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Revisiting 'Doctor Who': 'Asylum of the Daleks'

In the first of an occasional series, I take a look back at episodes of the show's history, and pick them apart to see what works—and what doesn't...

By Joseph A. MorrisonPublished 6 years ago 15 min read
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The textless artwork for the movie-style poster that accompanied the broadcast of Asylum Of The Daleks. Wasted, of course. (Picture copyright to Lee Binding and the BBC) 

Hello. I'm Joe. I'm a 21 year old blogger, wannabe writer, and fan of Doctor Who. Since 2006, I've been following the adventures of the good Doctor and his companions, as well as exploring the ocean of canon that led up to this point. My favourite Doctor is Tom Baker, and my favourite era of the show is the three seasons (12–14) that Philip Hinchcliffe produced: the so-called "Gothic horror" era. Now that I've introduced myself, I'll introduce this series: Revisiting Doctor Who. This is, essentially, a review series, with me looking back on past episodes of the show, and judging them with fresh eyes. These retrospective reviews will consist of two elements: "before" and "after." The "before" section will look at my reaction to the story before I re-watch it for the purpose of this feature: what I may have thought of it upon first watch, and then upon subsequent past re-watches. The "after" section will be my reaction to the episode immediately post re-watch, where I shall go into more depth with my dissection, as I will pick apart every element of the story's construction: plot, character, dialogue, direction, acting, music, everything that makes up this story will be analysed and commented upon. At the end, I will give a judgment upon the story, from one of ten categories: "Crank It Up To 11," "Surprise!," "Be Kind Rewind," "Sunday Viewing," "One For The Fans," "Bittersour Ending," "Admire The Workmanship," "Fridge Logic," "Sorry What?," "Watch In The Background At Parties," and "Into The Abyss." These will be designed to sum up the story as concisely as possible and act as a replacement for a numerical rating, which I find vague and non-descriptive. (And yes, I have stolen these from FiveWhoFans, but they're too good to just leave on the shelf). So, without further ado, here we go with the first story... "Asylum of the Daleks!"

Before: Disappointed Didn't Even Cover It

The Doctor (Matt Smith) finds himself facing down some of his deadliest foes... A shame they're a bit rubbish here. (Picture copyright to the BBC)

Upon broadcast in 2012, I really didn't like "Asylum of the Daleks." The production team had been building so much hype around this story, especially with its promise of returning Daleks and these being the craziest Daleks in existence: so dangerous, even their own kind felt it best they be locked away. I was only 15, cut me some slack! It was, however, the first real time I felt such crushing disappointment. I usually hated the New Series, but that was mostly because it was doing stuff that I didn't want or would never have liked. This was something designed to appeal to me, that I could get excited about, and then it failed to do the things I thought it was going to. I remember this being one of the first times I talked about Doctor Who online; I posted a capsule review of the episode on Facebook (for the first time: a trend which continued up till the end of last year) which was, shall we say, less than positive. I remember liking Oswin: at the time, I thought the twist as to her identity was quite good (again, only 15! Slack cutting!), and it was a surprise to see Jenna Louise-Coleman debut four months before we expected her to appear. I also remember thinking the movie-scope they were clearly going for worked. The episode looked bloody marvelous, and I still think that now. This was very much the beginning of Doctor Who's move away from looking like a TV drama, and looking more like a blockbuster film. However, these positives were unable to outweigh the mass of negatives that surrounds this story: I hated the lack of classic Daleks, I thought the Daleks were, generally, treated as a bit rubbish, I hated the Dalek puppets (and still do), I hated the subplot involving Amy and Rory's breakup and I hated the ending, which felt rushed, disappointing and arrogant (in that order). Basically, this was a mess, and my mind wasn't changed by a re-watch a few months later, when iTunes offered this episode for free on its streaming service, and I took advantage of that offer. If anything, I could see even more faults with the story: the Oswin twist became obvious, and the story just didn't make a whole lot of sense, on a conceptual level. Since then, I've been trying to blank this episode from my memory, for it was such a painful experience and such a waste of potential. So, going back in, will my mind be changed? I doubt it; if anything, I'll probably just find more flaws. Nevertheless, we shall see. After all, that is the point of this series: to revisit Doctor Who, and see whether I've changed my mind...

After: Disappointed STILL Doesn't Even Cover It

Amy (Karen Gillian) wonders why she can't be in Hollywood making movies, instead of being in Wales, making this drivel. (Picture copyright to the BBC)

Yep, it's still as bad as I remember it. "Asylum of the Daleks" has many faults, but it's biggest one is plain and simple, right from the outset: Moffat is nowhere near as interested in the central concept of the story as he purports to be. The main idea of an "asylum" containing damaged, corrupted, criminally insane Daleks is a great one. No, seriously, to give Moff his dues, that's a great idea. Sure, it's never going to be a particularly deep or original story, and it'll basically amount to nothing more than the Doctor Who equivalent of a haunted house ride, but, as a popcorn flick to open the series, there are few ideas greater. However, there are two problems that mean that this story, on a fundamental level, was never going to work. The first is the one mentioned above: Moffat is just not interested in one idea, but several. So, we don't just get the Dalek asylum, but we also get the Nano-cloud turning people into Dalek puppets, the character of Oswin, a half-arsed examination of the Doctor's relationship with the Daleks (including the use of a title for the Doctor that will never come up again—what a surprise) and the breakdown of Amy and Rory's marriage. And, because the MO for this series was "self-contained blockbuster flicks every week," this has all got to be done and wrapped up in 45 minutes. That is just too much to do in so short a time, and it so clearly shows. The script is cluttered and unfocused, with clunky dialogue trying desperately to hold the whole thing together. The second problem with this story on a fundamental level is that it just isn't believable that the Daleks would even have an asylum. Seriously, this just doesn't sit with what we've seen about the Daleks in the past. Defective Daleks are, in the past, simply exterminated. "Planet of the Daleks," "Revelation of the Daleks," "Remembrance of the Daleks," "Dalek," "Daleks in Manhattan/Evolution of the Daleks" and "Victory of the Daleks" all show the Daleks' obsession with racial purity even among their own kind. So, the idea that they would keep such Daleks alive, and lock them up on a planet is an absurd one that facilitates a revision to Dalek continuity (their concept of beauty) that feels superfluous and silly. Sure, that concept would work, if given proper space and depth to explore it, but here, it's just a bit of hand waving that justifies the asylum's existence. With the story containing these two big problems, it's hard for it to get off the ground, as the logic of this script simply fails to work.

The Oswin Dilemma: A Wasted Opportunity

"And tonight, Matthew, I'm going to be Carly Rae Jepsen..." (Picture copyright to the BBC)

And that's not even to mention the other major problems with this story. I'll start with the character of Oswin: I really don't like the twist of her being a Dalek. OK, I did think that it wasn't quite as screamingly obvious as I remember from my second watch (although the moments where the Doctor brings up the eggs and the milk for the souffles are painfully obvious attempts at set-up), but I'm very unhappy that Moffat took that direction with this character. See, 2012 could have been a brand-new start for the show; a chance to take a different direction. A chance to move away from the ocean of continuity Moffat had dug himself into regarding "River Song" and the "Silence." The trouble is that the show just ends up becoming more convoluted. Amy and Rory are here, and remain so for another four episodes after this, not really contributing anything to the show's ongoing narratives, or even to their own. Jenna Louise-Coleman appears here to set up an arc, and then reappears at Christmas, only to die again. Then, and only then, does Clara appear: by which point, we're only really interested in the character as a piece of mystery box storytelling. Instead, we could have had Oswin just join as a companion here, if Moffat had the balls to leave Amy and Rory's story finished at the end of "The Doctor, the Widow and the Wardrobe," and the series arc could have been about her journey and discovering more about the Doctor. Or, if Moffat had been that desperate, he could have kept Amy and Rory in as guesting companions, but brought Oswin in to make a four-person TARDIS team. However, we instead get this rather poorly thought out twist that sets up an arc which, yes, does have an interesting conclusion, but sadly feels under-developed, and prevents the audience (and Matt Smith) from forming a relationship with the character of Clara. Also, wouldn't it have been nice to have a companion who was from somewhere other than 21st century London? Wouldn't that have been great? Sure, we got it with Nardole, but we could have got it here, and it could have been even better. Sadly, it wasn't to be, and what we get is a twist that doesn't just leave the viewer cold with the stodgy, predictable nature of it (nice, well-meaning, supporting character who could become a companion, dies), but also hampered Doctor Who right up until the end of 2015 by creating a serious problem with regards to the character of the companion. And that is a major issue, whichever way you try to look at it.

Divorce: Forced or What?

One can only imagine Karen Gillian and Arthur Darvill's faces when they saw this script for the first time. However, I think this photo might give us an idea. (Picture copyright to the BBC)

Another big issue with this story is the unsympathetic treatment of the characters of Amy and Rory. For some unknown reason, Steven Moffat thinks it would be enjoyable for us, the audience, to watch these two characters we've grown to love over the past couple of years put at each other's throats for no good reason whatsoever. Now, divorce is a difficult subject, whichever way you attempt to look at it, and to address that in a family show is even more difficult. You have to be careful, especially for a show that has a large number of children watching, some of whom may be experiencing their parents going through a breakup. The one thing you don't do, and which, no surprise here, Moffat doesn't do, is to use it to create false 'drama' about the situation. I absolutely, more than anything else in this script, hate the Amy/Rory breakup. There's certainly no build up to it: in the second half of series six, there's no sign that Amy and Rory don't love each other anymore, and, by episode's end, they're back together again, and any talk of divorce is promptly forgotten about. So, seriously, what was the point? Why bother with any of that rubbish if you're not going to give it any build up or consequences? That's not good drama—it's just crass and insensitive. Some of their conversations just come across as bitter and spiteful, and the fact that it's the Doctor who basically brings them back together isn't much better. What's that, young child? Your parents are going through a divorce? Well, it'd be alright, if the Doctor showed up and fixed your parents' marriage, but, since he hasn't, they're probably just going to split up, and fight over you for the next ten years of your life. It's not just crass and insensitive, it's borderline dangerous. Something like this would need to be spread across multiple episodes, so you'd be able to explore it properly. If anything, it might have made sense to do this, as it might have been a nice lead-into the Pond's departure in "Angels Take Manhattan." As is, this just feels wrong, especially because we've seen how much this couple love each other throughout series six. Sure, to his credit, Moffat does attempt to try and tie some character drama from "The Pandorica Opens" and "A Good Man Goes to War" that was unresolved in those stories into Amy and Rory's motives, but it's just dropped in as an attempt to justify it, without any real or meaningful exploration or context. Coupled with the fact that it's never referred to again, this just seems a terrible idea, poorly executed and coming across as one of the rare times Doctor Who childishly approaches a very mature and grown-up topic.

The Degradation of The Daleks: It Begins Here

"Wait, Arthur, we only want your autograph!" (Picture copyright to the BBC)

And, finally, the story's other major flaw is the Daleks themselves. In recent years, a lot has been written, talked about and discussed online as to whether the Daleks have lost their edge: whether the production team have run out of interesting things to do with the Daleks, and whether or not it's time the Daleks were rested. And, I think, the problems with the Daleks come back to 2012: to this exact story. Now, I'll be the first to admit that "Victory of the Daleks" (the last major Dalek story prior to this one) isn't the best thing in the world. However, it did, at least, portray the Daleks as ruthless and cunning. Here, however, the Daleks are just portrayed as monumentally thick and stupid, to the point where it becomes really quite distracting. The Paradigm redesign, first launched with much fanfare in 2010, is already pretty much being consigned to the scrapheap here, with only a handful of the newer models appearing. And this is their last appearance: after this, they're never seen again. And, it's a shame, because they've been given a new paint job for their appearance here, which is much more muted than the bright colours of their previous appearances. However, it ends up just looking cowardly, as the production team knew that these Daleks weren't loved. So, instead of trying to go forward and making these Daleks loved by fans, they just shunt them to the side, and then quietly retire them when no one is looking. And that's not the worst bit. The Daleks in this script are just incompetent: plain and simply. They won't go into the asylum because they're scared. Daleks—scared! I kid you not, that's their motivation for bringing the Doctor in to deal with the asylum. As for the Daleks inside the asylum: Well, they're less crazy and insane, and more just very, very dim. They just sort of stumble along, not really trying to be threatening or dangerous. If they're anything, these Daleks are just drunk. And this comes down to a major rant point of mine: The Daleks don't kill anyone here. Oh, they shoot at people, and they say "exterminate," but they don't actually kill anyone. However you look at it, the Daleks just aren't threatening here. Instead, they simply wander around, posing some kind of threat, but never putting our heroes in real jeopardy. And it doesn't just pollute this story: It ends up affecting the Daleks all the way through the series up to this point. The Daleks from this point on never really have the same ferocity that they did at the beginning of the new series. Sure, "Into the Dalek" features them doing some bad-ass stuff, and "The Day of the Doctor" depicts them in the Time War, but other than that, there's not many examples of the Daleks actually being like Daleks. The Daleks ends up looking cowardly because of it and then are shoved into the background during the later Capaldi years. So, we can blame Asylum for a lot; not just Jenna Louise-Coleman's rough time on the show, but for the poor state the Daleks have been left in.

The Good: Is There Any?

"How much are you getting paid for this?" "Not enough, mate." (Picture copyright to the BBC)

That's not to say that there isn't anything to praise in "Asylum of the Daleks," although pretty much all those elements (beyond the very basic ideas at work) all come across in the production. One thing that certainly comes across is the new filmic look for the programme, which is spearheaded by director Nick Hurran. Honestly, this episode looks bloody beautiful; the locations are amazingly shot and the sets are moody and atmospheric. The light and colour grading is amazing as well and brings the whole thing to life amazingly well. It's beautiful to watch, even if the plot is bobbins. Matt Smith is brilliant in it: Even if he's given rubbish to work with, he still manages to convince as a leading man (although some of his mannerisms are pretty annoying). Karen and Arthur are great; again, they're given rubbish to work with, but they do the best they can. Karen, particularly, tries really hard to make Amy sympathetic, despite the script and almost succeeds. Jenna Louise-Coleman does, however, steal the show as Oswin, and did set out hope for me that Coleman would bring a fresh vibe to the show when she properly arrived in "The Snowmen." The CGI is great as well, especially the Dalek Parliament (another stupid idea), which looks amazingly crisp and is good enough to rival some of the Hollywood blockbusters of the day. Even the music isn't too bad: sure, when Murray is being bombastic or comedic, it's grating, but a lot of his atmospheric music for the scenes of the exploration of the asylum is great, and does the job it was expecting to. It's a shame that the script is so bad, because the work of the production team is great here, and it feels like the talents of the team are just being thrown away.

In Conclusion: Ugh...

The Doctor (Matt Smith) uses his Sonic Screwdriver to get him, Amy (Karen Gillian) and Rory (Arthur Darvill) out of another set of plot holes. (Picture copyright to the BBC)

Overall, "Asylum of the Daleks" is poor. Really, really poor. There are massive issues regarding plot logic, the characters are flat, boring or mis-characterised, and the twists fall flat. It also sets up a very poor precedent for the show going forward, and you can pin down a lot of the flaws with the past few years of Doctor Who from this story. Lots of people can say that it can be enjoyed if you turn your brain off, but I don't think that you can even do that, because it's so poorly written. Asylum is an absolute mess, and wastes so much potential in the ideas it's playing around with. So, I can only give "Asylum of the Daleks" a rating of:

Into The Abyss—It's a mess, all the way through, that wastes the potential of a good set-up, misuses the Daleks, includes a rubbish subplot and throws away a chance to do something different with a new companion. Abominable, and one of the worst 'Doctor Who' stories of all time.
scifi tv
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About the Creator

Joseph A. Morrison

26. Fan of Doctor Who, Blake's 7, The Prisoner and more old-fashioned TV. Reviewer, wannabe writer and general twit.

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