Day 802: Into the Dalek

I mentioned yesterday about how the Capaldi era focuses more on the prospect of character interaction and character study. Whilst this impression is certainly formed after watching Deep Breath, it's with Into the Dalek that the concept really cements itself with an episode that is strikingly good, because of the way in which it deals with character.

The story is really all about the Doctor facing the prospect of a good Dalek. We go from him being sceptical about the prospect to a quiet joy as he learns more about the Dalek, and discovers that it has discovered beauty in a world of hatred. And that's quite a good concept, because the Daleks are set up to be one-dimensional villains with no care for anything that isn't Dalek. It's part of their appeal as villains; that there is absolutely no reasoning with them, they are just a destructive force of nature. It's all very interesting, but it's fairly expected that the Dalek being revealed as good would just be a defect in the Dalek's programming and it really is bad after all. In effect, then, it renders the first half hour or so of the episode a missed opportunity, presenting us with an interesting concept and then cruelly snatching it away from us before we got to know it.

But then writers Phil Ford and Steven Moffat elect to do something more interesting with it, and have the Doctor try to convince the Dalek to be good. The Doctor does this by hooking his brain up to the Dalek's, reminding him of all the beauty that the Dalek saw, everything which drives the Doctor to go forth and be a good man in the Universe. But the Dalek doesn't just see that, it also sees hatred and anger within the Doctor's mind. There's so much hatred of the Daleks impressed within the Doctor's mind that it inspires the Dalek to go forth and kill all other Daleks in the nearby vicinity, which it does in a very impressive action sequence. But beyond that, we also see heartbreak on the Doctor's face. Because he was presented with this concept of a good Dalek, and he tried to bring it back, but he got it slightly wrong. And he got it slightly wrong because of his own faults as a person, because he has so much anger and hatred within him that he tries to ignore, but he's forced to by the end of the episode.

It's an argument that's summed up by the top and tail of the episode. At the start, the Doctor asks Clara whether he's a good man. At the end, the allied Dalek tells the Doctor that he is a good Dalek. It's a subtle moment, but one that sums up much of the episode in my view. Certainly another good start to this strong series.

Day 801: Deep Breath

When Peter Capaldi was announced as the Doctor, you could feel a wave of excitement dash through the Doctor Who fan community. Everyone looked at him as someone new and exciting, an older Doctor to complement the two younger Doctors that had most recently taken on the role. And I was initially excited to see him as the Doctor. But then, as I got more and more used to the idea of him playing the role, I got a bit worried about whether I would even like him; whether I would come to accept his face as the Doctor. Whilst everyone else jumped up in the air at the idea of the Doctor as a serious figure, one who wasn't sure whether he was even a good man or not, I quietly sat back and waited to see what would happen with this new man in the role.

At least I'd still have Steven Moffat's writing to look forward to, which has been rejuvenated by the prospect of a new Doctor. We've now entered the next, and probably final phase, of the Moffat era of Doctor Who, which I'd call the Capaldi era. It's not quite as focussed on the magic of the concept of Doctor Who, nor on the idea of showing the spectacle of travelling through time and space. Instead, we get a story that's more focussed on character interaction and character study. Indeed, one of the most exciting scenes in the episode isn't the final battle between the Paternoster Gang and the clockwork droids, it's a conversation between Clara and Madame Vastra. In it, Vastra helps Clara come to terms with the Doctor's regeneration by deliberately riling her up, taking Clara's insecurities about this new Doctor and supposing that it might be because he isn't a pretty young man. It sends Clara into a rage that helps her come to terms with the regeneration and realise that she's being unfair to the new Doctor. And it's all symbolised by Vastra's veil, which she uses to hide her lizard visage from those that only want to see a mask and not her own true self. While at the start of the scene, Vastra wears it, it is gone by the end, signifying that Clara is ready to see the Doctor for what he is, which is reflected in her further conversations with him which are far more focussed on how to solve the ongoing problem, as well as how to react with this new Doctor.

And as Clara has to get used to this new Doctor, I've got to get used to him as well. I will admit, I warmed to him over the course of the episode. I wasn't too sure about the new found anger for the twelfth Doctor, but I loved that he kept his keen mind, most obviously seen in the restaurant scene as he deduces that they are surrounded by robots. And so, at around two-thirds of the way through the episode, I was ready to accept him as the Doctor. Unfortunately, at that exact moment, he abandoned Clara to a collection of robots in favour of his own safety. My belief in the Doctor was ruined, I was utterly distraught. How could this man do this? He's been my hero for around ten years, and here he is, doing such a callous act. And as Clara was interrogated by the Half-Face Man who led the robots, I was utterly convinced that the Doctor wouldn't be there to save her, and that it would all end badly.

But then, as Clara was questioned, she put her hand out behind her so that the Doctor could grab it and she would know that he would be there. And an unfamiliar hand belonging to an unfamiliar face grabbed it, sending me into a wave of shock - a further example of how I may never be able to trust this Doctor. And what felt like an eternity later, but in reality only half a second, that unfamiliar man pulled off the disguise that he was using, revealing the Doctor. Not Peter Capaldi playing the Doctor, this man was the Doctor. A hero that's always there, protecting you, even when you're afraid and at your most vulnerable. Sure, he might go about it in an interesting way, and he might not be the most polite to you in doing so, but he will always be there for you when you most need it.

And, from that moment on, I always accepted Peter Capaldi as the Doctor. Even when he possibly killed the Half-Face Man, and throughout the rest of the series as he contemplated whether he was a good man, I always knew that he was. Because he is the Doctor, and I'm sorry that I ever doubted him.