Doctor Who: EVERY Steven Moffat Episode Ranked Worst To Best

41. Into The Dalek

Doctor Who Into The Dalek
BBC

Another co-written episode (this time with Phil Ford), Into the Dalek gets lost in the fold of all the great Dalek stories that have been released over the past 61 years. 

The concept of being miniaturised and placed inside a Dalek's body is certainly an intriguing one, but this episode just felt as though it used too many ideas from other episodes... but not as well.

The miniaturisation concept was used in Moffat's own Let's Kill Hitler, as was the premise of "antibodies" attacking foreign bodies. The Doctor using his own memories to attack a monster was achieved far more poignantly in The Rings of Akhaten and, most obviously, the idea of a Dalek developing emotions and a conscience was explored far better in the Series 1 episode Dalek.

While it's always great to see the Daleks appear in Doctor Who, the fact that they're so iconic means that there's a lot more pressure on these stories to be standouts. Unfortunately, Into the Dalek just felt a bit too derivative for me, and not very memorable either.

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Ellie has been part of the WhatCulture team since 2021 where she began as a freelance presenter for the WhoCulture channel. As a diehard Whovian with a BA (hons) degree in Drama and Acting, this role was the perfect opportunity for her to combine her screen presence training with her extensive Doctor Who knowledge. From there, she branched out to various other WhatCulture channels, including TrekCulture, and became a full time Content Producer/Video Presenter in 2023. Ellie is now a regular fixture on both WhoCulture and TrekCulture and has become a well respected public figure within both fandoms, building up a substantial following across her social media platforms and being given the opportunity to represent the channels and the wider communities at several industry events. Her favourite Doctor Who character is River Song and her favourite Star Trek character is Captain Janeway - which tells you everything you need to know about how she approaches her role within a generally male dominated field.