One of the more exciting things that NuWho does is explore questions that some of the more exceptional non-canon media have tackled regarding the Doctor's relationship with his enemies. While the question of whether there's such a thing possible as a good Dalek has been toyed with by novelists and writers of audio dramas alike, Into The Dalek is actually the second time the 2005 series has looked at the idea. The results are just as chilling the second time around. While there's plenty of exterminations and shooting of the sort that fans love to see in Dalek stories, there's also an exploration of why the Daleks are what they are and how it contrasts with the Doctor - or rather, how it shapes the way the Doctor sees himself in relation to them. This is pretty heady stuff for a programme that's over in under an hour, and yet Into The Dalek explores it all in a somewhat more mature manner than previously. Sure, it's all space battles and soldiers with colours for names at the start, but by the end we're left questioning what separates the Doctor and the Daleks, and the answer is: very, very little. If anything at all. Granted, another story on this list will go one better with that idea, but let's not get ahead of ourselves...
Tony Whitt has previously written TV, DVD, and comic reviews for CINESCAPE, NOW PLAYING, and iF MAGAZINE. His weekly COMICSCAPE columns from the early 2000s can still be found archived on Mania.com. He has also written a book of gay-themed short stories titled CRESCENT CITY CONNECTIONS, available on Amazon.com in both paperback and Kindle format. Whitt currently lives and works in Chicago, Illinois.
