This isn't one of the better episodes of Doctor Who I've seen; it's not in my top five, ten, or even fifty favorite episodes. But it is still an intriguing story that sheds light on the character of the newest Doctor.
Near the beginning of the story, the Doctor asks Clara if he is a good man. The answer she gives him is the same then and at the end of the episode: "I don't know."
I want to give my own answer to this question. In my opinion, the best (and only) measure of a freshly-regenerated Doctor's character is how he handles an encounter with the Daleks.
In this episode, the Doctor meets a Dalek who's been turned good by radiation poisoning. He, Clara, and several soldiers shrink down and go into the Dalek to repair it. They succeed, only to reinstate its original personality. The Doctor then shows the Dalek its memories of a star being born and gives it access to his own memories as well, allowing "Rusty" to see just how much the Doctor hates the Daleks; Rusty then takes it upon himself to hunt his own species into extinction. Before he leaves, he calls the Doctor a "good Dalek" and heads out to complete his new mission.
This isn't the first time the Doctor has encountered a renegade Dalek. The Ninth Doctor encountered one in Utah; Dalek Sec and Dalek Caan became allies of the Tenth Doctor after first serving as antagonists. Then there was Oswin, an insane Dalek who turned out to be the first of Clara's incarnations encountered by the Eleventh Doctor. So there is a precedent for good Daleks, even if they are few and far between.
My final analysis is this: The Doctor did his best to try and save the soul of this particular Dalek, and for that reason, I believe he is a good man.
Near the beginning of the story, the Doctor asks Clara if he is a good man. The answer she gives him is the same then and at the end of the episode: "I don't know."
I want to give my own answer to this question. In my opinion, the best (and only) measure of a freshly-regenerated Doctor's character is how he handles an encounter with the Daleks.
In this episode, the Doctor meets a Dalek who's been turned good by radiation poisoning. He, Clara, and several soldiers shrink down and go into the Dalek to repair it. They succeed, only to reinstate its original personality. The Doctor then shows the Dalek its memories of a star being born and gives it access to his own memories as well, allowing "Rusty" to see just how much the Doctor hates the Daleks; Rusty then takes it upon himself to hunt his own species into extinction. Before he leaves, he calls the Doctor a "good Dalek" and heads out to complete his new mission.
This isn't the first time the Doctor has encountered a renegade Dalek. The Ninth Doctor encountered one in Utah; Dalek Sec and Dalek Caan became allies of the Tenth Doctor after first serving as antagonists. Then there was Oswin, an insane Dalek who turned out to be the first of Clara's incarnations encountered by the Eleventh Doctor. So there is a precedent for good Daleks, even if they are few and far between.
My final analysis is this: The Doctor did his best to try and save the soul of this particular Dalek, and for that reason, I believe he is a good man.