Doctor Who: Into The Dalek ( review )

OK... two episodes into the new series and my Doctor Who reviews have already started running late. Same old story. In my defence we did have a mega-busy weekend with Sophie's marathon birthday party ( 8 hours of socialising! ) and several Ice Bucket Challenges taking up a lot of valuable blogging time :-)

After the traditional post-regeneration trauma of last week's episode, the Doctor now seems more stable... and can even fly the Tardis accurately. He proves this by saving the life, somewhere in deep space, of Journey Blue  -  a soldier fighting a last, desperate battle against overwhelming Dalek forces. On board Journey's space shuttle, the Aristotle, the Doctor discovers the rebels have a patient: a captured Dalek who is so damaged he has turned "good". And he needs a doctor. After a quick hop back to Earth to pick up Clara ( who seems to be doing just fine on her own, chatting up new character Danny Pink ) the Doctor and a military escort ( shreddies ) are miniaturised and sent... into the Dalek...

For me, this is one of the best episodes in years, especially after last year's regular series ( away from all the 50th Anniversary hoopla ) was so hit and miss. And it's definitely the best use of the Skarovian pepper-pots in a long time, restoring their full menace and deviousness. Director Ben Wheatley brings a suitably intense, filmic quality to the story with some of his signature slow-motion / trippy visuals  -  I love the psychedelic scene where the Doctor and co travel through the Dalek's eyestalk like it's a funhouse hall of mirrors. The script is fine too, examining this series' theme of what it is to be a hero or, indeed, a good man. The new Doctor can be abrasive and seemingly uncaring at times, a harshly pragmatic man who seems to forget that humans have feelings... but also very funny, exasperating ( especially for Clara ) and at times vulnerable. And calling the damaged, deranged Dalek "Rusty"? Brilliant! Capaldi, while maybe not yet fully comfortable in the role is excellent as ever and promises great things.

The only quibble I have is that there are elements to this story which are overly familiar: the Doctor confronting a chained, broken Dalek ( er, Dalek ), the miniaturisation and attack by antibodies ( Let's Kill Hitler ), falling into the digestive tract of a beast ( er again, The Beast Below ). These are only mild irritations and don't detract from a claustrophobic, exciting and surprisingly scary episode. I can't wait to see what else this new / old Time Lord has up his magician's sleeve...

Four Out Of Five Sonic Screwdrivers ( or Dalek antibodies )