Doctor Who time has come around once again. Don’t worry- we’ve utterly no idea of when to expect it anymore, either.
On the plus side, the first episode of the next 5, Asylum of the Daleks, gave an altogether welcome departure from the norm. For starters, we were presented with the Daleks from the get go- in the first five minutes of the first episode, in fact. A lovely change from the usual practice of everybody carrying on in the vague pretence that the Daleks might not appear for six weeks. Look- it’s right there in the title: Daleks. Thankfully, this meant that Writer and Executive Producer Steven Moffat could stop worrying about hiding them until the last possible appropriate second and get on with the rest of the show.
And boy did it make a big difference.
The pre-titles sequence jumped straight in, with our beloved hero caught in the trap of a woman/Dalek tragically clueless as to the damage she’s about to cause in asking the Doctor (Matt Smith) to help rescue her daughter from a nearby prison ship. Meanwhile, as they say, back on Earth, a separated Amy (Karen Gillan) and Rory (Arthur Darvill) are in the process of signing their divorce papers. However it isn’t long before they too find themselves whisked off (apologies) to join The Doctor over on the Good Ship Dalek.
So far, so same old. However we get another tweak to the blueprint here in that this time, the Daleks want The Doctor, their ‘Predator’, to save them. Sure, they’re probably up to no good and have evil ulterior motives, they wouldn’t be Daleks and it wouldn’t be Doctor Who if they didn’t, but to essentially open the show not so much with a character twist but a complete species twist, is undeniably interesting. Add to this the fact that they want to be saved from themselves, from their own insane and defunct kind on the icy hospital planet down below, and you’ve got the makings of a strong episode.
The script’s as sparky as ever, and we know the character formulae well enough now for the actors to have some fun with it. Smith and Darvill consistently perform well, but Gillan in particular stands out here. We’re treated to a competent spot of character development and a rare insight into the realities of life with Rory post Demon’s Run . The slow introduction to Jenna Lousie Coleman’s character was well thought out, too. Fun, flirty and clever, she didn’t reveal too much, but just enough to pique our interest for future episodes. There’s also a classic Whovian ‘focus on a tiny seemingly insignificant detail and then reveal it to be crucially important in the last thirty seconds’ angle, but I won’t give it away here.
If there are criticisms to be had, and regrettably there are a few, they are very much the usual suspects. Doctor Who often falls foul of the length of its time slot, and Asylum is no exception. Overall, it feels every bit the well-crafted show, but the last five minutes are rushed, and we do get the impression that interesting areas for exploration have been dropped or completely ignored. A more thorough investigation into what exactly makes a ‘broken’ Dalek, to pick one example, might have made for an even more engaging episode. It seems ironic to be asking for more time for an episode when talking about Doctor Who, but that's often exactly what it seems in need of.
Other than a slight case of runaway plotline, this was a big idea for the show’s and ground is covered well. For me, Moffat really excels in the stand -alone episodes. They allow him to showcase his best jolting plot twists, and to juxtapose his sharpened dialogue with touching character relationships, without the complications of a narrative arc. Despite Asylum ‘s introduction of several big ideas, as well as a brand new series, this opening episode really does show him at his best with all of the above.
Pun intended, we might be in for a good time here.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/p00wqr14/Doctor_Who_Series_7_Asylum_of_the_Daleks/
- Jen
You can read more of Jen's writing here: https://memyselfandtheothers.wordpress.com
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