The episode begins with an epic space battle that looks absolutely fantastic, and notable because they are so rare in Doctor Who. The Doctor’s encounter in the TARDIS with a displaced soldier is thrilling, with Peter Capaldi bringing all of his magnetism and intensity to the scene.

Ben Wheatley does an excellent job of maintaining this tone as the story shifts to the inside of a Dalek, our characters being shrunk in a visually striking and psychedelic way. The claustrophobic sets used to depict the interior of the Dalek are particularly effective in building tension. 

Meanwhile, Danny Pink’s introduction is charming, with you getting an awful lot of character development in a story which he is tangential to. Their “meet-cute” establishes a sweet, awkward and relatable dynamic between them. Danny’s backstory as a traumatised ex-soldier is compelling, especially when juxtaposed with the Twelfth Doctor’s overt disdain for soldiers.  It is interesting that such a sensitive and complex example of a soldier is paired with The Doctor criticising soldiers with an uncharacteristic harshness - clearly setting up a thread / future confrontation for the series. The Doctor’s antipathy can feel uncomfortable, they are giving the audience a lot of credit / trust if they are expecting them to link this to his own self-loathing over his time as a “soldier” during the Time War.

The psychedelic imagery of the Dalek interior stands out as one of the episode’s highlights. However, once the Dalek is healed, much of the tension dissipates. From that point on, the story relies on the stellar performances of Peter Capaldi and Jenna Coleman, who continue to shine in their roles.

The resolution feels overly verbal and a bit underwhelming. I would have preferred a solution involving the radiation that initially caused the Dalek’s malfunction being used as a sort of “medicine” to transform it, rather than relying on memory reactivation and button-pressing. The point about the Doctor being a “good Dalek” feels like a retread of the themes explored in Christopher Eccleston’s Dalek, failing to break new ground.

I thoroughly enjoyed Missy’s brief appearance. The way the series’ overarching theme is gradually unfolding is a real strength. Overall, while the episode doesn’t quite reach its full potential, it features enough strong performances, intriguing ideas, and impressive visuals to make it an engaging watch.

Really enjoyed the episode, it did tread some familiar territory, the Daleks have been done so many times now that it's always gonna be the case but it was well done. The Daleks were menacing again and the idea of getting inside one was certainly interesting.

Finally though, Capaldi really is a fantastic actor, love his portrayal. The character's a complete contrast to Tennant and Smith and has turned what you expect from a modern Doctor completely on it's head after those two were fairly similar. Is he a good man? I'm not entirely sure.

23/8/24

its alright!!! wasnt really paying attention this time round tbh. oooooh what if the 12th doctor is so so evil and scary…….. meanwhile he is just runnin around being a silly autistic guy

I DONT CARE IF EVERY PIECE OF THIS STORY HAS BEEN DONE BEFORE I LIKED IT. I THINK THIS IS ONE OF THE BEST DALEK STORIES. PETER CAPALDI I LOVE YOU FOREVER GRANDPA

This is a fun enough idea in and of itself. Shrinking and travelling into a Dalek is pretty cool, and the best part of this episode explores Rusty's character, how it relates to the Doctor, and what a "good Dalek" even means. Some of the designs around the Dalek's interior are pretty interesting and I do love those shots of the Doctor face-to-face with a giant Dalek organism more than I don't. That stuff is largely great, but it feels like a very Moffat-heavy episode, even if he isn't the only credited writer.

There are some really strong, memorable lines in this story from Rusty, but for every one of those we get awful ones from the Doctor. He goes way too anti-military here and it is only done for the sake of drama with Danny Pink down the road, and the whole "Clara is my carer" thing is just not a funny line and makes Twelve seem worse than what feels natural for his character. This won't be the last time Moffat pulls this questionable feat, either, which is frustration because Capaldi always deserved better than that.

The way the story hypes itself up at the beginning, calling the inside of the Dalek "the most dangerous place in the universe," is one of many ways this story holds itself back. Even just how ham-fisted some of the writing can be at certain parts of the story really bothers me, like around the soldiers or the introduction of Danny Pink (which was pretty awful and only made worst in hindsight knowing what is in store for that character).

Finally, while I enjoyed the morality struggle between Rusty and the Doctor, it definitely gets overdone at a certain point and I found the ties to the larger narrative of the season about Twelve not knowing if he is a good man a little clumsy here. It's an alright story, but not the best. Basically just an inferior version of Dalek, really.