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7X01 Asylum Of The Daleks (Grading/Discussion) (SPOILERS!)

Grade "Asylum Of The Daleks"


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This is true, and the fact I'm questioning it so much in the past series or two is testament to the fact I'm not enjoying it so much. Which is a shame, I really do want to enjoy it it's obviously not connecting with me, otherwise I wouldn't be nitpicking it so much.

I've pretty much come to the conclusion that, pound for pound, I probably like Who under Moffat about the same as I liked it under RTD, which is a bit of a shame as I thought I'd like it lots more. He's still yet to annoy me as much as RTD did at times at least!

Same boat here. Just a different set of pros and cons but, in balance, about the same level of enjoyment overall.

Mr Awe
 
A Prime Minister hasn't always equated to democracy, the notion of a directly elected pm is still relatively recent.

Yeah, sure, if we talk of our understanding of modern Western democracy. However, a parliament involves someone electing someone, i.e. a measure of democracy, even if there isn't universal suffrage. The Daleks were supposed to be stand-ins for the Nazis so that seems out-of-character for them. It seems to be kind of weird to introduce this new concept at the beginning of the episode without doing anything with it.
However, that was only one of the things that bugged me. All of these things together drag the episode down for me.


Without meaning to be churlish most films/tv do, for me at least I think my ability to nitpick/or ignore nitpicks just comes down to whether I enjoyed an episode or not. I'm just more forgiving of stories I liked.

Sure. But there is a limit for me. At some point, the nitpicks will diminish my enjoyment of the episode/movie.


Speaking of the Dalek-controlled humans, is anyone else worried about them being on Earth and able to grab Rory and Amy? I wonder who else they've replaced. Maybe all the world's leaders are secretly Daleks now and they're going to take over any minute.

Wouldn't be the first time :)

No spoilers! :p I've only just finished season 14 of the old show.

It just struck me that this episode would have worked better as a Cyberman story. This would explain the human conversion aspect. Also, the human-like units would make more sense. They're just more human looking cybernetic people. And, it doesn't run contrary to the established ruling structure as far as I know. The Dalek's already had their emperor but I don't know that the Cybermen had a top ruler established?

Yup, they had a cyber ruler and later a Cyberking. They aren't democrats, either, it seems. ;)


Oh, by the way, I hope I'm not coming off as too whiny here but some of the CGI (especially the shot of the Dalek parliament) looked kind of bad and a little jarring. Have I been away too long from Who to notice that or is it real (the budget cuts taking their toll)?
 
Alright, so it looks as if The Daleks (for the time being) have been fully re-established as an adversary. Does anyone think it's time for The Time Lords to make a come back? I know it's been on my wish list since the series came back but maybe just maybe SM is edging towards that possibility.
 
Oh, by the way, I hope I'm not coming off as too whiny here but some of the CGI (especially the shot of the Dalek parliament) looked kind of bad and a little jarring. Have I been away too long from Who to notice that or is it real (the budget cuts taking their toll)?

I think the CG took a hit in the upgrade to HD, they were talking about it being difficult to render quick enough at HD resolutions on the budget they had and it's been cut since.
 
I look at the "Pathweb" as being a command and control system. Each Dalek can act independently, but orders and information conveyed via this web.

And I thought the Dalek-fied humans were a lovely update of the old Roboman concept.
 
Some people went into this expecting a masturbatory "Every Dalek but the Kitchen Sink Dalek" overblown, nonsensical thrill ride to give RTD a run for his money. Instead I found this to be a quieter, atmospheric, more personal story, a story that the Daleks richly deserve, one which they haven't gotten since "Dalek" (or Big Finish's I, Davros).

Agreed. I far prefer this kind of story to the big, overblown RTD kind of thing with millions of Daleks flying through the sky or barking orders at each other for two solid hours.
 
I wonder what it is about the new companion that will cause him to act differently? Perhaps she really is going to be tied to Oswin from AotD? I still think a former Dalek becoming the companion would be too cool for words.
 
Owls have Parliaments too, I don't see the point of bitching about a Dalek Parliament
Well presumably you do because there's an obvious difference between the meaning of a parliament of owls and a parliament in this context. A mod (I assume that's what the green name indicates) calling reasonable criticism of a TV show "bitching" says a lot.

I generally call nitpicking bitching. Your complaints about the plot of the episode are valid, but this is just nitpicking. My point with the Owls is that you haven't any idea what the Dalek Parliament constitutes and neither do I.

Do me a favor. Go to the main Doctor Who page. Scroll down to moderators. Then come back here.
Well the Parliament bit might be nitpicking (though when every Parliament in the world means a democratically elected body, you'd think a more appropriate word would have been come up with), but things like it being lit like shit or being resolved by stupid magic bollocks we've never heard of before are more than nitpicking. Maybe I'll start calling mindless praise of something "dicking" or somesuch.
 
The Deus Ex ending (to the extent it was) can be a valid criticism. I won't call that bitching. I think it was well-established in the episode (and certainly, there's nothing new about nanogenes), but you might disagree with me. That's fair and it actually has something to do with the plot of the episode.
 
Not me. I like this twirling unleashed inner-child on a sugar rush incarnation.

Well I'm sure we'll still see some of that (just because that's the way Matt Smith naturally is), but I also think he could do a great job playing a subtler, more mysterious kind of Doctor too.

Plus, seeing how cheery and animated Coleman's character is, I think you probably need someone a bit more mature to balance that out. Otherwise it could all get a bit exhausting.
 
That may be part of the reason.

Matt Smith does play somber Doctor very well when he does it, but Matt Smith himself is very much like his character. While I applaud more of a balance, I hope his zaniness doesn't disappear entirely. He could at least use it as a distraction to enemies, per Doctor Who tradition.
 
Yeah, sure, if we talk of our understanding of modern Western democracy. However, a parliament involves someone electing someone, i.e. a measure of democracy, even if there isn't universal suffrage. The Daleks were supposed to be stand-ins for the Nazis so that seems out-of-character for them. It seems to be kind of weird to introduce this new concept at the beginning of the episode without doing anything with it.
However, that was only one of the things that bugged me. All of these things together drag the episode down for me.

Of course the Nazis were democratically elected...:) That's me being pedantic, I do get what you mean. Perhaps it's simply that, having been defeated with an Emperor at the helm, and having been defeated with Davros in charge, maybe they've decided to go down a more egalitarian route...:lol:

Seriously though I don't recall seeing anything to suggest the Daleks don't have a rank structure/don't discuss their plans, form strategies as a unit.
 
Of course the Nazis were democratically elected...:) That's me being pedantic, I do get what you mean.

I could be even more pedantic and bore you all to death with a lecture about the state of democracy at the end of the Weimar Republic but I won't and just leave it at this: they did get rid of parliament as soon as possible. Which is what I meant.


Perhaps it's simply that, having been defeated with an Emperor at the helm, and having been defeated with Davros in charge, maybe they've decided to go down a more egalitarian route...:lol:

As I said, I think it's an interesting notion. But it's odd to introduce this and then not do anything with it and not explore it further. Then again, maybe someone will in the future.
 
Well the Parliament bit might be nitpicking (though when every Parliament in the world means a democratically elected body, you'd think a more appropriate word would have been come up with),

according to Wikipedia:

"The Great Hall of the People ... It functions as the meeting place of the National People's Congress, the Chinese parliament."

So how you define a parliament is different to how individual nation define their own parliament.
 
So is the outfit in the picture the 'standard' outfit going forward from the Christmas special?

Probably so, considering this was an officially released photo.

I think it looks really cool myself. Although I do think it's a shame we didn't get to see more of the green coat first. I guess they must have had second thoughts about that one.
 
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