S07E01 - Asylum of the Daleks

Well, first of all: Welcome! Welcome back my old loyal readers; indeed a most highly anticipated review has finally turned up upon this recently-revamped site much to the (hopeful) joys of those most common with my style of ramblings. Also, to those new readers, whomever and wherever you may be, if you even exist: you’re in for an intellectual race of complete confusion, so be prepared… ‘Wibbly’ doesn’t even cover my loony style of writing. But never mind, eh? On with the show!

What’s scarier than an insane Dalek? SEVERAL insane Daleks!

Well, with Asylum of the Daleks now official seen by millions, it has to be said that the Daleks are pretty damn scary! Sadly, though, unlike what the Moffat et al have said, this episode did not bring fear back to tin cans, although it did leave a very questionable future for them – let’s hope it’s a future where you see less of them for a few years and come back only once-a-Doctor ala the classic series (well, Peter Davison onwards anyway) as the less of them you see, the more terrifying they can be.

One thing that must be addressed before this review goes any further is the surprise appearance of future-Companion, Jenna-Louise Coleman – possibly brought into this episode so as to allow the audience and Whovians alike to see how absolutely brilliant she is as an actress. Of course, judging by this episode, Oswin ‘Soufflé Girl’ Oswald will not be the companion introduced in the Christmas Special, yet even so, this particular character was completely genius; stunning, smart, beautiful, quick-witted and perfect in every sense of those words. And what some superb acting! How this character, of course, relates to that the soon-to-be Clara Oswin is yet to be seen though, although I strongly suspect Soufflé Girl to be, at least, a relative to that of Clara; whether that a descendant or simply a sibling…

Anyway, moving back to the episode review I have to say what a remarkable way to start what seems to be ‘the best season yet’ – well everyone says the latest season of any show is the best in the entire run so that title’s not surprising – although the appearance at the beginning of Skaro, home planet of the Daleks, was a fantastic way to start. Skaro in fact brought to life after its last CG appearance in Doctor Who Adventure Games ‘City of the Daleks’ – that massive Dalek statue right at the beginning was stunningly creepy! – yet it’s still not specified what exactly happened to the Kaled Home World between Remembrance of the Daleks and now.

New technology of the Daleks also seems to have been introduced since last we saw them: nanocloud-technology, not unlike that seen in Season One of Who but for different reasons and effect, which can convert anything living, or dead, into that of a Pupper Dalek. A scary thing to think of; being slowly turned into a part-Dalek soulless puppet, no wonder Amy was terrified when it started happening to her, not to mention the Skeletal Vasta Nerada-esque Puppet killers! And then of course, the nanocloud can even, sadly, convert someone into a complete Golden Dalek, which might even explain how the Dalek Emperor could have done so in Season One. Let us also not forget about their joint memory; linking all Daleks and their records together like the Star Trek Borg or similar: The Doctor being deleted from said banks and the Daleks having no idea on who he was – the scariest part of all the episode in my opinion.

Then, although prepared for the cinema-style representation of these new episodes, thanks to pre-warning spoiler-free reviews and of course the official posters, it was still quite a surprise to see it in such formula; good old traditional Doctor Who revamped into a style of pure sleek and 110% movie-esque. Yet, the formula worked, it really did; not to mention the new retro-style title sequence. They finally fitted Darvill’s name into the sequence WITHOUT it seeming last minute. In fact, it felt like something from Old Who made modern – and the sparkles on the title card, SPARKLES damn you!

Rolling back to speaking of Darvill; what a surprise of Amy and Rory’s relationship?! The two being separated for, to begin with, unknown reasons, but of course, it’s a longer plot ranging back to the previous season and Demon’s Run; Amy can no longer have children; she scared that Rory would leave her because of this so throws him out instead because of her panic. Silly lovely Amy – of course she still loves Rory, she loves him will all her heart and mind, she was just being fuelled by fear, the most common human trait: fear of the future. A most unpredictable future as she came to quickly realise, with her makeup artist suddenly, and horrifically, revealing her Dalek Puppet-ness. Of course, relatable to that, loveable Rory will now forever be thought as the man who believed a Dalek wanted some eggs. Well it is a common mistake for anyone when all a Dalek seems to say is ‘Eggzzz’.

How fantastic though was it to actually see some classic Daleks in New Who? Although completely dusty and bathed in golden light, you do get to see some small head lamps and even the Special Weapons Dalek, if only briefly! And the idea of an Asylum was extremely clever, albeit slightly confusing considering the Timewar and all related, but since even the Daleks feared it, it seems plausible that none would try and recruit a new army from said Asylum so one could let that pass.

Now are the Daleks scary, I ask you? Possibly, possibly… Some of the things they can do are pretty terrifying; like the whole nanocloud technology mentioned above, the fact they find beauty in hatred, that they have a Path Web mind, not to mention the new massive army seen within this episode which could possibly be the most terrifying of all. Then there is Parliament of the Daleks… yeaaah, probably not the best idea in the history of the Dalek race, especially having a Prime Minister Dalek. In the past we’ve had Emperors, Supremes, Leaders and even Davros, the Creator… and then we have the Dalek Prime Minister. Hmm, yeah, I think I’ll leave it at that.

So, what do I think of the episode? What was it like? Fantastic! I need not review the companions, the Doctor, Soufflé Girl, or even the Daleks because they were all just fantastic! Asylum was just a brilliant way to bring the show crashing back with a bang, leading nicely into the fiftieth anniversary next year.

Bring on the Dinosaurs!