"Into the Dalek"

The Daleks are brought into play for their earliest appearance in a new Doctor’s tenure since Patrick Troughton. The setting is a commandeered hospital ship holding human soldiers desperately fighting off against the Daleks. The exact situation is unspecified – these could be the human/Dalek wars from the 20th Century series, or a new war with the growing post-Time War Dalek empire. However, the setting is by no means vital, and neither are the story’s influences, which it wears on its sleeve – 2001: A Space Odyssey, Fantastic Voyage (and, obviously, The Invisible Enemy) and "Dalek" itself, for the story uses its well-worn tropes to probe more deeply into the relationship between the Doctor and his oldest nemeses than ever before.

Ben Wheatley assembles a very impressive cast, with Michael Smiley giving the Colonel a dour, yet sympathetic grit and the always watchable Ben Crompton gives the small role of Ross his all. Most memorably of all is Journey Blue. Zawe Aston is a megastar in the making; she has brought unexpected depths to the comedy roles I have seen her in, and she makes Journey a truly vivid character and I’m sure that I’m not the only one who was disappointed that the Doctor did not acquiesce to her plea to join the TARDIS crew. The production is a triumph, with the awesome space battle at the start, the jaw dropping miniaturisation sequences and the design triumph of the giant Dalek interior. Wheatley’s missteps in directing the fight sequence in "Deep Breath" were clearly a glitch, as he orchestrates some of the finest scenes of Dalek slaughter ever seen on the programme.

Despite this, as with Rob Shearman’s story nine years ago, it is the scenes with the Doctor and a lone, captive Dalek that are the heart of the tale. A damaged Dalek is par for the course for the Doctor, but it is the idea of a Dalek that is so damaged that it has become good that intrigues the Doctor. As I said many moons ago, when it comes to the Daleks, it is not a game for the Doctor and now we find out a bit more about that eternal relationship– the Doctor finally found out who he was when he first met the Daleks and ‘Doctor’ became more than a name. The very concept of a good Dalek is an attack on his identity and he denies that possibility until the very end. In "Dalek", the titular monster said that the Doctor would make a good Dalek, and in this story we see the Doctor as more ruthless and detached than we have seen him since he was last Scottish – his pragmatic use of Ross’s death to save the others and his tasteless joke about it later are not things we would have had from his two predecessors. Capaldi’s performance is a triumph and the fact that this darker, more detached persona is still the Doctor is shown in the scene where the Doctor asks Journey to ask him to take her to the Aristotle nicely - despite the harder exterior, the Doctor still wants to make people better. Phil Ford and Steven Moffat’s script deliberately does not use love or any other emotion as the trigger for the Dalek’s epiphany, but detachment, bringing the Dalek closer to the Doctor. When this Dalek repeats the accusation that Van Statten’s captive made, the implication is different and the look on the Doctor's face speaks volumes.

The fundamental question is whether the Doctor is a good man, something that Clara is unsure of any more. The new relationship between Clara and the Doctor crackles. There is the joke that Clara is his carer, caring so he doesn’t have to, but this is closer to the truth than ever before, with the scene of the Doctor being slapped by his companion being played seriously for the first time. Jenna Coleman makes Clara more appealing as the series goes on and I look forward to seeing how this relationship develops, together with the one with Danny, in which role Samuel Anderson makes an immediate impact.

"Into the Dalek" is, all in all, something of a triumph, transcending its plot to become an adventure that stands up to many multiple viewings. As in "Bad Wolf", there is a lot of transmatting just at the point of death, with Journey meeting the Doctor and Gretchen being the second person we see meeting Missy. Things are getting intriguing...

NEXT: "Robot of Sherwood"