Saturday 18 August 2012

Asylum of the Daleks - spoiler free round up


This is a selection of non-spoiler snippets which I've gathered together from a variety of sources. They're not spoilers as far as I'm concerned, but you may disagree. If you want to know absolutely nothing at all before transmission, I suggest you skip this post now...


The Doctor:
The Doctor has kept his word about maintaining a low profile after the events of The Wedding of River Song, according to early dialogue.
Smith's performance suggests that a lot of time has passed for him since we last saw him.
He hasn't lost his sense of humour. When Rory asks him to rate how much danger they are in, on a scale  from 1 to 10, he responds "Eleven!".

Amy & Rory:
Their marriage is in trouble.
For one of them, events on Demons Run have had a significant emotional impact. (Moffat was criticised for having them apparently unaffected by the trauma of losing their baby - even if it did turn up as River Song moments later. That's got to hurt somewhere down the line).
Rory gets some humorous moments as well as some of the action.
Amy's modelling career is 'illustrated' further.

Possible story arc:
We are asked to pay strict attention to what may appear to be throwaway lines - they may prove to be of great import later.
There's one big significant surprise, which Moffat asked those at the recent screening not to reveal. (I'm very glad to say all the items I've read so far have honoured that request). And no, it's not the return of Davros.


The Daleks:
We get to see a war-ravaged Skaro.
The Daleks have a "Parliament" (the big circular arena from the trailer), and a "Prime Minister".
The RTD bronze Daleks predominate - thank goodness.
The Paradigm are around as well, with a new metallic paint job. (This may be a trivial thing, but for me it was their earlier plasticky look that was a major gripe).
Daleks have a warped sense of beauty - it makes the Doctor feel sick.
They employ human slaves once more (quite nastily done).
In the shot below, one of these slaves looks a lot like Amy from the back.


Don't get your hopes up - the classic Daleks in the Asylum make more of a cameo appearance, rather than playing a significant role. They're heavily dust covered, making spotting the different models difficult, apart from the Special Weapons one obviously.
In the new teaser released today (see Combom - link to the right), the Daleks appear to be asking the Doctor to save them. (He's not been captured to be killed - rather to do something for them in the Asylum which they can't - or won't - enter).
Talking of the teaser - what is the tentacled thing we see over the Doctor's shoulder? A casing-less Dalek, or a Sec-style hybrid? Might it be the "Prime Minister"?

Overall, as I mentioned in an earlier post, every review I've seen so far has been totally positive. It is (probably) the strongest series opener so far.
It is the best Dalek story so far / You might not think it is quite the best Dalek story so far, but it rates highly. (Delete as applicable).
It's "only" 45 minutes long - not an extended episode.
The change to the title sequence is more of a tweak than anything significant.

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