Can you believe it, I started the twenty fifth season of Doctor Who today. It seems like only a few weeks ago when I first stepped on the Time Treadmill and visited the Coal Hill Academy and 76 Totter's Lane, and now here I am one year and sixty pounds later, and find myself back in the same place.

So let's talk about that.

Remembrance of the Daleks - Parts 1 & 2

(TARDIS Data Core recap)

It's not quite the 25th anniversary of the show yet, I'll get to that on Saturday, but the new season kicks off with a very clever look back at the beginnings of the show. The setting is 1963 London, revisiting the same locations where An Unearthly Child was set, and featuring the Daleks in their final classic series appearance. Given that I am predisposed to not like Another Damn Dalek Story, I was very pleasantly surprised at how good this one is so far.

First of all, the Daleks are being used extremely sparingly. Writer Ben Aaronovitch contributes his first story to the series, and he has a keen understanding of how to build mystery and tension. When the first renegade Dalek appears in Foreman's Yard it leads to a tense and well-executed confrontation between said Dalek, the Doctor, and a military force led by a commander who initially dismisses the Doctor's warnings before learning just how unwise that is. As the plot builds, we discover that there are actually two warring factions of Daleks on hand, On the one side there are the Imperial Daleks, loyal to the Emperor Dalek. On the other side is Davros (thus far only glimpsed from behind) and his group of Renegade Daleks loyal to their creator. This story marks the culmination of the plotline first introduced in Resurrection of the Daleks (that's the one with the stupid Dalek helmets) and then continued in Revelation of the Daleks. The story also marks the first time that a Dalek actually hovers up a flight of stairs, floating upwards to confront the Doctor at the climax of the first episode.

Throughout the story Ace shines as a companion, always ready to step in and take action. After more than two years with useless wimpy screaming companions, it is such a relief to have someone on board who is willing to drive the escape fan, blow shit up with NItro Nine, blow other shit up with shoulder mounted rockets, and just generally bash things in with a baseball bat. And yet, even with all of this aggression, she is still playful and completely likable. I have never had the pleasure of meeting actress Sophie Aldred in person, but she is very high on my list of classic companions whose autograph I would love to add to my Time Treadmill poster.

As for the Doctor himself, Sylvester McCoy continues to knock it out of the park. Although he continues with his sense of humor, his darker side continues to come to the fore. His preferred tactic is not so much to run into danger (although he doesn't avoid doing so when necessary), but rather to manipulate people and events into the right direction. Here he convinces the military that the wisest course of action is to evacuate the entire area and let the two Dalek factions fight amongst themselves. He also gets a very nice contemplative scene, sitting in a diner and discussing the weight of decisions.

Dang it if I am not thoroughly enjoying a Dalek story. Such strong writing so close to the demise of the classic series is a very welcome treat. 

STATS:

Doctor(s): Seventh
Companion(s): Ace
Episode(s): Remembrance of the Daleks - Parts 1 & 2
Steps Walked: 7,624 today, 2,428,977 total
Distance Walked: 4.25 miles today, 1,258.51 miles total
Push-ups Completed: 3 today, 64 total
Weight: 248.06 lbs (five day moving average), net change -59.24 lbs