Doctor Who: How Russell T Davies & Robert Shearman Reinvented The Daleks
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- čas přidán 20. 04. 2020
- Robert Shearman's 2005 episode of Doctor Who 'Dalek' is an unparalleled success that successfully reinvented the Daleks for modern audiences. This video explores how this episode remains one of the finest episodes of Christopher Eccleston's Ninth Doctor's tenure and of the revived series as a whole.
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All footage used in this video is for educational purposes only.
A friend directed me towards this video, and I'm glad that I took a look! Thank you, that was fascinating - and I'm so glad you enjoyed the episode so much. (I must admit, fifteen years on, I think I got through it with a wing and a prayer - but I am very proud of it!)
Wow Mr Shearman, we're shocked you watched this! That's awesome. Thank you for watching and thanks for helping to create this awesome episode! We wish you the best, Matt & Chris x
@@FullFatVideos Oh, not at all! It's a weird mental leap to make when you watch a video about something you worked on so many years ago - it's honestly hard to remember at times that for nearly a year I was panicking that it wouldn't get made, or I'd get sacked, or I'd just lose my way through the entire thing. There's tons about 'Dalek' that makes me squirm - I wish I'd written some scenes better - but I've just had to novelise it for Target, so I've been having fun trying to put those bits right. And I'm doing one of those live tweet things to commemorate the episode's anniversary on April 30th - your video makes me feel much less squirmy about the prospect! All the best to you too, Matt and Chris - I shall check out your other vids! x
@@shearrob this is crazy that one of the creators of this masterpiece watched this video. A unique encounter.
@Najawin I did give Jubilee a re-listen, and made lots of notes, just to see whether there was anything useful there to draw from. But in truth there wasn't much - maybe a few exchanges between the Dalek and Evelyn that I could build on a little bit - but the tone of the audio is so wildly angry and cartoonish that I didn't think it'd really translate. The book is, I think, very different from the TV episode - but it moved in a different direction to where Jubilee would have led it. I hope that you enjoy it!
Really, the only time the Daleks were done better was Genesis of the Daleks. Most Dalek episodes in both new and old series are a bit too cheesy - this one, much like Genesis, is able to treat them with the seriousness and character development which always seems lacking when a story puts the whole universe on the line.
"You would make a good Dalek."
How chilling is that line? Not even the Daleks would kill their own race just to wipe out the Time Lords. Only one person in the whole universe would be so full of hate that they would go that far.
It's the Doctor.
The Dalek is essentially equating the Doctor to itself; a soulless killing machine. This writing was stellar for Eccleston's war survivor characterisation of the Ninth Doctor. He is outraged at this one Dalek surviving and he is pushed to something as extreme as murder near the end. That goes to show how terrifying the Doctor can be if he breaks his rules.
The Doctor didn't do that out of hatred.
It's great isn't it. The quote also makes a comeback in Capaldi's run
@@jackcoleman2234 I personally found it more haunting in Into The Dalek, because it was actually a sincere compliment made by Rusty. The version seen in Dalek uses that as a taunt, which is exactly what you expect from the Daleks, and therefore it's not that unnerving.
@@daybreakrebornedits yeah that fair enough mate I was just just pointing out the repetition of the line
I'm still glad they showed that the Doctor didn't actually kill everyone (Day of the Doctor), as it fits better with the Doctors character. Of course, due to timey wimey, they still had those memories, which had an impact, which keeps it in continuity still.
I think the more the Doctor got past memories of the Time War, the more future stories began treating Daleks as just another villain. And the Doctor fighting the entire collective is less interesting than being scared of a single soldier.
Its kind of an unspoken rule in Doctor Who, if its an army its easy, If its one thing its a tough scrape.
I said it once and I'll say it again, the Davies era was the last time the Daleks were scary and a real threat. The Stolen Earth arc in particular shows this. Since then they've just been a joke because they HAVE to be there. Davies' version of them seems like he wanted to write them in, not just because he was contractually obliged.
You may want to check out our video on Moffat’s Dalek Problem! You might agree !
Truth be told, I personally think the last time the daleks were used well(I love the witches familiar but it's not a dalek story but a davros one), was probably doomsday or the parting of ways(into the dalek was pretty good too, but not particularly scary). Having them back every season began to grate on me during the Davies era and the more they appeared the sillier they got and the more over the top the stakes got to inevitably cause Davies to write in Deus Ex Machina's. In the parting of ways it really felt like all hope was lost, in the stolen earth? it was just buisness as usual and a few button presses kills all of them.
I will agree that Moff definitely didn't want to use the Daleks much though unlike Davies, his series solidified my belief that there is some form of contract in place.
I don't think it was a contract, I think it was just the CEO's and chiefs of programming at the BBC looking at Doctor Who with their memories of watching it as children, and saying "the Daleks are scary. People love the Daleks, they're iconic. Put Daleks in this season" every year.
Davies relied on cheap deus ex machina to solve all his Dalek stories. Spoilt it for me.
@@minicle426And Stevie boy wonder just made them jokes. What's your point? At least the conclusion to Russell's took something cataclysmic to kill them.
Say what you want, but I'm pretty sure Eccleston was an excellent Doctor. Perfect for the part of the 9th. I actually miss him quite a lot.
I just started this series after watching some of the classic and I'm already at the 10th (series 2) which is the one doctor I've always heard everyone excited about, but I still miss the 9th every episode, even though I know I'll probably grow to like 10th just as much. But anyway, I think Nine was terrific and I adored his character, but no one ever said anything about him to me when talking about the series and I'm thinking now that they should have.
@@l.josino yeah, he gets overlooked quite a bit, even though his performance is truly amazing
He was my first Doctor and I have all to thank him for
@@lt_darkseekerantique3911 Same
Really wish he got a full 3 seasons, he deserved it. I love how much drama him and David Tennant both brought to the show! I wish we would've gotten him for the 50th anniversary special as well.
Russell T. Davies really knew how to reintroduce the best villains. Daleks, Cybermen, and the Master.
I dunno, the Cyberman re-introduction was a bit iffy I thought. A bit on the camp side, especially with all the dutch angles and overracting from Lumic.
Dalek and Utopia were spot on though. The greatest tragedy of New Who is that we didn't get to see more of Derek Jacobi in the role, his cold malice in the final minutes of that episode were incredible to watch.
@@midastheunwise2423 Eh his Master would have felt really out of place in the Sound of Drums/Last of the Timelords and End of Time, those stories were tailor-made for John Simm's Master.
He always put the effort in, made sure to establish them as big important threats even if you weren't fully happy with the latest versions of the monsters we got we understood why they were threats. Moffat, in general, was better at coming up with new monsters- weeping angels, the silence, Vashta Nerada, the Empty Child. The exception to this is the Cybermen in World Enough and Time and Missy (even then she was almost a different character to the Master towards the end). Chibnall has some good ideas for old monsters (probably from his years as a fan) like the Lone Cyberman, the Dhawan Master and the Resolution Dalek.
The Cybermen in New Who were only truly scary in these episodes:
-Rise of the Cybermen, Age of Steel
-Army of Ghosts, Doomsday
-World Enough and Time
Their fear hasn't been used effectively outside of these episodes, though Dark Water is a brilliant example of saving them till the last minute. That entire episode is a masterclass in exploring grief, death and consequence.
@@daybreakrebornedits Nightmare in silver didn't give me scared exactly but it made them threatening and unstoppable, the idea that the only way to stop them is literally to destroy the planet (and considering how quickly they could spread in Dark Water, it makes sense) shows how dangerous they are, and the Mr Clever/Doctor acting and dynamic was incredible
Dalek is the best new Who Dalek story, for me it's a 10/10, especially that "elevate" moment
tobgann for me it's tied for first place with best Dalek story ever with Genesis and Remembrance.
Samuel Barber he said new who
The elevate moment is worse than the first one in Remembrance, just saying
@@LeoGuidi well considering I didn't watch remembrance until I was 11, and I watched Dalek at 5, you can see why I have more memories attached to the elevate moment in Dalek
That gives me goosebumps every time I watch it!
The DALEK was smart and only used his weapon when he needed to and only said exterminate when he meant it
The 9th was my first real contact with dr who. As a grown ass man. I instantly understood the tone shift this new series brought to something I only knew as a pop culture reference and that's only because of Davis brillant writing. This is to this day my ver favourite doctor. Yes we all pick OUR best doctor based on when and where we met him I think. And is subjective as all things. But to my uneducated brain in the whoverse ths remains objectively the best doctor. What a shame it lasted so little.
These videos have made my quarantine more bearable, thank you.
that warms my heart, hope you're keeping safe!
@@FullFatVideos could you do an episode on the Zygon Invasion/Inversion?
7:48
Holy _shit_ is that an evil laugh.
I know that the daleks are treated as jokes in season 9 but honestly I think it fits. This isn't Chris' doctor. This is a doctor that is centuries from the time war and is tired and cross. So for him to treat the Daleks the same as he did when he had just come out of a war with them that forced him to kill billions of his own people just wouldn't make sense. I think that at this point in the Doctor's life, they shouldn't be fearful of the Daleks, but rather cautious. Always making sure the people around him/her are safe, but being tired of the Dalek's shenanigans. I don't know. Maybe it's just because I'm a huge fan of Capaldi's carefree attitude, but that's my take.
+
Still, while it makes a certain kind character sense post Day of the Doctor when your main protagonist isn't as scared of his villains as he used to be the audience isn't. Also, this kinda stuff happened before Day of the Doctor, in Aslyum 11 has no reaction to Dalek prison camps so it's not like this is a clear cut progression in character.
If the Daleks are supposed to be some of the most powerful creatures in the universe, equal to the Time Lords, I just think they should be a bit more of a threat. It makes sense the Doctor wouldn't be so intimidated as he was just coming out of the Time War, but he still has a long history with the Daleks, predating the War. They're supposed to be his greatest enemy.
The Doctor treating them as a joke is one thing. His hatred is allowed to ebb a bit once he knows they have’s killed his people after all. But It’s another when the narrative makes them a joke without him even being in the room.
Nah sorry, you can't apply any logic to it, we don't allow that. Old stuff is good, new stuff is bad.
But you’re forgetting about where the daleks are in the Doctor’s life for them. 9 is fresh out of the time war, to him, the daleks drove him to wiping out both races and stopping the suffering. But in episodes like Witch’s familiar, the Doctor has had over a millennium to get used to seeing them over and over in his life, the impact of the war has either worn off or the Doctor has been able to suppress the rage and anger, and replace it with humour (maybe as a coping mechanism) but once their mechanism has been worn away, it brings out the pain and rage as in episode’s like the Zygon inversion. But this all kinda adds up to the Moffat and his Dalek/Time war problem and this is just my opinion.
I would love to see them do an episode on the Zygon Inversion
This is so full of good, delicious fat! This is a great analysis of Doctor 9, I feel like Eccleston's short-lived run as The Doctor was so powerful in giving Tenant, Smith, and the following actors playing The Doctor such a wonderful and deep foundation to build upon.
i like how "Into the dalek" brought the comparison between the doctor and the daleks back into the story.
though I think they could've done more with it
You should also check out the big finish story Jublie, which was also rewritten by Rob Shearman. That story basically inspired this episode.
Beyond being an amazing standalone story it also works to build up The Parting of Ways, it shows what one Dalek can do, then the finale shows us that there is an armada of Daleks,
Plus I love how the daleks still retain their menace in Parting of the Ways as even though they're up against more advanced technology they're still unstoppable.
"Dalek" is a truly brilliant episode. I don't think it's entirely fair though to expect Twelve to react to the Daleks the same way that Nine did. Nine was fresh from the Time War, traumatised and grief-stricken - he'd just seen his people destroyed by the Daleks. By the time he was Twelve, his people had turned out not to be dead after all and he had a few more, less-costly, Dalek defeats under his belt. He'd had time and reason to become cocky again.
Note also that scenes like the dodgems one are at least partly the Doctor putting on a performance for his enemy. He may or may not be afraid, but if he is, he's unlikely to let the Daleks see it.
An interesting comparison is Season 11's "Resolution". The Doctor is clearly shaken once she realises what she's dealing with. But as soon as she is actually face-to-face with the Dalek she's all bravado.
I'm not sure. Given the main cause of the 11th Doctor's regeneration was partially due to the actions of the Daleks on Trenzalore, you'd think the 12th Doctor would definitely take the Daleks a bit more seriously. He did so in Into The Dalek, so why not in the Witches Familiar? It just seems a bit out of character.
@@HardCorePoration That's a fair point. There's no reason I can see for that inconsistency within the season.
@irrevenant3 lmao 13’s character is all over the place in series 11
@@yrok244 I'd go so far as to say that Thirteen's character is non-existent in series 11. I'm glad they'd gotten much better at that by Resolution and then Season 12...
@@HardCorePoration In my opinion the difference is that in that scene Capaldi's Doctor thought he had won, managing to one up Davros and then all of Skaro seems to be the best time to crack a joke, because for him its all over. In the other episodes the Daleks never lose that level of threat towards the Doctor, and he keeps up the Bravado but doesnt drop his guard.
The Doctor seems to be more fearful when there are other people around him, or when he cant see a way out. The Ninth doctor was barely out of the mass bloodshed of the time war, the twelth doctor is over twice the age of the ninth and spent most of the time inbetween being able to be funny and extremely cocky about it. I see the "Dodgems?" bit more of a familiar moment for the doctor when he foiled the Daleks Grand plan over and over before. One Dalek will always be scarier than many, because to the Doctor one dalek is X amount of terror and only Y amount of victory. A thousand is only 30X terror and 1000Y victory so he would feel much cockier once he KNOWS he will win.
I just watched this yesterday! I was struck by how much character work is in the episode. Rewatching the series, the difference in attention to character between then and now is kind of staggering.
10:50, my favourite unsung moment of that scene is after the line "You would make a good Dalek", the screen turns off leaving the Doctor looking at a black screen.
A reflection of himself that has literally been darkened.
Shameless plug but I did a video last year that includes an hour-long conversation with the episodes director Joe Ahearne. Check it out if you want to learn more about the episode's thought process and development! - czcams.com/video/pAHC5tQRNRg/video.html
MrTARDISreviews I love the look Eccleston gives just after this where he realises what’s about to happen. As he tells them to seal the vault he has this look of mild panic behind his eyes and you can tell he has no backup plan to stop the Dalek
When it comes to Modern Who, RTD truly nailed the Daleks in a way none of he successors did. As much as I loved the Moffat Era (particularly with Series 5 & the Capaldi Era), he never quite got the Daleks the way RTD did. 'Into the Dalek' came close but that never reached classic status for me, and as much as I deeply love 'The Magician's Apprentice/The Witch's Familiar' (One of the very best of the Capladi Era), that felt more like a Davros story while the Daleks felt like the secondary antagonists.
Speaking of 'The Magician's Apprentice/The Witch's Familiar', they about how the Daleks were played for laughs. I respectfully disagree with this since, in that scene, it's clear that the Twelfth Doctor is just playing the fool at first before angrily threatening them with a Dalek gun. he even says during that scene, "If Clara Oswald is really dead, then you better be very, very careful how you tell me! All the power Davros had is mine! Everything he had, I have!".
Chibnall seemed to have the right idea with the Dalek in Resolution, I liked the Dalek being out of its casing and hijacking a human body, I really liked its dialogue but the story structure is weird in that one and they made the Dalek too OP by giving it rockets and things.
@@Ben-vf5gk That did show some potential, but I feel Chbnall went a bit too far in a few places and, like 'Into the Dalek', I can't really call it a classic Dalek story. Hopefully, 'Revolution of the Daleks' will be exactly that.
@@ryanpollard1166 Yeah, also what is it with Chris Chibnall and story titles?! So many of them are bland (Resolution, Revolution of the Daleks, the battle of ranskoor av Coronavirus virus) or they're dad jokes (Spyfall, Arachnids in the UK). I mean I could have sworn Revolution of the Daleks was done- it turned out it was Revelation of the Dalek but still.
@@Ben-vf5gk
The only other Dalek story with a more bland, generic title than Revolution of the Daleks is Return of the Daleks, which was a Big Finish story.
@@SpectrumStorms Oh that one's just taking the mick! You might as well call every story return of the Dalek!
Oh yes THE best Dalek story! So well paced, tightly scripted, Eccleston on top form. So many great scenes, in fact i dont think a single scene is wasted in this episode.
This is a great review and how wonderful to see Robert Shearman comment on it, you guys deserve it!
As someone who has zero interest in watching dr who despite being a sci fan as a kid, Dalek was the episode that changed that and made a me a fan
"I watched it happen; I made it happen"
Scariest line in any new Doctor Who. In the delivery of that single sentence Eccleston encapsulate the entire thesis of Who: Power corrupts.
And then, that corruption was further amplified at the end of The Waters from Mars. Where the 10th Doctor tried to change history and saw himself as a God. Time Lord Victorious.
RTD's success with the Daleks can be summed up as a unique character arc for the species- how we saw them from one lone Dalek believing their entire kind were dead, to Davros himself returning and the entire Dalek fleet ready for mass instantaneous conquering. In 4 seasons, their usage was very gripping.
Honestly Christopher Eccleston is the best Dr Who actor, one of the greatest actors of all time, PERIOD.
this is the first time ive hard someone say pepperpots and not mean goop lady
Alongside RTD and Rob Shearman's work on this episode, I rate the direction of the Daleks by Joe Aherne: he directed them with sincerity and added to their menace with some almost slow, creeping shadows and entrances
I just started watching Doctor Who as something to do during Quarantine, (I started at the revival and I'm gonna watch the classic stuff after) all of this is new to me but I'm totally obsessed. And watching your video essays right after I finish the episodes you talk about has been a really cool accompaniment to the series. Puts everything I'm seeing into perspective. Love it!
Same as you, fell in love with the show in the episode "dalek" and finished the entirity of nuwho in a few weeks
Nathaniel Malik Gan no way that's exactly how I started! Watched "Dalek" first cuz I didn't know if I'd like it.. just finished season 4.5 and moving on to five now after like 3-4 weeks of watching now
@@accountb5113 i started with Rose and thought it was an okay show but then DALEK happened and ive been hooked. Finished all of nuwhu last week. Warning series 11 is boring and takes you out of it a little. But series 12 is an improvement-ish. Im not gonna spoil it for you though. Have fun
Nathaniel Malik Gan I'm definitely enjoying the ride
Do yourself a favor and stop after season 10 like i did. Didn't even bother with Whittakers seasons and i just found out yesterday that at the end of season 12, they basically Game of Thrones'd the show. It's basically ruined. They retconned 50+ years of canon for a cheap shock revelation. I hate when my favourite shows turn to crap in the blink of an eye. Dexter, How i met your mother, game of thrones, now Doctor who
Can I just take a moment to appreciate that you refer to the doctor as themselves, they/them, etc, so seamlessly?
Those were better days... So much better. :(
Great, now I need to binge all of doctor who again, thanks a bunch.
My first memory of Doctor Who as a young child was the scene where the Dalek exterminates all the soldiers in the rain. Truly terrifying, and shows the Daleks as a ruthless unstoppable race. This episode is amazing.
Same. Absolutely terrifying.
He does this throughout his run even with Tenant and the Time Lord Victorious and in a tweet from a couple of days ago Davis explains a darker version of The Parting of Way episode
do you know what said/ do you know the Link
I want to thank you guys for these essays, after I watched a lot of them I decided to watch dr Who. I am absolutely loving it
This was as cracking episode for the 9th Doc, such a shame he left, this episode proves how good he was, excellent actor.
Narrator sounds like the 9th Doctor.
The last scene of Dalek has almost my favourite in NuWho. "This is not life. This is sickness. I shall not be like you. Order my destruction. Obey! Obey! OBEY!" It shows how the Dalek goes wishing the Dalek race endures through it, to wishing to die due to emotions.
This episode is my all-time favourite. The Eccleston years were my first watching the show and he's by far the best actor for the role, followed closely by Tennant. Eccleston's performance in this episode was just the absolute best thing to happen to television. Whatever the writers of this episode set out to do, they absolutely nailed it, and then some!
Thank you (and CZcams recommendations) for reminding me about this episode, might have to go re-watch it. I missed the part where he mentions the racial hatred of the Daleks every time I've watched this episode (so many times)... I never actually even gave it any thought that their hatred is a form of racism, that definitely makes them even more dangerous of an enemy. Great insights!
"One bad day" I know what you did there
I was like "Yeah! A Killing Joke reference!"
Awwww, amazing loveeeee Doctor Who videos!!!!! Would love to see you thought on "Silence in the Librery" and "Forest of the Dead" (one of my favorites)and more Doctor Who episode brake downs!!! Love you guys!!!!
Always such a shame that we only got Chris for one season. Damn he's a great actor, exemplified in this episode.
Such an underrated moment in my opinion is when the Doctor puts the gun down, completely distraught, and almost in tears he says: oh Rose they’re all dead.
Almost as if he has been living in denial since the end of the time war and the realisation that he actually is the last time lord and it’s just hit him like a ton of bricks. This expertly adds to the survivors guilt that Shearman’s gorgeously layered script portrays.
I remember the first time I ever saw the Daleks.
It was Area 52 from Looney Tunes Back in Action.
Same
Finally, someone else!
Ha! I saw it in that, and I paused. I saw it and recognised it. When it spoke I laughed, as it failed to say that exterminate, as they probably didn’t want copyright issues
Is it me, or does he genuinely sound like Eccleston
That's what I thought while I was watching
4:36
I do love that scene with the Doctor in Davros’ chair, yes sure it diminishes their threat, but he’s the Doctor, just accept it.
Don’t care what anyone says while Moffat was a better episodic writer RTD is by far the best season runner of new who. His season arcs were by far the best and without him Doctor who wouldn’t still be going and unlike Moffat he rarely wrote poor or average episodes
I'm sorry, what? Unlike Moffat he rarely wrote poor or average episodes? Is this a joke?
The End of the World(?)
Aliens of London/WW3
The Long Game
Boom Town
New Earth
Love & Monsters
Last of the Time Lords - aka the one with "Jesus Doctor"
The Next Doctor
Planet of the Dead
I'd toss the End of Time in here too, but this one would be controversial to some just because it's the last Tennant story.
Let's contrast that to Moffat (who had a longer tenure)
The Beast Below(?)
Let's Kill Hitler
The Wedding of River Song
The Doctor, the Widow and the Wardrobe
The Time of the Doctor?
The Return of Doctor Mysterio
The Pyramid at the End of the World
Kunfuxu you have to be trolling surely?😂😂😂 or you’ve just got poor taste but almost none of the episodes you mentioned of RTD’s were bad or even average. RTD did make some bad and average episodes but not as often as Moffat. Let’s go through the episodes you mentioned
The End of the World- Not awful at all a fairly decent enjoyable episode
Aliens of London/ WW3- A pair of average episodes not bad but not outstanding
The Long Game- Again not bad or great just fairly ok
Boom Town- Don’t know what you’re going on about with this one this is a great episodic and wrapped up the Slitheen storyline perfectly ( Something which Moffat couldn’t do which is wrap up storylines)
New Earth- An underrated episode not great at all but still wrapped up Cansandra’s arc perfectly and in my opinion had one of the best endings of any new who episode
Love and Monsters- This is the only RTD episode I’d consider bad. I agree this one is terrible
Last of the Time Lords- Surely you have to be joking look the whole Jesus doctor thing was stupid but this was still a fantastic episode
The Next Doctor- Not bad at all quite fun and once again had some fantastic moments
Planet of the Dead- A really underrated episode with great characters and just overall a fun story with a great ending don’t know why you’d dislike it
End of Time- If you actually think the End of Time is bad you are either delusional or have zero taste it’s the best final episode for any doctor. Including Classic Who
Honestly think you’re just talking nonsense only episode you mentioned which deserve to be there is Love and Monsters also most of the Moffat episodes you mentioned weren’t even that bad a few were quite good or even very good these are some bad, average or just disappointing Moffat episodes
The Beast Below- A very very average episode with a nice ending
The Curse of the Black Spot- Just bad
Night Terrors- Once again just a bullshit filler episode which isn’t even that good
Dinosaurs on a Spaceship- So bad it’s enjoyable but still bad
Cold War- Another poorly written filler episode
Hide- Another boring, bland filler episode
Journey to the centre of the Tardis- Just Average
Nightmare in Silver- Boring and pointless
Time of the Doctor- One of the worst final Doctor episodes ever very badly written
In the Forest of the Night- Besides Love and Monsters this is the worst episode of New Who painfully pointless
Smile- Only thing which makes this episode watchable is Bill and Capaldi
There we go
Kunfuxu also it’s not just about the individual episodes it’s about what the show runner adds to the show and RTD added some amazing things but Moffat took it away. I mean Moffat created the weeping angels so credit to him for that but every time they returned they got less and less scary and the episodes got worse and worse same for the Daleks I mean multicolour Daleks really?😂 then there’s the sonic glasses which I like I’ll be honest but it’s still ridiculous. RTD turned Doctor who into a superb must watch show and his era is the most popular in the shows history whereas Moffat towards the end turned the show into a fucking meme also not to mention he never finished many of the arcs and storylines he started and completely ruined the return to Galifrey and was responsible for Clara who is one of the worst companions of all time
Quantummuffin I disagree completely with everything you said as would most people also even if the show runner never wrote an episode they still had an important input. RTD never wrote Blink Moffat did yet RTD was very much responsible for a lot of things in the episode. So that’s why I included a lot of episodes Moffat didn’t write because he still played a very important part yet they were not pulled off also RTD did not write many shit stories Love and Monsters is the only one also as I said it’s not just about individual episodes it’s about the seasons as a whole and the arc of that season and honestly apart from series 5 not a single one of Moffat seasons had a good arc it’s also about the characters and companions and RTD wrote and created far better companions and minor characters than Moffat ever could. Look whether you like it or not there is a reason why the ratings and viewing figures went down under Moffat and continue to go down under Chibnall
Quantummuffin that’s just an excuse if a show is good enough then people will tune in regardless of other options out there but when the viewing figures were dropping year by year as Moffat seasons went on and now with Chibnall’s latest season has the lowest viewing figures and ratings since 1986 then you have to accept the reason this is happening is because the show is simply shit nowadays
This is a great representation of PTSD and the kind of effect it can have on even amongst the strongest and most intelligent.
One of the best episodes ever. Good rundown.
From Dalek to Journey End.
This has been the greatest scifi stories I have ever watched.
Your analysis of the series is spot on, and in many ways on par with the series you analyse!
Yoooooo that painting of Van Statten at 12:18 is done in the style of the cover painting for "Atlas Shrugged" by Ayn Rand - a novel famously based around portraying greed and unadulterated capitalism as virtues
You haven't read atlas shrugged
You haven't read atlas shrugged
@@scotcheggable I read about three chapters before I became mind-numbingly bored by Rand's autistic writing, cheers
the seismic impact of this episode is only more amplified when you remember this was the first dalek story on TV since the 80s and the first dalek story of new who
One of the things I always noticed about this episode, and I could be off my rocker on this; but it’s this one Daleks ability to rotate like a turret 360 degrees and kill the soldiers behind him. We’ve seen in other episodes that Daleks must face a threat head on to kill, but not this Dalek. This probably stems from its learning of the internet and looking at human technology, I.e. tanks. So, in a weird way, humans helped to improve one of the most efficient killing species in the universe.
👏👏👏 I have never seen such an incredible video essay. You clearly understand so much of the content and subtext, and I applaud the way you decode characters, plots, and symbolism.
Well done and informative. Thank you.
Terrific video! All points _spot-on!_
That scene of Eccleston screaming at the Dalek and the reaction to the Dalek rebuttal was great acting
Never watched you before but just liked and subbed. Amazing amazing video thank you so much for reminding me of why I’ve always loved doctor who when it was hard for me to explain it to others
The doctor zapping the dalek always makes me cry.
Then they kept using "the Doctor is a good Dalek" line
This episode terrified me as a child, it made me see the Daleks as horror creatures throughout the Davies era. Then Moffatt got the show and honestly now I'm no longer afraid of them (also them being fictional and such).
Yeah like when Whittaker wrote his Dalek stories, they were frightening but when Williams and JNT made their stories, they were no longer frightening. The Power of the Daleks and The Evil of the Daleks are my two favourite Dalek stories.
awesome episode - like it was great having the doc back in 2005 for those first few shows but this one is when it escalated and transformed into must watch tv - great video mate, thank you for posting
what a fabulous video essay, and i like that it feels like a love letter to a phenomenal episode
It's interesting what you say about the three superior characters. One of the most chilling parts of the episode comes just after the Doctor's conversation in the cell - Van Statten saves the Dalek and demands that it talk to him, the Dalek just stares at him blankly, before later saying that it will only speak to the Doctor.
Rewatching this video 5 months later and it still gives me chills how much depth there is. Even went through a Series 1 rewatch recently and it's just amazing how well it holds up.
the two best things about Dalek.
1. It remains silent until it hears Rose say she'd full of Artron energy, then despite having few emotions, it cooks up a sob story to get that all important touch,
2. The whole episode is heading toward Hugh the friendly Borg territory, and the end of my love of DW, Then the Dakek says F* that shit I'd rather die than be slightly nicer. MMMWAAAAAH perfection.
I've been watching alot of classic who lately and If you look back to the first story with the daleks and the first doctor they aren't even really that evil or malicious, they are just one of two species on a dead planet trying to survive. The way that they have evolved from creatures hiding in a shell trying to survive into war machines is almost more scary to me than the daleks themselves... They originally had reason and although weren't kind they weren't directly hostile, even when being more hostile they only paralyzed Ians legs when he disobeyed where as the later daleks would have instantly killed him without thought. The newer series really displays how twisted the daleks have become while also showing that there is still a living creature somewhere inside the shell... I don't have a point to this comment and I don't know where I was going with it, it doesn't even really relate to the video...
If anyone loves this episode definitely give Jubilee a listen it is a fantastic 6th Doctor Big Finish Audio Story that inspired Dalek also written by Shearman while being a very very different story.
This episode made me convinced with how 9 acted and with how FRESH the wound seemed that 9 was the war doctor
6:16 "but why would it do that"
one of the best lines in new who
I don't think the episode should have been called dalek, as well as the next time trailer not revealing it. I think it would have made the reveal even better...
What a great video!
for a second i thought chris eccleston was narrating this
I’ve finally got here. To this point. Well. In a strange timey situation I have arrived back at my very close past. I’ve just got to ten. But I remembered I found this video long ago. And now that I’ve seen this I can fully appreciate it.
Great I’ve now got to go and watch this episode again
This video was amazing and really expanded my thoughts on this episode, also I don't know how you pick out the movies or episodes you do for the videos, but i'd like to see one done for Waters Of Mars if at all possible. Thanks
I make it a point to tell new viewers to the show, to make sure you stick around until Dalek. It's just a near perfect episode in exploring the character of The Doctor, it really solidifies the character and makes The Doctor Dances just feel so much better. Up until then you had just a collection of decent episodes with different themes to make it a bit muddled for new viewers, (Manequins, a sheet as a bad guy, zombies, farting aliens) Dalek sets up the rest of the season, it makes The Doctor Dances so joyous, and really makes the Parting of the Ways convincing. Nothing wrong with most of those early episodes as they all had moments, but Dalek was probably the most perfectly executed episode of the season, and brought in a bit more seriousness that it needed in order to do things like Father's Day, Empty Child and Bad Wolf. Although it still didn't stray from silly even in some of those episodes, it allowed them to show serious a bit more often.
good points, well made
Wonderful video...
I realized something else about Dalek (coincidently while watching your Black Pantha villain problem video that made me so cheers for that guys) it has an almost pitch-perfect structure for a 45-minute story. This is really impressive once you realize that the story it's based on Jubille (which, @Full-Fat Videos if you decide to do a video about a big finish play, that's a good start) which is twice as long. It takes what just what it needs to from the story, no more, no less and delivers a perfect 3 act structure, and a villain for each act.
. First Act the villain is Van-Statten, he's not an overly complex guy, more of an obstacle than outright villain so we have more time to flesh out the Dalek. We're introduced to it we see our Eccleston reacts to it, his fear, but then we see how vulnerable it is. This Act ends when the Dalek breaks out.
. Then the Dalek starts killing, we show why it should be feared, how strong, how effective, intelligent it is, how much it hates them. The act ends with the Dalek deciding not to kill Rose, it stops being a villain when this happens
. The villain for the final act is the Doctor, he's the source of antagonism, he's trying to find and kill the Dalek, not the other way around, which leads to that utterly beautiful ending
Some stories do need to be two-parters but the 45-minute format can do wonders if paced and structured well.
Best Eccleston scene in the whole series. So looking forward to their next appearance. Thankfully we have that to look forward to still.
It still remains my favourite Doctor Who episode ever.
This was the episde when i fell in love with the series, and still my favourite to the very end.
I remember watching this when I was probably 7-10 and this was my experience to see a Dalek
Dalek is an amazing story
I've had numerous friends over the last few years say "ok, what are these 'British robots' the Lego Joker said I should ask about?" and I always introduce them to the Daleks through this episode first. Then I spend the next couple weeks with them screeching "EXTERMINATE! EXTERMINATE!" at me... Well worth it though, to bring another of the Great Uninitiated to the DW buffet.
Horror comes from what is imagined rather than what is seen. Ahem, maybe that's why Jubilee is superior.
Hello dear full fat videos! I really love your videos on Doctor Who. Here are some ideas for a video essay that i thought might be interesting:
- The differences between classic and new who
- how who handles resurrections
- the masterpiece that is the RTD era
It'd be great if you would consider them when making new videos!
This was the episode that made me love this show
A really good and thorough essay. Many of your points resonated, and one interesting one that hadn’t occurred to me. 13 however is nothing but arrogant imo. One criticism, I would use different synonyms for the word ‘iconic’, which crops up too often, and that’s not a criticism aimed at only you, it’s the one word that is overly used in almost every video essay on CZcams. It’s a small point, but one you might like to take onboard in future because I think it improves writing to avoid reuse of cliche words and will make your content all the more original. Good work though.
Yes, "iconic" has become rather clichéd and over-used, which lessens its impact.
This video explains pretty much every reason why I love the Daleks so much
The high metallic pitch that accompanies the dalek is perfect at making you feel uncomfortable at the sight of them
Recently rewatched it today as part of the third day of my (sort of) binge watch of New Who and it's still amazing. I've also just finished binging Torchwood and Miracle Day's ending was... underwhelming and sequel bating.
I feel like Torchwood exemplifies some of the worst qualities in RTD's writing. In my opinion, he often seems to use the "taboo" (sex, gratuitous violence, swearing, etc) for shock value instead of any genuine substance. For example, he sets up this "dark abyss" in the afterlife during Torchwood S1 to be more "realistic"... And then promptly follows this up with demons, witches, ghosts, and death itself as a black-cloaked scary skeleton. I think RTD doesn't always try to reconcile the fantastical, grounded, and outright "edgy" elements of his stories at times, and I think it clashes rather hard as a result.
@@B1rdzOfF1re the thing is, he didn't write most of the early episodes, it was Chibnall who wrote notorious episodes like Day One, Cyberwoman and End of Days.
In my opinion, whilst Torchwood had its flaws (though is overall quite enjoyable), it did one thing better than the main show and that's the death of main characters. I understand Doctor Who is a family show, which is probably why deaths are impermanent, but for me the fact no companion dies/stays dead is a lot less impactful than the weight death is given in Torchwood. But maybe that's just me.
@MetaPlanet yeah I rewatched cyberwoman yesterday and it was the best thing Chibnalls ever done with the cybermen- tho he fucked the design both times.
In all seriousness though, if you removed the cyber boobs and the dinosaur fight, cyberwoman has great potential. The horror of her failed conversions, the terror the team feel towards her, the tragedy behind the character and of course the claustrophobia as the team are all trapped with one cyberman with the intention of picking them off- I bet if you tweaked the episode a bit and stuck it in the main show it would be regarded as a classic cybermen episode. It's such a shame a few small things are really bad in an otherwise fantastic cyber story.
@MetaPlanet Ok, I'm just talking about my personal opinions on his episodes, if you enjoy his Torchwood work, that's ok since everyone has different opinions. Here's how I feel about his episodes...
Day One: A weak second episode to the series that is 'adult' in the most immature way since it's about alien gas that fucks people to death.
Cyberwoman: So bad it's funny and the events make no sense when you think about them for more than a few seconds (eg: How did Ianto manage to sneak a Cyber Conversion Unit and a part converted Cyber Girlfriend into the Hub without Jack ever finding it).
Countrycide: One of the best episodes of season 1 (although I might feel differently if I had seen more horror films at the time of watching it) and a good subversion of expectations with no aliens involved.
End of Days: Does away with the most interesting plot of the episode and then just continued with "...and then another thing happened" until the end of the runtime. However, I do like the actual ending even if it doesn't fully link up with Utopia.
Kiss Kiss, Bang Bang: A good season opener and a good episode on its own, possibly on par with Everything Changes.
Adrift: Probably the best of season 2 and a fantastic piece of sci-fi TV.
Fragments: One of the times flashback origin stories have been great and Jack's flashbacks make me want to see previous versions of the Torchwood Three team.
Exit Wounds: An adequate end to season 2 and much better than End of Days although I feel that - given the fact that what Gray went through at the hands of whatever species attacked his and Jack's home planet is left up to our imagination - I feel he should have looked more scarred than he actually did. Also Owen's death makes absolutely no sense.
Personally, I think Chibnall made the Daleks scarier again, although he added some powers to them we never heard of before.
This is great
What...a...masterpiece 🤩 "Dalek" is my third fav episode of Doctor Who, this episode has some of my favourite moments in cinema in general, and Adam is my favourite companion in Doctor Who (Ok, that last one was a joke XD). So this just validates how great of a writer RTD and Shearman are. Golden age of Doctor Who right here!
A friend of mine who likes Doctor Who a lot had never seen a single episode with the 9th Doctor (her brother [who has a TARDIS door, I love my friends] told her it wasn't good and could just be skipped), after the completionest in me asked her how that didn't drive her insane I told her it was awesome and deserved a watch (to this day I don't know if she has though). At some point in me talking about it I just went on and on about this episode (it's my favorite of that season), eventually just showing it to her. I can't think of a better episode to introduce someone to the 9th Doctor or Daleks, even if she hasn't seen the rest of his season I hope this episode at least showed her why I talk so highly of it.
that dalek had more character development than all of the three newest companions combined
your manhattan/evolution clips are T H I C C
Always make the villain equal to the hero.