After four stories which, when divorced from the euphoria that the series was simply back on television, weren't all that good really, Russell T. Davies' revival of Doctor Who finally threw a classic into the ring. Loosely adapted from Shearman's audio play "Jubilee", "Dalek" is a neat, dynamic story with a breathtaking pace.

Unlike the new series' other revivals of older elements of Who history ("Rose", "School Reunion" and even "Rise of the Cybermen"), "Dalek" is largely devoid of nostalgia - the only slight indulgence in this respect being the Cyberman helmet in the opening scene.

The premise of a lone Dalek being trapped in a museum is frankly fantastic. While the plot is faintly predictable (it's pretty obvious it's going to get lose and start killing people, and that it will be stopped by something other than The Doctor or anyone else shooting the thing is also a given) that's not really the object of the exercise. What Shearman and Nick Briggs manage is to make this Dalek a character. The creature's nature is presented objectively to the viewer (cleverly juxtaposed with a totally wired ninth Doctor hell-bent on killing it in any way possible), with no apologies made, but some reasons given (superb lines such as The Doctor explaining to van Statten that the Dalek will kill everyone it comes across "Because it honestly believes they should die").

Up until the Dalek joins the action, the story is a little tedious. The competent Corey Johnson spends a lot of time struggling with ludicrously overwritten dialogue (that he "owns the Internet" and can decide to change the president on a whim makes the character sound like something out of a Mark Millar comic), but thankfully comes out on top when the Dalek escapes.

Christopher Eccleston gives his best performance as The Doctor here. While the production team don't quite succeed in making the Dalek scary, they certainly manage to make The Doctor into a terrifying bastard - and not in a Sixth Doctor way, either. Eccleston isn't snide and arrogant, he's outright cruel and spiteful, forcing the audience to actually side with the Dalek against the hero. The Doctor is scared when blindsided by the Dalek, and then sadistic when he realises it's chained and helpless. This works well for the dynamic with Rose, as she acts as the audience's anchor more than ever, and finally manages to talk The Doctor down. Bruno Langley's performance appears to be adequate, but as Adam does absolutely nothing it's difficult to gauge.

The other star is Joe Ahearne's slick, vibrant direction, which really pumps up the action in the second half of the episode, allowing a few illogical holes in the plot to go right past the viewer unless they're looked for. Few Who stories can match the action sequences on display here - the overhead shot of the Dalek's spinning weapons cutting down guards; the understated drama of the mass electrocution scene as the Dalek just stops and takes the bullets before killing everyone with a single shot; the pulsating scenes as Rose and Adam try to escape from the alien... It's generally excellent, though the scene where the pair taunt the Dalek for not being able to climb stairs is self-indulgent and shakes the viewer out of a trance.

Despite the fantastic Doctor/Dalek relationship and the glorious production values (the Geocomtex bunker sets are excellent too), there are probably a few too many niggles to make this truly fantastic. The story takes a little while to get going and suffers from a coda too many with Goddard usurping van Statten. It's a bit of a shame that the vast promise of the episode wasn't converted into a great season (Eccleston's performance in the latter half of the season suffers by comparison to his intensity here, while the sharp defining of the Daleks would be destroyed by their poor use in the season finale "Bad Wolf"), but "Dalek" remains one of the best episodes the revival has yet managed, and is highly recommended for converting doubters.

Review written: 18/04/2006