Viewers have been catapulted ‘into darkness’ by new Doctor Peter Capaldi, which was particularly highlighted in episode 2 ‘Into the Dalek’. It was the first time the 12th Doctor came face-to-face, in fact he even came eye-to-eye, with his oldest and most deadly foes. However, it was different to any other Dalek storyline we have witnessed, as viewers (and the Doctor and Clara, of course) were taken on a journey through the insides of a damaged Dalek! Head writer Steven Moffat revealed on Doctor Who Extra that the original idea of going inside a Dalek was going to be used for a video game, but Moffat decided to keep hold of the idea for an episode – and are we glad he did!

Episode 2 of Series 8 made the Doctor think and it was where Clara met Danny Pink! The Doctor thought he could create a ‘good’ Dalek, but it was the Timelord’s dark thoughts about destruction that ultimately prevented this from happening. The audience was first introduced to new, recurring character Danny Pink in ‘Into the Dalek’, but it is episode 4, called ‘Listen’ (Listen out for the laughs in this one, amongst the creepiness), in which we discover more shades of Pink! The soldiers in the second episode were almost colour-coordinated, as it was revealed that fellow teacher of Clara, Danny Pink, was an ex-soldier (looks like Michael Gove has even implimated ‘Troops to Teachers’ in Doctor Who), while, one of the soldiers helping the Doctor and Clara against the Daleks was named Journey Blue. Blue was one of the only characters to survive the Journey into the Dalek, as her fellow soldiers were all exterminated by the antibodies. Her uncle was named Colonel Morgan Blue – although, it could have been better if Kim Kardashian and Kanye West had influenced the future that much that babies were named in their style, with Journey’s uncle instead being called ‘Light Blue’, like Kimye’s child is called North West!

Seeing the ‘original Daleks’ (by original I mean the 2005 reincarnation of the Skaro born beasts) at their deadliest again was rather pleasing, having been bombarded with new look Daleks in recent years, including rainbow coloured ones in World War II. However, this is probably not the first time we have seen a so-called ‘good Dalek’ as @FDseale put it on Twitter; “Nope so [no] such thing [as] a good Dalek. Aside from the one in Dalek. Or the one in Journey’s End. Or the one in Asylum of The Dalek[s] [sic]”. Even though none of the Daleks in these previous episodes were out-and-out good, neither was ‘Rusty’ in ‘Into the Dalek’, in fact, Rusty was probably less ‘good’ than some of the Daleks featured in these Doctor Who stories, as all that was different about Rusty is that he was a bit rusty as a result of poisonous gas leak messing up his insides and hard-drive! However, the Doctor did give this particular Dalek individuality by giving him the pet name Rusty (other Daleks have had names, like Dalek Sec) and in the end it was Rusty who saved the protagonists of this adventure by exterminating the enemy Daleks, but the Doctor did not want just one Dalek ally, he wanted all Daleks to change their ways (it is probably easier to get a leopard to change its spots). Overall, the Doctor’s hate of the Daleks made Rusty hate all Daleks, but prevented the Doctor from achieving his ultimate goal, you could say his promised land, a land without any evil Daleks, but Doctor Who just wouldn’t be Doctor Who without a Dalek out there being an enemy of the Doctor! For me, episode 2 was my favorite out of the first three of the Capaldi era, just about beating ‘Deep Breath’.

It also looks like the Doctor Who bosses and the BBC have come to a comprise with the fans by featuring ‘Doctor Who Extra’ on the Red button and the iPlayer. Doctor Who Extra is like a shortened down version of ‘Doctor Who Confidential’, which was controversially scrapped, despite popularity with many Whovians. It is not quite the 45 minutes which Confidential gave us, but it is still a good 10 minutes of behind the scenes fun and action! Doctor Who Extra is a bit like what Boxing Day is to Christmas – it is not the main event, but gives you that little bit extra to enjoy. All the top shows do it, especially the Saturday nighters, ‘The X Factor’ has ‘The Xtra Factor’, ‘Britain’s Got Talent’ has ‘Britain’s Got More Talent’, while ‘Strictly Come Dancing’ has had weekday bonus shows hosted by Doctor Who fan Zoe Ball. Who doesn’t want to see an Extra 10 minutes of Who News on a Saturday night (or anytime if you are watching on iPlayer, please do not try and vote – sorry, wrong show!)