There were a lot of hit or miss episodes in the first new series back in 2005, as is only to be expected. Aside from being a generally good episode, Dalek serves as a statement of the newly rebooted program's vision, an example of the type of story we could expect from Doctor Who. It's a markedly different take on the show's most iconic villain, creating a Dalek whose isolation left it vulnerable to the influence of Rose's humanity. A Dalek whose dying wish is something to feel sunlight on its ravaged physical body. But if that was all there was to Dalek, it wouldn't be such a special episode. What we really take away from this story is Eccleston's performance as the Doctor -- a vindictive man, filled with hate and tortured by his still fresh emotional wounds from the Time War. The Doctor spends a lot of time telling us that he's not a good man, but this is one of the few episodes where we catch more than a glimpse of that person.