So, who wants to talk about new Doctor Who (spoilers likely)

Plane Sailing · Sep 2, 2012

So, I recorded Doctor Who and kept off the whole internet until I'd watched it - and was glad that I did.

I felt it was a strong start to the new series, although one obvious question is this - where have all the daleks come from -this- time?

After all, originally I thought the point of the time war was that it finished off both the daleks and the time lords. Sure there was one old dalek on Earth, and a bunch of 'nearly-daleks' and then some others hidden in non-dimensional spaces. But rather foolishly in those circumstances they didn't really let them escape and rebuild at the end. Yet here they are!

Anyway, that's just a minor niggle. I loved the detailed elements of the story here.

What did you think?

Thunderfoot · Sep 2, 2012

LA LA LA LA LA LA LA LA LA LA LA--- plugs ears----

Airs in the US tonight...
LA LA LA LA LA!

Nellisir · Sep 2, 2012

I've stopped keeping track of how many times, and in what times, the Daleks themselves have been "exterminated". I don't find them scary, I don't find them interesting, I think they usually make crappy villains, and in case it's not clear, I just didn't care.

Well, I just checked the internet and saved myself from a gigantic case of foot-in-mouth, as Oswin will indeed be back in some form or another (personally, I'd really like it if she actually moved forward from this point, otherwise it's just another River Song sort of thing).

RangerWickett · Sep 2, 2012

Spoilers for series five.

[sblock]In series 5, there were a handful of Daleks on earth in World War II who needed the Doctor to validate their existence so they could create new Daleks from some sort of egg thingy.

Not that that mattered, of course, because the universe was recreated and shaped by Amy's recollections at the end of that series, which opens the door for any sort of ret-con they need.[/sblock]

Oh, and I think the Daleks can't ever be legitimately scary as a race because we know too much about them. You never fear things you know so thoroughly. So it was great to encounter some insane ones in an asylum, where you didn't know what to expect.

And Jenna-Louise Coleman -- Oswin -- is adorable.

I loved the episode. The show is not meant to be taken very seriously. You're supposed to revel in the campiness of hovering boxes with suction cups being the space stand-in for super-Nazis.

Tonguez · Sep 2, 2012

Starts here 13 September, I'll let you know then

and yeah I agree with RW, Daleks aren't scary anymore but they are fun in a campy nostalgia way

horacethegrey · Sep 2, 2012

Just watched this. Liked it. My impressions:

WARNING! SPOILERS BE AHEAD!

Episode 1: ASYLUM OF THE DALEKS

LIKES

- Daleks back in form. The last couple of Dalek stories have been kind of dissappointing, but leave it to the Moff to make em scary once more. I'm quite fond of the idea of the brand new Dalek agents. Pretty neat.

- The Asylum. The idea of an insane asylum for Daleks too crazy even for the regular ones, well that's quite a creepy idea when you think about it. And it was implemented quite well.

- Matt Smith. One of his better performances. Really liked the part where he expresses his disgust at the thought of Daleks having mercy for their own kind, hence the asylum.

- Jenna Louise Coleman. Wow. Quite a looker. And a delight to hear. But her appearance begs a lot of questions. Isn't she the new companion? But how can she be since we all saw her fate at the episode's end? Or is this another case of a patented Moffat Timey Wimey ball? I guess we won't know until the Christmas special.

- The Daleks forget the Doctor. Woohoo! Now even his greatest enemies don't know who he is! So glad that Moffat is getting rid of the oncoming storm stuff and returning him to his roots as a mysterious traveler.

DISLIKES

- Amy and Rory marriage troubles. Ugh. Enough of that Moffat! We don't need another roller coaster of emotions between these two! Let them be settled down for once! But it looks like it was resolved by episode's end.

hopeless · Sep 2, 2012

Okay...

The asylum has defences in the form of nanoclouds that in some cases turns any non-dalek in to an actual dalek which in itself would explain why the doctor has failed to wipe out all the daleks since Rose & the time vortex can't wipe out everything the dalek's created and all it would take is for one very stupid humanoid opening the wrong artefact and start creating new daleks again...

delericho · Sep 2, 2012

I thought it was okay. Not the best ever, not bad. Just okay.

I really wish the BBC would stop messing about with the format, though. Thirteen episodes in a sequence starting around Easter, plus the Christmas Special, is the right format. No breaks, no delays, no gaps. Leave it alone!

RangerWickett said:
Oh, and I think the Daleks can't ever be legitimately scary as a race because we know too much about them.

That's not the problem. The problem is villain decay - they've shown up so many times, and been beaten so many times, that there's no question if The Doctor will win; just how he'll win.

If I were running the show, I would make it a rock solid rule, "if you use the Daleks, a 'named' character dies."

Mercutio01 · Sep 2, 2012

The Asylum was cool.
Daleks forgetting the Doctor was an interesting development.
Oswin was fun.

I liked Pond at first, but I'm tired of her now. I'll be quite happy when she's done.
Never been a fan of Rory. And I'm still not.

Overall, I feel very meh.

Nellisir · Sep 2, 2012

Mercutio01 said:
The Asylum was cool.
Daleks forgetting the Doctor was an interesting development.
Oswin was fun.

I liked Pond at first, but I'm tired of her now. I'll be quite happy when she's done.
Never been a fan of Rory. And I'm still not.

Overall, I feel very meh.

I like Rory a lot more than I like Amy. Amy seems stuck in some kind of manic mood, and unable to converse in normal tones. Everything she says has a question mark or exclamation point!