Favorite Doctor Who Episodes: Dalek

The Doctor has had to fight many villains in his 11 regenerations. However, the Daleks are his worst enemy. And they always seem to come back. There are many episodes in the classic Doctor Who oeuvre (yes, I love that word) featuring the scary aliens. "Dalek" was the first episode in the reboot that featured the Daleks. For a villain, they don't look very menacing, but to those familiar with Doctor Who lore, there is nothing worse than a Dalek. I'm sure the fans who watched the classic Doctor Who were terrified when they saw that the Daleks were back.

Observations:

A signal draws the TARDIS off-course, and the Doctor and Rose land in an underground bunker in Utah in 2012. Being from Utah, it was cool to me that the first episode (of the reboot) set in America is set in my home state. Of course, the 11th Doctor will have a stronger tie to Utah, and those episodes really were filmed in Utah, unlike this episode, which was probably filmed in Wales.

The idea of a human collecting extraterrestrial artifacts is really cool. It gives us a chance to see a stuffed Slitheen arm, the milometer from the Roswell spaceship, and the head of a classic Cyberman (they are redesigned when they appear in a future episode), another one of the Doctor's adversaries.

I had never seen a Dalek before I saw this episode. I didn't know what it was, so I had no idea of the Doctor's history with them. However, when I saw the Doctor's reaction to it when he heard its "voice," I knew that he was terrified by it. Christopher Eccleston's performance was spot-on. His performance is especially great because he's acting against a "metaltron," as Van Statten's people call it. These are the kinds of scenes that really made me love Eccleston as the Doctor. He has so many emotions in this one scene.

The Dalek downloads the entire internet. It now knows everything. And half of the information it knows now is wrong. *wink*

When the soldiers get in position to fire on the Dalek in the hallway, it reminds me of the rebel soldiers at the beginning of Star Wars (A New Hope), getting in position to prepare for the arrival of Darth Vadar on the spaceship. It's pretty funny.

Quotes:

Rose: What is it?
Doctor: An old friend of mine. Well, an enemy. The stuff of nightmares, reduced to an exhibit. I'm getting old.

Rose: If someone's collecting aliens, that makes you Exhibit A.

Van Statten: Wipe his memory. Put him on the side of the road someplace. Memphis or Minneapolis. Somewhere beginning with an M.

Van Statten: So, the next President, what do you think, Republican or Democrat?
Diana: Democrat, sir.
Van Statten: For what reason?
Diana: They're just so funny, sir?

Diana: We don't know how they got in.
Van Statten: I'll tell you how they got in. Intruder window. (pause) Intruder window? That was funny.
[Courtesy laughter]

Doctor: I really wouldn't hold it like that.
Diana: Shut it.
Doctor: Really, though. That's wrong.
Van Statten: Is it dangerous?
Doctor: No, it just looks silly.

Van Statten: We're hidden away with the most valuable collection of extraterrestrial artifacts in the world, and  you just stumbled in by mistake?
Doctor: Pretty much sums me up, yea.

Van Statten (to the Doctor): Quite a collector yourself. She's rather pretty.
Rose: She's gonna smack you if you keep calling her "she."

Va Statten: And you claim greater knowledge?
Doctor: I don't need to make claims. I know how good I am.

Rose: Blimey, you can smell the testosterone.

Van Statten: You, English. You look after the girl. Go and canoodle or spoon, or whatever it is you British do.

Van Statten: You, Doctor with no name, come and see my pet.

Van Statten: Doesn't know what he has. Doesn't know what it can do.

Doctor: If you can't kill, then what you good for, Dalek? What's the point of you?

Dalek: I am alone in the universe.

Adam: The thing is, it's all true. Everything the United Nations tries to keep quiet. Spacecraft, aliens, visitors to earth. They really exist.
Rose: That's amazing.
Adam: I know it sounds incredible, but I honestly believe the whole universe is just teeeming with life.
Rose: I'm gobsmacked, yea.

Rose: So, how did you end up here?
Adam: Van Statten has agents all over the world looking for geniuses to recruit.
Rose: Oh, right. You're a genius.
Adam: Sorry, but, yea. I can't help it. I was born clever.

Doctor: The Dalek race was genetically engineered. Every single emotion was removed, except hate.
Van Statten: Genetically engineered? By whom?
Doctor: By a genius, Van Statten. By a man who was king of his own little world. You'd like him.

Van Statten? Broadband? Roswell.

Doctor: What is the nearest town?
Van Statten: Salt Lake City.
Doctor: Population?
Van Statten: One million.
Doctor: All dead. If the Dalek gets out, it will murder every living creature. That's all it needs.
Van Statten: But why would it do that?
Doctor: Because it honestly believes they should die.

Doctor: Aim for the dome, the head, the eyepiece. That's the weakest spot.
Soldier: Thank you, Doctor, but I think I know how to fight one single tin robot.

Diana: That would take a genius.
Van Statten: Good thing you've got me then.
Doctor: You want to help?

Doctor: If you want orders, follow this one - kill yourself.
Dalek: The Daleks must survive.
Doctor: The Daleks have failed. Why don't you finish the job and make the Daleks extinct? Rid the universe of your filth. Why don't you just die?
Dalek: You would make a good Dalek..

Doctor: Broken. Broken. Hairdryer.

Doctor: You in a fight? I'd like to see that.
Adam: I could do.
Doctor: What are you going to do, throw your A-levels at them?

Rose: Adam was saying that all his life he's wanted to see the stars.
Doctor: Tell him to go and stand outside then.

Doctor: Rose, he's a bit pretty.
Rose: I hadn't noticed.
Doctor: On your own head.

Adam: Doctor, what are you doing standing inside a box?