**Spoilers** Series 7, Episode 1 - "Asylum of the Daleks"

pixelburp

New Doctor Who in ~4 hours; sure Dalek episodes can be a bit suspect, but still ...

YAAAAAYY!

Stark

Bit of a snoozefest.

Basq

Stark wrote: »

Bit of a snoozefest.

I liked it... not a fan of Dalek episodes but I enjoyed this!

The Rory & Amy stuff was handled well, and the "Doctor Who?" bit wasn't as cheesy as it could have been.

But most importantly - it looks like we have a damn good follow-up companion on our hands!

G.K.

For a Dalek episode that wasn't bad.

Seeing Special Weapons Dalek was awesome as well.

MrVestek

That was a brilliant episode but I have no idea how she's supposed to become the new companion if she's a dream contained within a dalek...

Also not as many older daleks on display as I'd have liked.

Manach

Enjoyable enough effort. Thankfully none of the brightly pastel coloured Daleks that were around last season.

Basq

Jenna definitely had a certain energy in that performance.. she was funny, adorable and definitely showed massive promise.

Nu-Who has impressed me with it's choices for companions - Freema / Martha was the only one I was never a fan of.

kylith

I really enjoyed that!

pixelburp

Bit disappointed because I was led to believe we'd see the old-school daleks; really they were only visible in the background of a few scenes - it would have been nice to see them in action. Otherwise it was very enjoyable; something of a season-starter really, so I wasn't expecting much. It's quite obvious that the crux of this story was about the Ponds & everything else was just side-dressing.

I thought the location scenes were very dramatic & it certainly lived up the promise that each episode would be a bit more blockbuster'y than last year. Bodes well for the rest of the season.

Not sure what to make of the new companion - in fact I'm not sure if that was meant to be her. Ok, the actor was the same, but are to believe that she meets the Doctor, goes on adventures and is eventually doomed to become a Dalek herself? She didn't seem to recognise the Doctor, and if this was happening after her time in the TARDIS, then what gives? Coleman played the role very well it has to be said - spunky & witty, showed ability with the dialogue & having to act all on her own. Quite a dish too, lol

Also: the daleks no longer know who the Doctor is? I feel kinda bummed about that tbh. I know the Doc was keen for the universe to forget him, but considering the sheer amount of history between him and his mates from Skaro (good to see the old planet again - was the redhead a Thal I wonder?) it's a shame to see all that negated.

Basq

pixelburp wrote: »

Not sure what to make of the new companion - in fact I'm not sure if that was meant to be her. Ok, the actor was the same, but are to believe that she meets the Doctor, goes on adventures and is eventually doomed to become a Dalek herself? She didn't seem to recognise the Doctor, and if this was happening after her time in the TARDIS, then what gives.

It's been more or less confirmed that the new companion's name is

Clara

- so it

looks like she'll be playing a completely different character.

GSPfan

Yeah i thought that was good. Saw the twist with Oswin being a Dalek early on. So are we gonna have a reverse timeline scenario again with Oswin? Will the doctor go and meet her when she was younger just like he did with River Song.
Looking forward to that.

Aoifums

Not sure if I liked it or not. The new intro looks weird but that's probably just because I was so used to the intro for series 1 - 6. Is it a little more like what they had for Classic Who? I haven't watched enough of the old ones to be able to tell.

I really like Jenna. Is her character related to the one from today or is she just going to be yet another companion that had a small role first? I suppose they could do it so that she ends up crashing and becoming a Dalek but it would be too close to River's story if the Doctor knows how she's going to end up.

I want to smack Moffat! Erasing 49 years of the Doctor & the Daleks together...

pixelburp

Basq wrote: »

It's been more or less confirmed that the new companion's name is

Clara

- so it

looks like she'll be playing a completely different character.

Should that be spoilered? It was officially announced that Jenna Louise Coleman was going to be the new companion, so it's a fair discussion to wonder if that was her playing said new companion. It would be passing strange, and a little confusing, if the same actor turned up a few episodes hence playing someone else entirely & the audience just expected to roll with it.

Basq

Aoifums wrote: »

I want to smack Moffat! Erasing 49 years of the Doctor & the Daleks together...

Yeah, wasn't a fan of that either.

Good little bit from Moffat here:

“I hope you all got a nice surprise when Jenna popped up in Doctor Who several months early. If so, that surprise came to you courtesy of the frankly magnificent ladies and gentlemen of the press, and of the many Doctor Who forums and blogs too. This show has been seen at four separate screenings, across four different countries and yet not one person gave one spoiler. From all of us on Doctor Who, a heartfelt thank you for helping us tell our story.”

Am amazed it was kept hush-hush so long!

Basq

pixelburp wrote: »

Should that be spoilered? It was officially announced that Jenna Louise Coleman was going to be the new companion, so it's a fair discussion to wonder if that was her playing said new companion. It would be passing strange, and a little confusing, if the same actor turned up a few episodes hence playing someone else entirely & the audience just expected to roll with it.

I didn't want to reveal the character name.. wasn't sure if everyone would want to know, especially given the fact

she didn't have that name in the episode tonight

.

flazio

The name may have been a red herring.

The Idyll Race

Just watched - my spoiler free review is as follows:

It's the Mutt's Nuts!!

Basq

OK... from a quick Google, this article suggests her name will be Dana Oswin.

Q&A

First off I thought it might be a play on asylum as in the Daleks asking for it from the doctor... kind of I guess but not really

Basq wrote: »

It's been more or less confirmed that the new companion's name is

Clara

- so it

looks like she'll be playing a completely different character.

hmmm well before I read that I was thinking dramatic episode ahead where the doctor must decide to save the girl pre-dalek conversation but at the cost of changing the future and unraveling the end of this episode .. the girl versus my entire history with the daleks (thats a lot of baggage!!)

....but oh well back to the drawing board. Overall a nice episode which points to more potential if nothing else .. plus daleks are done for this season so we can move on with the angels and the silence ... and dinosaurs .... and maybe a few new things no doubt

Really nice if it was kept secret by everyone that saw it beforehand... a rare event in the world(s!) we live :eek:

pixelburp

So it was her then. Hmmm. Yeah, I got the distinct impression that there was more to her character than met the eye, the acute case of Dalekthropy notwithstanding. She was a genius afterall, and the Doctor was sceptical about her story of being just an entertainment officer on her ship.

Well the Doc never saw her face, so presumably when he meets Clara, he'll suspect her fate as soon as she says her last name. Seems odd to retread similar territory as last year - seeing the death of a character and then going back to an earlier point in their personal history.

Do we know what episode she returns in?

Basq

pixelburp wrote: »

Do we know what episode she returns in?

Christmas AFAIK.

pixelburp

Basq wrote: »

Christmas AFAIK.

Ah, that's interesting, because I saw set photos from that episode and

it had a Victorian setting; I figured she'd already joined the crew by then and was travelling with the Doc. But if that's her reappearance then that raises more questions about her . Is she another time-traveller perhaps?

Basq

The Den Of Geek review of the episode made a good point..

An impressive opener, then. But still, we have to end with the Oswin questions. Amy, at one point in the episode, has her mind clouded, and sees people where there are actually Daleks. Has the Doctor fallen prey to that, too? Is that why he can hear Oswin’s voice, rather than the sound of a Dalek? How is she going to get from the inside of a Dalek to the Christmas special intact? And was she really there, or is someone messing with our heads again (because if she was, she seems a bit, er, dead)? We're looking at you, Mr Moffat...

gufnork

Basq wrote: »

Christmas AFAIK.

I thought it was supposed to be episode 5? Can't remember where I saw that now but I'm sure I remember reading it somewhere.

Anyway, I thought Jenna-Louise-Coleman was excellent and the episode as a whole was just phenomenal, had little tingles running up and down my spine at times; the doctor carrying Amy; all the old dusty/rusty daleks; just great. I almost welled up at one point. I really like the way they've muddied the waters of the new companion thing by introducing Oswin played by Jenna who everyone knew was going to be Clara but isn't yet, or is she...? I know I'm confused, but in a good way.

Love it.

pixelburp

Basq wrote: »

The Den Of Geek review of the episode made a good point..

Surely it's the other way around - that the Doctor will meet human Oswin at a relative point in her past. Of course it could be something else entirely, which would be very Moffat

As for the voice thing - I guess because she was talking across the communications system it used 'her' voice & for dramatic purposes defaulted to the Dalek one whenever the truth was revealed.

Basq

gufnork wrote: »

I really like the way they've muddied the waters of the new companion thing by introducing Oswin played by Jenna who everyone knew was going to be Clara but isn't yet, or is she...?.

I don't know how true the whole Clara thing is... the name came out suddenly and fans claimed it was a dedication to the late Liz Sladen (who middle name was Clara), but it was never confirmed. I'd say we can rule Clara out and simply go with Oswin for the time being.

Q&A

not sure what I missed more .. the tv show or the theorising here :P

Basq

You know what moment I loved in this episode?

When the Daleks were descending on the Doctor while he was standing in the doorway waiting for Oswin to open it, it seemed genuinely like the most scared I've seen the Doctor in a long time. He looked terrified!

Das Kitty

Loved it.

I liked how Eleven's zaniness was almost all stripped away. Seeing him genuinely scared when he was about to be 'suckered' at the door was really interesting. (Basq beat me to it!)

I liked Oswin, and was very surprised to see her in episode one.

As for the Daleks forgetting the Doctor, it falls in line with the last series. There's absolutely no way that it's a permanent thing though. Nothing is wiped out. Anyway, he still remembers them.

I reckon the first five episodes will be a mini-arc of Pond.

One last thing...

The soufflé is a LIE!

gufnork

Over on Gallifrey base there's talk of Oswin being her surname,

...But her surname is Oswin, which was reported to be the new companion's surname

...so Clara Oswin maybe?