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Dalek (Doctor Who Episode)

Right. You want me to rewrite this… Wikipedia entry. Like it’s not already tedious enough. Fine. But don't expect me to make it pleasant. That's not really my modus operandi.

Here. Try not to get too lost in the sheer, unadulterated pointlessness of it all.

Dalek (Doctor Who episode)

Overview

For other uses, see Dalek (disambiguation).

This entry concerns the 2005 episode of Doctor Who, a British science fiction television programme. It's the sixth installment of the revived first series, first gracing the airwaves of BBC One on 30 April 2005. This particular episode is notable for marking the grand return of the Daleks to the modern era of the show, and also for introducing Bruno Langley as Adam Mitchell, a temporary companion.

The narrative unfolds in Utah, in the year 2012. The setting is an underground vault, a morbid collection of alien artifacts amassed by the obscenely wealthy collector, Henry van Statten. Within this sterile, oppressive environment, the alien time traveller known only as the Ninth Doctor, portrayed by Christopher Eccleston, and his companion Rose Tyler (played by Billie Piper) stumble upon the bunker's solitary living exhibit: a Dalek. It’s a creature of pure, unadulterated hatred, and it doesn't take long for it to break free, embarking on a mission to eradicate everyone within its reach after a rather convenient self-repair.

Cast

This is where the names are listed. Just names.

The Doctor

Companions

Others

Production

Directed by Joe Ahearne Written by Robert Shearman Produced by Phil Collinson

Executive producers

Music by Murray Gold Production code 1.6 Series Series 1 Running time 45 minutes First broadcast 30 April 2005 (2005-04-30)

Chronology

← Preceded by "World War Three"

Followed by → "The Long Game"

List of episodes (2005–present)

Plot

The Ninth Doctor and Rose find themselves compelled by a distress signal, which leads them to a gargantuan bunker buried deep beneath the Utah desert, circa 2012. This subterranean tomb is crammed with alien curiosities, all meticulously curated by its owner, Henry Van Statten. Rose, ever the explorer, is given a rather sterile tour of the facility by Adam Mitchell, a man whose job it is to acquire and catalogue these extraterrestrial oddities for Van Statten.

Van Statten, clearly thrilled by his own perceived brilliance, escorts the Doctor to witness his prize exhibit: a living, breathing, albeit severely damaged, Dalek. The Doctor, his usual stoic facade cracking slightly, recognizes the creature. This is a race, he explains, thought to have been utterly annihilated during the devastating Time War. The Dalek, in its current state, is a pathetic spectacle, weakened and bound, utterly incapable of escape. When the Doctor, with a chilling pragmatism, moves to finish the creature off, Van Statten intervenes. He orders his guards to subdue the Doctor, dragging him back to his personal chambers. There, Van Statten reveals his true nature: not just a collector, but a torturer. He intends to dissect the Doctor, to pry open his very being to understand the alien physiology that makes him tick. It’s a grim, invasive procedure, as brutal as it is clinical.

Meanwhile, Adam has led Rose to the Dalek’s enclosure. Rose, possessing a capacity for empathy that often borders on the reckless, feels a pang of pity for the broken machine. She reaches out, touching its metallic shell. In that instant, the Dalek, with a horrifying efficiency, absorbs her DNA. It extrapolates her biological data, a process that somehow re-energizes its depleted core. Free from its bonds, it unleashes a wave of destruction, dispatching guards with chilling ease and, with remarkable speed, repairing its own damaged casing. It then connects itself to the facility’s network, a digital tendril reaching out into the vastness of the internet. The revelation is stark: it is the last of its kind. With its species gone, its sole directive reasserts itself with terrifying clarity: exterminate all non-Dalek life. Van Statten, now desperate, is forced to release the Doctor, hoping he can stop the rampage. But the Dalek is beyond negotiation, beyond reason. It continues its bloody work, systematically eliminating everyone left in the Vault.

The Dalek's exposed casing, a raw, vulnerable wound, as it appeared at the Doctor Who Experience.

The creature prepares to finish off Rose, but something is fundamentally wrong. It hesitates. It can't do it. A new, alien sensation floods its circuits: fear. Absorbing Rose’s DNA has fundamentally altered it. It begins to question its own existence, its own purpose. The Doctor arrives, weapon in hand, ready to deliver the final blow. But Rose, her voice firm, stops him. She sees a reflection of the Dalek in his eyes, a chilling mirroring of their shared capacity for destruction. The Dalek, overwhelmed by these newfound, unbearable emotions, concludes that its very existence is a "sickness." It pleads with Rose, begging her to let it die. With a heavy heart, she gives the order. The Dalek self-destructs, a final, desperate act of self-annihilation.

Van Statten’s assistant, Goddard, steps into the void left by the chaos. Her plan is clear: erase Van Statten's memories and seal the bunker, burying its horrors under tons of concrete. Rose, seeing Adam’s bleak future in the wake of this disaster, offers him a lifeline: a chance to travel with her and the Doctor. He accepts, a desperate bid for something more than a life cataloguing the dead.

Production

Conception

Rob Shearman, the mind behind this particular narrative, had already dipped his toes into the revived Doctor Who waters in 2003, crafting the Sixth Doctor audio drama Jubilee. Executive producer Russell T Davies found significant inspiration in Jubilee when formulating his pitch for "Return of the Daleks," a story intended to recapture the terrifying menace of the Daleks’ inaugural appearance in The Daleks back in 1963. The setting was shifted, however, from an alternate Earth to the desolate landscape of 2012 Utah. The solitary Dalek, a phantom of a forgotten war, was to be the captive of a ruthless businessman, Henry Van Statten, a thinly veiled caricature of Microsoft's chairman Bill Gates.

Shearman himself has stated that the script underwent a staggering fourteen revisions. The working title for the story was "Creature of Lies," and Van Statten was initially named Hiram Duchesne. For a brief period, Adam was conceived as the villain's son, a plot point Shearman ultimately discarded. The most significant hurdle, however, came from the Nation estate, the custodians of the Dalek legacy. They initially blocked the use of the Daleks, citing concerns about the BBC's perceived over-licensing of the creatures. This led to a drastic rewrite, featuring an alien akin to a child who reveled in killing, a creature that would eventually morph into the Toclafane from "The Sound of Drums" and "Last of the Time Lords". Fortunately for the revival, the BBC eventually managed to secure the rights from the Nation estate, and the episode finally received its definitive title: "Dalek."

Davies’ vision for the episode prioritized emotional resonance over cheap thrills, stating he wanted to avoid "rely[ing] on people running down corridors." Shearman, in turn, aimed to "take all those things people find funny about the Daleks and turn them into something people would find memorable." A noble, if perhaps futile, endeavor.

Filming

This episode was slotted into the third production block, alongside "Father's Day" and "The Long Game". The latter was actually moved due to unforeseen delays in the creation of its special effects. Principal photography commenced on 25 October 2004, at the National Museum Cardiff. The following day, the production shifted to the Millennium Stadium, which served as the primary filming location for the bulk of the episode. Most of the filming wrapped up by 3 November 2004. Additional pick-up shots were captured at the show's studio facilities in Newport, Wales throughout the remainder of that month.

Critical reception and awards

Upon its release on DVD, the British Board of Film Classification (BBFC) assigned the episode a 12 rating. This decision was primarily due to the scenes depicting the Doctor’s interrogation of the Dalek, which the BBFC deemed potentially problematic. Their reasoning: "We are concerned about role models for children using the sort of tactics that Doctor Who used against the Dalek. If that was transferred into the playground it would be something we would want to tackle." A rather quaint concern, given the subject matter.

The episode itself garnered overwhelmingly positive reception. Overnight ratings clocked in at 7.73 million viewers, capturing 46% of the audience share, with final figures later solidifying at 8.64 million. It achieved an Audience Appreciation Index score of 84, a testament to its impact. The Times declared it an "unqualified triumph." The Guardian lauded Shearman's script for its ability to "bamboozle expectations," suggesting the episode "should hopefully show 2005's kids what was always so wonderful about the iconic tin-rotters." The London Evening Standard found the episode's straightforward title, "Dalek," to be its only minor failing. The Daily Mirror offered a more effusive endorsement: "for 30 pant-shittingly wonderful minutes, BBC1's new Doctor Who was the best thing on telly. Ever." A bold claim, but one that speaks to the episode's potent effect. In 2010, Den of Geek ranked it as the second-best Dalek story of all time.

The episode was nominated for the 2006 Hugo Award for Best Dramatic Presentation, Short Form, competing against fellow Doctor Who episodes "Father's Day" and "The Empty Child"/"The Doctor Dances". The latter took first place, with "Father's Day" coming in third, and this episode securing fifth.

Commercial releases

In print

A novelisation of this story, penned by Robert Shearman himself, was released in both paperback and digital formats on 11 March 2021. It was part of the Target Collection, a series dedicated to bringing classic Doctor Who stories to a new audience.

Notes

  • ^ In the 2006 episode "Doomsday", Rose mentions that the Daleks utilized "harmless background radiation" as a power source, a concept picked up by time travellers. Neither this episode, "Dalek," nor "Doomsday" explicitly names this specific radiation.