CONTAINS SPOILERS!
1. Asylum Of The Daleks
“Is it bad to say how much I’ve missed this,” asks Amy, as Doctor Who returned to our screens, mirroring the thoughts of millions across the UK and world. Yes, the Timelord finally reappeared on BBC1, last seen saving Christmas (again).
And returning too were the iconic Daleks, with the production team boasting this series opener would see every variation of those pesky pepper-pots on screen together for the first time. However, a simple nostalgia-fest this was not, and while Doctor Who has fallen deeply into decades worth of its’ own mythology in the past, this was all about moving the current story arc forward, as part of Steven Moffat’s master-plan.
Picking up where we left off last year, the universe believes the Doctor to be a dead man, a legend in the past-tense, all designed to prevent “The Question” being asked. But there are those who know better, including the Daleks themselves. Reuniting the Timelord with Amy and Rory, now seen suffering marriage issues, they make a simple request – save the Dalek race. The monsters of Skaro are now living in fear – deep in their Asylum, a place where the maddest of all the genocide-loving race reside, is a secret threatening their entire existence. Terrified of their own insane, they decide to send the one thing they fear more… The Doctor himself.
“You think hatred is beautiful?”
Ah yes. This is the start of Matt Smith’s third series in the title role. A faultless performance where the Doctor is forced to express more humanity than he would for a Timelord – including hate, fear and a surprising understanding of human relationships for an awkward alien who is now over 1,100 years old. It’s going to be exciting to see where he’s going to go next with the role, as the story arc begins to take the character into uncharted territory.
Running parallel to this is the beginning of the end for the Ponds. When we rejoin Amy and Rory, they are still in London and on the brink of divorce; the ramifications of the last year’s events at Demon’s Run bringing their relationship to near-collapse. Deeply ingrained in all of Moffat’s work has always been the sense of what it means to be a couple in a relationship and that was very much on show here. With the Ponds heading to their final days in the TARDIS, I’m sure we’ll see more sparkling dialogue, heart-breaking moments and cracking interplay from Karen Gillan and Arthur Darvill. Their marriage domestics not only emotional ground the audience as the show goes all-out SF-Fantasy, but also helps take us inevitably towards their exit…
“What do you know of the Dalek Asylum?”
This is less of the action spectacle the trailers promised and more of a body horror survival story including mad Daleks, augmented human slaves and, yes, even undead zombies. Chillingly designed within family-friendly limits to bring back the fear factor to Saturday nights, director Nick Hurran and the production team not only evoke horror classics such as The Thing, they also bring and surpass the cinematic spectacle we now expect from modern Who. The Parliament of the Daleks will live in your mind for a long time to come, as will the ruinous landscapes of Skaro. Long-time fans will query the return of the Dalek home world; perhaps it was restored when the Universe got ‘rebooted’ at the end of Series 5? Unless something else is afoot…
Steven Moffat’s confidence as show-runner was on display here, keeping the story-telling linear (but, as we’ll see, not without at least one major timey-whimey surprise), tackling the Daleks fully for the first time since he took the reigns of the show and very much in a serious and emotional way. Treating TV’s most familiar villains with a new spin is never easy, yet here it was simply remembered a Dalek best effects the viewer when it’s written as a well-rounded, devious, clever, murderous maniac. And now we got to meet the most insane of the insane.
Dalek stories are an unique collection within Doctor Who episodes themselves. While this never tops the heights of previous classics – the psychological face off in Dalek (2005), the apocalyptic invasion The Stolen Earth (2008), the murky morality of Genesis Of The Daleks (1975), the issues of eugenics, fascism and racism in Remembrance Of The Daleks (1988) – Moffat broadly sketches enough of those elements to shade the Asylum to remind you why they not only make great TV, but also why they make great villains. Treated with fear and respect, plus with the darker edge to Smith’s performance and the maturer emotional arc of the Ponds seen here, you can only wonder what already-spooky Asylum would have been like if written for a later time slot and an older audience. The Daleks en mass were returned to their grass roots – fascist killing machines, prepared to create an entire concentration camp-style planet for those of their race that even they could not control, yet also could not destroy. The thought of Daleks driven mad beyond acceptable limits but still being considered too beautiful to destroy is a sickening one. That they further had to be preserved in a Dalek Hell rather than purged from existence showed another surprising and odious development in their characters.
“Hello, hello, come in Carmen, hello?”
Now we have to turn to the biggest development; if you don’t want to know, look past this bit…
***MAJOR SPOILER***
The secret threat at the heart of the Asylum was also the biggest secret of the story. Oswin Oswald, the survivor of a ship-wrecked Alaska, maker of Soufflés, lover of Carmen the Opera – played by Jenna-Louise Coleman. Yes, the SAME Jenna-Louise Coleman who joins the TARDIS this Christmas as new companion Clara. Or does she? Not sure now. Or has she already? Her dialogue suggests this is not the case. Will she? Ummm… Are they one and the same? Your brain is going explodey-whodey too, right? And as for the reveal that prevented her joining the Doctor in the TARDIS at the end… It’s seriously enticing in terms of what happens next, especially give her final actions. Some could argue Moffat may be repeating the story tropes he used with River Song, but surely there has to be more to it than that?
“Remember me.”
Aside from the obvious questions, Jenna-Louise gives a fantastic turn, all broad smiles, sparkly eyes, clever wit and charming bisexual flirts, leaving viewers excited for her arrival full-time, promising a great début/return/re-introduction/lamp-shading [delete as applicable, in a few years time] on the cards for this Christmas. However, until then, everyone will be left scratching their heads to work out how this all fits together – and I imagine that Christmas will not bring us the answers immediately either. Bravo to Team Who for managing to keep this big spoiler very secret; Jenna-Louise has arrived in style.
***MAJOR SPOILER ENDS***
Finally… three words to those of a certain age who remembered it the first time: Special. Weapons. Dalek.
VERDICT:
The Doctor is back and very much on form. Roll on next week…
Next Week:
“Dinosaurs. On A Spaceship!”
Best Line:
Doctor: “The soufflés. Seriously, is no-one wondering about that??”
Best Moment:
The Daleks in a completely bemused state at the end.
Rhymey-Whimey:
“Explodey-Whodey!”
Wibbley-Wobbley Timey-Whimey:
Oswin Oswald. Let’s see how this one makes sense…
The Grand Moff Masterplan:
“Doc. Tor. Who?” …It is *the* question, after all.