Asylum of the Daleks

So it’s back again! In an episode that was full of surprises, Moffat has done a pretty good job of launching the new series. Moving away from the huge story arcs of last year, this episode of Doctor Who was a standalone story that provided a great basis for the new series. I will be reviewing the series as a whole, but this week I want to concentrate on the first episode.

For those that haven’t watched or heard of Doctor Who (Have you been living in a cave?) the basics of the programme are as follows. An alien who goes by the name ‘The Doctor’ travels through time and space, saving planets and people. Along his adventures he picks up companions, normally from earth, getting them in situations that always involve one of his grand plans of escape. He’s the last of his race, the Timelords, but has plenty of enemies. Last time we saw the doctor, he had left his companions at home to enjoy married life and spent Christmas running around a forest trying to find a lost child, which he then returned to his mother and saved Christmas. Just an average day for a Timelord then.

The Newest Member of the Team

The biggest surprise was to see the newly announced companion Miss Jenna-Louise Coleman, months in advance, when she is due to appear in the Christmas special. Already making an impression with her flirty humour and intelligence, the character of Oswin brings a new challenge for the doctor. She is someone that is more of an equal and even sometimes showing herself to have skills he lacks, having hacked the path web which he states he’s tried and failed. Moffat has already expressed his thanks to the press for not leaking her first appearance before airing on Saturday. The most shocking part of her appearance in the first episode is she doesn’t even make it out alive, which presents the question, how will Moffat explain how she becomes the new companion? Considering the Doctor already knows River Song’s fate will he again have to watch someone live their life knowing how they die? I’m sure Moffat will find a fantastic way to explain away the wibbley wobbley timey wimey story line.

Amy and Rory

Now back to the present companions. For those that watched the series prequel, we saw a glimpse into the state of their relationship. For everyone else it was quickly apparent that things weren’t good in the Pond household. In a way, the fact that even the Amy and Rory could have relationship problems shows they are human like the rest of us. When their problems are explained and we find out that Amy can’t have kids, it brings a very real and serious topic into the show, which I believe is handled remarkably well. The scene is acted brilliantly by both Karen and Arthur and even left me with a lump in my throat. Although they seemed to be back on track at the end of the episode, I hope that this theme doesn’t just disappear and they do have aspects of this in the rest of the series, as in real life these kinds of problems don’t just disappear.

Daleks

Although they are an old enemy of the Doctors, Moffat has written an episode that shows them in a different situation, in need of help from the doctor. The idea of the Asylum is clever and provides a great opportunity to explain some of the history of the show to younger viewers but also gives a nod to the Whovians too. Starting on Skaro inside a huge Dalek building also provides a fantastic setting to launch the episode with some amazing special effects. The human and zombie Daleks were absolutely terrifying and if I were a kid I would be having nightmares of the eye coming out of my forehead! When Amy is at risk of becoming one it increases the pace of the show and makes Amy the damsel in distress. All this was topped off with a moving dialogue by Oswin and the Dalek; I applaud Nicholas Briggs, the voice artist, for being able to make a Dalek sound emotive.

I think this episode is one of the best for the new doctor, Moffat has written it brilliantly, especially with the throw away comment on the eggs that becomes so important to the story. He has proven that even with a standalone episode he can create something funny, moving and entertaining. This has excited me for the rest of the series, especially how he will bring back Jenna later in the year. Next week’s episode starts at 19.35 on BBC one and I will defiantly be watching, but did Moffat impress you enough to come back? Comments welcome below.