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[[quoteright:350:http://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/rosedalek_187.jpg]]
[[caption-width-right:350: Biggest mistake of Rose's life in 3...2...1...]]
->'''Rose:''' You don't have to do this any more. There must be something else, not just killing. What else is there? What do you want?\\
'''Dalek:''' I want... freedom.
This episode marked the return of the eponymous villain to ''Series/DoctorWho'', and began the extremely brief tenure of bad companion Adam Mitchell.
%%%
%% The above is not a review-like remark. He was ejected from the TARDIS the following episode for his behavior. He's clearly characterized as a "bad companion".
%%%
The episode was adapted by Robert Shearman from his AudioPlay/BigFinishDoctorWho episode [[Recap/BigFinishDoctorWho040Jubilee "Jubilee"]].
----
The Doctor and Rose arrive in [[Main/TwentyMinutesIntoTheFuture 2012]] Utah, in a museum of alien parts. As they discover when they are captured, they're in the ElaborateUndergroundBase of Henry van Statten, an American tycoon with way more money than sense. The pride of TheCollectorOfTheStrange's collection is a strange metal... droid... thing, that Mister Alien Expert just ''knows'' is sentient, but that he can't communicate with. So he locks the Doctor in there with it.
Even the usually unflappable Ninth Doctor freaks out when he sees... a Dalek. It's his first clue that the genocide that ended the Time War wasn't as complete as he'd thought. A tense standoff ensues, during which we see all the Doctor's rage and pain.
Anyway, van Statten kidnaps the Doctor for forcible induction into the Alien Museum. While he's indisposed, the Dalek tricks Rose into touching it, repairs itself using her time traveller DNA, and escapes from its holding cell to wreak some ''serious'' havoc. The Dalek is horrified to learn it is the last of its kind.
Rose and Adam try to rejoin the Doctor (who has convinced van Statten to let him go try to save everyone's lives), but are separated by a steel blast door. And Rose is on the wrong side of it. An even ''tenser'' standoff ensues, while the Doctor watches over CCTV, but Rose's DNA -- transferred to the Dalek when she touched it -- is messing with the Dalek's xenophobic sensibilities, and it suffers an identity crisis instead of just killing Rose. The Dalek nearly kills a panicking van Statten, but Rose stops it, and it decides it wants to leave. She goes with it to the top floor of the dam and it shoots a hole in the ceiling, letting in the sunlight. It opens its shell to feel the warmth of the sun. The Doctor arrives at this point, wielding a BFG and telling Rose to get out of the way. She refuses and [[WhatTheHellHero calls him out on trying to kill it when "all it wants is the sunlight."]] The Dalek learns Rose touching it has combined its DNA with hers, making it "impure." It decides it wants to die rather than live as a new lifeform, and orders Rose to tell it to self-destruct. She reluctantly does so, and it kills itself.
Meanwhile, van Statten's assistant, disgusted by the death that has occurred, has his guards seize him and orders them to wipe his memory, [[IronicEcho Ironic Echoing]] him when he'd earlier decided another assistant [[YouHaveFailedMe had failed him]] and ordered him memory-wiped and dumped on the side of the road in "some place beginning with 'S'".
Rose and the Doctor get ready to leave, followed by Adam, who doesn't understand why they're going into a box when the dam is going to be filled with cement, but Rose has persuaded the Doctor to let him come. He follows them into the TARDIS.
-----
!!Tropes:
* AlasPoorVillain: The Dalek, who goes through a traumatic roller coaster of discovering morality, discovering emotions beyond hate and fear, and unable to kill anything that it hates, begs Rose to make it commit suicide as it watches the sunlight, unable to do anything. Rose complies. It gives one last, rather morose-sounding "Exterminate!" before blowing itself up out of self-loathing.
* ArcWords: "Bad Wolf One" is the call sign for van Statten's helicopter.
* ArmorPiercingQuestion: "What about you, Doctor? Who are you changing into?"
* AwesomenessByAnalysis: The Dalek breaks through van Statten's lock (when it is broken and low on power, so it couldn't do OpenSaysMe) because its genius intellect and sucker manipulator mean it can run through the billion possible combinations in seconds.
* BadassBoast: "THE DALEKS SURVIVE IN ME."
* BatmanGambit: The Dalek pulls off a marvelously simple one to regain a hold on its situation.
* BerserkButton: The Daleks, for the Doctor.
** And vice versa. Remember, the Dalek had been there for years, stoic, until someone introduces himself to it as the Doctor.
---> The Dalek: "DOC-TOR? '''''THE''''' DOC-TOR?! EX-TER-MINATE! '''EX-TER-MINATE!!''' '''''EX-TER-MINAAAAAATE!!!'''''"
* BillBillJunkBill: "Broken, broken, hairdryer, broken..."
* ChekhovsArmory: Van Statten's collection. A subversion, as almost everything in it is useless junk.
* ChewingTheScenery: Chris Eccleston starts ''literally'' foaming at the mouth. [[JustifiedTrope Justified]] because, well, ''[[ANaziByAnyOtherName Dalek]].''
* TheCollectorOfTheStrange: Van Statten.
* ComputerEqualsMonitor: The Dalek smashes a computer monitor with its plunger arm, and proceeds to both recharge itself (draining power from the entire West Coast in the process) and absorb the entire Internet.
* ConservationOfNinjitsu: The lone Dalek wipes out the base's security, takes command of the place, and establish itself as a very credible threat to the ''world'', reminding us why these creatures are the Doctor's greatest enemy.
* ContinuityNod: The Dalek's cry of "Have pity!" as the Doctor tortures it echoes Davros' exact same words in [[Recap/DoctorWhoS12E4GenesisOfTheDaleks Genesis of the Daleks]]. He asked more or less the same thing of Seven back in "Remembrance Of The Daleks", and got about as sympathetic a response as Nine gives the Dalek.
** Although not named, Davros is given a ShoutOut when the Doctor is asked who created the Daleks.
--->'''Doctor:''' By a genius, van Statten. By a man who was king of his own little world. [[StealthInsult You'd like him]].
** The scene of the Doctor being tortured is shot to strongly resemble the controversial torture scene that opened "[[Recap/DoctorWhoS22E2VengeanceOnVaros Vengeance On Varos]]".
** The Cyberman head van Statten has in his collection is of the one used in either ''The Invasion'' or ''Revenge of the Cybermen''.
** The Daleks putting the "technical" in the Doctor's TechnicalPacifist nature is [[Recap/DoctorWhoS10E4PlanetOfTheDaleks nothing]] [[Recap/DoctorWhoS21E4ResurrectionOfTheDaleks new]]. (See also BerserkButton.)
** Van Statten's line about how his men are replaceable but the Dalek is unique is quoted almost word-for-word (replacing "Krynoid" with "Dalek") from Harrison Chase in "[[Recap/DoctorWhoS13E6TheSeedsOfDoom The Seeds of Doom]]".
* CrucifiedHeroShot: The Doctor when Van Statten is torturing/interrogating him.
* DeathSeeker: The Doctor shows signs "You [the Doctor] survived." "Not by choice."
* TheDogBitesBack: At the end of the episode Van Statten's surviving subordinates revolt and drag him away to wipe his memory and dump him somewhere, just how he used to punish ''incompetent'' subordinates at the beginning of the episode.
* DrivenToSuicide: This episode demonstrates just how ''scared'' the Daleks are of becoming anything other than their idea of perfection.
* ElaborateUndergroundBase
* ETGaveUsWiFi: Apparently, broadband came from [[RoswellThatEndsWell Roswell]].
* EvilIsNotAToy
* FakeKillScare: The scene in which the Dalek is chasing Rose. She gets trapped behind the closing door, then you hear "EXTERMINATE!" and a shot over the radio. Then it's revealed she didn't get killed after all.
* {{Foreshadowing}}: One of the techs mentions that the last person to touch the 'Metaltron' burst into flames. When Rose touches the Dalek, because she's a time traveler it feeds from her and draws enough power to free itself.
* HeroicBSOD: The Doctor nearly loses it when he finds a Dalek survived the Time War.
* [[ICannotSelfTerminate I Cannot Self-EXTERMINATE]]: Well, it can, but only if it's ordered to first.
* ImmuneToBullets: The Dalek has an anti-bullet force-field (apparently powered by sheer badassery) surrounding it.
* InternalHomage: The destruction of Gallifrey, which the Doctor here elaborates on (and which turns out to have been his own doing), was also a massive StoryArc in the ''Literature/EighthDoctorAdventures'' novels.
* KickTheDog: Sure, the Dalek ''could'' have just shot each guard in the warehouse area, but triggering the sprinkler system and electrocuting the guards through the resulting puddles is ''way'' more fiendishly satisfying.
** And far more efficient too.
* LaughingMad: Briefly, but the Doctor’s attack of laughter at seeing the Dalek chained up does have a maniac quality to it.
* LaughWithMe: "I'll tell you how they got in, in-tru-da-window."..."In-tru-da-window, that was funny!"
* LastOfHisKind: The Dalek. (Not really.)
* LicensedGame: A flash game based on this episode is available [[http://www.bbc.co.uk/doctorwho/games/lastdalek/index.shtml on the BBC website]]. Remarkable in that it lets you play as [[VillainProtagonist the lone Dalek]] and [[TheBadGuyWins exterminate everyone]], ''including'' [[KilledOffForReal the Doctor]].
* MercyKill: The Dalek begs for Rose to order it to exterminate itself, because it can't bear to be an impure Dalek.
* MonsterSobStory: This is the one story where we feel sorry for a Dalek of all things. In fact, it was also the former TropeNamer for LoneDalek which is now this trope.
* MoralityChain: Rose arguably acts as one to the Dalek. She "corrupts" it, making it unable to kill her and even convinces it not to kill the Doctor and Van Statten.
* MythologyGag: A dark one, albeit: The Doctor refers to the Dalek as 'the great space dustbin' while torturing it. Daleks have been said to resemble dustbins among various other things by fans and non-fans of the show alike.
* TheNameIsBondJamesBond: Goddard, Diana Goddard.
* NextSundayAD: From 2005 to 2012.
* NotSoDifferent:
--> '''Doctor:''' The Daleks have failed! Now why don't you finish the job, and make the Daleks extinct?! Rid the universe of your filth! [[WhyWontYouDie Why don't you just]] ''[[WhyWontYouDie die?!]]''\\
'''Dalek:''' *pause* You would make a good Dalek.
** Not to mention, with a large dose of nightmare fuel:
---> '''Dalek:''' I am alone in the universe.\\
'''Doctor:''' Yep. *bitter smile*\\
'''Dalek:''' So are you. *The Doctor's smile slips* We are the same.\\
'''Doctor:''' We're not the same! I'm not... no, wait. Maybe we are. You're right, yeah, okay. You've got a point. Because I know what to do. I know what should happen. I know what you deserve. *sadistic grin* ''Exterminate!'' *yanks down the shock lever*\\
'''Dalek:''' *Screaming* Have pity!\\
'''Doctor:''' Why should I? You never did! *turns it up further*
** The Doctor also suggests that van Statten would like Davros, the creator of the Daleks (without referring to Davros by name). Van Statten, naturally, is not aware that this is not a compliment.
* OhCrap: The biggest one ever. The one characters had when they saw the pants-browning horror that was the following statement.
--> '''Adam:''' Great big alien death machine. Defeated by a flight of stairs."\\
'''[=DiMaggio=]:''' Now listen to me. I demand that you return to your cage. If you want to negotiate, I can guarantee that Mr. van Statten will be willing to talk. I accept that we imprisoned you, and maybe that was wrong. But people have died, and that stops, right now. The killing stops. Have you got that? I demand that you surrender, is that clear?\\
'''Dalek:''' EL-LE-VATE!
** The Doctor has this moment when he realizes that van Statten's 'Metaltron' is a ''Dalek'': he panics and begs to be let out of the cage before the Dalek can kill him.
* OohMeAccentsSlipping: Anna-Louise Plowman's attempts at an American accent. Subverted with Corey Johnson (van Statten), he was born in New Orleans.
* PragmaticAdaptation: The original version of this episode, the AudioPlay/BigFinishDoctorWho story [[Recap/BigFinishDoctorWho040Jubilee "Jubilee"]], was well over twice as long and involved a ''massive'' TimeyWimeyBall. It also starred Dr. Evelyn Smythe as the companion, who (as opposed to Rose) already had plenty of experience with Daleks. Robert Shearman cut out the AlternateTimeline plot and the political implications of the original story, and instead focused on CharacterDevelopment for Rose and the Ninth Doctor, with fantastic results.
* PyrrhicVictory: What the Doctor seems to be feeling after the Dalek self destructs.
-->'''Rose:''' Is that the end of it then? The Time War?\\
'''Doctor:''' I'm the only one left. I "Win".
* TheReasonYouSuckSpeech: The Doctor delivers several to van Statten, at one point bluntly calling him worse than the Dalek. An especially powerful one once Rose is trapped down with the Dalek:
--> '''The Doctor''': Let me tell you something, van Statten. Mankind goes into space to explore. To be part of something greater! \\
'''Henry van Statten''': Exactly! I wanted to touch the stars! \\
'''The Doctor''': You just want to drag the stars down and stick them underground, beneath tons of sand and dirt, and ''label'' them! You're about as far from the stars as you can get! ''And you took her down with you.''
** He gives another one earlier on:
---> '''Henry van Statten''': There has to be something it wants.\\
'''The Doctor:''' What's the nearest town?\\
'''Henry van Statten''': Salt Lake City.\\
'''The Doctor:''' Population?\\
'''Henry van Statten''': One million.\\
'''The Doctor''': ''All dead''. If the Dalek gets out, it will murder every living thing. That's all that it needs.\\
'''Henry van Statten''': But why would it do that?\\
'''The Doctor''': ''[[AbsoluteXenophobe Because it honestly believes they should die]]''. [[FantasticRacism Human beings are different,]] [[KillAllHumans and anything different is]] ''[[KillAllHumans wrong]]''. [[ANaziByAnyOtherName It's the ultimate in racial cleansing]], and ''you'', van Statten, ''YOU'VE LET IT LOOSE!''
* {{Reconstruction}}: The episode might as well be called "Reconstruction of the Daleks"; the production team are clearly going all out to restore the Daleks from 'tired jokes' to 'shit-your-pants scary'. Before writing the script, Rob Shearman asked his girlfriend what she thought were the silliest things about the Daleks. He then took the responses he got -- that they couldn't go upstairs, that they had that silly plunger, that they couldn't see anything behind them, that bullets could damage them, etc -- and had the characters actively invoke them in the story. And then had the Dalek completely subvert the expected weaknesses and even use them to kill said characters horribly. The Dalek can now fly upstairs to kill people. The Dalek can swivel its midsection and weapons to kill people behind it. The Dalek now has a forcefield that melts bullets. The Dalek can now use its plunger to crush people's skulls. And so on. It's also notable that several terms often used dismissively towards the Daleks ('tinpot', 'pepperpot', etc) tend to crop up -- and the people who use them tend to die horribly not long after.
** Some of these weaknesses (particularly the flying thing) had been addressed in the earlier "Remembrance of the Daleks", but that story was both over fifteen years in the past at the time of this story's airing, and was broadcast at a time when ''Series/DoctorWho'' was not as popular with or watched by as many people as were watching in 2005, so it's not entirely surprising that the production team thought a refresher was in order.
** Heck, even the dorky half-spheres embedded in every Dalek's lower chassis seem a ''lot'' less frivolous when it's revealed that they're a sophisticated self-destruct mechanism.
* ShirtlessScene: For Creator/ChristopherEccleston.
* ShoutOut: The joke of an alien culture's hairdryer being mistaken for a weapon was previously done in ''Series/BuckRogersInTheTwentyFifthCentury''.
* SlowDoors: Complete with an IndyHatRoll by Adam.
* SmugSnake:
** Van Statten's callous disregard for the lives of his men as the Dalek massacres them - as well as his ''massive'' ego, make him completely unsympathetic and detestable. His final fate is ''immensely'' satisfying.
** Van Statten's chief scientist / torturer also comes across as a bit of a smug, slimy weirdo who enjoys his job of essentially torturing a living thing every day a bit too much (it's a Dalek, granted, but it's not like ''he'' knows that). This makes the bit where the Dalek settles scores by crushing his face in oddly satisfying as well.
** Adam is also a bit smug and full of himself as well. It's a hint that, as the next episode demonstrates, he might not be the best choice of companion for the Doctor.
* TeenGenius: Adam Mitchell.
* TemptingFate: The head scientist / torturer, upon being confronted with the released and seemingly powerless Dalek, smugly asks whether the Dalek is intending to 'sucker [him] to death'. The Dalek then grabs the scientist's face with the plunger and crushes his face.
* ThatLiarLies: The Dalek responds to the Doctor's claim to have wiped out the Dalek race with "YOU LIE!"
* TookALevelInBadass: The Daleks. Oh boy, the Daleks.
* TrailersAlwaysSpoil: As the does the episode title. While a great episode, how much more shocking would have it been if the audience had no clue a Dalek would be involved? Then combine that shock with The Doctor's outright panic.
** Subverted for newer fans, who probably didn't know what Daleks were.
* UnstoppableRage: One could interpret the Dalek's rampage as this, given the lines shouted at van Statten when it corners him
-->'''Dalek:''' van Statten. You ''tortured me!'' ''[Tone rises dangerously]'' ''WHY?!''\\
'''van Statten:''' ''[After various panicked apologies and excuses]'' I swear, I just wanted you to TALK!\\
'''Dalek:''' ''[With a definitely acid tone]'' Then hear me talk ''now''. Exterminate. ''Exterminate''! ''[gun-stick raises]'' EXTERMINAAAAATE!!!
** It's a ''[[AxCrazy Dalek]]''. They ''start'' at UnstoppableRage and [[OmnicidalManiac work their way up]].
** The Doctor himself gets a fair amount of this in this episode, like when he first tries to kill the Dalek and when he's yelling at it to die.
--->'''The Doctor''': Your race is dead! You all burned, all of you! Ten million ships on fire! The entire Dalek race wiped out in one second!\\
'''Dalek''': YOU LIE!\\
'''The Doctor''': I watched it happen! '''I MADE IT HAPPEN!'''
*** This is the only time The Doctor ''reveled'' in what he did in the Time War. (even then, he recoils enough after the taunt, [[MyGodWhatHaveIDone horrified he went there]].)
* UnwittingPawn: Van Statten, Rose.
* VasquezAlwaysDies: The paramilitary guard who escorts Rose and Adam to safety is an ActionGirl who tries to stop the Dalek herself with a normal handgun. It doesn't end well.
* VillainousBSOD: The Dalek never lets The Touch of Rose take full effect, but the results are much the same.
* WagTheDirector: Nine's interaction with the Dalek was originally written to be just mocking and flippant. Creator/ChristopherEccleston decided to pour in incredible amounts of rage and pain as well. Writer Robert Shearman was briefly miffed, then delighted once he realized how well it worked.
* WasItReallyWorthIt: The Doctor asks van Statten if letting the Dalek live was worth losing everyone it killed.
* WeHaveReserves: Van Statten orders his soldiers to stop attacking the Dalek, as they are expendable and it is unique.
* WhamEpisode: Though Daleks were enough of a staple that they would obviously return to the series, some people considered them a bit of a joke. This episode shows ''how'' deadly and xenophobic the Doctor's foes can really get. And while the Doctor's already revealed that the Time Lords were gone, this episode reveals the Doctor was responsible for the act that killed all of the Time Lords.
* WhamLine: "You would make a good Dalek."
** "I watched it happen. I '''MADE''' it happen!"
* WithholdingTheCure: Van Statten claims to have discovered the cure for the common cold, but isn't letting it out of the labs. "Why sell one cure when I can sell a thousand palliatives?"
* WoundedGazelleGambit: How the Dalek made Rose touch it. [[JustifiedTrope Justified]] in that it ''was'' tortured, but it's clear that it was exaggerating to trick Rose into touching it.
* YourApprovalFillsMeWithShame: The Doctor is mortified when he's told that "You would make a good Dalek".
-----
[[caption-width-right:350: Biggest mistake of Rose's life in 3...2...1...]]
->'''Rose:''' You don't have to do this any more. There must be something else, not just killing. What else is there? What do you want?\\
'''Dalek:''' I want... freedom.
This episode marked the return of the eponymous villain to ''Series/DoctorWho'', and began the extremely brief tenure of bad companion Adam Mitchell.
%%%
%% The above is not a review-like remark. He was ejected from the TARDIS the following episode for his behavior. He's clearly characterized as a "bad companion".
%%%
The episode was adapted by Robert Shearman from his AudioPlay/BigFinishDoctorWho episode [[Recap/BigFinishDoctorWho040Jubilee "Jubilee"]].
----
The Doctor and Rose arrive in [[Main/TwentyMinutesIntoTheFuture 2012]] Utah, in a museum of alien parts. As they discover when they are captured, they're in the ElaborateUndergroundBase of Henry van Statten, an American tycoon with way more money than sense. The pride of TheCollectorOfTheStrange's collection is a strange metal... droid... thing, that Mister Alien Expert just ''knows'' is sentient, but that he can't communicate with. So he locks the Doctor in there with it.
Even the usually unflappable Ninth Doctor freaks out when he sees... a Dalek. It's his first clue that the genocide that ended the Time War wasn't as complete as he'd thought. A tense standoff ensues, during which we see all the Doctor's rage and pain.
Anyway, van Statten kidnaps the Doctor for forcible induction into the Alien Museum. While he's indisposed, the Dalek tricks Rose into touching it, repairs itself using her time traveller DNA, and escapes from its holding cell to wreak some ''serious'' havoc. The Dalek is horrified to learn it is the last of its kind.
Rose and Adam try to rejoin the Doctor (who has convinced van Statten to let him go try to save everyone's lives), but are separated by a steel blast door. And Rose is on the wrong side of it. An even ''tenser'' standoff ensues, while the Doctor watches over CCTV, but Rose's DNA -- transferred to the Dalek when she touched it -- is messing with the Dalek's xenophobic sensibilities, and it suffers an identity crisis instead of just killing Rose. The Dalek nearly kills a panicking van Statten, but Rose stops it, and it decides it wants to leave. She goes with it to the top floor of the dam and it shoots a hole in the ceiling, letting in the sunlight. It opens its shell to feel the warmth of the sun. The Doctor arrives at this point, wielding a BFG and telling Rose to get out of the way. She refuses and [[WhatTheHellHero calls him out on trying to kill it when "all it wants is the sunlight."]] The Dalek learns Rose touching it has combined its DNA with hers, making it "impure." It decides it wants to die rather than live as a new lifeform, and orders Rose to tell it to self-destruct. She reluctantly does so, and it kills itself.
Meanwhile, van Statten's assistant, disgusted by the death that has occurred, has his guards seize him and orders them to wipe his memory, [[IronicEcho Ironic Echoing]] him when he'd earlier decided another assistant [[YouHaveFailedMe had failed him]] and ordered him memory-wiped and dumped on the side of the road in "some place beginning with 'S'".
Rose and the Doctor get ready to leave, followed by Adam, who doesn't understand why they're going into a box when the dam is going to be filled with cement, but Rose has persuaded the Doctor to let him come. He follows them into the TARDIS.
-----
!!Tropes:
* AlasPoorVillain: The Dalek, who goes through a traumatic roller coaster of discovering morality, discovering emotions beyond hate and fear, and unable to kill anything that it hates, begs Rose to make it commit suicide as it watches the sunlight, unable to do anything. Rose complies. It gives one last, rather morose-sounding "Exterminate!" before blowing itself up out of self-loathing.
* ArcWords: "Bad Wolf One" is the call sign for van Statten's helicopter.
* ArmorPiercingQuestion: "What about you, Doctor? Who are you changing into?"
* AwesomenessByAnalysis: The Dalek breaks through van Statten's lock (when it is broken and low on power, so it couldn't do OpenSaysMe) because its genius intellect and sucker manipulator mean it can run through the billion possible combinations in seconds.
* BadassBoast: "THE DALEKS SURVIVE IN ME."
* BatmanGambit: The Dalek pulls off a marvelously simple one to regain a hold on its situation.
* BerserkButton: The Daleks, for the Doctor.
** And vice versa. Remember, the Dalek had been there for years, stoic, until someone introduces himself to it as the Doctor.
---> The Dalek: "DOC-TOR? '''''THE''''' DOC-TOR?! EX-TER-MINATE! '''EX-TER-MINATE!!''' '''''EX-TER-MINAAAAAATE!!!'''''"
* BillBillJunkBill: "Broken, broken, hairdryer, broken..."
* ChekhovsArmory: Van Statten's collection. A subversion, as almost everything in it is useless junk.
* ChewingTheScenery: Chris Eccleston starts ''literally'' foaming at the mouth. [[JustifiedTrope Justified]] because, well, ''[[ANaziByAnyOtherName Dalek]].''
* TheCollectorOfTheStrange: Van Statten.
* ComputerEqualsMonitor: The Dalek smashes a computer monitor with its plunger arm, and proceeds to both recharge itself (draining power from the entire West Coast in the process) and absorb the entire Internet.
* ConservationOfNinjitsu: The lone Dalek wipes out the base's security, takes command of the place, and establish itself as a very credible threat to the ''world'', reminding us why these creatures are the Doctor's greatest enemy.
* ContinuityNod: The Dalek's cry of "Have pity!" as the Doctor tortures it echoes Davros' exact same words in [[Recap/DoctorWhoS12E4GenesisOfTheDaleks Genesis of the Daleks]]. He asked more or less the same thing of Seven back in "Remembrance Of The Daleks", and got about as sympathetic a response as Nine gives the Dalek.
** Although not named, Davros is given a ShoutOut when the Doctor is asked who created the Daleks.
--->'''Doctor:''' By a genius, van Statten. By a man who was king of his own little world. [[StealthInsult You'd like him]].
** The scene of the Doctor being tortured is shot to strongly resemble the controversial torture scene that opened "[[Recap/DoctorWhoS22E2VengeanceOnVaros Vengeance On Varos]]".
** The Cyberman head van Statten has in his collection is of the one used in either ''The Invasion'' or ''Revenge of the Cybermen''.
** The Daleks putting the "technical" in the Doctor's TechnicalPacifist nature is [[Recap/DoctorWhoS10E4PlanetOfTheDaleks nothing]] [[Recap/DoctorWhoS21E4ResurrectionOfTheDaleks new]]. (See also BerserkButton.)
** Van Statten's line about how his men are replaceable but the Dalek is unique is quoted almost word-for-word (replacing "Krynoid" with "Dalek") from Harrison Chase in "[[Recap/DoctorWhoS13E6TheSeedsOfDoom The Seeds of Doom]]".
* CrucifiedHeroShot: The Doctor when Van Statten is torturing/interrogating him.
* DeathSeeker: The Doctor shows signs "You [the Doctor] survived." "Not by choice."
* TheDogBitesBack: At the end of the episode Van Statten's surviving subordinates revolt and drag him away to wipe his memory and dump him somewhere, just how he used to punish ''incompetent'' subordinates at the beginning of the episode.
* DrivenToSuicide: This episode demonstrates just how ''scared'' the Daleks are of becoming anything other than their idea of perfection.
* ElaborateUndergroundBase
* ETGaveUsWiFi: Apparently, broadband came from [[RoswellThatEndsWell Roswell]].
* EvilIsNotAToy
* FakeKillScare: The scene in which the Dalek is chasing Rose. She gets trapped behind the closing door, then you hear "EXTERMINATE!" and a shot over the radio. Then it's revealed she didn't get killed after all.
* {{Foreshadowing}}: One of the techs mentions that the last person to touch the 'Metaltron' burst into flames. When Rose touches the Dalek, because she's a time traveler it feeds from her and draws enough power to free itself.
* HeroicBSOD: The Doctor nearly loses it when he finds a Dalek survived the Time War.
* [[ICannotSelfTerminate I Cannot Self-EXTERMINATE]]: Well, it can, but only if it's ordered to first.
* ImmuneToBullets: The Dalek has an anti-bullet force-field (apparently powered by sheer badassery) surrounding it.
* InternalHomage: The destruction of Gallifrey, which the Doctor here elaborates on (and which turns out to have been his own doing), was also a massive StoryArc in the ''Literature/EighthDoctorAdventures'' novels.
* KickTheDog: Sure, the Dalek ''could'' have just shot each guard in the warehouse area, but triggering the sprinkler system and electrocuting the guards through the resulting puddles is ''way'' more fiendishly satisfying.
** And far more efficient too.
* LaughingMad: Briefly, but the Doctor’s attack of laughter at seeing the Dalek chained up does have a maniac quality to it.
* LaughWithMe: "I'll tell you how they got in, in-tru-da-window."..."In-tru-da-window, that was funny!"
* LastOfHisKind: The Dalek. (Not really.)
* LicensedGame: A flash game based on this episode is available [[http://www.bbc.co.uk/doctorwho/games/lastdalek/index.shtml on the BBC website]]. Remarkable in that it lets you play as [[VillainProtagonist the lone Dalek]] and [[TheBadGuyWins exterminate everyone]], ''including'' [[KilledOffForReal the Doctor]].
* MercyKill: The Dalek begs for Rose to order it to exterminate itself, because it can't bear to be an impure Dalek.
* MonsterSobStory: This is the one story where we feel sorry for a Dalek of all things. In fact, it was also the former TropeNamer for LoneDalek which is now this trope.
* MoralityChain: Rose arguably acts as one to the Dalek. She "corrupts" it, making it unable to kill her and even convinces it not to kill the Doctor and Van Statten.
* MythologyGag: A dark one, albeit: The Doctor refers to the Dalek as 'the great space dustbin' while torturing it. Daleks have been said to resemble dustbins among various other things by fans and non-fans of the show alike.
* TheNameIsBondJamesBond: Goddard, Diana Goddard.
* NextSundayAD: From 2005 to 2012.
* NotSoDifferent:
--> '''Doctor:''' The Daleks have failed! Now why don't you finish the job, and make the Daleks extinct?! Rid the universe of your filth! [[WhyWontYouDie Why don't you just]] ''[[WhyWontYouDie die?!]]''\\
'''Dalek:''' *pause* You would make a good Dalek.
** Not to mention, with a large dose of nightmare fuel:
---> '''Dalek:''' I am alone in the universe.\\
'''Doctor:''' Yep. *bitter smile*\\
'''Dalek:''' So are you. *The Doctor's smile slips* We are the same.\\
'''Doctor:''' We're not the same! I'm not... no, wait. Maybe we are. You're right, yeah, okay. You've got a point. Because I know what to do. I know what should happen. I know what you deserve. *sadistic grin* ''Exterminate!'' *yanks down the shock lever*\\
'''Dalek:''' *Screaming* Have pity!\\
'''Doctor:''' Why should I? You never did! *turns it up further*
** The Doctor also suggests that van Statten would like Davros, the creator of the Daleks (without referring to Davros by name). Van Statten, naturally, is not aware that this is not a compliment.
* OhCrap: The biggest one ever. The one characters had when they saw the pants-browning horror that was the following statement.
--> '''Adam:''' Great big alien death machine. Defeated by a flight of stairs."\\
'''[=DiMaggio=]:''' Now listen to me. I demand that you return to your cage. If you want to negotiate, I can guarantee that Mr. van Statten will be willing to talk. I accept that we imprisoned you, and maybe that was wrong. But people have died, and that stops, right now. The killing stops. Have you got that? I demand that you surrender, is that clear?\\
'''Dalek:''' EL-LE-VATE!
** The Doctor has this moment when he realizes that van Statten's 'Metaltron' is a ''Dalek'': he panics and begs to be let out of the cage before the Dalek can kill him.
* OohMeAccentsSlipping: Anna-Louise Plowman's attempts at an American accent. Subverted with Corey Johnson (van Statten), he was born in New Orleans.
* PragmaticAdaptation: The original version of this episode, the AudioPlay/BigFinishDoctorWho story [[Recap/BigFinishDoctorWho040Jubilee "Jubilee"]], was well over twice as long and involved a ''massive'' TimeyWimeyBall. It also starred Dr. Evelyn Smythe as the companion, who (as opposed to Rose) already had plenty of experience with Daleks. Robert Shearman cut out the AlternateTimeline plot and the political implications of the original story, and instead focused on CharacterDevelopment for Rose and the Ninth Doctor, with fantastic results.
* PyrrhicVictory: What the Doctor seems to be feeling after the Dalek self destructs.
-->'''Rose:''' Is that the end of it then? The Time War?\\
'''Doctor:''' I'm the only one left. I "Win".
* TheReasonYouSuckSpeech: The Doctor delivers several to van Statten, at one point bluntly calling him worse than the Dalek. An especially powerful one once Rose is trapped down with the Dalek:
--> '''The Doctor''': Let me tell you something, van Statten. Mankind goes into space to explore. To be part of something greater! \\
'''Henry van Statten''': Exactly! I wanted to touch the stars! \\
'''The Doctor''': You just want to drag the stars down and stick them underground, beneath tons of sand and dirt, and ''label'' them! You're about as far from the stars as you can get! ''And you took her down with you.''
** He gives another one earlier on:
---> '''Henry van Statten''': There has to be something it wants.\\
'''The Doctor:''' What's the nearest town?\\
'''Henry van Statten''': Salt Lake City.\\
'''The Doctor:''' Population?\\
'''Henry van Statten''': One million.\\
'''The Doctor''': ''All dead''. If the Dalek gets out, it will murder every living thing. That's all that it needs.\\
'''Henry van Statten''': But why would it do that?\\
'''The Doctor''': ''[[AbsoluteXenophobe Because it honestly believes they should die]]''. [[FantasticRacism Human beings are different,]] [[KillAllHumans and anything different is]] ''[[KillAllHumans wrong]]''. [[ANaziByAnyOtherName It's the ultimate in racial cleansing]], and ''you'', van Statten, ''YOU'VE LET IT LOOSE!''
* {{Reconstruction}}: The episode might as well be called "Reconstruction of the Daleks"; the production team are clearly going all out to restore the Daleks from 'tired jokes' to 'shit-your-pants scary'. Before writing the script, Rob Shearman asked his girlfriend what she thought were the silliest things about the Daleks. He then took the responses he got -- that they couldn't go upstairs, that they had that silly plunger, that they couldn't see anything behind them, that bullets could damage them, etc -- and had the characters actively invoke them in the story. And then had the Dalek completely subvert the expected weaknesses and even use them to kill said characters horribly. The Dalek can now fly upstairs to kill people. The Dalek can swivel its midsection and weapons to kill people behind it. The Dalek now has a forcefield that melts bullets. The Dalek can now use its plunger to crush people's skulls. And so on. It's also notable that several terms often used dismissively towards the Daleks ('tinpot', 'pepperpot', etc) tend to crop up -- and the people who use them tend to die horribly not long after.
** Some of these weaknesses (particularly the flying thing) had been addressed in the earlier "Remembrance of the Daleks", but that story was both over fifteen years in the past at the time of this story's airing, and was broadcast at a time when ''Series/DoctorWho'' was not as popular with or watched by as many people as were watching in 2005, so it's not entirely surprising that the production team thought a refresher was in order.
** Heck, even the dorky half-spheres embedded in every Dalek's lower chassis seem a ''lot'' less frivolous when it's revealed that they're a sophisticated self-destruct mechanism.
* ShirtlessScene: For Creator/ChristopherEccleston.
* ShoutOut: The joke of an alien culture's hairdryer being mistaken for a weapon was previously done in ''Series/BuckRogersInTheTwentyFifthCentury''.
* SlowDoors: Complete with an IndyHatRoll by Adam.
* SmugSnake:
** Van Statten's callous disregard for the lives of his men as the Dalek massacres them - as well as his ''massive'' ego, make him completely unsympathetic and detestable. His final fate is ''immensely'' satisfying.
** Van Statten's chief scientist / torturer also comes across as a bit of a smug, slimy weirdo who enjoys his job of essentially torturing a living thing every day a bit too much (it's a Dalek, granted, but it's not like ''he'' knows that). This makes the bit where the Dalek settles scores by crushing his face in oddly satisfying as well.
** Adam is also a bit smug and full of himself as well. It's a hint that, as the next episode demonstrates, he might not be the best choice of companion for the Doctor.
* TeenGenius: Adam Mitchell.
* TemptingFate: The head scientist / torturer, upon being confronted with the released and seemingly powerless Dalek, smugly asks whether the Dalek is intending to 'sucker [him] to death'. The Dalek then grabs the scientist's face with the plunger and crushes his face.
* ThatLiarLies: The Dalek responds to the Doctor's claim to have wiped out the Dalek race with "YOU LIE!"
* TookALevelInBadass: The Daleks. Oh boy, the Daleks.
* TrailersAlwaysSpoil: As the does the episode title. While a great episode, how much more shocking would have it been if the audience had no clue a Dalek would be involved? Then combine that shock with The Doctor's outright panic.
** Subverted for newer fans, who probably didn't know what Daleks were.
* UnstoppableRage: One could interpret the Dalek's rampage as this, given the lines shouted at van Statten when it corners him
-->'''Dalek:''' van Statten. You ''tortured me!'' ''[Tone rises dangerously]'' ''WHY?!''\\
'''van Statten:''' ''[After various panicked apologies and excuses]'' I swear, I just wanted you to TALK!\\
'''Dalek:''' ''[With a definitely acid tone]'' Then hear me talk ''now''. Exterminate. ''Exterminate''! ''[gun-stick raises]'' EXTERMINAAAAATE!!!
** It's a ''[[AxCrazy Dalek]]''. They ''start'' at UnstoppableRage and [[OmnicidalManiac work their way up]].
** The Doctor himself gets a fair amount of this in this episode, like when he first tries to kill the Dalek and when he's yelling at it to die.
--->'''The Doctor''': Your race is dead! You all burned, all of you! Ten million ships on fire! The entire Dalek race wiped out in one second!\\
'''Dalek''': YOU LIE!\\
'''The Doctor''': I watched it happen! '''I MADE IT HAPPEN!'''
*** This is the only time The Doctor ''reveled'' in what he did in the Time War. (even then, he recoils enough after the taunt, [[MyGodWhatHaveIDone horrified he went there]].)
* UnwittingPawn: Van Statten, Rose.
* VasquezAlwaysDies: The paramilitary guard who escorts Rose and Adam to safety is an ActionGirl who tries to stop the Dalek herself with a normal handgun. It doesn't end well.
* VillainousBSOD: The Dalek never lets The Touch of Rose take full effect, but the results are much the same.
* WagTheDirector: Nine's interaction with the Dalek was originally written to be just mocking and flippant. Creator/ChristopherEccleston decided to pour in incredible amounts of rage and pain as well. Writer Robert Shearman was briefly miffed, then delighted once he realized how well it worked.
* WasItReallyWorthIt: The Doctor asks van Statten if letting the Dalek live was worth losing everyone it killed.
* WeHaveReserves: Van Statten orders his soldiers to stop attacking the Dalek, as they are expendable and it is unique.
* WhamEpisode: Though Daleks were enough of a staple that they would obviously return to the series, some people considered them a bit of a joke. This episode shows ''how'' deadly and xenophobic the Doctor's foes can really get. And while the Doctor's already revealed that the Time Lords were gone, this episode reveals the Doctor was responsible for the act that killed all of the Time Lords.
* WhamLine: "You would make a good Dalek."
** "I watched it happen. I '''MADE''' it happen!"
* WithholdingTheCure: Van Statten claims to have discovered the cure for the common cold, but isn't letting it out of the labs. "Why sell one cure when I can sell a thousand palliatives?"
* WoundedGazelleGambit: How the Dalek made Rose touch it. [[JustifiedTrope Justified]] in that it ''was'' tortured, but it's clear that it was exaggerating to trick Rose into touching it.
* YourApprovalFillsMeWithShame: The Doctor is mortified when he's told that "You would make a good Dalek".
-----
to:
[[caption-width-right:350: Biggest mistake of Rose's life in 3...2...1...]]
->'''Rose:''' You don't have to do this any more. There must be something else, not just killing. What else is there? What do you want?\\
'''Dalek:''' I want... freedom.
This episode marked the return of the eponymous villain to ''Series/DoctorWho'', and began the extremely brief tenure of bad companion Adam Mitchell.
%%%
%% The above is not a review-like remark. He was ejected from the TARDIS the following episode for his behavior. He's clearly characterized as a "bad companion".
%%%
The episode was adapted by Robert Shearman from his AudioPlay/BigFinishDoctorWho episode [[Recap/BigFinishDoctorWho040Jubilee "Jubilee"]].
----
The Doctor and Rose arrive in [[Main/TwentyMinutesIntoTheFuture 2012]] Utah, in a museum of alien parts. As they discover when they are captured, they're in the ElaborateUndergroundBase of Henry van Statten, an American tycoon with way more money than sense. The pride of TheCollectorOfTheStrange's collection is a strange metal... droid... thing, that Mister Alien Expert just ''knows'' is sentient, but that he can't communicate with. So he locks the Doctor in there with it.
Even the usually unflappable Ninth Doctor freaks out when he sees... a Dalek. It's his first clue that the genocide that ended the Time War wasn't as complete as he'd thought. A tense standoff ensues, during which we see all the Doctor's rage and pain.
Anyway, van Statten kidnaps the Doctor for forcible induction into the Alien Museum. While he's indisposed, the Dalek tricks Rose into touching it, repairs itself using her time traveller DNA, and escapes from its holding cell to wreak some ''serious'' havoc. The Dalek is horrified to learn it is the last of its kind.
Rose and Adam try to rejoin the Doctor (who has convinced van Statten to let him go try to save everyone's lives), but are separated by a steel blast door. And Rose is on the wrong side of it. An even ''tenser'' standoff ensues, while the Doctor watches over CCTV, but Rose's DNA -- transferred to the Dalek when she touched it -- is messing with the Dalek's xenophobic sensibilities, and it suffers an identity crisis instead of just killing Rose. The Dalek nearly kills a panicking van Statten, but Rose stops it, and it decides it wants to leave. She goes with it to the top floor of the dam and it shoots a hole in the ceiling, letting in the sunlight. It opens its shell to feel the warmth of the sun. The Doctor arrives at this point, wielding a BFG and telling Rose to get out of the way. She refuses and [[WhatTheHellHero calls him out on trying to kill it when "all it wants is the sunlight."]] The Dalek learns Rose touching it has combined its DNA with hers, making it "impure." It decides it wants to die rather than live as a new lifeform, and orders Rose to tell it to self-destruct. She reluctantly does so, and it kills itself.
Meanwhile, van Statten's assistant, disgusted by the death that has occurred, has his guards seize him and orders them to wipe his memory, [[IronicEcho Ironic Echoing]] him when he'd earlier decided another assistant [[YouHaveFailedMe had failed him]] and ordered him memory-wiped and dumped on the side of the road in "some place beginning with 'S'".
Rose and the Doctor get ready to leave, followed by Adam, who doesn't understand why they're going into a box when the dam is going to be filled with cement, but Rose has persuaded the Doctor to let him come. He follows them into the TARDIS.
-----
!!Tropes:
* AlasPoorVillain: The Dalek, who goes through a traumatic roller coaster of discovering morality, discovering emotions beyond hate and fear, and unable to kill anything that it hates, begs Rose to make it commit suicide as it watches the sunlight, unable to do anything. Rose complies. It gives one last, rather morose-sounding "Exterminate!" before blowing itself up out of self-loathing.
* ArcWords: "Bad Wolf One" is the call sign for van Statten's helicopter.
* ArmorPiercingQuestion: "What about you, Doctor? Who are you changing into?"
* AwesomenessByAnalysis: The Dalek breaks through van Statten's lock (when it is broken and low on power, so it couldn't do OpenSaysMe) because its genius intellect and sucker manipulator mean it can run through the billion possible combinations in seconds.
* BadassBoast: "THE DALEKS SURVIVE IN ME."
* BatmanGambit: The Dalek pulls off a marvelously simple one to regain a hold on its situation.
* BerserkButton: The Daleks, for the Doctor.
** And vice versa. Remember, the Dalek had been there for years, stoic, until someone introduces himself to it as the Doctor.
---> The Dalek: "DOC-TOR? '''''THE''''' DOC-TOR?! EX-TER-MINATE! '''EX-TER-MINATE!!''' '''''EX-TER-MINAAAAAATE!!!'''''"
* BillBillJunkBill: "Broken, broken, hairdryer, broken..."
* ChekhovsArmory: Van Statten's collection. A subversion, as almost everything in it is useless junk.
* ChewingTheScenery: Chris Eccleston starts ''literally'' foaming at the mouth. [[JustifiedTrope Justified]] because, well, ''[[ANaziByAnyOtherName Dalek]].''
* TheCollectorOfTheStrange: Van Statten.
* ComputerEqualsMonitor: The Dalek smashes a computer monitor with its plunger arm, and proceeds to both recharge itself (draining power from the entire West Coast in the process) and absorb the entire Internet.
* ConservationOfNinjitsu: The lone Dalek wipes out the base's security, takes command of the place, and establish itself as a very credible threat to the ''world'', reminding us why these creatures are the Doctor's greatest enemy.
* ContinuityNod: The Dalek's cry of "Have pity!" as the Doctor tortures it echoes Davros' exact same words in [[Recap/DoctorWhoS12E4GenesisOfTheDaleks Genesis of the Daleks]]. He asked more or less the same thing of Seven back in "Remembrance Of The Daleks", and got about as sympathetic a response as Nine gives the Dalek.
** Although not named, Davros is given a ShoutOut when the Doctor is asked who created the Daleks.
--->'''Doctor:''' By a genius, van Statten. By a man who was king of his own little world. [[StealthInsult You'd like him]].
** The scene of the Doctor being tortured is shot to strongly resemble the controversial torture scene that opened "[[Recap/DoctorWhoS22E2VengeanceOnVaros Vengeance On Varos]]".
** The Cyberman head van Statten has in his collection is of the one used in either ''The Invasion'' or ''Revenge of the Cybermen''.
** The Daleks putting the "technical" in the Doctor's TechnicalPacifist nature is [[Recap/DoctorWhoS10E4PlanetOfTheDaleks nothing]] [[Recap/DoctorWhoS21E4ResurrectionOfTheDaleks new]]. (See also BerserkButton.)
** Van Statten's line about how his men are replaceable but the Dalek is unique is quoted almost word-for-word (replacing "Krynoid" with "Dalek") from Harrison Chase in "[[Recap/DoctorWhoS13E6TheSeedsOfDoom The Seeds of Doom]]".
* CrucifiedHeroShot: The Doctor when Van Statten is torturing/interrogating him.
* DeathSeeker: The Doctor shows signs "You [the Doctor] survived." "Not by choice."
* TheDogBitesBack: At the end of the episode Van Statten's surviving subordinates revolt and drag him away to wipe his memory and dump him somewhere, just how he used to punish ''incompetent'' subordinates at the beginning of the episode.
* DrivenToSuicide: This episode demonstrates just how ''scared'' the Daleks are of becoming anything other than their idea of perfection.
* ElaborateUndergroundBase
* ETGaveUsWiFi: Apparently, broadband came from [[RoswellThatEndsWell Roswell]].
* EvilIsNotAToy
* FakeKillScare: The scene in which the Dalek is chasing Rose. She gets trapped behind the closing door, then you hear "EXTERMINATE!" and a shot over the radio. Then it's revealed she didn't get killed after all.
* {{Foreshadowing}}: One of the techs mentions that the last person to touch the 'Metaltron' burst into flames. When Rose touches the Dalek, because she's a time traveler it feeds from her and draws enough power to free itself.
* HeroicBSOD: The Doctor nearly loses it when he finds a Dalek survived the Time War.
* [[ICannotSelfTerminate I Cannot Self-EXTERMINATE]]: Well, it can, but only if it's ordered to first.
* ImmuneToBullets: The Dalek has an anti-bullet force-field (apparently powered by sheer badassery) surrounding it.
* InternalHomage: The destruction of Gallifrey, which the Doctor here elaborates on (and which turns out to have been his own doing), was also a massive StoryArc in the ''Literature/EighthDoctorAdventures'' novels.
* KickTheDog: Sure, the Dalek ''could'' have just shot each guard in the warehouse area, but triggering the sprinkler system and electrocuting the guards through the resulting puddles is ''way'' more fiendishly satisfying.
** And far more efficient too.
* LaughingMad: Briefly, but the Doctor’s attack of laughter at seeing the Dalek chained up does have a maniac quality to it.
* LaughWithMe: "I'll tell you how they got in, in-tru-da-window."..."In-tru-da-window, that was funny!"
* LastOfHisKind: The Dalek. (Not really.)
* LicensedGame: A flash game based on this episode is available [[http://www.bbc.co.uk/doctorwho/games/lastdalek/index.shtml on the BBC website]]. Remarkable in that it lets you play as [[VillainProtagonist the lone Dalek]] and [[TheBadGuyWins exterminate everyone]], ''including'' [[KilledOffForReal the Doctor]].
* MercyKill: The Dalek begs for Rose to order it to exterminate itself, because it can't bear to be an impure Dalek.
* MonsterSobStory: This is the one story where we feel sorry for a Dalek of all things. In fact, it was also the former TropeNamer for LoneDalek which is now this trope.
* MoralityChain: Rose arguably acts as one to the Dalek. She "corrupts" it, making it unable to kill her and even convinces it not to kill the Doctor and Van Statten.
* MythologyGag: A dark one, albeit: The Doctor refers to the Dalek as 'the great space dustbin' while torturing it. Daleks have been said to resemble dustbins among various other things by fans and non-fans of the show alike.
* TheNameIsBondJamesBond: Goddard, Diana Goddard.
* NextSundayAD: From 2005 to 2012.
* NotSoDifferent:
--> '''Doctor:''' The Daleks have failed! Now why don't you finish the job, and make the Daleks extinct?! Rid the universe of your filth! [[WhyWontYouDie Why don't you just]] ''[[WhyWontYouDie die?!]]''\\
'''Dalek:''' *pause* You would make a good Dalek.
** Not to mention, with a large dose of nightmare fuel:
---> '''Dalek:''' I am alone in the universe.\\
'''Doctor:''' Yep. *bitter smile*\\
'''Dalek:''' So are you. *The Doctor's smile slips* We are the same.\\
'''Doctor:''' We're not the same! I'm not... no, wait. Maybe we are. You're right, yeah, okay. You've got a point. Because I know what to do. I know what should happen. I know what you deserve. *sadistic grin* ''Exterminate!'' *yanks down the shock lever*\\
'''Dalek:''' *Screaming* Have pity!\\
'''Doctor:''' Why should I? You never did! *turns it up further*
** The Doctor also suggests that van Statten would like Davros, the creator of the Daleks (without referring to Davros by name). Van Statten, naturally, is not aware that this is not a compliment.
* OhCrap: The biggest one ever. The one characters had when they saw the pants-browning horror that was the following statement.
--> '''Adam:''' Great big alien death machine. Defeated by a flight of stairs."\\
'''[=DiMaggio=]:''' Now listen to me. I demand that you return to your cage. If you want to negotiate, I can guarantee that Mr. van Statten will be willing to talk. I accept that we imprisoned you, and maybe that was wrong. But people have died, and that stops, right now. The killing stops. Have you got that? I demand that you surrender, is that clear?\\
'''Dalek:''' EL-LE-VATE!
** The Doctor has this moment when he realizes that van Statten's 'Metaltron' is a ''Dalek'': he panics and begs to be let out of the cage before the Dalek can kill him.
* OohMeAccentsSlipping: Anna-Louise Plowman's attempts at an American accent. Subverted with Corey Johnson (van Statten), he was born in New Orleans.
* PragmaticAdaptation: The original version of this episode, the AudioPlay/BigFinishDoctorWho story [[Recap/BigFinishDoctorWho040Jubilee "Jubilee"]], was well over twice as long and involved a ''massive'' TimeyWimeyBall. It also starred Dr. Evelyn Smythe as the companion, who (as opposed to Rose) already had plenty of experience with Daleks. Robert Shearman cut out the AlternateTimeline plot and the political implications of the original story, and instead focused on CharacterDevelopment for Rose and the Ninth Doctor, with fantastic results.
* PyrrhicVictory: What the Doctor seems to be feeling after the Dalek self destructs.
-->'''Rose:''' Is that the end of it then? The Time War?\\
'''Doctor:''' I'm the only one left. I "Win".
* TheReasonYouSuckSpeech: The Doctor delivers several to van Statten, at one point bluntly calling him worse than the Dalek. An especially powerful one once Rose is trapped down with the Dalek:
--> '''The Doctor''': Let me tell you something, van Statten. Mankind goes into space to explore. To be part of something greater! \\
'''Henry van Statten''': Exactly! I wanted to touch the stars! \\
'''The Doctor''': You just want to drag the stars down and stick them underground, beneath tons of sand and dirt, and ''label'' them! You're about as far from the stars as you can get! ''And you took her down with you.''
** He gives another one earlier on:
---> '''Henry van Statten''': There has to be something it wants.\\
'''The Doctor:''' What's the nearest town?\\
'''Henry van Statten''': Salt Lake City.\\
'''The Doctor:''' Population?\\
'''Henry van Statten''': One million.\\
'''The Doctor''': ''All dead''. If the Dalek gets out, it will murder every living thing. That's all that it needs.\\
'''Henry van Statten''': But why would it do that?\\
'''The Doctor''': ''[[AbsoluteXenophobe Because it honestly believes they should die]]''. [[FantasticRacism Human beings are different,]] [[KillAllHumans and anything different is]] ''[[KillAllHumans wrong]]''. [[ANaziByAnyOtherName It's the ultimate in racial cleansing]], and ''you'', van Statten, ''YOU'VE LET IT LOOSE!''
* {{Reconstruction}}: The episode might as well be called "Reconstruction of the Daleks"; the production team are clearly going all out to restore the Daleks from 'tired jokes' to 'shit-your-pants scary'. Before writing the script, Rob Shearman asked his girlfriend what she thought were the silliest things about the Daleks. He then took the responses he got -- that they couldn't go upstairs, that they had that silly plunger, that they couldn't see anything behind them, that bullets could damage them, etc -- and had the characters actively invoke them in the story. And then had the Dalek completely subvert the expected weaknesses and even use them to kill said characters horribly. The Dalek can now fly upstairs to kill people. The Dalek can swivel its midsection and weapons to kill people behind it. The Dalek now has a forcefield that melts bullets. The Dalek can now use its plunger to crush people's skulls. And so on. It's also notable that several terms often used dismissively towards the Daleks ('tinpot', 'pepperpot', etc) tend to crop up -- and the people who use them tend to die horribly not long after.
** Some of these weaknesses (particularly the flying thing) had been addressed in the earlier "Remembrance of the Daleks", but that story was both over fifteen years in the past at the time of this story's airing, and was broadcast at a time when ''Series/DoctorWho'' was not as popular with or watched by as many people as were watching in 2005, so it's not entirely surprising that the production team thought a refresher was in order.
** Heck, even the dorky half-spheres embedded in every Dalek's lower chassis seem a ''lot'' less frivolous when it's revealed that they're a sophisticated self-destruct mechanism.
* ShirtlessScene: For Creator/ChristopherEccleston.
* ShoutOut: The joke of an alien culture's hairdryer being mistaken for a weapon was previously done in ''Series/BuckRogersInTheTwentyFifthCentury''.
* SlowDoors: Complete with an IndyHatRoll by Adam.
* SmugSnake:
** Van Statten's callous disregard for the lives of his men as the Dalek massacres them - as well as his ''massive'' ego, make him completely unsympathetic and detestable. His final fate is ''immensely'' satisfying.
** Van Statten's chief scientist / torturer also comes across as a bit of a smug, slimy weirdo who enjoys his job of essentially torturing a living thing every day a bit too much (it's a Dalek, granted, but it's not like ''he'' knows that). This makes the bit where the Dalek settles scores by crushing his face in oddly satisfying as well.
** Adam is also a bit smug and full of himself as well. It's a hint that, as the next episode demonstrates, he might not be the best choice of companion for the Doctor.
* TeenGenius: Adam Mitchell.
* TemptingFate: The head scientist / torturer, upon being confronted with the released and seemingly powerless Dalek, smugly asks whether the Dalek is intending to 'sucker [him] to death'. The Dalek then grabs the scientist's face with the plunger and crushes his face.
* ThatLiarLies: The Dalek responds to the Doctor's claim to have wiped out the Dalek race with "YOU LIE!"
* TookALevelInBadass: The Daleks. Oh boy, the Daleks.
* TrailersAlwaysSpoil: As the does the episode title. While a great episode, how much more shocking would have it been if the audience had no clue a Dalek would be involved? Then combine that shock with The Doctor's outright panic.
** Subverted for newer fans, who probably didn't know what Daleks were.
* UnstoppableRage: One could interpret the Dalek's rampage as this, given the lines shouted at van Statten when it corners him
-->'''Dalek:''' van Statten. You ''tortured me!'' ''[Tone rises dangerously]'' ''WHY?!''\\
'''van Statten:''' ''[After various panicked apologies and excuses]'' I swear, I just wanted you to TALK!\\
'''Dalek:''' ''[With a definitely acid tone]'' Then hear me talk ''now''. Exterminate. ''Exterminate''! ''[gun-stick raises]'' EXTERMINAAAAATE!!!
** It's a ''[[AxCrazy Dalek]]''. They ''start'' at UnstoppableRage and [[OmnicidalManiac work their way up]].
** The Doctor himself gets a fair amount of this in this episode, like when he first tries to kill the Dalek and when he's yelling at it to die.
--->'''The Doctor''': Your race is dead! You all burned, all of you! Ten million ships on fire! The entire Dalek race wiped out in one second!\\
'''Dalek''': YOU LIE!\\
'''The Doctor''': I watched it happen! '''I MADE IT HAPPEN!'''
*** This is the only time The Doctor ''reveled'' in what he did in the Time War. (even then, he recoils enough after the taunt, [[MyGodWhatHaveIDone horrified he went there]].)
* UnwittingPawn: Van Statten, Rose.
* VasquezAlwaysDies: The paramilitary guard who escorts Rose and Adam to safety is an ActionGirl who tries to stop the Dalek herself with a normal handgun. It doesn't end well.
* VillainousBSOD: The Dalek never lets The Touch of Rose take full effect, but the results are much the same.
* WagTheDirector: Nine's interaction with the Dalek was originally written to be just mocking and flippant. Creator/ChristopherEccleston decided to pour in incredible amounts of rage and pain as well. Writer Robert Shearman was briefly miffed, then delighted once he realized how well it worked.
* WasItReallyWorthIt: The Doctor asks van Statten if letting the Dalek live was worth losing everyone it killed.
* WeHaveReserves: Van Statten orders his soldiers to stop attacking the Dalek, as they are expendable and it is unique.
* WhamEpisode: Though Daleks were enough of a staple that they would obviously return to the series, some people considered them a bit of a joke. This episode shows ''how'' deadly and xenophobic the Doctor's foes can really get. And while the Doctor's already revealed that the Time Lords were gone, this episode reveals the Doctor was responsible for the act that killed all of the Time Lords.
* WhamLine: "You would make a good Dalek."
** "I watched it happen. I '''MADE''' it happen!"
* WithholdingTheCure: Van Statten claims to have discovered the cure for the common cold, but isn't letting it out of the labs. "Why sell one cure when I can sell a thousand palliatives?"
* WoundedGazelleGambit: How the Dalek made Rose touch it. [[JustifiedTrope Justified]] in that it ''was'' tortured, but it's clear that it was exaggerating to trick Rose into touching it.
* YourApprovalFillsMeWithShame: The Doctor is mortified when he's told that "You would make a good Dalek".
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