Rate "Dalek"

[Slagathor]

So...

[Cornelia_Africana]

This was the one story of the new series that I thought was on a par with the classics of the old series. It had something of the dark, unrelenting grimness of Genesis of the Daleks, and some genuine emotion, like The Evil of the Daleks. The scene where you saw the soldiers who had all been shot down was particularly striking. Christopher Eccleston was acting better in this too, I thought, than in any other story. Just for once, he did come across as a man traumatised by guilt, anger and grief. It's a pity the rest of the series wasn't of this standard.

[The Doc]

In my opinion, the best episode of this season. I know there are 7 more episodes left. Saying this is the best is not a slam against the remaining 7 or the previous 5. Five of the remaining episodes I rank very highly, not far behind "Dalek". Many fans think episodes 9 and 10 surpass "Dalek". They don't for me; but, they are very, very good.

Don't be too quick to judge Christopher Eccleston on his performance so far in displaying grief and guilt. RTD built the season slowly. First, he wanted to bring back the mystique of the Doctor. I feel "Rose" did that pretty effectively. Then, RTD wanted to show the range of the show. He accomplished this with "The End of the World" and "The Unquiet Dead". Then, he wanted us to remember that Rose has a life outside of the Doctor and brought the show back to the present to show us that again. There is a nice bit of symmetry to the first 5 stories. And with those 5, the show built up its mythos that many didn't remember, not seeing the original series. Remember, this show was made for a brand new audience, not for the old time fan. RTD did this successfully by not throwing everything including the kitchen sink at the audience too quickly.

With that established, it is time to crank things up. Dalek does just that. The rest of the season, with possible exception of episode 11, is much better. The next story may appear to be a much weaker story. However, upon repeated viewings, you find that it is very much under-rated and far better than initial reactions.

[John Darnacan]

meridiana said:

This was the one story of the new series that I thought was on a par with the classics of the old series. It had something of the dark, unrelenting grimness of Genesis of the Daleks, and some genuine emotion, like The Evil of the Daleks. The scene where you saw the soldiers who had all been shot down was particularly striking. Christopher Eccleston was acting better in this too, I thought, than in any other story. Just for once, he did come across as a man traumatised by guilt, anger and grief. It's a pity the rest of the series wasn't of this standard.

I actually thought Dalek was the best Dalek story ever. Of course, this is coming from someone who never really liked the Daleks to begin with. I always thought they were a stupid concept outside of the premiere story where they made perfect sense. I never thought of them as a realistic threat. Even the primitive Egyptians defeated them in an episode of the The Dalek's Master Plan. The feeling was you could always outrun or outmaneuver them, (stairs etc.). And it was only the numbers that gave them power.

However in this story, a Dalek seemed truly dangerous for the first time.

[Claire Voyant]

I thought Dalek was excellent and truly frightening. The best story of the season, with The Unquiet Dead not far behind. Eccleston was quite touching in his grief.

I liked how they addressed the stairs issue quickly. I also like that the sink plunger was more functional. They got rid of the all the Dalek ridicule issues.

My only problem with the story was that the Dalek became empowered just by Rose just touching its casing. Although, it may have been needed to create the emotional transformation apparent later, why did Rose's DNA give it power? Why would the ultimate racists require alien DNA?

Also in the end, why were the soldiers all of a sudden taking orders from Goddard?

[Slagathor]

I agree with a lot of what has been said above.

Eccleston's performance was great, nice and dark. I've never seen him in anything else, but I'd bet he could play a really nasty or psychotic villian.

I thought it was interesting how he paid such close attention to the cyberman's head. Although, I wouldn't have shown the close-up that revealed that the eyes were really just wire screening.

And how come none of the security guards notices the TARDIS? ;D