Dalek (TV story)

Hey guys! Two weeks ago, I started my Russel T Davies Who marathon, and wow it got delayed. I was super busy these last couple of weeks with school and forgot to write this earlier, but here we are. This is part 2 of me reviewing every episode of the Russel T Davies era (part 1: https://tardis.fandom.com/f/p/4400000000003586394)

Reviewing the first three episodes of Series 1 of the reboot (2005) | FandomHey there everyone! I'm rewatching the entirety…tardis.fandom.com

Hope you enjoy it! The next one will be out sooner.

Episode 4: Aliens of London

• ‘Aliens of London’ may in all honesty be the most frustrating episode in the entire season, because all the pieces were there to make yet another great episode but Russel T Davies just didn’t pick them up. The idea of aliens faking an alien crash landing to gain power amidst a crisis is such a cool idea for an episode with political messages, and the idea of The Doctor and Rose coming back to Rose’s time a year later would have made for a really interesting character crisis. In the end, the episode used neither to its fullest potential and ended up being disappointing. Considering how great the character writing in general was this season, I really feel that arriving home a year too late really should have sparked a conflict between The Doctor and Rose. Maybe put some strain on their relationship, even furthered when The Doctor lies to Rose later in the episode. This season is so good at calling out The Doctor’s errors as part of his arc, but they weirdly never do that here. They just forget any of this ever happened in the second half. And the entire interesting part of the alien invasion is dropped in favor of goofy farting aliens with awful character design killing people in hilarious ways, while still managing to take itself seriously. All that plus slow pacing made me lose interest in it after 20 minutes. It’s not bad, I mean I like Harriet Jones. But overall a pretty lackluster episode considering the one before it was ‘The Unquiet Dead’, one of the most underrated episodes of Doctor Who. (C)

Episode 5: World War Three

• Wow. Of any episode in this season, this is the one I usually recommend that newcomers skip, because if ‘The End of the World’ didn’t scare them off, this one will. Compared to the self-serious tone of the first part of this story, this one feels more like a Doctor Who parody. I’m not kidding, the plot is so ridiculous and filled with so many laughable moments, that it feels like someone is trying to make fun of the show. 90% of the lines delivered by the Slitheen this episode are comedy gold. This episode is so incompetent on so many levels, that interestingly enough it becomes impossible to turn away from at times. The vast majority of my enjoyment for this episode is ironic, which means that while it’s definitely worse than ‘Aliens of London’, I like it a whole lot more. Such a ridiculous episode in every way. Oh well, at least The Doctor has tangible growth by the end. But like I said, it’s fun. (C)

Episode 6: Dalek

• Coming off of the dreaded Slitheen duology half boring half stupid, we get one of the series’s classics; the return of a favorite villain. ‘Dalek’ is a great episode, pure and simple. It’s not my favorite of the season, but it’s a more than good use of nostalgia to tell a story. While it’s held back by a weird lack of energy in many crucial action scenes, ‘Dalek’ excels in the writing department. Not only does it perfectly re-introduce us to a classic villain in a cool way as well as contribute boatloads to the overall season arc for The Doctor, but it also manages to tell a story that’s good on its own too. Fast pacing, great new characters, an entertaining villain, real stakes, and a dish of emotion to the side all contribute to this. This episode really furthers the idea that not every action The Doctor takes is morally correct and really excels by comparing him to the titular Dalek. Russel T Davies and crew aren’t afraid to paint him as a complicated person who makes errors in judgment or lets hate take over (if Chris Chibnall were reading this he’d have no idea what I’m talking about). He’s a scarred person who is still recovering. If the action were more engaging, it could potentially be the best episode of Series 1. But even so, it's still a really good episode. Oh and also Adam’s in this episode. (A-)

Episode 7: The Long Game

• Of all the episodes this season, I think this is the one I have the least opinion on. It's fun and feels like a long-lost Classic Who episode in a lot of ways, but didn't really have a very big impact on me. Not to say it doesn't impact the season, it does that for sure, setting up Satelite 5 for the finale and all. The story has a lot of cool ideas in it that are executed pretty well, and Adam is better characterized than he was last episode. Simon Pegg is in this one, so that was epic. Yeah, overall I have laughably little to say here. It's just a pretty good, pretty standard Doctor Who story that I enjoyed, but won't think about as much as others. (B-)

Episodes Ranked So Far:

1. S1 E3 The Unquiet Dead (A)

2. S1 E6 Dalek (A-)

3. S1 E1 Rose (B+)

4. S1 E7 The Long Game (B-)

5. S1 E2 The End of the World (B-)

6. S1 E5 World War Three (C)

7. S1 E4 Aliens of London (C)

Well that took longer to come out than it should've. Oh well, the next one will be out quicker. Be sure to check out the first one (link at top) too! Until the next one comes out, see you!

(P.S. I'm also working on a terribly long critique of Chibnall Who if anyone wants to see me tare apart a dumpster fire for twenty paragraphs.)