Sunday, August 31, 2014

Doctor Who - Into The Dalek Review (Spoilers)

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This episode has been one a lot of us have been eagerly anticipating. Watching the how a new actor interacts with one of his oldest foes is something incredibly special, and this episode doesn't disappoint. After watching an interview with Peter Capaldi explaining how sinister the atmosphere becomes when a they are shooting a scene with a dalek, this was something I was excited to see.






This episode immediately reminded me of the episode Dalek. The initial shot of the Dalek in a dimly lit secure room, combined with the subtle yet powerful glare The Doctor had gave me shivers.

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As the Dalek was being 'good', you couldn't help but think something was going to go wrong. In the Second Doctor's story The Power of The Daleks, they pretended to be obedient servants until the time was right to start their attack. When The Doctor heals him, you know this is going to spell trouble, and he knew it was probably going to happen!

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I really enjoyed the anatomical lesson we were given in this episode. It was the perfect hybrid of a Haynes manual and a biology lesson. The whole premise of the team being minimised was reminiscent of the film 'Fantastic Voyage'. The antibodies were brilliant, and the scene where Ross is destroyed by them, was initially a shock, but knowing how much more ruthless The Doctor is now, it wasn't too surprising. I particularly enjoyed The Doctors flippant remark when they escape the antibodies and land in the 'soup'; "He's the top layer, if you want to say a few words". I also liked the nickname The Doctor gives the initially incapacitated Dalek.  'Rusty' was a great name, perhaps it was to lighten the show for younger viewers, but then The Doctor has always enjoyed giving everyone a nickname.

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Meeting Danny Pink for the first time was good, but the scenes felt a little disjointed. Perhaps that was deliberate, to echo the awkwardness of Danny and Clara's first meeting. It was interesting to see him openly cry when asked if he had killed people. Perhaps this was to contrast with the Daleks ruthless and unemotional stance in murdering people, and even to complement The Doctor's internal struggle when he has killed the innocent. This should certainly make things interesting when he finally meets the Timelord.

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Missy returns again. It seems she's collecting the deceased, who have died shortly after discussing their death with The Doctor. Is she creating an 'army' in an attempt to destroy him later, or is she going to use them as a weapon to play on his guilt? Whatever happens, it should be interesting.


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I liked the idea of Clara crawling through Rusty's nervous system to turn back on his memories of a star being born in order to stop him exterminating people. Clara is rapidly becoming more independent and braver than ever before. I particularly liked the scene when she slaps him for putting them all into danger. She knows now The Doctor is showing his more ruthless and detached side, therefore keeping him aware of the consequences is important.

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The scene where the Doctor gets into his mind, and shares his own was powerful and exciting. Peter's performance in this scene was breathtaking, in this episode he has really come into his own. The way he can use his facial expressions to convey complex emotions is rapidly becoming his trademark. I was also seeing shades of Malcom Tucker in his character, together with Tom Baker.

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I also enjoyed the special effects. The extermination SFX were particularly good, and I can imagine quite a few of the younger fans finding it scary. It was interesting how the episode ended, with Rusty having exterminated a number of other Daleks, then tricked the ship into thinking the self destruct was activated, before returning to the ship. This was remincent of Star Trek The Next Generation episode I Borg, where he understands what the other Daleks are wrong, but he must rejoin them to prevent suspicion.

All in all a great episode. Both Jenna and Peter have a great rapport, and the supporting cast compliment them.

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