Ya’ know, I think this Jenna-Louise Coleman lass might just be a bit evil somewhere deep down. Then again, I guess that’s why Moffat introduced her to the Doctor Who audience now, as we went into the belly of the metaphorical evil beast. Not the asylum that houses all the insane Daleks, no, I’m talking of the thing that decided to call in “the Predator” to deal with the asylum: The Dalek Parliament. Or, to pull the comparison clearly into view, the Reichstag that they probably burnt down and blamed on someone else to seize power.

Ok, referencing the Nazis and the dustbins they would go on to inspire aside, I don’t think “Asylum of the Daleks” is entirely about the Daleks themselves. It is an episode to reform the broken relationship from only this episode, the one where Amy and Rory are getting a divorce inexplicably. Well, I say they are getting a divorce, the entire plotline is there to feed a moment that arguably isn’t needed. We all know Amy and Rory love each other. The question I have is, do we need an “I can’t have kids” breakup to then reform the relationship within 45-minutes?

It goes back to what I said in the Series 6 finale; Everything has been reset by the end, so what is the point? To skip ahead a bit and be called a hypocrite in a minute, Oswin’s deletion of the Doctor from the Dalek collective mind is a nice and fun way to refresh their relationship. If the Daleks, including the mad ones sent into exile for surviving the Doctor in the first place, are forced to forget him, it means we can start something a little newer and go into the next encounter with fresh eyes. I say we could, but we’ll have Jenna Coleman back again. We’ll be stuck watching Malcolm Tucker swearing about his kidneys.

In fact, before I pull back to the episode itself, this entire block of episodes we’re in now are written to reinforce what we saw at the end of the Christmas special (in July). More and more, the Doctor isn’t around Amy and Rory, and “Asylum of the Daleks” tries to make a point. It attempts to say that without the Doctor’s presence, they both fall apart because they are no longer in constant danger. Spoiler alert, the next jump is 10-months and they are hunky-dory once again, making this spat a one-time thing.

None of this is to say I dislike the episode, feel lucky I’m not getting out a shotgun and blowing the thing to pieces. I’ve got a feeling that will happen more and more later on; I’m looking at you, Coleman! Take away the extra-marital affair with melodrama and you have a solid episode with a mystery teased throughout. How do you make a Soufflé on a Dalek prison planet you’ve been trapped on for a year without any milk? Strip away that the companions hate each other for a while, you have a very simple story with an easy-to-follow goal.

Of course, there are several little bits being teased and played with here, either inadvertently or not. We’ll get to those over the course of about 13 weeks, and the other two weeks following that, which should take us to early November. Sadly, it won’t lead us up to the 23rd, as that’s a Tuesday this year. I also had a special thought up if it did land on the 23rd. I digress, I am a little ahead of myself. Beyond the spectacle of the Daleks, the human-Dalek hybrids with the eyestalk, and that reveal that’s kind of inevitable, there isn’t much to praise highly.

As I’ve already said, the confrontation between Amy and Rory simply lacks the feel-good rekindling that it aims to be. This is why I think it is entirely useless, as there has been no build to that moment outside of mini-episodes scattered throughout 2012 and the home video releases. However, and drink this in while you can, I do think highly of this young and energetic brunette that likes making Soufflés (badly) without milk. She’s fun, she’s interesting, she’s someone I like, and much like anything enjoyable, Moffat is going to ruin that. I don’t hate Jenna Coleman, I hate what Moffat makes her character out to be.

I can play dumb all I want, I’ve already said that I want to Clara flung in Stormcage and for the key to be thrown away. The issue there is that Moffat will make up some magic nonsense that means she can just walk out the front door like she was an older woman with curly blonde hair and some actual personality. I know, she’s not Clara, she’s Oswin, but… A thing happens that is going to have my editor asking lots of questions; mostly what drugs Moffat eats. I want to keep that segment a secret until then. We’ll just say, “she’s not Clara, but” because, that’s the truth, to an extent.

Though you might have caught it, somewhere in that rant about wanting to put a woman in a prison, I gave Coleman praise. Not entirely the best praise, but I do think she’s a solid actress when she’s given something fun or interesting to do. I always remember “The Ring of Akhaten” and I do like her soggy shrugging moment in “Cold War.” However, she is also the woman that I want to punt into the sun for “In the Forest of the Night.” What heartless and horrible being tells two orphans that they should kill the kids so the kids don’t miss their parents? That makes me dislike Coleman and Frank Cottrell-Boyce a lot.

I could be far more verbose in regards to what I think of Coleman later on, but I’d be very sweary too. I also want to hold some of that back for when we get the other Coleman-led episodes, and I do mean led in some cases. Some of those Capaldi episodes might as well have been called “Clara Who.” Though as I said before, I might be getting a little ahead of myself.

“Asylum of the Daleks” is (at times) a fun and interesting little episode with a mystery of this bubbly woman in a red dress. Though as I say, the conflict between companions doesn’t feel either earned or worth it when it is affirming what a number of people already know. It has a solid bit of direction, which is to say Nick Hurran wasn’t doing a Star Trek Discovery and throwing the camera in a tumble dryer, and Moffat’s usual writing with a corkboard of conspiracy theories but in reverse. I’ll say it, I kind of like it. Next up is one of two Chris Chibnall episodes in this series.

Phenixx Gaming is everywhere you are. Follow us on Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, and Instagram.

Also, if you’d like to join the Phenixx Gaming team, check out our recruitment article for details on working with us.

Phenixx Gaming is proud to be a Humble Partner! Purchases made through our affiliate links support our writers and charity!

Doctor Who "Asylum of the Daleks"

7

Score

7.0/10

Pros

• Eggs, eggs, eggs...
• Resetting the Dalek-Doctor relationship a bit.
• A fun little mystery.

Cons

• Do we need the companion conflict?