As the title suggests, this episode of the New Doctor Who pays tribute to one of the oldest villains in the Doctor Who mythology. The Daleks made famous their screechy line of “EXTERMINATE!” The Daleks are also the reason that the Doctor’s people – the Time Lords – were wiped out.
The Time Lords and the Daleks fought a protracted ‘Time War’ that resulted in the ultimate destruction of the Daleks and the Time Lords. Of those latter, only the Doctor seems to have survived. Now, in a bunker miles below the Utah desert, the Doctor discovers the lone survivor of the Daleks.
A feature piece in a private museum owned by a billionaire with a god-complex named Henry Von Staunton – the Doctor comes face to face with more than just one enemy from his complicated and colored past. Christopher Eccleston expertly displays the grief that is carried around in the Doctor’s soul as he gazes at the alien relics housed within the museum – lingering particularly on the head of a Cyberman.
Von Staunton is an obnoxious American living in 2012 – he seems to thrive on his ability to hire and fire presidents. He mind-wipes employees when he’s done with them and he is torturing the Dalek to make it talk. He’s an overgrown child with a museum full of toys and alien artifacts. When he figures out the Doctor is an alien too – he wants to tear him apart for more information.
The Doctor and the Dalek come face to face and the recognition between the two is chilling. In the history of the Doctor Who series – the Doctor has never been an advocate for killing. When he lays eyes on the Dalek, however, a crazed gleam comes into his eyes. Here he sees the destruction of his people, he sees the pain in his own soul and he sees his own failures mirrored back at him.
The Dalek sums it up when he tells the Doctor that they are both alone. They are both without purpose. They are both destroyed by the Time War that has left them without others in the galaxy.
My hat is off to the writers of this series. I am not a long time fan of Doctor Who. I am a relative newbie to this universe and the pathos they give this blinking box of lights and screechy metallic voice is a tribute to their writing and Eccleston’s skill. Predictably, Von Staunton cannot contain the Dalek and when Rose (the Doctor’s companion played brilliantly by Billie Piper) touches the Dalek – she gives the creature a new lease on life.
The Dalek breaks free and goes on a killing spree. Because – this is what Daleks do. They destroy. They kill. They exterminate. The Doctor is forced to close the bunker doors to contain it – hoping to prevent a mass slaughter on Earth. But trapped within the bunker is Rose.
Once more, we are privy to the wealth of complexity that comprises the Doctor’s character. This is no one-dimensional flat prop of a man – but a man who has existed for hundreds of years and is a victim of his own pathos. Surprisingly, for the Doctor and the Dalek – the Dalek does not kill Rose.
Rose’s humanity has infected the Dalek. It feels. Something Daleks do not do. The emotional distress is too much for the creature. When the Doctor comes with a large weapon, prepared to kll the Dalek to save Rose – she stands up to him and tells him no.
The ending is a combination of anger, wistfulness, guilt, passion and compassion. The Dalek cannot live alone. It cannot exterminate. It cannot be what it was meant to be. It chooses self-destruction to end its own pain and to prevent causing more pain to Rose.
If I had not already become a fan of this show, this episode would have clinched it. Long live the new Doctor Who – this fascinatingly complex man existing within and around our world of experiences. Rose is the perfect foil and the actors give Oscar caliber performances. This is what drama and science fiction are really about – the characters and their story – everything else is just window dressing.