Taking Over The Asylum... [SPOILERS!! FOR New Who S7 Ep 1 ASYLUM OF THE DALEKS!]
...would have been a strangely apt title for this story. It was also the title of a long-ago BBC comedy-drama series which I believe provided an early breakthrough role for the young David Tennant. Although I don't think I've ever seen it. I have, however, seen his epic turn around the same time as a transvestite barmaid in Rab C. Nesbitt.
I digress, however (and quite possibly transgress, as well). What I of course meant to say was, well, how about that opening episode, then?
No more story-arcs, every episode completely standalone, eh, Mr Moffat? Eh? Eh?
Not that I'm complaining. I was in fact pleasantly surprised to be surprised by seeing our next Who companion, or at the very least another completely different and unrelated character (yeah, right, Moffat!) played by the soon to be far better-known Jenna-Louise Coleman, something I (and by the sounds of things quite a few others) was completely unspoiled-for. And reassured, really, that we are on last night's evidence gaining a worthy successor to Mrs and Mr Pond. I thought she was really rather good indeed as the sparky, likeable but apparently doomed Oswin Oswald, a character with actually absolutely nothing at all to do with the new companion she will be playing in the Christmas special, eh, Mr Moffat?
I think my flister lost_spook is definitely onto something in her very-very-definitely-not-a-reaction-post. I don't think for one second that this is going to turn out to be the case of an actress previously cast in a different role being re-used as the new companion, as has previously been the case with Freema Agyeman, Karen Gillan and of course Torchwood's Eve Myles. This is premeditated, I think. Something more like Jackie Lane's dual role in The Massacre of St. Bartholomew's Eve, right back in 1966.
I think there are basically three options: One, as I have seen already being widely rumoured online since the episode aired, the Doctor is going to run into Oswin again at some earlier point in her life and it's going to be a case of her tragic end looming over her after the manner of River. I don't think I'd like this option at all, to be honest - it'd feel like recycling the River storyline and moreover, it just wouldn't be very nice, would it? So, two: "Clara" (if the new companion is even really called that at all, eh, Moffat?) is some unfeasibly identical-looking relative or ancestor or whatever of Oswin's, which has been done before, with Martha and her cousin for instance, and again with Gwen in Torchwood, and indeed with Dodo in the aforementioned One story. Personally, and with all due respect to the Hartnell story and the others, I'd find that slightly hokey, but preferable to the first option.
But I'm going to go with the third option. Oswin's parting words to the Doctor - "remember me" - remember the last time somebody had to remember something in Moffat-era Who? My working hypothesis right now is that it's going to be something to do with the Dalek telepathic net Oswin hacked, the nano-machines the Doctor must have been infected with, and that crucial plea for remembrance. She's got a plan to resurrect herself, somehow, in the form of "Clara". That's what I'm thinking right now, anyway.
I never get these things right, though, as my previous hypothesising over S5, S6 and even The End of Time will demonstrate. ;D
Hey, but what about the point of even posting this: what did I think of the new story?
I liked it. I thought it was a solid start and free of the sort of things I found a bit worrying about some of S6's stories. From the trailer, I was worried we were going to get another example of "good men don't need rules" dark!Doctor posturing of the sort that I don't think really sits well on Matt Smith's characterisation of Eleven, with dead Daleks as far as the eye can see and the Doctor brooding over them. It didn't pan out that way, for which I am quite grateful (although I'm still a little worried about gun-toting Doctor in the Western story upcoming, not because of the gun-toting aspect because the Doctor, as we know, does on occasion feel the need to pack heat, but for the worrying "Time Lord Victorious" aspect to his suggested confrontation with Amy - been there, done that).
One thing I thought it was was packed with incident. They seemed to fit much more into the 50 minutes than is normally the case, and the story seemed to fly by. Tighter than we're used to, I thought, and all the better for it. There were various plot points that may not have made a huge amount of sense, but the story was progressing so quickly there wasn't really time to worry about them, and there's an art to that. Think Star Wars, or Raiders of the Lost Ark; they have the same sort of jam-packed approach.
I don't really want to get into trying to unpick the ins-and-outs of Amy's and Rory's relationship or whether the reason for their break-up is problematic or not. That's the sort of thing I leave to those better educated in those sorts of issues than I. However, I will say it was very well-acted, if a bit soapily-written; I'm going to miss Gillan and Darvill a great deal, even if, as I say, Coleman looks to be more than equal to the task of succeeding them. Added to that, we had Matt Smith, as reliable as usual. I think one of NuWho's strengths, even in its weaker periods, has been its solid acting, and this remains true of the most recent stories.
But what about the big issue, the one I was making excited posts about, weeks ago? Yes, the SPECIAL WEAPONS DALEK? He/she/it was actually on screen for all of five seconds, and the other oldschool Dalek props were equally elusive (although I did manage to make several visual confirmations of their presence on the rewatch). Going in, I thought that was the one thing I was guaranteed to get a bit of squee out of, regardless of the quality of the rest of the episode, and I was, to be honest, a tad disappointed not to see more of them (although, as has been pointed out to me, this may well have been a practical consideration considering the presumed fragility and on-loan status of what are at the end of the day some very old and not that sturdily-constructed props).
The thing was, though, this almost ended up not mattering when I saw all of the other things this story managed to do with the Daleks. It was brimming with references and meditations upon the old series Dalek lore, and used it to highlight just what twisted, unpleasant beings the Daleks really are. I thought this was one of the strongest Dalek stories in recent times, for what it did with the Daleks and how it explored aspects of their nature and relationship to their nemesis, the Doctor. Their fear and hatred and warped values, where hate can be a thing of beauty and living beings can be hollowed out and altered beyond recognition in the service of their cause. And this was picking up on things established in long-ago Dalek stories like The Dalek Invasion of Earth and Resurrection of the Daleks and Revelation of the Daleks (and I like to think the devastated Skaro we saw at the beginning of the story was a reference to Seven's handiwork in Remembrance), and yet made it all seem fresh and new and surprising. The pay-off when the truth about Oswin was revealed was a powerful moment, imho - if I dare say so, classic Moffat.
So yes, I don't think this was a timeless classic of new Who, exactly, but it was certainly a very strong story that managed to justify some of my ridiculous anticipation over the past week and to allay the niggling doubts I'd carried over from S6's uneven progress. A good solid launching pad for what I hope is a good run of episodes and a good swansong for the Ponds - the characters and the actors deserve it.
And next week - Inspector Lestrade with a Big Gun! And Nefertiti?!
Er, I mean, Dinosaurs! On a! Spaceship!
I digress, however (and quite possibly transgress, as well). What I of course meant to say was, well, how about that opening episode, then?
No more story-arcs, every episode completely standalone, eh, Mr Moffat? Eh? Eh?
Not that I'm complaining. I was in fact pleasantly surprised to be surprised by seeing our next Who companion, or at the very least another completely different and unrelated character (yeah, right, Moffat!) played by the soon to be far better-known Jenna-Louise Coleman, something I (and by the sounds of things quite a few others) was completely unspoiled-for. And reassured, really, that we are on last night's evidence gaining a worthy successor to Mrs and Mr Pond. I thought she was really rather good indeed as the sparky, likeable but apparently doomed Oswin Oswald, a character with actually absolutely nothing at all to do with the new companion she will be playing in the Christmas special, eh, Mr Moffat?
I think my flister lost_spook is definitely onto something in her very-very-definitely-not-a-reaction-post. I don't think for one second that this is going to turn out to be the case of an actress previously cast in a different role being re-used as the new companion, as has previously been the case with Freema Agyeman, Karen Gillan and of course Torchwood's Eve Myles. This is premeditated, I think. Something more like Jackie Lane's dual role in The Massacre of St. Bartholomew's Eve, right back in 1966.
I think there are basically three options: One, as I have seen already being widely rumoured online since the episode aired, the Doctor is going to run into Oswin again at some earlier point in her life and it's going to be a case of her tragic end looming over her after the manner of River. I don't think I'd like this option at all, to be honest - it'd feel like recycling the River storyline and moreover, it just wouldn't be very nice, would it? So, two: "Clara" (if the new companion is even really called that at all, eh, Moffat?) is some unfeasibly identical-looking relative or ancestor or whatever of Oswin's, which has been done before, with Martha and her cousin for instance, and again with Gwen in Torchwood, and indeed with Dodo in the aforementioned One story. Personally, and with all due respect to the Hartnell story and the others, I'd find that slightly hokey, but preferable to the first option.
But I'm going to go with the third option. Oswin's parting words to the Doctor - "remember me" - remember the last time somebody had to remember something in Moffat-era Who? My working hypothesis right now is that it's going to be something to do with the Dalek telepathic net Oswin hacked, the nano-machines the Doctor must have been infected with, and that crucial plea for remembrance. She's got a plan to resurrect herself, somehow, in the form of "Clara". That's what I'm thinking right now, anyway.
I never get these things right, though, as my previous hypothesising over S5, S6 and even The End of Time will demonstrate. ;D
Hey, but what about the point of even posting this: what did I think of the new story?
I liked it. I thought it was a solid start and free of the sort of things I found a bit worrying about some of S6's stories. From the trailer, I was worried we were going to get another example of "good men don't need rules" dark!Doctor posturing of the sort that I don't think really sits well on Matt Smith's characterisation of Eleven, with dead Daleks as far as the eye can see and the Doctor brooding over them. It didn't pan out that way, for which I am quite grateful (although I'm still a little worried about gun-toting Doctor in the Western story upcoming, not because of the gun-toting aspect because the Doctor, as we know, does on occasion feel the need to pack heat, but for the worrying "Time Lord Victorious" aspect to his suggested confrontation with Amy - been there, done that).
One thing I thought it was was packed with incident. They seemed to fit much more into the 50 minutes than is normally the case, and the story seemed to fly by. Tighter than we're used to, I thought, and all the better for it. There were various plot points that may not have made a huge amount of sense, but the story was progressing so quickly there wasn't really time to worry about them, and there's an art to that. Think Star Wars, or Raiders of the Lost Ark; they have the same sort of jam-packed approach.
I don't really want to get into trying to unpick the ins-and-outs of Amy's and Rory's relationship or whether the reason for their break-up is problematic or not. That's the sort of thing I leave to those better educated in those sorts of issues than I. However, I will say it was very well-acted, if a bit soapily-written; I'm going to miss Gillan and Darvill a great deal, even if, as I say, Coleman looks to be more than equal to the task of succeeding them. Added to that, we had Matt Smith, as reliable as usual. I think one of NuWho's strengths, even in its weaker periods, has been its solid acting, and this remains true of the most recent stories.
But what about the big issue, the one I was making excited posts about, weeks ago? Yes, the SPECIAL WEAPONS DALEK? He/she/it was actually on screen for all of five seconds, and the other oldschool Dalek props were equally elusive (although I did manage to make several visual confirmations of their presence on the rewatch). Going in, I thought that was the one thing I was guaranteed to get a bit of squee out of, regardless of the quality of the rest of the episode, and I was, to be honest, a tad disappointed not to see more of them (although, as has been pointed out to me, this may well have been a practical consideration considering the presumed fragility and on-loan status of what are at the end of the day some very old and not that sturdily-constructed props).
The thing was, though, this almost ended up not mattering when I saw all of the other things this story managed to do with the Daleks. It was brimming with references and meditations upon the old series Dalek lore, and used it to highlight just what twisted, unpleasant beings the Daleks really are. I thought this was one of the strongest Dalek stories in recent times, for what it did with the Daleks and how it explored aspects of their nature and relationship to their nemesis, the Doctor. Their fear and hatred and warped values, where hate can be a thing of beauty and living beings can be hollowed out and altered beyond recognition in the service of their cause. And this was picking up on things established in long-ago Dalek stories like The Dalek Invasion of Earth and Resurrection of the Daleks and Revelation of the Daleks (and I like to think the devastated Skaro we saw at the beginning of the story was a reference to Seven's handiwork in Remembrance), and yet made it all seem fresh and new and surprising. The pay-off when the truth about Oswin was revealed was a powerful moment, imho - if I dare say so, classic Moffat.
So yes, I don't think this was a timeless classic of new Who, exactly, but it was certainly a very strong story that managed to justify some of my ridiculous anticipation over the past week and to allay the niggling doubts I'd carried over from S6's uneven progress. A good solid launching pad for what I hope is a good run of episodes and a good swansong for the Ponds - the characters and the actors deserve it.
And next week - Inspector Lestrade with a Big Gun! And Nefertiti?!
Er, I mean, Dinosaurs! On a! Spaceship!