Doctor Who, Series Seven - "EGGS...STIR...MIN...ATE."

[Droo]

Well, that was a good old-fashioned romp! You may be surprised. I know I was, because this opening episode felt somehow like a departure from the trusted format of last year. This wasn't the action episode, or the romance episode, or the over-arching story episode, or the monster-of-the-week episode. It had all of that rolled up into one bold and bombastic bit of telly. It in no way rivals the opening to Series 6, which was effectively started with a finale, but it was nonetheless hugely satisfying and felt to me, in a way, much like the Doctor Who of old. The episode stands solidly alone and wraps up nicely, swiftly, and efficiently, while leaving the audience with some delicious little morsels to chew over for the future.

There were some wonderful surprises here:

First of all, I was stunned to see the new companion turn up so early, and was delighted by her witty interactions with the Doctor. Surely, this was Moffat's way of whetting the appetites of us Whovians, and now we know what we have to look forward to, and I'm quite excited by what I saw tonight.

Amy and Rory had their moment and it hit all the right notes, although in retrospect, I think Amy's reason for "letting Rory go" was a bit hard to swallow, even if the revelation itself, and how Gillan and Darvill played it, was really quite moving.

Then there was the big Oswin revelation: Wow! I was absolutely gutted by that. Who would've thought a Dalek could have delivered such a heart-breaking performance? And now I have to wonder, in order to avoid paradoxes, does this mean the Doctor's next companion will be destined to become a Dalek? Will he have to carry the burden of another terrible secret, much like that of River Song's tragic fate? Or is it not a fixed point in time? After all, Oswin at least didn't appear to know him, but let's not forget that it's not beyond the Doctor's power to wipe someone's memory completely of him.

And now Steven Moffat has taken another step towards completely resetting the Whoniverse: in Series 5, the universe itself was reset, so no-one on earth remembers all the crazy stuff that happened with Nine and Ten, for example, in Series 6, the Doctor was killed, or at least officially, and now even his greatest foe, the Daleks, have completely forgotten about him. Clever clever!

"I want to be able to say, every week, we’ve got a big standalone blockbuster, and then a trailer that makes it look like nothing compared to what’s going to happen next week! That’s the form for next year.

I want slutty titles and movie-poster plots. I want big pictures and straplines. The first episode I’m writing is called [Spoiler] of the [Spoilers]. And it’ll feel a bit like Die Hard, that first episode."

That's what the Moff said about this series and its first episode. I think he's on track, and the trailer for the next episode looks like it will follow suit in being bold and brash and massively entertaining. And so, eager as I am to hear your thoughts, I just have one thing left to say:

Come along, Across-the-Pond!

[Rutabaga]

I really, really enjoyed the season premiere, I thought it was great.

I was really surprised to see Jenna-Louise Coleman show up in the episode. I spent a while thinking she looked really familiar, and it took me a while to figure out why. I was dreading having to get used to a new companion this season, but she and Matt Smith seemed to have a lot of good chemistry and showed a lot of promise. So maybe getting used to her won't be as difficult as I thought.

I was also extremely moved by what was revealed about Oswin. My Spidey sense was tingling that something wasn't right about her, but I never imagined that it would be that she was actually a Dalek. I had suspected she might be one of the humanoid Daleks, but not the real pepper pot one. That really did catch me by surprise.

And since Oswin wiped all memory of the Doctor from the Daleks' data banks, that certainly raises a lot of questions about where things will go with them in the future, if we do see them again.

Needless to say, I was glad to see the Ponds get back together. I'm not going to lie, their whole argument over the collapse of their relationship brought tears to my eyes...Karen and Arthur really do have great chemistry and performed that scene exquisitely. I am truly going to miss them when they go.

I'm already salivating over Dinosaurs on a Spaceship...after a heavy, somewhat metaphysical season premiere, I think a rollicking adventure will be just the ticket.

[Lance Casey]

Perhaps the conversion erased her memories of the Doctor just like Amy was losing her's at the beginning. Maybe the Doctor will travel with Oswin as a way to make it up to her.

[Droo]

While I enjoyed Asylum of the Daleks, I do in retrospect believe it was largely a vehicle for the Moff to plant the seeds of future tales, admittedly, it was an entertaining and bold sort of vehicle but it lacked something for me. Or maybe it was just the Daleks, which I find really quite tedious. What I quoted in my previous post, from the Moff, with regards to his vision for the new series, I believe that vision is realised with Dinosaurs on a Spaceship. I loved loved loved it!

Last week, I used the phrase "good old-fashioned romp" to describe Asylum, it's definately the effect these bold stand-alone episodes seem to be aiming for, but this week the goods were delivered in full. I was a grinning idiot for pretty much all the episode, it was immense fun from start to finish, and while it was quite regularly cheesy, it was a palatable sort of cheddar that didn't leave a sour aftertaste. This is the sort of Doctor Who that has the broad family appeal that will keep kids, mums, and dads all returning to the screen in their droves.

Does it lack the rich mind-bending sort of intrigue of the labyrinthian Series 6? Absolutely. But you can have too much of a good thing and, with the departure of the Ponds looming closer, I think a few episodes of pure roller-coaster escapism are a welcome distraction from what will prove to be a heart-rending departure. And next week looks like another wild departure from the trend: had enough of the Dalek crazies and spaceship-bound dinosaurs? No problem! Here's a cyborg sheriff in the wild west!

My personal highlight of this episode was Rupert Graves as Ridell, to see him go from D.I. Lestrade to that was a small joy.

[Rutabaga]

So this week, not only were dinosaurs on a spaceship, but so were Arthur Weasley, Mr. Filch, and Inspector Greg Lestrade. What more could you ask?

I'm in total agreement with you, Droo, that this week's episode was a rollicking, giddy romp. I too was grinning from ear to ear during the entire episode, and I truly laughed out loud when the Doctor kissed Rory full on on the lips. I just couldn't help myself. It was damn good fun!

[Dasquian Belargic]

I'm all caught up on the new series now - what fun! I'm amazed that they kept the fact that Oswin was in the first episode under wraps and can't wait to see how Moffat manages to explain that in later episodes! Maybe it's because I was watching the episodes whilst sleep deprived so my brain was not running at full speed, but I totally did not see the 'twist' in Asylum of the Daleks coming.

[Captain Untouchable]

I've only watched Asylum so far - just about to watch Dinosaurs. I didn't see the twist coming either!

If I were to hazard a guess at your spoiler-tagged question Jenny, I'm guessing that the Doctor will meet Oswin some time in her past, and that we'll have some sort of River Song style "everyone knows that she's going to die except her" theme going on. Moffat has used that two or three times already, and seems to be quite fond of it. Of course, that didn't work out necessarily, because she didn't know who the Doctor was, unlike River. Hmm.

As an aside... bearing in mind that "silence will fall when the question is asked", are we going to see the question getting asked a lot this season, I wonder? And since the question is being asked, does that mean that The Silence has not yet fallen?

Edit:

Also, is it just me, or does anyone else think that the Doctor - with his making a big deal out of minor details, like "Where do you get the milk?" - would fit right in with our Dark Banana group?

[Dasquian Belargic]

With regards to (Asylum spoilers) Oswin, she is already popping up as a character on cosplaying forums and one aspect of her costume that I didn't notice but which kind of hints towards her true nature, is that she carries a whisk! A whisk that doesn't look entirely different to the whisk-like arm the Daleks have. Nice little detail!

I agree about the Doctor being a potential Dark Banana member. He also has a habit of getting out of dire situations in unexpectedly awesome ways

[Dragon]

she didn't know who the Doctor was, unlike River.

Ah, but the first thing to be affected in Dalek conversion is memory.

[Captain Untouchable]

she didn't know who the Doctor was, unlike River.

Ah, but the first thing to be affected in Dalek conversion is memory.

True, but both she, and Amy, and the dude that the Doctor and Amy met outside seemed to have lost their short term memory first. Longer term memories seemed to remain largely intact: the guy had forgotten that he was dead, but he still had fully fledged memories of his identity. Given that the Doctor becomes such a defining part of a companion's life, it seems a little strange that she would have forgotten him before anything else.

There's something else that's bugging me, but I'm going to have to re-watch the episode to double check first, I think.

[Dasquian Belargic]

What did you spot?

[Captain Untouchable]

When they flashed back to when Oswin was captured/converted... I might be mis-remembering, but I got the impression that she didn't know what was going on, what a Dalek was, etc. She wasn't acting the way that you'd expect a companion to act: and lets face it, if she survives more than one season as a companion, it's a safe bet that she'll meet the Daleks at least once. In that situation, Rose or Amy would have said something badass, name-dropped the Doctor... something. Oswin on the other hand was panicked, confused, and not at all like the sassy, confident character we saw in her fantasy world.

Earlier in the episode though, she said: "I know a Dalek when I hear one." That sounded very badass and companiony... but did she say that because she'd met the Daleks already with the Doctor (and just didn't remember doing it), or because she'd been turned into a Dalek, and thus knew what they were because of her software?

[Dasquian Belargic]

it's Whoday

[Rutabaga]

i am doing some major Kermit flailing right now!

[Captain Untouchable]

Sad face.

[Dasquian Belargic]

Asylum is still my favorite so far this season, but this weeks episode was good too! Next weeks looks like it will be extra sad

[Captain Untouchable]

Asylum was definitely the best, though I'm impressed with how epic they've managed to make everything feel so far. It seems to be a really good approach - it looks like we're going to skip the obligatory "Vampires of Venice" / "The Curse of the Black Spot" / "meh, not great" episode this time around, which I'm very happy about. Everything seems pretty solid, and I'd happily rewatch it again (I normally skip the meh episodes when I rewatch Who).

The thing that worries me, though: we've got next week's episode, then Angels Take Manhattan... and that's it until the Christmas special. Withdraaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaawl.

[Rutabaga]

Just watching the rerun of Dinosaurs on a Spaceship before A Town Called Mercy premieres on BBC, and it reminded me that I think a theory I've seen floated on Tumblr is quite possibly on the money. The theory is that the Doctor has already experienced the Ponds' fate, whatever that may be and that which we will have to live through in a couple of weeks (), and in these first few episodes of season 7 he's plucking them up here and there to have as much fun and adventure with them as possible before it's all over.

The idea is both smart and sad.

[Dasquian Belargic]

The thing that worries me, though: we've got next week's episode, then Angels Take Manhattan... and that's it until the Christmas special. Withdraaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaawl.

When is it supposed to start up again after Christmas?

EDIT: Whoday is once again upon us (well, tomorrow anyway)

[Lilaena De'Ville]

Ok I'm almost caught up. Just have the most recent one to watch! Dinosaurs on a Spaceship was glorious and I loved every second of it. Rory's dad, in particular (Mr. Weasley!) was awesome.

Imagine this all said in a Scottish accent.