Asylum of the Daleks (TV story)

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Asylum of the Daleks was the first episode of series 7 of Doctor Who.

Steven Moffat's first script to feature the Daleks as the main adversaries, it also served to launch the beginning of the series' major plot strands: the end of Amy and Rory's travels in the TARDIS and the beginning of the mystery surrounding Clara Oswald's identity. The episode also saw Rory and Amy's love challenged, following on from Pond Life, with the issue being resolved by the end of the story. This story also had an online prequel.

Importantly, it introduced audiences to Oswald as "soufflé girl", a moniker that would ultimately gain greater resonance in the series finale. Indeed, from the production team's perspective, the episode marked a major victory in Moffat's war on spoilers, in that the surprise of Jenna-Louise Coleman's appearance was preserved for the vast majority of the global audience. Despite several advanced screenings, no major leaks about her presence were known to have occurred in press reports or on social media. It was also an important episode for fans of Dalek design, in that several models of Dalek stretching all the way back to the 1960s were seen in the story — if only briefly.

With respect to the BBC Wales Dalek designs, it seemed to reverse the Victory of the Daleks [+]Loading...["Victory of the Daleks (TV story)"]' implication that the "colour-coded Daleks" would destroy any remaining bronze Daleks introduced in the first Russell T Davies era as inferior. Instead, the bronze Daleks were clearly shown to be numerically superior to the colour-coded version, and both were shown to be working together in a Moffat-introduced Dalek governmental structure called the "Parliament of the Daleks". This was in fact, the last televised appearance of the Victory of the Daleks designs, while the bronze Daleks persisted as recently as Chris Chibnall's final story, the BBC Centenary Special The Power of the Doctor [+]Loading...["The Power of the Doctor (TV story)"]. The episode also re-introduced Skaro on television for the first time since the 1996 TV movie, showing it in a state of heavy ruin.

Synopsis

Insane Daleks are about to escape the Dalek Asylum where they are kept. The rest of the Daleks call on their greatest enemy, the Doctor, along with his companions Amy Pond and Rory Williams, to lower the defences so they can destroy the Asylum. Can the Doctor save the day, along with his companions' marriage, as easily as he can fix his bow-tie?

Plot

On Skaro, a woman called Darla tells of a story about a man who fought the Daleks. However, as the universe now believes him to be dead; Darla hopes the rumours are wrong and that this man will come to save them. Inside a huge statue of a Dalek, she is surprised by the Eleventh Doctor, who asks why she has called him. Darla explains that her daughter is in a Dalek prison camp, and she wants him to rescue her. The Doctor questions as to why Darla is not in the camp, to which she says was because she escaped.

However, the Doctor points out no-one does, before touching her face. He pulls his hand back in shock, noting she's cold. Darla wonders why that's a problem. The Doctor tells her that this is a trap, and she doesn't even know it. She asks what's a trap, to which the Doctor tells her; she's the trap and doesn't know it. At that moment, Darla convulses and sprouts a Dalek eye-stalk from her forehead; she's a sleeper agent of the Daleks. With a gunstick from her palm, she knocks out the Doctor as a Dalek saucer arrives to collect the Doctor.

A Dalek puppet.

On 2010s Earth, Amy Pond is posing for the camera when her secretary tells her that her husband wants to see her. She remarks that she doesn't have a husband any more. She walks into a make-up room where Rory asks her to sign the divorce papers, making a snide comment that Amy's job is just "pouting at a camera". Once she has signed the papers, he leaves as Amy's make-up artist, Cassandra, enters. However, it turns out she is also a Dalek puppet, and she teleports Amy away. Meanwhile, Rory gets on a bus, but the bus driver turns out to be yet another puppet, who in turn teleports Rory to the Daleks.

He wakes up in a cell with Amy and looks through a small window to see they are in space, with an armada of Dalek saucers accompanying them. Rory vocally wonders how much trouble they're in; the Doctor is escorted in by Daleks, saying "On a scale of 1 to 10, Mr Pond? 11." They are then taken to the Parliament of the Daleks, where Amy tells Rory everything the Doctor is thinking based on his movements; he's even figured out the two of them are having problems because they are not close to each other. As the Daleks seemed stunned, the Doctor says it's finally Christmas for them because they managed to capture their greatest enemy. Much to the Doctor's surprise, the assembled Daleks don't try to exterminate him. Wondering for what other reason they could have captured him, the Doctor is met with a surprise; the Daleks want the Doctor to save them, to which he replies, "Well, this is new."

The Parliament saucer brings them to a planet the Daleks call the Asylum, a place that the Doctor has heard of only in legend. It's a place where the Daleks dispose of those of their kind who go wrong: the insane, the battle-scarred and the uncontrollable. The Doctor learns, to his disgust, that the Daleks didn't destroy their insane brethren because they find destroying their "Divine Hatred" offensive, describing it to be beautiful. The whole planet is automated and surrounded by an impenetrable shield, but the Daleks have detected a signal of unknown origin on the planet. The Daleks never considered tracing it back and trying to communicate with the source. The Doctor traces the signal to a woman called Oswin Oswald, who has been hiding out on the remains of the crashed starliner Alaska for a year.

The Doctor and the Ponds are fired at the Asylum.

The Doctor realises that when the Alaska crashed, it ruptured the planet's shield, leading to the risk of the inmates escaping. A planet's worth of insane Daleks roaming free is something that scares even the Daleks, who captured the Doctor to deal with the threat. The Daleks explain they kidnapped Amy and Rory because their records show he is always accompanied by companions. Because the shield is still strong enough to resist an assault from orbit, the Doctor and his companions will be sent down to the planet to deactivate the shield so the planet can be "cleansed" (of all life). The three are given protective bracelets so they will not be affected by the "Nanocloud" that surrounds the planet, and are unceremoniously sent down the gravity beam.

Amy is the first to come to after landing and sees a man in a white coat approaching her. Panicking, she runs away, with him chasing after her. The Doctor is next to come to, finding a Dalek eye watching him; Oswin has discovered visitors. Speaking to her via the intercom, the Doctor decides to look for Amy and Rory first. Eventually, he and Amy run into each other, and the man, Harvey, reveals that he was a crew member of the Alaska. They decide to find Rory. The Doctor tracks the reading coming to a hole in the ground; Rory is below them, in the actual facility; it seems the roof gave in when Rory landed. Because they cannot get to Rory at the moment, the Doctor and Amy decide to help Harvey.

Harvey remembers that he died.

Reaching the ship, they discover the rest of Harvey's crew are dead, having decomposed into skeletons. The Doctor reveals to the confused man, who claims they were alive and well not two hours ago, that they have been this way for a long time, a year at least. However, matters get much worse when Harvey remembers he died as well... The cold preserved his body, and the nanocloud turned him into one of the Dalek puppets charged with keeping the Asylum running. With his programming activating, Harvey tries attacking the Doctor and Amy. They quickly shut him into the storage unit of the ship.

The Doctor explains that the nanocloud will transform anything, living or dead, not protected by one of the Dalek bracelets into one of the "staff". Amy points out the second part of his explanation; even the DEAD are converted... including the dead crew members surrounding them. As the decayed husks of the crew begin to come to life, the Doctor and Amy flee to another part of the ship. However, the undead attackers grab Amy for a minute before the Doctor pulls her free and locks them out. They then notice, on the monitor, that the zombies have a bracelet; Amy's is missing, meaning she's now in danger of being converted. Oswin contacts the Doctor and Amy, informing them that there's a rope ladder leading down from the ship. It's the only way out now.

Rory tries to placate an insane Dalek.

Elsewhere, Rory awakes to find himself underground. Oswin seems to him via the intercom and leads Rory through the facility, where several deactivated Daleks litter the halls. Rory accidentally trips on a piece of metal, making a loud noise that awakens one of the severely rusted Daleks. Oddly, it repeats "Eggs..." over and over again, making Rory think it wants the orbs that have fallen out of its casing; Rory offers an orb to the Dalek in confusion. However, the Dalek's voice finally manages to unscramble; it's been trying to say "Exterminate." Rory runs through the room and locks himself in the teleport room on the other side. After Oswin makes flirty jokes, she tells Rory that she'll guide the Doctor and Amy to him.

In the tunnels below the ship, Amy questions the Doctor about what will happen to her. The Doctor explains the Nanocloud will erase her memories, "replace her love with hate", and transform her into a Dalek puppet. Memory is the first thing to be affected, and worse, it's already begun; he's explained this to her four times already. The Doctor encourages Amy to embrace fear to keep herself human; Daleks don't feel fear. They head for the exit, but upon hearing the Daleks outside the teleport room yelling "Exterminate", they're forced back. The Doctor asks Oswin how many Daleks ahead of them as Amy walks off; she sees people in the room ahead. However, the Doctor, having noticed her, informs Amy her perception is now being affected; she's looking at Daleks.

Amy's hallucination of the Daleks.

A Dalek advances on them, identifying the Doctor. However, once the Doctor taunts the decaying Dalek for having a damaged death ray beyond use, it simply activates its self-destruct program in the hopes of taking him with it. The Doctor takes the dome of the Dalek and begins to sonic its casing. It says self-destruct cannot be countermanded. Smirking, the Doctor says he wasn't trying to stop the self-destruct, he was just looking for the reverse switch. And with that, the Dalek is sent screaming back into the room, where it explodes in a crowd of Daleks.

Rory hears the explosion and leaves the teleport room to find several charred Dalek casings. Wondering who killed all the Daleks, Rory sees the Doctor carrying an unconscious Amy. With a smile, the Doctor rhetorically asks Rory, "Who do you think?" Once in the teleport room, the Doctor lets Amy sleep and explains the situation to Rory, discovering the teleport has enough power to get them back to the Dalek ship in orbit once the force field is down. Amy wakes up and, after slapping Rory, Oswin points out that anger is the first sign the conversion is becoming permanent. Amy jokes "Someone's obviously never been to Scotland," implying she's normally hostile. Accepting this, Oswin asks to be taken back to the Dalek ship, but the Doctor questions her about how she keeps getting the ingredients for her soufflés. His companions tell him to put the matter aside; they need to leave the planet before they lose Amy for good.

The Doctor then wonders how Oswin is not being affected by the Nanocloud and learns that she used her intelligence to create a shield to block it. Leaving Amy and Rory behind, the Doctor sets out to find Oswin, as she refuses to turn off the shield until they come to rescue her. Rory offers to give Amy his bracelet to keep her human longer; he claims it would take longer for the Nanocloud to transform him into a puppet. He reasons since it transforms love into hate, he would last longer because he always loved her more than she loved him, referencing the 2000 years he spent protecting her inside the Pandorica as an Auton. As they argue, it is revealed Amy has been left sterile because of something the Silence did to her at Demons Run; while Rory thought Amy kicked him out after deciding she didn't love him, in truth, she knew he had always wanted children, so Amy "gave him up" so he had a better chance at having them with someone else, saying her sacrifice was far greater than his two-thousand-year vigil. They then realise the Doctor put his bracelet on Amy while she was sleeping; Amy muses that he probably doesn't need it and he'd tricked them into working out their relationship problems.

In the meantime, the Doctor reaches "Intensive Care"; it houses Daleks defeated in particular battles - all of them battles with his first, second, and third incarnations. Once the Doctor mentions they "survived" him, the Daleks come back to life and corner him against the door leading to Oswin, intending to enact revenge. The Doctor yells for help, as the Daleks close in on him with their suckers. Luckily, Oswin hacks into the Pathweb, and erases all data on him, effectively making them forget the Doctor. The deranged Daleks quietly go back to their cells and go back to "sleep".

Oswin is revealed to be a Dalek.

The Doctor says it's impossible to hack the Pathweb; even he couldn't. Oswin invites him to meet the person who did. However, once the Doctor enters her room, he tells her that they have a problem. However, Oswin thinks he is simply right outside her room. The Doctor tells Oswin that it's not real; this prompts her to ask where she is.

To his infinite sadness, the Doctor informs Oswin that she is a Dalek, to which she denies. However, the Doctor firmly tells her that the room only exists in her imagination. The Doctor explains the rope ladder he used to get into the facility was originally used by her when she was human. Oswin had been captured by the Daleks, and because of her genius intelligence, had been fully converted into a Dalek instead of simply made into a puppet.

When Oswin refuses to believe him, the Doctor points out that she wouldn't have been able to get eggs and milk for her soufflés for an entire year because there'd be a limited supply. The shocking truth causes Oswin to remember her exploration of the facility, her capture by the Daleks, and her conversion. Repeating the word "Eggs", she reverts to a Dalek personality, yelling "Exterminate!" The Doctor yells for Oswin to regain control of herself, which seemingly works as she is next heard crying. In her imaginary room, Oswin cries. Having felt the Dalek's shared opinion of the Doctor, she asks why they hate him so much. The Doctor explains that it's because he always prevents them from achieving large victories. Oswin tells him the Daleks have grown stronger out of fear of the Doctor. The Doctor admits that he knows this and has been trying to stop ever since he realised.

The Doctor runs back to the teleport.

Oswin tells the Doctor that she is lowering the shields, meaning that the Daleks will bombard the planet very soon. The Doctor asks if she's fine with dying, to which Oswin states that she fought the Daleks and died HUMAN. The Doctor thanks Oswin for her help, and - on her order - runs for his life. Watching the Doctor flee, Oswin says "Run you clever boy, and remember."

Amy and Rory reconcile as the Asylum explodes around them.

In the teleport room, Rory wonders how long they can wait for the Doctor. Amy says for the rest of their lives and they kiss. The Doctor arrives and tries getting their attention — "for God's sake!" Annoyed that Amy and Rory always pick the worst times to kiss, the Doctor activates the teleport as the bombardment finishes.

On the Dalek Parliament ship, the Supreme Dalek reports that the destruction of the Asylum has been successful. However, the alarm goes off; a teleport from the Asylum has occurred. They consider it an attack and prepare to defend. The Doctor's voice is heard over the loudspeaker, saying that he is pin-point accurate with teleports, before leaping out of the TARDIS, calling the Daleks "suckers". They demand that the Doctor identify himself, shocking him; he tells them who he is, only to be met with confusion. The lead Dalek puppet, Darla von Karlsen, asks "Doctor Who?", and soon the entire Parliament of Daleks begins repeating it continuously. The Doctor now realises that Oswin deleted him from the entire Pathweb — not just for the Daleks in Intensive Care, but for their entire species. He marvels at Oswin's accomplishment, and laughs: "Fellas - you're never going to stop asking."

Despite their demands to stay there and elaborate on his identity, the Doctor takes off. He deposits Amy and Rory back at their house. Waving goodbye, Amy smiles to Rory and enters the house; she's taken him back. Rory smiles himself and whoops with joy. Rory then calms down when Amy says "I can see you." In the TARDIS control room, the Doctor is laughing to himself and saying "Doctor Who?", repeating the question himself several times, with joy, as he sets the TARDIS on course for his next adventure.

Cast

Uncredited cast

Crew

General production staff

Script department

Camera and lighting department

Art department

Costume department

Make-up and prosthetics

Movement

Casting

General post-production staff

Special and visual effects

Sound



Not every person who worked on this adventure was credited. The absence of a credit for a position doesn't necessarily mean the job wasn't required. The information above is based solely on observations of the actual end credits of the episodes as broadcast, and does not relay information from IMDB or other sources.


Uncredited crew

Worldbuilding

Daleks

The Doctor

Individuals

  • Amy is now physically unable to have children due to the events on Demons Run.

Foods and beverages

Music

Planets

  • Skaro is the home planet of the Daleks. It still exists, with the remains of a large Dalek-shaped building.
  • The Daleks have an asylum planet.

Transport technology

  • The Doctor brags that he has an exceptional aim with teleports after he teleports himself and the Ponds into his TARDIS.

Influences

  • Steven Moffat was keen to have each episode of season seven exhibit the ambition, scope and thrills of a feature film. For this episode, he was inspired by Die Hard.

Story notes

  • The presence of Jenna-Louise Coleman in this episode was successfully kept secret, despite the episode having several preview showings prior to broadcast. After broadcast, Coleman and Steven Moffat both issued statements thanking fans and the media for keeping Coleman's debut — months before her official first episode, the 2012 Christmas special — a secret.
  • This story premiered in Australia on the Australian Broadcasting Corporation's on-demand and catch-up service iView at 5.10am AEST; immediately following the UK broadcast. This was the first time Doctor Who had debuted on Australian TV in this way. A traditional free-to-air screening on ABC1 was followed on the 8 September.[4]
The unique logo for Asylum of the Daleks.
  • This story marks the first appearance of a new title sequence. It contains the same music and time vortex animation as the sequence used for the two previous seasons, but the font of the opening credits and the style of the logo have changed. The sequence appears to have some colour adjustments as well - the vortex has hints of green, while the TARDIS itself is a slightly darker blue with vibrant yellow lighting emanating from the TARDIS windows. The footage also has less-sharp focus, casting a more dream-like atmosphere to the sequence.
  • A prequel was released on iTunes shortly before the release of the episode.
  • This episode was shown at the Edinburgh International Television Festival in August, just as was done with Let's Kill Hitler [+]Loading...["Let's Kill Hitler (TV story)"] in 2011.[5]
  • This is the first televised Dalek story set primarily on another planet than Earth since Revelation of the Daleks.
  • This is the first time since Doctor Who [+]Loading...["Doctor Who (TV story)"], that the caption "written by" was included in an episode.
Paul Cornell did the "eggs" gag with the Seventh Doctor before Steven Moffat. (COMIC: Metamorphosis)
  • Although stressing that the first syllable of "Exterminate!" sounds like eggs was new to television, it was not the first time the notion appeared in licensed Doctor Who. It was done about 20 years earlier by Paul Cornell in Metamorphosis. The usage is remarkably the same in that Doctor Who Yearbook comic, except that it's the Seventh Doctor who is turning into a Dalek and saying "eggs".
  • This is the first season opener not set primarily on Earth since Smith and Jones [+]Loading...["Smith and Jones (TV story)"].
  • Oswin's theme, composed by Murray Gold, resembles - but is different to - Clara Oswald's theme, later introduced in TV: The Snowmen [+]Loading...["The Snowmen (TV story)"]. A brief snippet of Clara's theme is heard when she first says "Run you clever boy."
  • In a 2017 interview, Jenna Coleman revealed that she burned her right hand during filming when it came in contact with a light; as a result, she says, she can be seen favouring the injured hand in some scenes.[6]
  • Mindful of the mixed reaction which had greeted the redesigned Paradigm Daleks, Steven Moffat wanted to draw upon the long history of variant Dalek designs which dated back to 1963. Moffat now intended to portray the Paradigm Daleks as a sort of Dalek upper echelon, while the bronze design which had been used since Dalek [+]Loading...["Dalek (TV story)"] would be brought back into service as the rank and file.
  • This episode formed Block Two of season seven, along with The Angels Take Manhattan [+]Loading...["The Angels Take Manhattan (TV story)"].
  • The Ponds are on the verge of divorce because Steven Moffat wanted to emphasise that the normal problems and challenges of marriage were now as pertinent to them as their adventures with the Doctor.
  • Originally, the Ponds' divorce was to be signposted by Rory's choice to grow a beard, despite Amy's loathing of facial hair, which he would shave off at the story's conclusion. Between seasons, Arthur Darvill was appearing on stage as Mephistopheles in Doctor Faustus, and Steven Moffat planned to have him keep the beard he had grown for that role. However, this plan had to be abandoned when it was decided to make the episode alongside The Angels Take Manhattan [+]Loading...["The Angels Take Manhattan (TV story)"]
  • At the start of the story, Darla originally claimed that she wanted the Doctor to take her back in time to see her late daughter, and gave herself away by referring to the age she had been when she herself had died.
  • Cassandra was initially a replacement for Amy's regular make-up artist, while Rory was able to flee the bus only to be surrounded by a mob of Dalek agents.
  • The Dalek Prime Minister was originally the Dalek Prime.
  • The Dalek Parliament was first located on a planet dubbed “Skaro 2” rather than a spaceship.
  • The business of the Doctor and Amy making their way from the Alaska's escape pod through the Asylum, and Amy perceiving the Daleks as people, replaced Oswin teleporting them directly to Rory.
  • Oswin was originally conceived as a fan of Elvis Presley, whose music would play throughout the episode and inspire the Doctor to give her the nickname “Blue Suede Shoes”. However, when the rights to use these songs proved problematic to obtain, Nick Hurran suggested the soundtrack to Georges Bizet's 1875 opera Carmen.
  • Steven Moffat realised that the Doctor would never actually see Oswin in her human form. This meant that the actress portraying Oswin and the actress cast as the new companion could be one and the same. As such, Moffat did away with a suggestion that Oswin might be a Dalek whose insanity had caused it to believe itself to be human.
  • A substantial phalanx of Daleks was assembled for the production, including no fewer than thirteen new constructions. Five were revised versions of the Paradigm Daleks. In part, the changes were intended to address concerns expressed by the operators, who found the Paradigm Daleks far more difficult to control than their predecessors. Most notably, the rear “hump” was removed to restore a more symmetrical appearance, and they were given a metallic sheen in contrast to the bright, plasticky look they had previously sported. Three were painted in red Drone livery, alongside a blue Strategist and a white Supreme. Eight new bronze Daleks were also built; two were given severely distressed characteristics to represent some of the more badly-damaged inmates of the Asylum. Furthermore, three bronze casings were still available from amongst those made and retained by the BBC during the previous decade. Likewise, the original white Paradigm Dalek, last seen in The Wedding of River Song [+]Loading...["The Wedding of River Song (TV story)"], was also to appear, retaining th dilapidated state it had been given for that story.
  • A number of additional Daleks were sourced from BBC Worldwide. They included two additional bronze Daleks, plus the Special Weapons Dalek from Remembrance of the Daleks [+]Loading...["Remembrance of the Daleks (TV story)"]. This Planet Earth, a manufacturer of high-end screen-accurate Dalek props, provided a Dalek from 'Death to the Daleks [+]Loading...["Death to the Daleks (TV story)"] in silver and black livery. A charity organiser which supplied Daleks for fundraising opportunities loaned a bronze Dalek, a black Dalek in the style of Dalek Sec, an Ironsides Dalek from Victory of the Daleks [+]Loading...["Victory of the Daleks (TV story)"], and a Renegade Dalek from Remembrance of the Daleks. Two longtime fans also assisted the production team: an original casing from The Daleks [+]Loading...["The Daleks (TV story)"] and a Throne Room Dalek from The Evil of the Daleks [+]Loading...["The Evil of the Daleks (TV story)"] came from Andrew Beech, while Mark Barton Hill contributed a grey-and-black Dalek from Resurrection of the Daleks [+]Loading...["Resurrection of the Daleks (TV story)"]. Finally, Russell T Davies offered the use of his own prop, which resembled those from Genesis of the Daleks. Caroline Skinner knew Davies well and asked to borrow his replica. She stated that he was "thrilled" that it was canonised.
  • When Amy hallucinates the Daleks of humans, some of them were played by the corresponding Dalek operator.
  • The bronze Dalek which represented Oswin was the casing originally constructed to represent Dalek Caan in Doomsday.
  • No fewer than twenty six Dalek casings were used for the Dalek Parliament. Caroline Skinner said that "there was just a real magic and sense of history about having them".
  • The Dalek Parliament set was the largest ever built for the series, surpassing the Silurian Ark from Dinosaurs on a Spaceship [+]Loading...["Dinosaurs on a Spaceship (TV story)"]
  • Steven Moffat recalled that the Daleks were remembered for being scary, but due to their legacy as British icons they had become "cuddly" over the years and their true menace forgotten. He intended to make them scary again, reminding the audience of their intentions. He thought the best way to do this would be to show Daleks that were considered even madder than usual. Karen Gillan admitted that she had not been scared of the Daleks before working on the episode.
  • Jenna Coleman's scenes were filmed over six days on a closed set with a green screen which she acted to.
  • Steven Moffat was concerned about how all the different Daleks would look together, but was pleased once he saw them; he commented that the diversity made them look like a species, rather than identical robots.
  • Steven Moffat had previously been divorced and tackled the subject in his series Press Gang and Joking Apart. Many viewers took issue with the Ponds' divorce being resolved by the end of the episode and never mentioned again.
  • The black chair in Oswin's pod previously appeared in the pod Jenny used at the end of The Doctor's Daughter [+]Loading...["The Doctor's Daughter (TV story)"] The lever was the same one the Master pulls to shut down the bunker's defences in Utopia [+]Loading...["Utopia (TV story)"]
  • Unusually, the first filming was not the result of careful planning, but of last-minute happenstance. While filming A Town Called Mercy [+]Loading...["A Town Called Mercy (TV story)"] in Almería, Spain, Marcus Wilson realised that the nearby Sierra Nevada mountain range was ideal to represent the surface of the Asylum planet. Nick Hurran quickly devised plans to film the relevant footage, and a minimal crew travelled to Almería's Sierra Nevada National Park.
  • This is the first Dalek story where the Daleks don't actually kill anyone.
  • Ruthie Henshall was originally cast as Darla.

Ratings

The episode was preview screened at BFI Southbank on 14 August 2012, and at the MediaGuardian Edinburgh International Television Festival during 23–25 August. On 25 August it was also screened in New York City and Toronto. The episode was broadcast to the public on 1 September on BBC One in the United Kingdom, BBC America in the United States, and on Space in Canada, and on 2 September on the ABC iView service. It premiered on 8 September 2012 on ABC1 in Australia, and on 13 September on Prime TV in New Zealand.

Overnight viewing figures for the UK showed that the episode was watched by 6.4 million viewers, the lowest overnight figure for a premiere episode of the revived series; however, viewing patterns indicate that fewer people watch Doctor Who live and it won its timeslot. The final consolidated rating was 8.33 million viewers, ranking third for the week on BBC One.[7] It was also the most-viewed episode on BBC iPlayer the day that it aired, and ended September in the number one spot, with 2.2 million requests. "Asylum of the Daleks" achieved an Appreciation Index of 89, the highest for a series opener of Doctor Who.

Viewing figures in the US on BBC America showed that the episode was watched by 1.555 million viewers. It was the #1 cable program in its timeslot, and the most-watched telecast in the history of the network. The episode also garnered a 0.6 rating in the 18-49 demographic. "Asylum of the Daleks" also was viewed 75,000 times on ABC's iView in Australia, a record audience, and 620,000 watched the premiere on Space in Canada, Doctor Who's second-best ratings for the channel. On Prime in New Zealand, the episode attracted 171,690 viewers, Doctor Who's second-highest rating on the channel and the highest rated show on the channel that day.

Filming locations

  • The scenes on the Asylum surface were filmed during production of episode three, A Town Called Mercy [+]Loading...["A Town Called Mercy (TV story)"], in the Sierra Nevada mountains in Spain.

Production errors

If you'd like to talk about narrative problems with this story — like plot holes and things that seem to contradict other stories — please go to this episode's discontinuity discussion.
  • The first Dalek Rory approaches inside the asylum has indicators on both sides from his perspective, but when the camera is behind the Dalek the light on the right-hand side is missing.
  • The Doctor has a plaster on his finger that keeps disappearing and reappearing.
  • In the ending scene where the Doctor is in the TARDIS, you can see the overhead camera reflected in the glass floor next to the console.
  • When the Doctor, Amy and Rory are in the Dalek Holding Cell, the circular platform they are standing on lifts. On one shot, it shows them and the Daleks looking all around them — the Doctor is looking towards the audience — but in the next shot, the Doctor is looking upward into the Dalek Parliament.
  • When the Doctor says, "It's Christmas!" in the Dalek Parliament, the shot has been "mirrored", as indicated by the flipped positioning of the manipulator arms and gunsticks.
  • The wide shots of the Dalek Parliament do not match the close-up shots.
  • When Rory is being sent to the Asylum, upside down, he yells, "Wrong way up!" twice. His mouth only moves to him saying, "wrong way!"
  • While talking to the Doctor, Oswin's hair keeps moving between being over her forehead and behind her ear several times in one dialogue.
  • At 10:52, all of the Daleks' eye-stalks follow the Doctor's movements, except one which is instead looking up towards the ceiling.
  • At 11:15 when the Doctor says, "Yes reading you loud and clear!" the same Dalek has its eyestalk in an upright position looking up, but there is also a Dalek with its headpiece not secured right in the same scene.
  • When the Doctor says, "A small taskforce could sneak through the forcefield, send in a couple of Daleks," the same Dalek is there with its eyestalk in an upright position. There are multiple Daleks in this scene with obscure eyestalks, one to the right is looking down and one is looking slightly above the Doctor.
  • In the same scene as above, the Dalek that looks slightly above the Doctor seems to twirl its eyestalk for a while, after that the blue light at the end of it goes out.
  • When Rory escapes the awakening Daleks, the direction the Special Weapons Dalek is facing changes; in the next shot, it is back to its original position.
  • When Oswin makes her "You'll put someone's eye out" joke about the Doctor's chin, there is a close-up of Amy stifling a laugh. Then it cuts to a wide shot with Amy out of focus in the background, and she is seen repeating the act of stifling the laugh.
  • When the TARDIS leaves the Dalek parliament, it dematerialises with the right door still open.

Continuity

A special weapons Dalek.

Home video releases

Series 7, part 1 DVD cover.

DVD & Blu-ray releases

  • Asylum of the Daleks, along with the rest of the first half of the series (episodes one through to five) was released as Series 7 Part One on DVD and Blu-ray in region 1/A on 13 November 2012, in region 2/B on 29 October 2012 and in region 4/B on 14 November 2012.
  • Also, this episode was released as part of the Complete Seventh Series boxset on DVD and Blu-ray in region 1/A on 24 September 2013, in region 2/B on 28 October 2013 and in region 4/B on 30 October 2013.

Digital releases

  • In the United Kingdom, this story is available on BBC iPlayer.

External links

Footnotes

  1. ↑ Fox was not credited for this role in this episode. (DWMSE 33) He was, however, credited for the same role in The Angels Take Manhattan [+]Loading...["The Angels Take Manhattan (TV story)"], where he did not appear.
  2. ↑ Doctor Who News Guide
  3. ↑ Doctor Who Season 7 Episode 1: Asylum of the Daleks. Retrieved on 3 November 2018.
  4. ↑ tv/2012/08/the-doctor-to-premiere-on-iview.html The Doctor To Premiere On iview. ABC TV Blog (28 August 2012). Retrieved on 2 September 2012.
  5. ↑ John Plunkett (9 May 2012). Charlie Brooker, Steven Moffat and Ruth Jones top bill in Edinburgh. The Guardian. Retrieved on 23 August 2012.
  6. ↑ BAFTA: Jenna Coleman's Painful Introduction to Doctor Who. YouTube.com (11 October 2017). Retrieved on 14 October 2017.
  7. ↑ Doctor Who Ratings - UK final
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Dalek television stories
For the purposes of this list, a "Dalek story" is one in which one living, authentic Dalek plays a part within the confines of the story, outside of flashbacks to previous stories and cliffhangers that lead into the following story. For this reason, stories such as The Space Museum are not counted due to the Daleks' appearance being defined by their importance to following stories, while stories such as The Wheel in Space and The Waters of Mars are absent due to the Daleks' only contribution being references to past Dalek stories. Stories like The Wedding of River Song, Hell Bent, Once, Upon Time and The Vanquishers are also not included due to the Daleks' appearance being restricted to a single scene of no consequence to the plot of the story, while the TV movie is also absent due to the Daleks only being heard from off-screen.
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Because of the ubiquity of this race, no attempt will be made here to list every appearance in every medium. Instead, we focus on televised appearances here, and invite you to explore a complete list of appearances elsewhere.
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