Asylum of the Daleks

[SonicWaffle]

My question is that they make references to how he destroyed his entire race to destroy the Daleks. That sounds terrible. The Daleks come back all the time and he's permanently alone because he destroyed his own race. Now it would have been a good decision maybe, if they actually stayed dead.

I understand the need for the villains to come back, but don't make it a bad decision.

Maybe spoilers would be good, but can someone maybe give me some perspective on the Doctor's decision?
Because I'm probably missing something.

Basically, the Time Lords had become almost as bad as the Daleks. the war had ravaged them, and they had reached the point where they decided "fuck everyone else, as long as we're OK". They had some techno-babble science-magic thing that was going to destroy the rest of the universe and ascend them to a higher plane of existence, so the Doctor shut them the fuck down.

Towards the end of the Tennant run, they tried to come back, and he was more afraid of them than he was of the Daleks.

 

[BabyFaceJer]

Am I the only one who loved the colorful Daleks introduced in Series 5? I understand why people might find them less scary than the traditional Dalek, I think the colors injected a much needed sense of fun to both the Daleks and to the show itself.

On a similar note, I actually like the whole "Doctor Who?" thing the show has been doing. Fans have been reveling in the meaning of the show's title for decades, so why not The Doctor himself?

Gotta say, I am really looking forward to Oswin becoming a full time companion. I still LOVE Amy and Rory (their marital squabbles legitimately touched me in this episode) but it's going to be neat to see The Doctor travel primarily with someone who isn't from modern day Earth. Also, I'm glad to see the show continuing the trend of introducing strong, smart, and sexy as hell female characters.

 

[Stublore]

Is it worth watching?
Is stopped watching with the travesty of the weeping dalek several seasons ago.
Tom Baker, if he was in his grave would have been spinning after that debacle!

YOu do know River is no longer a major character, right?

And the fandom rejoiced.

I am blissfully ignorant of this River person.
Daleks do not FUCKING CRY!!
Daleks Destroy,annihilate,lacerate,exterminate and kill shit , but they do not cry!
That's why I stopped watching.

 

[Susan Arendt]

Of course, none of the Daleks threatening the Doctor at Oswin's door had blasters, so what was there to be scared of? That bugged me rather a lot.

The suckers they have for arms can crush skulls.

Ok, for everyone saying the suckers can kill, too....true, but they have to actually reach you first. A blaster will kill you from across the room, but the sucker's range is limited...to say nothing of the fact that I doubt it could actually reach you if you were laying down prone on the floor. Daleks aren't exactly known for their flexibility. Plus, as I've already said, if you cover up their eye stalk, they're pretty screwed. There were still options for evasion, is my point - the Doctor certainly hadn't gotten to the "put your back up against the wall and scream for help" point yet. Not at all.

 

[Scorched_Cascade]

I'm aware I'm a week late, in my defense I forgot the new season had started, woo Iplayer.

I only half saw the twist at the end, I thought she'd turn out to be a computer of some kind, probably a navigational computer from the ship that was half organic or something.

It will be interesting to note *why* Oswin was locked up in the room. Was it because she was deemed more insane than all the others for refusing to acknowledge being a Dalek? If not, then why lock her up with all "Doctor-survivor" Daleks? Had she met the Doctor before getting changed, and if so, why didn't she remember him?

SO MANY QUESTIONS!

*snip*

She noted as the doctor walked through that he was entering the "intensive care" portion of the asylum which explains perfectly why she was locked in an isolated room in there. It's not a room where they dump the doctor fighting robots (well it is but not strictly) it's where they put the most broken or insane ones, the ones that require special care and Oswin definatly falls under that classification.

Of course, none of the Daleks threatening the Doctor at Oswin's door had blasters, so what was there to be scared of? That bugged me rather a lot.

To be honest the idea of being locked in a room with a batshit crazy Dalek that other terminator style hate machines consider dangerously insane terrifies me a bit; let alone several of them. I'm sure they were feverishly computing several nightmarish ways to kill the doctor.

 

[Alexander Phillips IV]

Of course, none of the Daleks threatening the Doctor at Oswin's door had blasters, so what was there to be scared of? That bugged me rather a lot.

The lone defenceless Dalek in 'Dalek' suffocated its torturer to death with it's plunger arm and the Cult of Skaro used it to drain the life and memories out of the scientist in Torchwood tower.

Also you've got this iconic image of the Daleks. Maybe Moffat was paying homage to it?

It will be interesting to note *why* Oswin was locked up in the room. Was it because she was deemed more insane than all the others for refusing to acknowledge being a Dalek? If not, then why lock her up with all "Doctor-survivor" Daleks? Had she met the Doctor before getting changed, and if so, why didn't she remember him?

SO MANY QUESTIONS!

I would assume it was, as you said, because while she is a genius and thus good Dalek material, she refused to give up her humanity.
I think the bigger question is how is the Doctor going to save Oswin when she becomes his companion without screwing with what she did to the Daleks. Oswin said herself that the Daleks have grown stronger in fear of the Doctor, so it's not just his own security against the Daleks the the Doctor would sacrifice by saving Oswin pre-Alaska but the entire universe. While the Daleks may still advance and exterminate, they won't do it to combat the Doctor directly, unless saving Oswin resets what she did, which would be a pointless waste of an episode and an Intersting universe shift she created.

I think it's hasty to assume that it is Oswin, per se, who becomes the companion, and not just the actress playing someone else. When we saw Lalla Ward, for example, she wasn't Romana.

Yeah or I could point out that the first thing affected by the Dalek conversion is memory, if you remember Amy has to be told whats happening to her 4 different times within less than an hour of losing her wrist protector

 

[BloodyThor]

So we can assume that the time lock around Skaro was/is broken due to these events.

But wouldn't that mean that the timelock around Gallifrey could be destroyed as well?

 

[TheLastSamurai14]

I've seen an interesting theory floating around on Reddit that says the 50th anniversary will conclude with Eleven's regeneration at Trenzalore, just after the question is asked. However, we won't get even a glimpse of Twelve. The writers will then leave the post-anniversary Series 8 a complete mystery until the premiere date. The Doctor, the companions, the stories, everything locked up tight, with the crew sworn to secrecy. Silence will essentially fall when the question is asked.

Therefore, the question of "Doctor who?" transcends from being a show-specific mystery to one of reality. We won't know who plays the Doctor next or how he'll end up answering the in-universe question. It would be one of the most suspenseful real-world moments of New Who history, if not the franchise in its entirety.

While I prefer my idea for the 50th Anniversay (partly because seeing Paul Mcgann, Chris Eccleston, David Tennant and Matt Smith all act off each other would make the TV explode with awesome-ness) that idea is awesome and I don't doubt that if they wanted to it could be pulled off.

Well, both could work. Who's to say the other Doctors (any of them, really, since they proved with The Five Doctors that lookalikes can and do work) aren't able to appear at Trenzalore?

 

[TimeLord]

So we can assume that the time lock around Skaro was/is broken due to these events.

But wouldn't that mean that the timelock around Gallifrey could be destroyed as well?

Don't know. But remember that Dalek Kaan managed to break through the time lock and save Davros. Yet no great deal about the aftermath of such events was made about that.

 

[Alexander Phillips IV]

The thing you have to remember about the Doctor is... That's NOT his real name!
At the age of 8 all the children of gallifrey are gathered and one by one the stare into the vortex; the experience inspires them to choose a name that they will be known by (an alias).

This serves to build character AND as protection to those who can do harm by possessing such knowledge.
The episode where the Doctor and Martha meet Shakespeare. The Space-witches were able to control Martha because they knew her name BUT they couldn't control the Doctor because that's NOT his real name.

ALSO in the episode "Silence in the Library", River manages to get the 10th Doctor to trust her by whispering his REAL name into his ear; How could she get this knowledge? Simple... She was there when "the question" was answered.

So you see. It's not DUMB in the slightest.

Agreed, The Doctor Who? being the ultimate question is awesome because he has been rolling around the galaxy for 900+ years through all of time and space just laying it down like a pimp, he is already considered by many of the Races to be the most powerful being in the universe...awesome


Also its really hard to type proper when these pop-up ads that you can't close take up a 1/4 of my view booooooooo

 

[Oskuro]

I am one of the (two?) people who like the Mighty Morphin' Power Daleks.

To me, the Daleks need to be scary because of their actions, not their looks, and due to their size and voices, the new Skittles Daleks felt more intimidating than the previous adorable Tin Can Daleks.

But, as my joking reveals, I get the negativity.

As for the episode... I liked it, and I get how they are trying to make the Daleks intimidating again. The scene where the Doctor is surrounded, yes, looks silly because he had enough time to try and do *something*, but his panicked screaming sold the fear and desperation they were aiming for, in my eyes (I just retcon it in my mind as the Daleks being closer when the Doctor sees them).

My main gripe (which ties in with my like of the Rainbow Brite Daleks) is that I can barely make out the different models, all being rusty and dirty. And the Heavy Weapons Dalek everyone was so hyped about only makes a sad cameo.

But, in general, I like it.


I'm still figuring if I like how the new series focuses on stand-alone stories more than large arcs. We'll see.

 

[Varun Garuda Maharaj]

"does it surprise you that we have a concept of beauty?" It surprised me that the Dalek Prime Minister could speak properly