Overview
An excellent episode which featured a great monster, a great story and a great series opener!
Continuity
Asylum of the Daleks was a very good episode for Continuity. Here's what they were:
- Amy's modeling career was touched on again, last seen in Closing Time
- The Eleventh Doctor mentions '11'
- Amy said, "Who's scared? Geronimo!". A reference to the Eleventh Doctor's catchphrase
- Oswin mentions some Dalek battles that centred around some classic Doctor Who stories
- Rory is nicknamed 'The nose' again
- The 'Doctor Who' theme/arc is a big thing at the end of this story and I speak about this below
Story Arc
'Doctor Who?' was a big theme in this episode. I really liked the big reveal of the question by Dorium at the end of Series 6, but in this episode I feel it was used a little too much. I really liked how Oswin made all the Daleks forget the Doctor and the scene in the Parliament at the end of the episode where all the Daleks are asking, "Doctor Who?" was a nice touch. But the last scene of the episode was where I feel it was not necessary: The Doctor prancing around the TARDIS asking to himself, "Doctor Who?", multiple times, was not a good ending to an otherwise great episode.
Story
The story was very good and for a Moffat story, quite simple! (Don't get me wrong, I love Moffat's complicated storylines). It was all about the Doctor trying to turn of the forcefield to the Dalek Asylum and ultimately, trying to escape the Daleks. A very well thought out story and no plot holes what so ever. Well apart from one...
Problems
I loved this episode and I think it is the best series opener since Doctor Who began back in 2005. But the thing, that bugged me about this episode, was how it featured Skaro. I actually liked it appearing, but what wasn't said was, where was this in Skaro's timeline? During the Time War, perhaps? I thought it was made clear that Skaro was destroyed in the Time War...
Oswin
I absolutely fell in love with Oswin, as soon as she appeared! I think all Doctor Who fans' hearts skipped a beat when she came onto the screen. Also, this has made me really look forward to the 2012 Christmas Special to see where this all comes into Oswin's story...
Every Dalek
The whole 'Every Dalek ever' thing was, as Moffat said, just for publicity. The appearance of the classic Daleks was minor and most Dalek's that appeared were the Bronze. However, I did like the Daleks in this episode, but I have one question, why did the Dalek that self-destruct not use the same method as last seen in 2005's, Dalek?
Conclusion
Monsters - 4.5/5 - The Every Dalek ever thing let it down and the self-destruct change
Story - 5/5 - Very simple and entertaining! Fantastic!
Doctor - 5/5 - Matt Smith was brilliant in this episode and the Doctor was given some very good bits
Companion - 4.5/5 - Karen Gillan and Arthur Darvill were absolutely fantastic in this episode and Gillan especially, gave an outstanding performance. What let them down a bit was the slightly cheesy scene where they get back together
Arc - 4/5 - Good use of 'Doctor Who?' but was ruined at the end
Continuity - 4.5/5 - Almost flawless, except for the no explanation as to where in Skaro's history was the scene at the beginning shown?
Asylum of the Daleks (overall) - 27.5/30 - Fantastic
So that's it for my Asylum of the Daleks review. I hope you enjoyed reading it and agreed with me on most points!
Next Week - Dinosaurs on a Spaceship
Overall Mark Comments
30 - Outstanding
25 - 29.5 - Fantastic
20 - 24.5 - Great
15 - 19.5 - OK, nothing special
10 - 14.5 - Bad, very poor
5 - 9.5 - Shocking, turned off after 10 minutes
1.5 - 4.5 - Worst thing to be shown on TV ever
0 - 1 - Doctor Who is over
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