Well Doctor Who is back and stronger than ever! This is also means I am back to reviewing this series! For those who have watched Pond Life all teh time has been put to good use as it helps explain a little to what happens with Rory and Amy before they meet the Doctor again.
I’ll start off with the non-spoiler version, the Doctor, Rory and Amy are kidnapped by the Daleks and taken to the Parliment of Daleks and are given a mission to go into the Daleks Asylum to take down a force field, once they get there the adventure really begins. Moffat did a brilliant job in the first episode as it contained humour, action and a whole lot of craziness and the entire episode left me gob smacked, there is a question which I have been left with, I’ll let you guess that. I am excited to see what the rest of the series has in store, next weeks shoudl be pretty damn awesome i mean Dinosuars…in space…
There will be spoilers ahead!
Moffat kicks off the series, in my opinion, with a huge bang! We start off the episode with witnessing taht Amy and Rory are no longer together, some may have been confused by this but those who watched Pond Lif would have knew before hand. Eventually we get to the start of the action with each character being abducted by the daleks and taken to a Dalek ship. We also see a new form of Dalek, a human which has his/hers memory erased and has their body in control of the Daleks, thy also have the eye stalk coming out of the forehead, ew.
We come to a little shock and surprise when for once they are glad for the existence of the Doctor as they plea for help. The need him to turn off the force field on a planet in order for them to destroy it. This is a place were we learn that even the Daleks fear to enter. The Dalek Asylum. Here they place the Daleks which have gone insane, the ones that cannot be controlled. They don’t kill these Daleks because of a twisted concept of beauty, they see their hatred and admire it, making the Doctor sick. They pick up a signal from the Asylum which music is being played, the Doctor sends out a message and we learn that there is someone trapped within the Asylum because her shipped crash landed, a woman named Oswin, she is the one who will be taking over from Amy and Rory once they leave. Before they set off each of them are given a band which protects them, from what they do not really know yet. Eventually they send them on their way, whilst the Doctor and Amy are close to each other Rory had been sent off on his own into the heart of the Asylum. Pretty much all of them are running from their lives from various Daleks and Amy loses her band, oh no, the Dcotor explains why the band were necessary. The Asylum contains nanites which take over the body eventually making them in to a Daleks and part of the security system. In a rush to find Rory the Docotr and Amy begin running and conversation between Oswin and the trio are humourous but pretty fast Oswin seems pretty similar to the Doctor in terms of personality and character.Throughout the episode we can see that Oswin’s intelligence levels match even those of the Doctor has she has managed to hack through the entire Asylum, something the Doctor was pretty impressed by.
After destroying many insane Daleks, Amy is taken further into her transformation and the Doctor has no choice but to leave the two in order to get to Oswin who agrees to shut down the Force field if she is saved. The Doctor goes through the intensive care unit, which Oswin learns that thos Daleks were the ones that managed to survive the Doctor but before teh Doctor is vapourised Oswin manages to hack into the Dalek Path Web and erase all knowloedge of the Doctor, they no longer remember him. But that little nugget is nothing to what happens net as Oswin is ready to leave, the biggest twist in tis episode appears, Oswin is not human but a Dalek. the Doctor questioning all makes sense now, as it was all in her head. The Dalkes gave her a full transormation when she had crash landed. Before teh Doctor leaves she asks for him to only remember her and she takes down the forcefield. I was actually pretty saddened about Oswin’s death and sacrfice. The Dcotr and his two comapnions escape back to the Dalek ship but the Daleks have no idea who the Doctor is, Oswin erased knowledge of the Doctor to every Dalek. He leaves with the Dalek asking a question even we ask ourselves “Doctor who?”
In case you read the non-spoiler version, you are probably wondering what questions I was left with, well teh first is Oswin is meant to be the Docotr’s next companion, how the hell is she getting back? Did she escape before the Daleks destroyed the Asylum?
I love Moffat and what he did with this episode, it only leaves me wanting more, he has really one brilliantly ith this episode and that one twist changed the entire story in such a way, that I am left with amazement and greed for more. Can’t wait for next weeks episode i mean Dinosaurs in fucking space!
This gets a 9/10 from me.
Loading ...
I agree completely, this was an awesome episode, and I cannot wait for more!
A friend of mine was slightly annoyed that for the people who didn’t watch “Pond Life”, we were just introduced to Amy’s and Rory’s problems, and in the same episode they were solved, but I said it was just Moffat wrapping up their story so as to make way for the new companion.
@Dr. Doctor
Space Dinosaurs?
Where?
@Cross:
In next week’s episode!
=
I hear Smith extended his contract, so we won’t be seeing the Doctor regenerate this year. Meaning we won’t be any closer to the Valeyard…oh well. That is a story I cannot wait to see.
=
I’ve also heard rumors that the Master is coming back.
@Dr. Doctor
Hopefully the Whovians will migrate back to gaia online this year, I need to find more role-players to gather and such.(I just hope the debating doesn’t go lacklustre all over the place like it normally does with gaia online in general, these days!)
The Master…hmm, I wonder how much more powerful can the Master Be?
Also JSYK, I might be trying to get plans arranged for the Daleks in another fight, shall I send you the link?
I left Gaia a looooong time ago, my friend. xD
=
Well, now that we know Daleks can make other beings into Daleks, the match may end up a bit differently.
@Dr. Doctor
Your gaia online username so I can see if I can try to find you?(I’ll probably mention something about either Ginny + Atoli, Hermione + Pi or the Ministry of Magic + CC Corp, whichever would be the quickest for your attention to pick up, so you’ll know its me!)
This is a match that I’ve considered, given the site needs both fresh new blood and material to work with, and an epic fight at the same time!
This will, without a doubt, affect the Daleks’ fights already on the site and future matches in general, right?
My gaia username should still be either Dualgunner or Dualgunner X.
=
You will need to give me some time to look over the thread…
=
Oh, definitely.
@Dr. Doctor
Hopefully you managed to get the comment I tried hard to send to you, earlier, and you’ll probably understand what my question happened to be if your username is Dual Gunner X, actually!
If not, I apologize.
No problemo.
This is gonna hurt WORSE on the DBZ side, right?
If this is your account, mind going in here to respond back?
@Dr. Doctor
Yeah I was pretty annoyed that they solved teh relationship in one episode, bu they didn’t realy advertise Pond Life too, but they had to for the series to work I guess.
-
Also he said that he will be Doctor till at least 2014.
-
The Master will be returning on teh 50th anniversary.
I could not disagree with you more, in this episode they essentially gave the fans the finger.
1. They gave the daleks emotions other than hatred. The daleks are supposed to be unfeeling killing machines, “fear” is not in their vocabulary.
2. THEY GOT RID OF THE FUCKING DALEKS PERMANENTLY! HOW CAN THE DALEKS BE A VILLAIN IF THEY DONT REMEMBER THE DOCTOR? THEY TOOK AWAY THE SINGLE MOST RECOGNIZABLE VILLAIN IN ALL OF THE DOCTOR WHO UNIVERSE! HOW THE FUCK CAN YOU HAVE DR. WHO WITHOUT FUCKING DALEKS!
Sorry for all the caps, this episode just filled me with so much rage.
It was a good episode, and I loved all the references to the EU. It was cool that they brought back the oldWho process of turning humans into Daleks, and the nanites thing was cool to see moved from comic to screen.
-
-
Two bones to pick, and spoilers will follow:
First, there is no way the PM Dalek is telling the truth about the Asylum. We know the Doctor doesn’t know for a fact, and it makes much more sense for the Asylum to actually be a place where the Daleks messed with test subjects minds to find breaking points, or better methods of defeating the Doctor. As none of this is contradicted on screen, I’ll stand by it.
-
Second, the ending. It was stupid, almost Journey’s End plot device stupid. The Daleks were said to be afraid to go down there because they would get infected with madness. Yet they were safe on their ship. But somehow, the telepathic relay reaches the ship, which is stupid, and bypasses any security procedures, which is even stupider. I could understand if the signal traveled with the transmat beam, but wiping all Dalek memory of the Doctor away – beyond stupid and horrendous plot device.
@Dr. Rockso – No, they didn’t get rid of the Daleks, they just made it so they could write better stories like in the old series, so the Doctor doesn’t have to be a walking plot device to survive.
“Prime Minister: It is offensive to us to extinguish such divine hatred.
The Doctor: Offensive?
Prime Minister: Does it surprise you to know that Daleks have a concept of beauty?
The Doctor: I thought you’d run out of ways to make me sick. But hello again. You think hatred is beautiful?
Prime Minister: Perhaps that is why we have never been able to kill you.”
-
Not sure why but I loved this part.
Also Oswin was awesome. Wish she’d at least become a reoccurring character somehow.
“Also Oswin was awesome. Wish she’d at least become a reoccurring character somehow.”
-
Someone hasn’t been reading their Doctor Who news.
“He leaves with the Dalek asking a question even we ask ourselves “Doctor who?””
I don’t really care. I just saw this episode, the first episode I’ve seen in years, and would like to refresh my knowledge on much of Doctor Who’s universe. I really liked this episode as well, and was saddened by Oswin’s “death” At least she’s coming back somehow. Anyway, I can’t really judge Matt Smith on his performance as The Doctor as this is only the second episode I’ve seen of him as The Doctor, but so far, he did a good job. Can’t wait for Dinosaurs in Space!
Silence will fall when the question is asked. And a fuck load of Daleks just asked.
__
It was an interesting episode, can’t wait for more ^^
__
“First, there is no way the PM Dalek is telling the truth about the Asylum. We know the Doctor doesn’t know for a fact, and it makes much more sense for the Asylum to actually be a place where the Daleks messed with test subjects minds to find breaking points, or better methods of defeating the Doctor. As none of this is contradicted on screen, I’ll stand by it.”
__
There’s a Scene [SPOILERS] where he is about to get to Oswin where he has to go through a room full of “catatonic” Daleks, only they all wake up because they recognise the Doctor. The Doctor even says he knows them all, they’re the ones that survived “him”. So these are at least some of the “battle worn” Daleks the PM talks about.
@Ruliya: Yep, and they could have been the Patient 0s, the ones that were used to determine what the Doctor could do. Then they have all the other Daleks, on whom the insanity was given to, and who were tested on. Kind of like how Asylums were a couple hundred years ago.
“The Daleks were said to be afraid to go down there because they would get infected with madness”
-
I could have sworn that it was the fact that they kept getting their asses beat whenever they sent someone down there.
-
” But somehow, the telepathic relay reaches the ship, which is stupid, and bypasses any security procedures, which is even stupider.”
-
What are you talking about? It’s a telepathic link, just like you said. How would there be a security procedure in there? Yeah, the girl hacked into it, but she was a Dalek. It would have made less sense if she had only made those few Daleks forget, instead of the whole race, considering it is telepathic.
@Aelfinn: Well, the Daleks didn’t send anyone down, the Doctor was the first. They were scared of the insanity down there, but you could be right. Maybe they didn’t think it was contagious.
-
If it was telepathic, why were their computers also erased, as they obviously couldn’t just look up the Doctor right there, and we know they are all connected to their computers. So the telepathic command had to somehow get into their security network, and they left it undefended, which is stupid, and not something Daleks usually do.
“If it was telepathic, why were their computers also erased,”
-
Well, if it wasn’t telepathic, then how could they forget who the Doctor was? Their very brains would have been changed in order for that to happen. In regards to the computers, maybe they just didn’t take the time to look him up?
-
“So the telepathic command had to somehow get into their security network, and they left it undefended, which is stupid, and not something Daleks usually do.”
-
It was defended, though. The Doctor was never able to get in it before. It took a Dalek to access it.
@Aelfinn: Maybe it is a telepathic network that is both electronic and telepathic?
-
Good second point, though I think the ending was just a little too convenient. I like the Dalek character though, and I hope that is who the new companion is. The only time we’ve really ever gotten good Human to Dalek characters is in the EU, and none have been main character, IIRC.
“@Aelfinn: Maybe it is a telepathic network that is both electronic and telepathic?”
-
*shrugs* Heck if I know.
-
“Good second point, though I think the ending was just a little too convenient”
-
Well, they could have just had the Doctor teleport into the TARDIS and fly away. There was obviously a reason for all of this.
-
” I like the Dalek character though,”
-
Yeah, she was pretty good.
“@Ruliya: Yep, and they could have been the Patient 0s, the ones that were used to determine what the Doctor could do. Then they have all the other Daleks, on whom the insanity was given to, and who were tested on. Kind of like how Asylums were a couple hundred years ago.”
__
See, what gets me is that Oswin mentions specific battles those Daleks fought in, I can only assume in the Time War… but wouldn’t that mean the Asylum planet should be in the Time Lock too?
__
Also when I first saw the Title, I thought of the other usage of the word xD Especially when they all said “help us”. I was like “Why would they want sanctuary with the Doctor?” But the episode made much more sense the way it did!
Those battles were all oldWho battles. And the shield could be seen as a sort of time barrier. It is an EU thing, where in desyncs the inside from the flow of time outside of it, protecting the contents from time changes.
Well, I thought they might be old Who stories (but I’m not the biggest fan, been many years since I’ve seen the older ones). But yea, I can understand that then.
“Well, if it wasn’t telepathic, then how could they forget who the Doctor was? Their very brains would have been changed in order for that to happen. In regards to the computers, maybe they just didn’t take the time to look him up?”
+
I thought Daleks were cyborgs too or something.
=
Better question, how do daleks chain other daleks?
“Better question, how do daleks chain other daleks?’
-
They have their Robomen and Dalek Puppets do it. Or they use their grasping appendage, and not the suction cup appendage.
I liked the ending.
-
The writers have been trying to write out the Daleks since the previous Dalek episode (Victory of the Daleks). They didn’t want to do another Dalek arc, and considering how the Daleks were the ones to push almost every major arc during 10s run, I can actually understand that. They didn’t want to invoke Villian Decay by overusing the Daleks again.
-
More to the point though, this actually allows the writes to finish up with the Daleks. Victory of the Daleks had the Daleks win and then just retreat and we never hear from them again (till now anyways). That felt rather lame in my opinion. With this ending the Daleks no longer have a reason to be going after the Doctor, and that can allow the writers to put some distance between The Doctor and the Daleks as well as giving them the freedom to still bring the Daleks back should they feel the desire to do so.
-
I liked the twist with Oswin too.That really hammered home what an “insane Dalek” would be like while at the same time it explained how she could have access to the Dalek’s networks.
-
I did think the Rory/Pond subplot was weak and forced though.
The daleks lack of fully functional limbs would explain why the chains were just kind of draped over the daleks in the asylum, and served no real purpose
I could not be happier about Jenna-Louise Coleman being the new companion once the Ponds leave; she was great. I can’t wait to see how Oswin’s story will connect to Clara’s, because there’s no way it won’t. It’s so nice to finally have new episodes of Doctor Who on TV again! Unfortunately, I work late on Saturday nights, so I won’t be able to watch any of the show live this fall. That’s why I’m glad I can count on my Hopper to have every new episode ready and waiting for me to enjoy as soon as I get home. I would hate to be out of the loop with any of my Dish co-workers who love the show as much as I do! Next week looks fantastic. I am SO ready for some dinosaurs on a spaceship!
“That’s why I’m glad I can count on my Hopper to have every new episode ready and waiting for me to enjoy as soon as I get home. I would hate to be out of the loop with any of my Dish co-workers who love the show as much as I do!”
And if you forget to put it on the Hopper, by some random mistake, www.watchseries.eu/serie/doctor_who has you covered.
Yes, that was a good plot twist and one of the ones I did not see coming earlier in the episode (most of the surprising twists seem to be in Doctor Who lately, Hollywood is getting so formulaic nowadays that most TV watching is in seeing what little embellishments they hang on obvious plots and cannot really keep up with the British stuff anymore).
-
The “insane” Daleks actually can infect the others; it has happened in other episodes where Daleks that dare to think “out of the shell” gather their equivalent of a cult around themselves and become a danger to the Dalek hierarchy (though one of the later ones had his followers turn on him), and Oswin is an example of the “most dangerous” type for that. Apparently she even overcame the self destruct system that is supposed to keep free-thinking Daleks out of the ranks.
-
At one point in the old series (I forget which Doctor, but he was one who had Ace as a companion which would be sometime in the fifth or sixth area I think) there was a war going between two different factions of Daleks because of a mutation in large numbers of Daleks who then banded together for their survival or something along those lines (though the two types did not seem that different from the outside except for their paint jobs, and neither side was exactly pleasant company). Each side called the other ‘insane’ so that term is probably applied to all Daleks who do not blindly follow their doctrine. In the new series the one that Rose ‘corrupted’ thought of itself as an insane abomination because it did not think like a Dalek anymore too.
-
Speaking of mutations, I wonder when the Daleks went from green vaguely humanoid things with spindly webbed three-fingered clawed hands (the SFX crew used dyed goose feet or something like that to show grasping Dalek hands) inside the travel machines to beige brain squids splayed across the top of the equipment inside the head of the travel machines.
-
That is weird, it only took the last part of my post. Here is the first part:
-
-
“ Well, if it wasn’t telepathic, then how could they forget who the Doctor was? Their very brains would have been changed in order for that to happen. In regards to the computers, maybe they just didn’t take the time to look him up? ”
-
The modern Daleks are much more tied into their travel machines than the old ones, it would not be a surprise if their electronic and biological memories were physically tied directly together.
-
“ “Better question, how do daleks chain other daleks?’
-
They have their Robomen and Dalek Puppets do it. Or they use their grasping appendage, and not the suction cup appendage. “
-
Despite looking like a plunger those are really dish emitters for fine control short range tractor beams. They can actually tie and untie knots with the things so putting (totally ineffective) chains on other Daleks should not be a problem.
-
-
“ I liked the twist with Oswin too.That really hammered home what an “insane Dalek” would be like while at the same time it explained how she could have access to the Dalek’s networks. “
@BC: “At one point in the old series (I forget which Doctor, but he was one who had Ace as a companion which would be sometime in the fifth or sixth area I think) there was a war going between two different factions of Daleks because of a mutation in large numbers of Daleks who then banded together for their survival or something along those lines (though the two types did not seem that different from the outside except for their paint jobs, and neither side was exactly pleasant company). Each side called the other ‘insane’ so that term is probably applied to all Daleks who do not blindly follow their doctrine. In the new series the one that Rose ‘corrupted’ thought of itself as an insane abomination because it did not think like a Dalek anymore too.”
-
Those warring Daleks were from 7′s era. The white, Imperial group were human/Dalek hybrids made by Davros. He wanted to get rid of the Daleks and start over again, but a Civil War began and spiraled out of control. The Imperial Daleks were much more than just things in a casing, they were more like the current Dalek mutants.