A Dalek turned good was always going to be an interesting premise for Doctor Who. Undeniably the most infamous villain the show has ever produced, the Daleks are so conventionally evil that turning one good would either wind up as a complete and utter success, or a catastrophic fail. Thankfully, Into the Dalek lies very strongly with the former. I'm personally not a fan of the Daleks. To me, they are loud, shouty, screechy tin cans with hardly any redeemable qualities. So if, like me, you were beginning to feel the Daleks were becoming a little tired, then this episode could just start to change that perspective. Into the Dalek is, arguably, the greatest Dalek story since, well, Dalek.
What was so strong here was how different this episode felt from the offset. Even before we went inside the mind of the Dalek, the introduction of soon to be recurring character Danny Pink (a presumable love interest for the ever improving Clara) was smartly handled. It is already clear that he isn't like his male counterparts from other recent series'; a soldier-turned-teacher, he has a history behind him that, if handled appropriately, could make him an interesting and well mapped character. I look forward to seeing more of him in upcoming episodes. Capaldi shined through even stronger here than he did in last week's opener Deep Breath, in an episode that was more tightly plotted and suitable for its run time. The plot moved along at an admirable pace, the action and the dialogue were evenly spread, and the tension peaked at exactly the right times. In terms of pacing and story, this was pretty good stuff.
But what really set this episode out from the rest (so far, at least) was how focused it remained on the character of the Doctor amidst the action and occasionally dodgy CGI. After first coming face to face with the broken Dalek, he questions Clara "Am I a good man?", to which she responds, as the viewer surely would, "I don't know". Since that moment so early on in the episode, you can feel this motive empowering every move the Doctor makes. He spends a lot of time attempting to work out the answer to this question, but by the time the credits begin rolling and the episode has concluded, the answer remains as open as ever. "Am I good man?", the Doctor asks. "I don't know, but I know you try to be" Clara answers. Capaldi's Doctor may be unsure whether he is a good man, but he is an incredible Doctor, in what is shaping up to be potentially one of Doctor Who's very best seasons.
What was so strong here was how different this episode felt from the offset. Even before we went inside the mind of the Dalek, the introduction of soon to be recurring character Danny Pink (a presumable love interest for the ever improving Clara) was smartly handled. It is already clear that he isn't like his male counterparts from other recent series'; a soldier-turned-teacher, he has a history behind him that, if handled appropriately, could make him an interesting and well mapped character. I look forward to seeing more of him in upcoming episodes. Capaldi shined through even stronger here than he did in last week's opener Deep Breath, in an episode that was more tightly plotted and suitable for its run time. The plot moved along at an admirable pace, the action and the dialogue were evenly spread, and the tension peaked at exactly the right times. In terms of pacing and story, this was pretty good stuff.
But what really set this episode out from the rest (so far, at least) was how focused it remained on the character of the Doctor amidst the action and occasionally dodgy CGI. After first coming face to face with the broken Dalek, he questions Clara "Am I a good man?", to which she responds, as the viewer surely would, "I don't know". Since that moment so early on in the episode, you can feel this motive empowering every move the Doctor makes. He spends a lot of time attempting to work out the answer to this question, but by the time the credits begin rolling and the episode has concluded, the answer remains as open as ever. "Am I good man?", the Doctor asks. "I don't know, but I know you try to be" Clara answers. Capaldi's Doctor may be unsure whether he is a good man, but he is an incredible Doctor, in what is shaping up to be potentially one of Doctor Who's very best seasons.