Review: Asylum of the Daleks

Asylum of the Daleks Review

 

Immediate Reaction

Well, Thank God I steered clear of any spoilers for this episode. Ladies and gentlemen, I am going to take a stand and say that spoilers are officially A BAD THING! In fact, if you’ve not seen Asylum of the Daleks, please don’t read any more of this review.

I mean it. Don’t.

Okay, they’ve gone. Where to begin? Has Doctor Who ever looked so good? Steven Moffat promised a mini-movie a week and that’s precisely what we got. From the fangasmic first images of Skaro since 1979 to the brilliant sequences in the snow, the whole story screamed quality. The effects were used sparingly and effectively and director Nick Hurran did another amazingly cinematic job.

I was expecting more Dalek action than we actually got, but like all New-Who, it was the relationships that were pushed to the forefront instead. There was a lovely little nod to the events at Demon’s Run in A Good Man Goes to War, and even with the happy ending for the Ponds, there is still a lot of mending to be done in their relationship. The Daleks were ancillary to the plot and to the main events in the story, which actually revolved around the character of Oswin.

For a series that purports to have no overriding story-arc, Moffat has provided one hell of a hook. Jenna-Louise Coleman’s appearance was a complete surprise and very well hidden. In fact, it’s possibly the biggest storyline surprise since they blew up Adric in Earthshock. (EDIT: Okay, in my excitement I forgot the aborted regeneration in The Stolen Earth and the little girl regenerating in Day of the Moon, both of which were properly gobsmacking moments). It’s a stroke of genius to set up the new companion way ahead of her eventual proper appearance and what a masterstroke. The new companion appears to be a Dalek! That’s genius. And Jenna-Louise is immediately likeable, with just a hint of vulnerability under her clever banter.

But it’s the Ponds who actually take centre-stage, and Karen Gillan and Arthur Darvill are both excellent in conveying at first the pain and hostility of their separation and the moment where they admit their feelings for each other is the acting highlight of the episode.

There was so much that referenced previous successes, from the list of planets where the Daleks came from to the familiar throbbing sound effect as the insane Daleks woke up. The scenes in the intensive care unit reminded me of the incubator room in Genesis, with the same sickly green lighting. And a glass Dalek at last! Who’s been reading their copy of David Whitaker’s Doctor Who in an exciting adventure with the Daleks?

I’ve not even mentioned Matt Smith yet. He is close to becoming the Doctor now, with every little nuance of his portrayal finding new facets of the character. The Doctor’s exhilaration at successfully slipping back into the shadows even with his most implacable foes was positively infectious. Freed from all that convoluted River Song backstory, the lead characters all shone.

It’s a brilliant start for the new series; Asylum is probably the best season-opener since Smith and Jones on initial watch. It’s also Moffat’s best story since The Time of Angels/ Flesh and Stone.

 

 

Considered Opinion (After a second watch)

 

Okay, Steven Moffat is a sneaky Scottish genius. I doubt anybody would have expected the first appearance of Jenna-Louise Coleman in Asylum of the Daleks. In retrospect though, the signs were all there beforehand. I remember reading the opinion of the production team that Jenna’s performance was quick-witted and quick-mouthed several months ago when she was first cast and long before the Christmas special was filmed. Now we know that opinion was based on this first appearance in Asylum rather than her audition piece. Her character is called Oswin here instead of Clara, although presumably, given the Eleventh Doctor’s habit of calling his companions by their last name, she will eventually be called Oswin on a regular basis. Coleman makes a positive impact, playing both saucy and intelligent with an undercurrent of pathos. She’s more immediately likeable than Amy Pond in The Eleventh Hour. The fact that she only interacts with the regular characters through a scanner that resembles the Dalek eyestalk she actually possesses is a subtly brilliant concept that I didn’t notice on initial viewing. Her story is already compelling; I can’t wait to see where it goes.

 

'Making Souffles? Against the Daleks?'

 

Director Nick Hurran deserves massive praise. I loved his work in The God Complex and The Girl Who Waited, but Hurran really ups his game here to provide Asylum of the Daleks with a true sense of the epic. From the opening moments on Skaro with the magnificent pan up the calcified Dalek to the scenes in the snowy wastes, Hurran knows instinctively how to frame the money shots and mix them perfectly with the character beats. He is one of the best directors Doctor Who has ever used. Bring the man back for more!

As far as Dalek stories go, Asylum is the best since Dalek in giving the tyrannical pepperpots a proper sense of menace. It slightly wastes the concept of the asylum in favour of the Oswin storyline, and it’s a shame that they promoted the story with all those old Daleks as the only one I recognised was the Special Weapons Dalek, who didn’t even get to fire his oversized cannon. It’s difficult to see exactly what the Daleks were afraid of on the asylum planet. All the insane Daleks seemed to be dormant. Why did the Daleks actually need saving?  The Parliament of the Daleks was truly impressive and I am glad they reversed the creative decisions of Victory of the Daleks and used the bronze Daleks as footsoldiers and the Paradigm Daleks as leaders. The darker sheen to the Paradigm models was much more effective than their previous Lego/ iPod look. I especially liked the Prime Minister in his glass tank – a nod to the Emperor and to the glass Dalek in the David Whitaker novelisation of The Daleks.

 

'Wrong way up! Wrong way up!'

 

The scenes in the asylum were incredibly creepy, particularly in the Intensive Care section, where the survivors of the Doctor’s adventures allowed Matt Smith to show the Doctor’s mortal terror of his arch-enemies. That these particular Daleks are the ones who have to be hidden away in the deepest recesses of the asylum shows a ramification to the Doctor’s actions that I had never really considered seriously; the effect he has on his enemies is quite a nasty one.

The concept of the nanocloud rewriting human biology and systematically eradicating humanity until only Dalek remains is a chilling one. The sight of the Dalek eyestalks erupting from foreheads was the correct mixture of grisly and cool to impress the kids, and reminded me of Lytton’s Dalek eyestalk hat in Resurrection, but it is the internal changes that the process inflicts that give a great new spin on the Daleks. The fact that microscopic machines can effectively rewrite the DNA of an entire planet into Dalek is a chilling new development, and poor Dalek Sec must be kicking himself with his new feet that his human Daleks were just glassy-eyed people with tommy guns.

'I forgot about dying.'

 

Also the scenes where we see Oswin being converted were uncomfortably close to the horrific images of Stengos’ partially converted head in Revelation of the Daleks. Indeed, the story was seamed all the way through with appropriately nightmarish imagery that at times seemed to channel horror film iconography. The Daleks have been given a scary new edge again, which Steven Moffat is on record as saying he wanted. If only he will now give the same consideration to the Cybermen...

The three regulars were uniformly brilliant, freed from the stifling shadow of the River Song arc. I was surprised how relieved I was when Alex Kingston didn’t turn up, although I enjoyed last series greatly. Asylum of the Daleks was much better storytelling than anything Moffat wrote last year. His trademark twists and moments of misinformation were better channelled and contained in a full story for what seems like the first time in ages. The declaration that the five stories to be shown this month are almost free from a plot arc is good news indeed. Hopefully the audience will come flocking back to Tennant levels, although in truth it never went away did it?

 

'A Dalek without a gun? You're a tricycle with a roof!'

 

Asylum of the Daleks’ Ten Brilliant Bits

1.       For the first time since 1979, we get to see Skaro! It’s been given a Gallifrey-style makeover, although how it still exists is a mystery since the Doctor was supposed to have destroyed it in Remembrance of the Daleks. The opening pan up the Dalek into its eyestalk was sensational, lending the series a real mythic quality. The only disappointment I had was that Darla wasn’t a Thal, but that’s probably a fanboy concept too far at this point.

 

2.       Jenna-Louise Coleman’s reveal after the opening credits, cooking a soufflé (badly) was one of those ‘Is that actually who I think it is?’ moments. Oswin’s introduction was clever and unexpected, and allowed us to get to know the character in seconds. Just when did they film Coleman’s sections? Yet again, Doctor Who shows its never-ending ability to surprise.

 

3.       The scenes with the crew of the Alaska were almost casually sinister and scary. They only existed to show the devastating effects of the nanocloud and Amy’s probable fate (as well as Oswin’s actual fate) yet they were the most terrifying thing in teh story. The sight of the Dalek eyestalks bursting out of the dead was Doctor Who at its most macabre. Combine that with Harvey’s almost casual realisation that he had died outside and his body had been preserved and we are given one of the most effective bits of body horror Doctor Who has ever provided.

 

4.       Rory’s scenes in the asylum were beautifully shot. The Daleks were suddenly creepy again. Like all good horror films, you found yourself scanning the back of the screen for any signs of movement. The bit where Rory almost casually moves the eyestalk and it moves back was powerful, as was Rory’s realisation of why the Dalek was talking about eggs.

 

5.       The best segment of the episode was Amy’s hallucination that the Daleks were people. It reminded me of one of my favourite sequences in the Bioshock 2 game, where we finally witness the Little Sisters’ dreamlike version of the monster-infested hell in which they live. The little ballerina girl spinning was an hauntingly beautiful image, because at the back of your mind you knew what she reallydb was. Plus the scene sets up the revelation about Oswin perfectly. One of the all-time best moments in Doctor Who.

 

 

 

 

6.       Oswin only ever sees the other characters through a Dalek eyestalk lens. We see it poke up through the snow and focus just as Oswin focuses. That’s such a subtle and clever idea. I imagine that most viewers missed it, but once again Steven Moffat gives us all the clues but still pulls out a surprise. I didn’t cotton on to Oswin’s identity until the moment she said she was at the far side of the Intensive Care section, but my family only realised the second before the reveal. That’s perfect storytelling.

 

7.       The sequences in the snow were filmed in Spain alongside the upcoming western episode. Alongside the Dubai-filmed desert planet of San Helios in Planet of the Dead, the asylum world was the most alien-looking planet the Doctor has ever visited. It was only a couple of scenes at most, but this level of care and attention is lifting Doctor Who way beyond what it used to be capable of showing.

 

8.       Arthur Darvill and Karen Gillan get the man-of-the match awards for their heartbreakingly well-acted exchange in the teleport area. It was good to see the events of Demon’s Run actually had a lasting impact on Amy. I was beginning to wonder after she seemed to brush off the loss of a baby without too much thought. Her tear-streaked revelation that she didn’t kick Rory out but gave him up, followed by the one-two punch of two thousand years of solitary centurion duty outside of the Pandorica was nothing compared with giving up Rory redefines their relationship. Finally you actually believe that Amy loves Rory. It’s been too long in coming.

 

9.       The Intensive Care sequence was masterful. The eerie green light that filled the room was a clear echo of the terrifying incubator room from Genesis. That the most insane Daleks in the asylum are those that encountered the Doctor is a horrifying thought. The fan-pleasing references to Spiridon, Kembel, Aridius, Vulcan and Exxilon were a nice touch. Does that mean that one of those Daleks was the one who hid himself under the sand in The Chase? Always knew he was a nutter. But the scene existed to prove just how terrified of the Daleks the Doctor truly is. It makes him more of a hero because he faces the things that scare him the most, but more importantly in a way it makes the Daleks genuinely scary because they terrify him. When they surround him with their suckers, their guns removed, we know the threat because by now we all know what the suckers can do. Thank you, Rob Shearman!

 

10.   The Oswin-Dalek reveal is sublime. The clues are all there, from the ladder to the lack of milk and eggs, but it is a genius conceal. I wouldn’t like to play Steven Moffat at poker a) because he is Scottish and wouldn’t risk his money anyway and b) because he hides things in plain sight so effortlessly.

'And remember...'

Asylum of the Daleks is the best series-opener since 2005. It is Doctor Who on form, and when Who is on form, nothing else comes remotely close. It manages to balance the darker moments with the humour, fulfilling its remit as a family show perfectly. Hopefully this level of quality can continue into next week with Dinosaurs on a Spaceship.

 

Overall rating: 9/10