Series 8, Episode 2 | 1 part | First broadcast: 30 August 2014 | Writer: Phil Ford and Steven Moffat | Director: Ben Wheatley
Cast
- Peter Capaldi as the Twelfth Doctor
- Jenna Coleman as Clara Oswald
- Zawe Ashton as Journey Blue
- Michael Smiley as Colonel Morgan Blue
- Samuel Anderson as Danny Pink
- Laura Dos Santos as Gretchen
- Ben Crompton as Ross
- Nicholas Briggs as the voice of the Daleks
- Michelle Gomez as Missy (uncredited)
Summary
Back at Coal Hill School, Clara invites new maths teacher and former soldier Danny Pink out for a drink, before the Doctor whisks her away to a human rebel ship where a captured Dalek, damaged and declaring that all Daleks must be destroyed, has seemingly turned “good.” The Doctor, Clara, and a handful of soldiers are miniaturised and injected into the Dalek — nicknamed Rusty — to investigate the cause of its apparent conscience, discovering a “cortex vault” that ordinarily suppresses Dalek compassion. Repairing Rusty’s power cell accidentally wipes his memory, and when the Doctor links minds with him to share the universe’s beauty, Rusty instead absorbs the Doctor’s own buried hatred of the Daleks, using it to slaughter his fellow Daleks in the name of goodness. Shaken that Rusty saw only hatred inside him, the Doctor is left to wonder what kind of man he now is. Back on Earth, Clara returns to her office moments after leaving it and bumps into Danny, setting up the series’ central romance.
Interesting Facts
- This episode marks the on-screen introduction of Danny Pink (Samuel Anderson), who becomes a major recurring character and Clara’s love interest for the remainder of the series.
- Steven Moffat originally conceived the “shrunk inside a Dalek” premise while brainstorming ideas for a Doctor Who video game.
- The climactic scene featuring Gretchen and Missy in the “Promised Land” was filmed the same day as the equivalent Half-Face Man scene from “Deep Breath,” both directed uncredited by Rachel Talalay since Ben Wheatley was unavailable.
- Archive clips from “Dalek” (2005) and “Journey’s End” (2008) appear on screen as the Doctor merges his mind with Rusty’s, tying this story back to earlier Dalek-companion history.
- The episode’s script and a rough workprint were both leaked online in the run-up to broadcast, part of a wider leak of five Series 8 scripts from a BBC Worldwide server in Miami.
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