This episode really focuses on the ‘Am I a Good Man?’ question. The mind sharing with the Dalek reveals the Doctor has a strong hatred for the Daleks which inspires ‘Rusty’ (the Dalek). He is also called a good Dalek. I take this to mean that the Doctor has hatred and executes his plans precisely without emotion, but still has compassion. |
The Doctor is introduced after rescuing Journey, who is one of the soldiers. This is a funny scene, with the neck crane and the coffee the Doctor is holding. He seems very laidback, even when a gun was pointed at him. It’s obvious his Doctor is very confident. You can definitely see his more manipulative side as well, such as when he gives a soldier (Ross) his sonic power core to give him false hope, but really it was just to track where his remains went when he was killed by antibodies. This is emphasized with the liquid bodies when the doctor says ‘‘He’s the top layer, if you want to say a few words’’. |
Clara takes the side-lines in this episode and just does the general ask questions part of being a companion. She does slap the Doctor when he is too busy being pleased with himself to realise they are in danger. There is a great scene where the Doctor calls Clara his carer. She cares so he doesn’t have to. Her rebooting of the Dalek at the end is very anti-climactic. |
The new recurring character Danny Pink is introduced in this episode. But this feels like the episode ran short, so they just stuck it in. The whole soldier thing felt like it was put in to give the Doctor doubt, which is foreboded by his refusal to Journey, and the tear felt really forced. He was introduced as some kind of womaniser, yet he is really awkward with Clara. Clara is also very insensitive about his career, which makes it surprising he still likes her, further adding to the thought he is just added in to help develop Clara’s character. |
The Dalek, or ‘Rusty’ the good Dalek is the main setting here. The Daleks shoot a lot more, making them more of a threat, but not necessarily scarier. I can’t help feeling that of the previous 3 episodes, 2 had Daleks in them which made them feel overused, but I suppose they have to legally appear once a year or the BBC lose the licence. The original script had Rusty self-destruct to destroy the fleet, but this must have been left out to give him an ongoing story. |
I didn’t get a good sense of scale in this episode. Shouldn’t there inside be filled with huge bolts and thick wires? And why is it filled with convenient corridors? Also, purpose built, robotic antibodies? What? Also, this feels like previous scripts, just stuck together. Rusty’s introduction was very similar to Dalek (2005), there is a wrist worn thing like in Asylum of the Daleks (2012), and the entire episode (sigh) is very similar to Journey to the Centre of the TARDIS (2013) which I HATE!!!! |
So until then,
See Ya!