantly better than last week, at least compared to the sight of a ropey CGI T-rex in Victorian London, with the opening space battle being particularly epic.

Physical effects left a bit to be desired though, notably with what looked to be air conditioning tubing standing in for Dalek veins.

We get they're part-mechanised but come on, prop department!


Overall, despite essentially serving as yet another reminder of the lead character's own shady morals and personal dark streak,

Into the Dalek was ultimately a much stronger episode than

Deep Breath, and Capaldi's performance felt as though he was given room to breathe in the role for the first time. He's shaping up to be thoroughly entertaining as the Doctor. Snappier pacing, sharp dialogue with some genuinely comedic zingers, and a growing sense of chemistry between Capaldi and Coleman helped make for a far more enjoyable viewing experience.