There is no celebrating the best of the Ninth Doctor without this episode. My favourite writer in all of Doctor Who, Rob Shearman’s, one and only televised contribution to the show. As I mentioned in Jubilee, this episode is partially reworked from the former, specifically the iconic scene in the cage where the Doctor confronts the Dalek, almost line for line, though this episode is 100% its own unique entity. Honestly the poetic similarity between the two stories is much like how Jubilee is the ideal first story for newcomers to Big Finish, I feel Dalek is the perfect first episode for anyone interested in Modern Who. Series 1 until this point had been at best average, it got the necessary premise of the show out of the way; introducing the Doctor, the concept of time travel, visiting the past and the future, but I wouldn’t go as far as to say they were all that good. In fact, if a newcomer started watching the series from the beginning, I feel they’d give up by the time they got to the farting aliens from Aliens of London and wonder why the hell people love this show to begin with. If you’re new to Modern Who and are looking for a very strong first impression, you won’t find many as strong as Dalek.

This is an intense 45 minutes packed with memorable scenes, quotable dialogue and great performances from all involved, especially Eccleston who delivers his best performance as the Ninth Doctor, I honestly don’t think any other Doctor could’ve pulled off the intensity and rage Eccleston brings to this episode, or at least not to that level. The scenes between him and the Dalek is honestly some of the best scenes in Doctor Who history. Speaking of the Dalek, a common criticism from fans, even by 2005 was the fact the Daleks can’t exactly feel like a terrifying force anymore, they’ve appeared more times than any other villain, are always defeated, they spent the last half of the classic show being reduced to Davros’s minions and the fact that they’ve been parodied and merchandised to death since the 60s. Yet this episode manages to achieve the near impossible by making this single, damaged Dalek truly feel like the most dangerous creature in existence. Sadly, the Daleks have gone downhill in the years since and never really hit this peak again, they’ve basically just become the typical main villains we expect to appear every year and outside of the Series 1 finale it’s gonna take a lot for them to shake off that stigma.

But the real beauty of Dalek is all in its subtext, anyone familiar with Rob Shearman’s works will know that he is big on meta-commentary and here he creates an episode that under the surface is a story about what it meant for Modern Who in its infancy after the destruction of Classic Who. You have the Doctor and the Dalek, the last two survivors of an old epoch who find themselves in a new era where everything they knew is long gone and are questioning whether they still have a purpose in this new era.

Dalek is a self-aware commentary on Doctor Who finding itself in a new era with a new generation of audience after its failure from the old era and asking if it still has a place. Which ties into the beautiful ending where the Dalek would rather die than accept this change. If you think I’m reading too much into that, trust me, look into Shearman’s works, this is kind of his schtick and why he’s a favourite writer of mine. Part of me wishes we got more from him in the show, but I am fully content with all he’s given, especially after having listened to his final Doctor Who audio My Own Private Wolfgang which was all about how even the best can become a shell of what they used to be when they go for too long (case and point The Simpsons). Shearman knew just when to stop and not let his talents diminish and I have a lot of respect for people like that. Of course, he hasn’t quite stopped with his writing contributions in other mediums and most recently has written a novelisation of Dalek which I highly, highly, highly recommend!