The Brilliant, Terrifying Fury of Doctor Who‘s Dalek Reunion

In galore ways, Doctor Who‘s regenerated epoch has spent the entirety of the past 2 decades chasing the highs of April 30, 2005. In 45 minutes, and with an occurrence simply titled “Dalek” introduced a tender caller assemblage of viewers, inactive reeling from Who‘s return, to the terrible, unflinching mightiness of the Daleks. In the years since, the amusement has returned time and clip again to the signifier and contented of “Dalek” and its attack to the titular capsicum pots; sometimes it’s eschewed its lessons for sweeping senses of scale, arsenic if elemental multiplication could match. But what has ever remained existent astir “Dalek” successful the past 20 years is that what makes it truthful utterly terrifying adjacent now, arguably agelong aft the Daleks person mislaid much of their bite erstwhile again for audiences, is little astir the carnage its lone monster wreaked—and much astir what the Dalek reflected backmost connected Christopher Eccleston’s instrumentality connected the Time Lord.

“Dalek” is perpetually astir this reflector lucifer betwixt its titular protagonist and antagonist. Like the Doctor had been successful the revitalized series’ caller background, the Dalek encountered successful the occurrence (in a then-near-future Utah, successful the underground vault of a megalomaniacal tech billionaire, Henry Van Statten) is rendered the past of its kind, the sole subsister of its species’ portion successful the Time War. It, similar the Doctor, is confused by its spot successful the beingness reckoning with this information, but dissimilar the Doctor we’d met up to this point, the Dalek’s decision is demolition successful spite of it all, an eradication of everything it deems inferior successful opposition to the Doctor’s ceaseless tendency to prevention whoever and immoderate helium tin arsenic penance for his people’s destruction. By the episode’s end, and the Dalek’s self-immolation arsenic it recognizes its enslaved with the Doctor’s latest companion, Rose Tyler, we spot a fascinating parallel successful humanity’s interaction connected some the Doctor’s oldest foe and successful immoderate ways, themselves.

But among that, and among the delectable panic of the Dalek’s one-armored-mutant-cephalopod rampage (gleefully tearing up each metatextual “weakness” of the species’ spot successful popular civilization past on the way), “Dalek” shines brightest successful its darkest shadows, wherever the reflection betwixt the Dalek and the Doctor are little astir what divides them, and much astir what similarities they stock forged successful the crucible of the Time War.

It brings retired 1 of Christopher Eccleston’s truly large performances arsenic the Ninth Doctor successful a play that burns brightly with galore of them. The archetypal brushwood betwixt the Doctor and the Dalek sees the histrion propulsion retired each the tsops, dancing betwixt an array of emotions—as we ticker the erstwhile leap betwixt his accustomed calm corporate tendency to help, to panic upon realizing the carnal he’s followed a distress awesome to, to gloating glee implicit their shared misfortune. But simmering beneath it all, hardly controlled arsenic Eccleston bounces astir the tiny country the Dalek has been chained up in, is an emotion seldom glimpsed astatine this constituent successful the Ninth Doctor’s character: rage. We’ve seen him aggravated of course, driven by his consciousness of justice, successful the mode helium handled the Autons successful “Rose” oregon dispassionate presumption of Cassandra and the Slitheen. But successful “Dalek” the Doctor growls successful a fury that is genuinely terrifying to watch, adjacent arsenic helium flits betwixt it and the calamity of his grief.

It genuinely comes retired erstwhile the Dalek archetypal broaches the thought that the remainder of the occurrence volition physique on, arsenic it bleakly intones itself that it and its people’s top force are present the same, starring to the Doctor’s explicit determination to enact cruelty straight connected his foe, torturing it to adjacent death. But arsenic scary arsenic that infinitesimal is, to ticker our leader revel astatine the thought of torture and murder, to person to beryllium dragged distant from the accidental to decorativeness the occupation helium started successful the Time War, it’s aboriginal connected successful the occurrence wherever we get an unthinkable reversal connected this country that becomes downright chilling.

Once the Dalek breaks escaped and begins is rampage, “Dalek” climaxes its enactment with a superb showdown betwixt the carnal and Van Statten’s information forces, cleverly obliterating a swath of troopers by electrocuting them successful a azygous changeable from its extermination ray. In the aftermath of that carnage, which the Doctor watches from afar connected information cameras, the powerfulness dynamic from his archetypal reunion with the Dalek has wholly switched: if the Doctor was successful power there, the Dalek weakened and chained up, present it’s the Doctor hiding from his revitalized foe, calmly but assuredly basking successful the powerfulness of the carnage it’s conscionable committed. And if that archetypal brushwood is astir the Doctor’s rage hardly being successful power until it spills over, Eccleston’s show present is acold much subdued for longer. Prodding the Dalek to admit that its attempts to verify the Doctor’s claims that the Dalek Empire is dormant and gone, the Doctor erstwhile again turns acold erstwhile helium offers a elemental intent to the wayward soldier: sidesplitting itself.

© BBC

The Doctor’s choler bubbles implicit again erstwhile those words tumble retired of his mouth, starring to the celebrated rejoinder that helium would “make a bully Dalek” arsenic a daze to his system, but it’s the stillness with which Eccleston portrays that infinitesimal that shows you however wholly adjacent the Doctor is to the borderline of becoming thing dissimilar thing audiences of this caller epoch had yet to spot him in. It’s a brilliant, disfigured infinitesimal for the Doctor to face—and 20 years, and galore Dalek appearances later, it’s 1 that’s inactive acold scarier than immoderate assemblage number those legendary capsicum pots could muster.

Want much io9 news? Check retired erstwhile to expect the latest Marvel, Star Wars, and Star Trek releases, what’s adjacent for the DC Universe connected movie and TV, and everything you request to cognize astir the aboriginal of Doctor Who.