Doctor Who [3]

For weeks now Moffat has been giving us shots of the Dalek Parliament, Asylum has more promo vids and posters for it than any other season opener I can recall-and as usual it was a Moffat red herring because the real secret was revealed right at the begining- the new companion.
We were told the new companion would be called Clara and make her debut in the xmas episode once the Ponds had departed the series- that it seems was a blatant lie- for there was the new companion going by the name Oswin, a ship wrecked genius, bold as brass- how on earth in this internet age with two premieres on either side of the Pond the Who team kept this one a secret I dont know but well played.

In terms of the story this was quite possibly the most straight forward Who script from the pen of Moffat yet.
Yes it had a twist, but unlike most Moffat twists where I not only dont see what the twist is I usually dont see the twist itself until it happens, this one was coming from the start. There was obviously somthing not quite right about Oswin, the final revelation of what that was I have to admit though I had not guessed at all.
The plot was simple enough- Daleks have lost control of their aylum for seriously disturbed Daleks and need the Doctor to go down and sort it out before the crazy Daleks escape and the Daleks can't do it because they are too scared. And there is a crashed ship on the asylum planet and one female survivor to rescue, Oswin.
So why not just destroy the planet? The answer to that is one of my favourite things in the episode- because Daleks have a concept of beauty- and hate, vileness and ugliness and twistedness are beautiful to them. They cannot destroy hate;
Dalek- "It is offensive to us to extinguish such divine hatred."
Doctor - "Offensive?"
Dalek -"Does it suprise you to know that the Daleks have a concept of beauty?"
Doctor- "And I thought you had run out of ways to make me sick. But hello again. You think hatred is beautiful?"
Dalek - "Perhaps that is why we have never been able to kill you."

And so the scene is set for the Doctor and the Ponds to be hurled down onto the asylum planet and take down the forcefield and along the way rescue the girl.
Doctor- "That's your plan? I get fired at a planet and expected to fix it?"
Rory- "In fairness that is slightly your MO."
Doctor- "Don't be fair to the Daleks when they are firing me at a planet!"

Oh yes the Ponds- with a marriage on the rocks- if the episode had a weakness is was not giving enough time to the Ponds- their marriage problems, revealed to be centered around Amy's inability to have children following the events of Demons Run was a strong emotional beat in the episode, but I would have liked it to get more. But Karen and Arthur are again top-notch in this scene, getting just the right amount of emotion out of the scenes.
I doubt the Ponds marriage problems are entirely resolved but it would have been nice to have seen more of them.

I have read elsewhere some complaints about the 'Dalek-people'- with eyestalks and guns emerging out from under their flesh- this for me is a natuaral development of the original Dalek 'robo-men' of the 1960's-

and their development by the time of the 7th Doctor in Remembrance of the Daleks-

Moffats take on them seemed completely fitting to me with previous classic Who-


The Dalek-people also allows for a chilling exchange as the Doctor tries to appeal to any remaining humanity in one of them by reminding her she once had children, lost to the Daleks, "I know," she replies with a sinister smile, "I've read my file." Proving there is nothing human left in her.

For old Who fans there was a lot of stuff in there to have fun with- from spotting Daleks, like the special weapon dalek, to the list of battles the severe deranged case Daleks in 'Intensive Care' had fought in- all from Classic Who- "These are the Daleks who survived me," the Doctor confirms of them grimly.
And the scene where the Daleks pin the Doctor to the door as he screams in terror is wonderfully reminiscent of the 1st Doctor's first ever encounter with the Daleks on Skaro- he is reliving some bad memories here.
And Skaro should get a mention here too- the episodes opening shot of the ravaged planet and the massive Dalek statue was great stuff and top notch effects for Who- the show has never looked better.

Smith continues to nail the Doctor, switching from glee to deadly seriousness on a pin head and he gets to run the gamut in this episode- from hatered to self loathing and everything inbetween.

Probably the greatest feat Moffat manages to pull off it to make the Daleks a race again. It has become to easy to forget that inside the giant pepperpots is a vile, nasty minded Dalek- Moffats script went a long way to giving some character back to the Daleks, from their admiration of hate as beauty to their fear to face their damaged own.
Moffat avoids the RTD solution, of making them more human, but he does give them more to their existence than just trundling about shouting 'exterminate'.

As is usual in a Moffat script the solution to the episode and the twist rested on what seemed a throwaway joke line about making souffles, "where did you get the milk?"
And thats the question that leads to the discovery that the new comapnion is not a crash surviver holding out in the asylum fighting off the Daleks- the new companion IS a Dalek, having been fully converted into Dalek form.
Its a hell of a twist- I now rather hope all Daleks have an artificial world they see when they are in their Dalek shell- its a lovely idea. And its very well played here.
Given however she is a Dalek- and a Dalek on a planet that moments later gets blown to smitthereens one has to suspect some timey-wimey Moffatness going on to explain how she is going to be the new companion by xmas.
On that question I am not even going to begin to guess, I'm just going to enjoy the ride Moffat takes me on getting there.

The reset button of the Who universe which Moffat has been doing since he took over continued again in this episode. With Oswin's final act being to wipe all knowledge of the Doctor from the Dalek memory. The episodes ends as series 6 did, with cries of 'Doctor Who?" this time from the confused Daleks who now have no idea who he is.
I suspect Moffats plan is that when he leaves as show runner he will leave the show in exactly the same ambigous position it was when it began 50 years ago- ready to have the potential for another 50 years of working out Doctor who?

So is it the best Dalek episode ever? No for me its the 3rd best after Dalek Invasion of Earth (1st Doctor) and Genesis of the Daleks (4th Doctor)- but 3rd is pretty high praise and I have no hesitation in declaring it far and away the best Dalek episode of Nu Who.

My biggest complaint is the same complaint I have had since NuWho began- episodes are too short. I could easily have had more of this story.

You missed mentioning the line that made me laugh and think of you

Oswin: does she seem a bit angry to you?

Amy: Clearly you've never been to Scotland!

Have to say I didn't particularly see the Oswin twist coming, but it brought tears to my eyes. I also had some real confusion due to the fact I haven't been following news about the series, but recognised her as the new companion, then in the end decided she couldn't be, to then find on the net that she is..... Although I hope there is some timey wimey link, cos as a companion she will be brill (Clare's surname is Oswin so seems a link is likely.

Must admit I agree the pond issues could have been played a bit more, I hope that this is the start of them dealing with the fallout of River. There should be more emotional upheaval from the fact they have in effect lost a child and Amy now can't have children, no matter how much time they sent with mel growing up!

Looking forward to the rest of the run, athough it looks like we are getting five only, then a christmas one before the rest, Blergh!
(And suggests Merlin will run in the gap)

I think we will get more Pond stuff, one of the episodes is being touted as 'domestic' with regards the Ponds, but thats probably a Moffat distraction of some sort.
I agree about Merlin starting in five weeks time- looks like the series will be split around the xmas episode- I expect the second half to go out in Febuary and the 50 th anniversary stuff to go out in the Autumn.

And that is a good line! As always with a Moffat script it was peppered with great one liners and quick fire dialogue.

The Dalek City


The Dalek City as seen 50 years ago in the 1st Doctor story and Dalek debut- The Daleks.

'"I hope you all got a nice surprise when Jenna popped up in Doctor Who several months early. If so, that surprise came to you courtesy of the frankly magnificent ladies and gentlemen of the press, and of the many Doctor Who forums and blogs too. This show has been seen at four separate screenings, across four different countries and yet not one person gave one spoiler. From all of us on Doctor Who, a heartfelt thank you for helping us tell our story."

The new companion is 12- she is the 12th Doctor.
Moffat has hinted the next Doctor could be a woman- but thats a big risk- so you introduce her early as the companion- the audience already likes her before they find out she in fact a later version of the Doctor.
This explains the way she speaks and why despite being apparently the junior entertainment officer on a cruise liner she is also a complete genius- and is also why she says rigth at the end 'remember me'.
Her dialogue is very Doctorish- from cooking souffles in a crisis to her lines about being a genius.
Of course this theory falls under the usual rules when dealing with Moffat- if we can think of it, its wrong.