Review: Doctor Who 7.1: Asylum of the Daleks

It wasn't as epic as the poster, but it was still fun.

Written 1/9/12

Mind. Blown. Moffat usually doesn't like to use stunts in Doctor Who, but this was one hell of a stunt. Asylum of the Daleks was confusing and brilliant and surprising and wonderfully frustrating in so many ways. It felt like a redemption after the other failures of Moffat's run, especially where the Daleks are concerned, but it also left me wondering whether the episode's clever twist was a smart move or a dickish one. Spoilers follow.
     The Doctor, Amy and Rory are beamed to the Dalek Parliament by humans who have been mentally and physcially augmented to serve them, and are told by the Dalek Prime Minister (think David Cameron with more charisma) that they've been chosen to head down to the Dalek Asylum and turn off its inpenetrable forcefield. Once there, they find themselves assisted by a lovely-looking woman named Oswin Oswald (Jenna-Louise Coleman), who is cooped up in an escape pod and seems to be able to hack into the entire planet. Soon, the planet's defensive nanobots start to convert Amy, but The Doctor, with Oswin's help, gets them to safety. Going to fetch Oswin from her pod, The Doctor discovers that the Asylum Daleks in fact converted her into a fully-fledged Dalek, with the image of her human form a comfortable illusion. Retaining her human side, Oswin deletes all trace of The Doctor in the Dalek memory banks and tells him to remember her. The Doctor escapes, the Daleks blow the planet up and Amy and Rory are dropped off home again.
     The twist that Jenna Louise-Coleman's character here is in fact a Dalek (and has never met The Doctor before) suggests that Moffat simply put her here to show off her acting chops before she joins the roster as a companion in the Christmas special. Suffice to say it's made fans go mad wondering what the hell is going on, a feeling that Moffat is very good at giving. Discussion of whether the character is at all related to her role as companion is still ongoing, but luckily the confusion will probably be over by Christmas. What we do gather from this, however, is simply the strength of her performance. Oswin was cheeky, fun, smart and seems a great improvement over the very flawed Amy and Rory, whose domestic troubles formed some of the episode's most awkward scenes. It was unfortunate that Oswin's characterisation echoed that of River Song - the sexy promiscuous genius who can't help but flirt with everyone - but we're a while away from her companionship and so there should be room for change.

Moffat... you're either clever or an arse. Or both.

     Elsewhere, I loved the ways that Moffat is attempting to make these "insane tanks" scary once again. The Dalek conversion, with an eyestalk jutting through a person's skull, was brilliantly grotesque and the use of conversion as an airborne plague carried by nanogenes... wait, this is just The Empty Child again! Airborne plague of nanogenes converting organic material into a form which requires something jutting through their face? I mentioned last year at the start of Series 6 that Moffat was repeating his ideas ad nauseum, and it's no different here. That doesn't stop said concept from working, however, and it certainly has the right effect. I just wish that the core concept - that of a Dalek insane asylum - had been utilised more effectively instead of switching back to Moff 101.
     Tonight's episode wasn't perfect by any stretch, and a lot of the elements were placed there deliberately to confuse. But it certainly was entertaining, and it explored the Daleks in much the same way that Moffat explored the Cybermen back in The Pandorica Opens - making them bigger and better. It would have been nice if the so-often-advertised Dalek Asylum had featured a bit more, but the crazy Oswin subplot more than made up for it. No doubt this episode will look completely different by Christmas, but for now, a great start.

Thanks.