Christopher Morley takes a look at the latest episode of Doctor Who Series 8, Into The Dalek.
Welcome one & all to possibly the most
mind-blowing psychology lecture you'll ever see- all without having
to apply for a student loan! Into The Dalek
not only told us a little more about both the good & bad sides of
the Doctor ( his id,
or gut instinct, jostling for position with ego in his still-forming
personality), but showed us that the same could be applied to a
Dalek. That's right, Daleks can be good. With a little help from the
right therapist, of course.......and only in a sense.
After returning a
soldier, Journey Blue, to the command ship Aristotle-
under attack by Daleks- the Doctor is welcomed aboard. The crew have
a patient for him, too. Before he can say ' I'm not really that sort
of doctor' & leave them the number for a good helpline as he
makes a quick exit, he's conscripted into helping them. There's also
something a little different about this particular metal maniac..he's
turned good, apparently. Being the curious type, as ever, he agrees
to help.
But where's
Clara? She's back teaching at Coal Hill School, & she's met Danny
Pink ( making the transition from soldier to maths teacher). Mr Pink
has a bit of a reputation as a flirt as well as an implied troubled
past- well, he did serve in Afghanistan. Another man soon comes onto
the scene, though. It's the Doctor! He's not going to do anything like
what Danny might have in mind, though. He's well past the sort-of
flirting stage ( that was literally a lifetime ago).
He does, though,
need her help. There's a rather important question to be answered. Is
he a good man? Neither of them know the answer, but they might just
be about to find out. Whisking her off to the Aristotle
he's given something of a reminder of his Ninth incarnation.
Specifically when he & Rose Tyler found themselves down in Henry
Van Statten's vault in Utah...
No wonder a Dalek in chains is familiar! You might also remember it
telling him that he would make a good one.
Is that still the case? Questions aplenty.
And to answer
them we're going to have to go a bit Fantastic Voyage-
The Doctor, Clara & soldiers Ross & Gretchen being shrunk to
find out what's caused the rather big change of mind on 'Rusty's
part. The title of the episode should tell you where they have to go!
Once they get there, though, they come under attack from antibodies.
Remind you of a particular Fourth Doctor adventure?
Having evaded the antibodies & lost Ross, the crew reaches what
its looking for.
Rusty's suffering
from a radiation leak, which the Doctor fixes with the aid of his
ever-handy sonic screwdriver. Big mistake! Or is it? Working out a
quick fix, the dapper Time Lord ( not the dandy one, though they do share certain traits)
has his colleagues help him muck about with a few memories. Gretchen
perishes in the effort & joins Missy & the Half-Faced Man in
Heaven ( all a bit mysterious if you ask us. The only thing we do
know is that not everyone there looks smart & wears a tie).
Which sets something off in Rusty. He's seen a star being born, &
it was that moment which made him see the massive flaws of his kind.
A little help from a psychic link with the Doctor reinforces all that
made him 'good'. In a way. Zeroing in on the Doctor's hatred of
Skaro's favourite sons, he's soon back on a war footing- against his
fellow Daleks!
Undoubtedly a bit
of a game-changer. Just as the First Doctor's maiden encounter with
the Daleks changed him...
Of course before that he'd been rather flinty, but something about his first tangles in opposition to them changed him. And indeed he attempted to change them, following his first regeneration...
In a sense then we've now come full circle! As the Doctor once tried to implant the ' Human Factor' into Daleks, & they the ' Dalek Factor' into humankind, he's now succeeded in putting the ' Doctor Factor' into a Dalek...no wonder Rusty tells the Doctor he has work to do as they part! Whether we'll see more of him is as yet unknown, but we can't be the only ones hoping he occasionally pops back for a cup of tea & a chat about his latest acts of kindness.
Of course before that he'd been rather flinty, but something about his first tangles in opposition to them changed him. And indeed he attempted to change them, following his first regeneration...
In a sense then we've now come full circle! As the Doctor once tried to implant the ' Human Factor' into Daleks, & they the ' Dalek Factor' into humankind, he's now succeeded in putting the ' Doctor Factor' into a Dalek...no wonder Rusty tells the Doctor he has work to do as they part! Whether we'll see more of him is as yet unknown, but we can't be the only ones hoping he occasionally pops back for a cup of tea & a chat about his latest acts of kindness.
Will he save
kittens from trees? Sign up as a foster parent? Help little old
ladies across the road? Who knows what his future holds. There's one
question as yet left unanswered though. Is the Doctor a good man?
Rusty still thinks he'd make a good Dalek, even if he wouldn't put
himself in that category any more. Doesn't seem to console the newest
incarnation of the Time Lord, though. Someone saw into his very soul
& saw hatred. Enough to put anyone right off their coffee, even
if it is three weeks old. At this rate he & Clara should be
grateful they got any at all, mind!
If he'd been
drinking some at the time, he could perhaps have been forgiven for
preparing to spit it out should he not have got the answer he was
looking for to his big question. Is he a good man? He tries to be. As
he always has done. But he doesn't always get it right, as we know!
We've seen every one of his past selves make mistakes, errors of
judgement. We've seen them be calculating, ruthless even. The TARDIS
has criss-crossed the paths between right & wrong so often it
most likely knows the way better than the Doctor himself, &
that's saying something!
Will Twelve walk
the same morally skewed path as his First. Seventh & Ninth incarnations?
Will he come to fret over the implications of almost every choice as
his Fifth, & to an extent Tenth, selves once did? The fun as ever comes in the finding out.
Onwards to Sherwood Forest, then...............
What did you think of Into The Dalek? Let us know in the comments below.
