Doctor Who Series 7 Episode 1 - Asylum Of The Daleks - Review

Starring: Matt Smith, Karen Gillan, Arthur Darvill & Jenna Louise-Coleman

Written By: Steven Moffat

Directed By: Nick Hurran

 

There's been much a lot of hype in the lead-up to Asylum Of The Daleks, with audiences from advance screenings of the episode giving it critical acclaim. When you think about it, there shouldn't be much that can go wrong here – Steven Moffat is writing for the Daleks for the first time, there's a great deal of focus on the fact that the episode features past Dalek models from the 60s, 70s and 80s, and the trailers have teased an amazing looking episode. So, is Asylum Of The Daleks really worthy of all the hype and positivity?

 

The Doctor, and a now-divorced Amy and Rory are captured from their own points in time and space and are brought together at the Parliament of the Daleks. There, the Daleks ask the unimaginable … they ask the Doctor to save them. The Daleks intend to send the Doctor, Amy and Rory down to the Dalek Asylum, a whole planet surrounded by an impenetrable forcefield and filled with insane Daleks. To prevent a tsunami of these insane Daleks escaping the asylum, it's up to the Doctor, Amy and Rory to deactivate the forcefield so the Dalek Parliament can destroy the planet.

 

Asylum Of The Daleks gets off to a great start with a very impressive pre-titles sequence. It gives us our first glimpse of the immensely high production values that this episode has going for it. Locations such as the wrecked Skaro horizon, with its acid rain and dark crimson sky, to the more simpler sets such as Amy's photoshoot, all look great and it looks like Doctor Who has either had more time to polish its production values or it now has a bigger budget. However, the true highlight is the Dalek Parliament. The Dalek Parliament looks phenomenal, particularly with its sea of bronze Daleks. Nick Hurran has done a fantastic job in directing this episode, just like he did with The Girl Who Waited, as every setting and location looks beautiful – even the dark and dingy areas of the Dalek asylum.

 

Before we actually get to see the Daleks in this episode, we are introduced to the new Dalek slaves. Their role seems similar to the Pig Slaves from Daleks In Manhattan and Evolution Of The Daleks. Thankfully, they are huge improvement from the embarrassing Pig Slaves, and are pretty creepy, especially the cracking and crunching sound of the eyestalk bursting through their skull. While they are effective, they don't detract from our central villains, the Daleks. Steven Moffat has explained that he wanted to make the Daleks scary again, and for the most part, he achieves this. Scenes such as the infirmary Daleks cornering the Doctor - a scene with some stellar lighting by the way - make the Daleks terrifying,

 

Unfortunately, while the episode succeeds in making the Daleks threatening again, it drastically mishandles them in almost every other way. There was some really excited fans of the show looking forward to seeing previous Dalek models return in this episode, but where are they? Throughout the episode, I saw only three older Daleks, namely one of the Emperor's guards from The Evil Of The Daleks, a standard 70s/80s grey Dalek, and the Special Weapons Dalek from Remembrance Of The Daleks. Even when I found these Dalek models, they were just there in the background of the asylum and doing nothing of any worth, making their return incredibly underwhelming. Dalek continuity doesn't fare much better either. First of all, how the hell is Skaro here? In Remembrance Of The Daleks, we saw it fall victim to a supernova and get disintegrated. The Dalek Prime Minister tells the Doctor that they cannot kill the Daleks in the asylum as it offensive to them to destroy hatred. They have had no problem killing each other before - throughout the 80s, two rival factions started a civil war! The Daleks in the infirmary are also said to be survivors of previous encounters with the Doctor - namely Spiridon, Kembel, Exxilon, Aridius and Vulcan. These are all references to episodes from the 60s and 70s, but all the Daleks in the infirmary are from the revived series. I'm sorry, but there are just far too many continuity errors here!

 

Aside from too many continuity errors, the dialogue rarely falls flat, finding a balance between witty, dramatic, funny and interesting. There are also great standalone scenes to be found, one of the best ones being the Eggs! Scene. Rory's first interaction with the Dalek is great to watch, as the first time I saw it, I had no idea that the Dalek was trying to say exterminate. But when you watch the scene again on a second viewing, it's clear what the Dalek is trying to say. (Spoiler Warning!)However, by far the best and most important twist in the episode is the Oswin-Dalek reveal. It's a superbly directed and edited reveal, with Matt Smith giving one of his best performances to date. The reveal that Oswin is really a Dalek is something that very few people saw coming, and as a result, it's a genuine shock. That being said, this reveal does leave a few logic gaps. For instance, is Oswin has been a Dalek all this time, why do all the other characters here the human voice that she alone is imagining?

 

As for Oswin Oswald herself, I can't deny my mixed feelings towards her character. On the positive side, Jenna-Louise Coleman's performance as Oswin can't be faulted, and it gets even better after the Dalek reveal. Incidentally, Jenna-Louise Coleman is set to play the new companion starting with this year's Christmas Special, so congratulations to the Doctor Who marketing team, because her early appearance here was a genuine surprise. As for Oswin herself, she isn't all that likeable until the Dalek twist is revealed, as she seems too cocky for her own good, coming up with nicknames for everyone and her witty remarks feel forced. Though when the twist is revealed, Oswin becomes much more grounded and likeable. (Spoiler Warning!) By the end of the episode, Oswin is able to make all the Daleks in both the asylum and parliament, forget the Doctor. When the Doctor does learns this, it's great to watch, and the future potential for new and interesting takes on the Doctor-Dalek relationship is vast. Speaking of the future, at this early point in the new series, it looks as though Steven Moffat has stayed true to his word, and has abandoned the overly-complex and timey-wimey story arcs from Series 6. This episode doesn't feel part of some huge story arc, and for it to be self-contained feels very refreshing.

 

Sadly, the overall quality of the episode dips a fair amount when we look at Amy and Rory's role in the episode. Over the course of 45 minutes, we learn that since we last saw these two characters, they have grown apart and turned bitter towards each other, to the point where they have got a divorce. What?! This subplot comes right out of nowhere and damages these two characters' hugely. When last seen in The Doctor, The Widow & The Wardrobe, no sign of any argument or malice between the two was present, but by this episode, they're constantly at each other's throats. What happened here? Even the online prequels to this episode don't explain it well, as one minute they're both happy, and the next, Rory is kicked out. Yet by the end of the episode, following a small conversation, the two settle their differences, kiss and abandon their ideas of divorce. Then what the hell was the point of this subplot?! If over the course of this episode, Amy and Rory are being split up, only for them to get back together at the end, then what on Earth was the point of splitting them up in the first place?!

 

So after all that, is Asylum Of The Daleks worthy of the widespread acclaim it has achieved. Not entirely. It is a good episode, and gets a lot right. It looks gorgeous, has some brilliant direction from Nick Hurran, and manages to make the Daleks scary again. It's also topped off with some brilliant performances from all the cast, has great plot twists abound and leaves great potential for future episodes. At the same time, this episode is held back as a result of Amy and Rory's pointless divorce subplot, far too many continuity errors and an underwhelming use of past Dalek models. I'm tempted to say that this is an average episode because of the number of crucial things it gets wrong, but I do like it and it is fun to watch, so I can call it a good, solid opener to Series 7.

 

 

Asylum Of The Daleks



7/10