The Inmates are running the Asylum -- [Doctor Who s7e01 - The Asylum of the Daleks]

[lightcastle]

The seventh series of Doctor Who arrives with the return of the Ponds, a Parliament of Daleks, and a quick demonstration that Moffatt has no intention to change the style or tone he has brought to the show for his two years in charge.

Luckily, that kept my expectations low.

Comments

[misskitty_79]

Dinosaurs you say?

[lightcastle]

And was pretty much good in every way this one was bad.

Cracking fun episode.

[azrhey]

I also could live without seeing the Daleks/Cybermen for a couple of years...

Also agree that that Ponds Need to Go. While people still like them a bit. I used to love them and now I can barely stand them... Too much of a good thing.

Just read that Gaiman is on for writing another episode for early next season... I am not sure how ti feel about that. Hope he will top The Doctor's Wife... gearing for disapointment?

[lightcastle]

Well, the bits with the wife were cute in Gaiman's thing, but House was pretty boring. I'm sure it will be decent.

The Ponds are much less annoying in episode 2, because it isn't all about Pond angst.

[azrhey]

Oh gods I hope so! The whole scene in episode one gave me flashbacks of Annakin/Padmé love scone with the "I love more, no I love you more" sap. I didn't need that.

20 minutes to go here...

[lightcastle]

Wow, the Padmé/Annakin parallel is unfortunately apt.

[melebeth]

The plot twist was painfully obvious to me as well, and I hadn't even realized the season had started.

[lightcastle]

Indeed.

[joenotcharles]

I really liked a lot of the elements that went into this episode, it's just that Moffat put them all together by slathering them under a thick layer of the Portentious Idiocy that ruined last season. This would have been a great Dalek episode if it had been played as a standalone.

[lightcastle]

I think that's a pretty fair description.

[dr_memory]

So... I actually kinda liked it? Really, it was all about the Soft Bigotry of Low Expectations:

- It was far more entertaining than "Victory of the Daleks" or "Daleks in Manhattan". Which is grading on about the most aggressive curve imaginable, but given that every single Dalek story since "The Parting of the Ways" has been face-slappingly awful, merely mediocre was something of a surprise. (Imagine how much better the story would have been with no Daleks at all!1) The Daleks have a parliament now? Fine, sure, whatever

postscript

[dr_memory]

The Daleks have a parliament now? Fine, sure, whatever.

Although I will say that this is more evidence that weird pacing issues and all, "Remembrance of the Daleks" is still the single best Dalek story the series ever did: the Daleks wouldn't solve the problem of there being many slightly different types of Daleks floating around the universe with democracy, they'd solve it with bloody civil war to the last Dalek rolling thanks very much.

Which remind me: have you been reading this guy?

Re: postscript

[lightcastle]

Although I will say that this is more evidence that weird pacing issues and all, "Remembrance of the Daleks" is still the single best Dalek story the series ever did

Not willing to concede that, although I have always been fond of that baseball bat.

the Daleks wouldn't solve the problem of there being many slightly different types of Daleks floating around the universe with democracy, they'd solve it with bloody civil war to the last Dalek rolling thanks very much.

Exactly, something even acknowledged in "Victory of the Daleks"

Re: postscript

[dr_memory]

Actually, speaking of Remembrance, my biggest peeve with "Asylum" was actually the very first scene set on Skaro. I'm willing to accept that blah blah blah timey wimey time war rewriting etc Skaro can come back after the Doctor blew it to hell with the Hand, but undoing the climax of Remembrance just for a throwaway scene at the start of this episode felt like a slap.