Doctor Who

[James]

I thought Jenna's character was called Clara yet I didn't hear it mentioned once. Plus, she identified herself as Oswin Oswald so perhaps she may be some kind of relation to the future companion? I don't think he'll go back in time to rescue her because surely Oswin would have remembered him?

I'm currently writing an article regarding this. There are certainly a lot of theories around the place now.

I'll post the article up on here when I'm done. It'll look at the top 5 theories on Oswin's character, who she is and how her character could play out.

Spoiler:
The Doctor has called her Clara during filming of the Christmas 2012 special - and her full character name is Clara Oswin (All according to filming reports) so there's certainly a link there...

 

[Islander]

The twist was excellent! Loved the whole "eggs-stir-milk-bake" at the end, I thought that was really clever.

I read that thinking "Blimey, that's clever, how on Earth did I miss that?", so rewatched it, and it's definitely just "Eggs-stir-min-ate" . Would've been epic if it had been eggs-stir-milk-bake, though - surprised they missed that one.

 

[Mitch]

The twist was excellent! Loved the whole "eggs-stir-milk-bake" at the end, I thought that was really clever.

I read that thinking "Blimey, that's clever, how on Earth did I miss that?", so rewatched it, and it's definitely just "Eggs-stir-min-ate" . Would've been epic if it had been eggs-stir-milk-bake, though - surprised they missed that one.

I guess that was me wishfully mis-hearing that last part but yeah they certainly missed a trick on that one.

Speaking of possible tricks, I'm sure a lot of you know that Episode 5 will be set in New York and contain the Weeping Angels. New York. Weeping Angels. Anyone thinking what I'm thinking?

http://images5.fanpop.com/image/photos/31900000/weeping-angels-doctor-who-31944877-761-712.png

 

[Rowe]

After initially doubting the premiere of the new series, I'm slightly proved wrong. Meeting Clara was definitely a surprise and my goodness she is lovely (definitely a competitor of intelligence towards the Doctor).

Still doubting Moffat though.

 

[Islander]

Have to be honest, I don't get this love for Rory (not just from you, Rowe, but from much of Doctor Who's fanbase, it would seem). I find him rather irritating, and with an odd air of uselessness, odd because he's clearly not useless. Also, the way he's written, I feel almost as if I'm being encouraged to pity him, and I don't like that - I'll decide who to pity

 

[GAGrathea]

Doctor Who

I love Rory because he's utterly adorable, as is Arthur Darvill!

But I feel like the writing in the latest episode did him a massive injustice, doing the same things that the Potter film writers did to Ron - he's not stupid and he's not just there for goofy comic relief! Stop writing him like that!

 

[Rowe]

To be honest I originally didn't like Rory, I did find him a bit redundant and useless originally since he was just seen as 'the boyfriend to Amy', but it was during the finale of Series 5 that made him stand out because he actively tried to make a difference and especially by making sure Amy was protected in the Pandorica over those many long decades.

But whilst he is optimistic and on a different level to the Doctor in terms of protagonist, I don't like the way his relationship with Amy is going. I thought the Nice Guy attitude he was bringing across in terms of assuming Amy loved him less than he loved her was a bit... Off. It doesn't help that he uses the Pandorica episode as a way of swaying her to stick with him like she auto-obligated to stay with him.

Does anybody else notice that?

 

[tothetowers]

Doctor Who

I thought that was great series opener, especially since I gave on doctor who a couple of episodes into series 5 because it became to dark, dull, boring and just generally to hard to keep up with.
And when I decided I wanted to get back into Doctor Who my first thought was that I wouldn't understand what was happening because I didn't watch the previous series. But I was proved wrong, I absolutely loved it. Such a great series opener and will definitely keep watching.


Sent from my iPod touch using Tapatalk

 

[James]

With regards to Rory. I think fans like him mainly due to the fact he's everything Mickey was not (Rose's boyfriend, series 1-2). Mickey was a laughing stock. The 'background character' used just for a few jokes here and there.

Rory started off being much like Mickey, although has grown into a very strong character - and I applaud Arthur Darvill developing his character so well over the past 3 years. People are probably quite fond of him due to the character change. As opposed to Mickey, who did not change over the two years being on the show (apart from the end I suppose - although the audience didn't have enough time to connect with this). Rory has gone from a 2D character seen as a boy, to a 3D character that has grown into a man. He has an impact on the episodes and I think for all companions that is key for them to be loved by viewers.

 

[James]

Here's my article. First article I've written too!

Warning: Contains spoilers regarding the 2012 Christmas special. May give away other spoilers regarding Clara/Oswin and Series 7.

Oswin Oswald: An Unfolding Adventure
by James Bristow

Just who is Oswin Oswald? Who is Clara Oswin? Do these two characters have a link, or is there something bigger in the works?

In this article I am going to briefly look at the top five theories regarding the identity of Oswin Oswald, introduced to us in the first episode of series seven, The Asylum of the Daleks. These five theories have been gathered based on the most popular theories being discussed by fans across the web.

I am going to look at these theories in descending order, from the least likely theory, to the most likely.

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5. Oswin has always been a Dalek

Let us start with this one, not the most talked about theory - but still talked about quite a lot. One theory suggests that Oswin has always been a Dalek, since she was young and the whole of her life is a dream - Oswin's dream.

How could the Doctor have a Dalek as a companion? Simple really. When we meet Clara (Oswin) during the Christmas Special we see her in human form, in her dream state. The Doctor is living in this world, much like the events in Asylum of the Daleks with both characters experiencing the same adventure in the same world - however the Doctor only sees the Dalek. He knows this is Oswin after the events of Asylum of the Daleks although will only ever see her in Dalek form. A Dalek companion would certainly bring something new to the show.

However this theory seems to be the least likely only due to its complexity. I would not rule this idea out, although other theories seem far more likely over this one.

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4. Oswin and Clara are different characters

An interesting theory, but one I highly doubt will come to be true. I feel it would be a bit of an odd move by Moffat to have two different characters that look the same.

This is an easy theory to disregard quickly, however having an actor play two different characters has been done before. Freema Agyeman played the series three companion, Martha Jones - and played the character Adeola Oshodi in the series two episode, Army of Ghosts. Karen Gillan has played the series five to present companion, Amy/Amelia Pond - and played the Soothsayer character in the series four episode, The Fires of Pompeii.

So two well known actors of modern Who have played two distinctly different characters in the past. Could Oswin and Clara be the same? I somehow doubt it, due to the clear similarities in their names (Oswin Oswald - Clara Oswin). However this is Doctor Who, so anything could happen...

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3. Oswin and Clara are related

Much like an actor playing two different characters - an actor playing two characters that are related has been done before in New Who. Eve Myles, most well known for her role as Gwen Cooper in Torchwood has played another role in Doctor Who, as Gwyneth, a character from the series one episode, The Unquiet Dead. It was not until series four that we discovered Gwen Cooper was a descendent of Gwyneth, in which the physical similarities were explained as spatial genetic multiplicity - which causes physical traits to be echoed through a time rift.

Could Oswin be a descendent of Clara? Filming of the Christmas 2012 special has shown that the special is set in Victorian London. So one could easily assume that Clara is from this era. Would Moffat make it that simple though? I believe something more is at play. Although this is a very likely theory that could happen.

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2. Oswin Escapes the Asylum

This is quite a surprise of a theory. One that I've seen very little spoken of. So why have I put it at number two? It's such a simple theory, that can lead to so many possibilities. Let's have a look at what could happen.

I'm going to start with a comment I saw on Doctor Who TV earlier, it was the first I saw of this theory being spoken about and I'm glad I wasn't the only one thinking of this possibility. The idea is from bluebox444, and here's a part of their comment, Oswin escapes the Asylum as a Dalek: "... being a genius - and finds a way to transfer herself into an android that resembles her human form. Once again, she's a genius."

I love this idea and think it can be placed as being a highly likely scenario. She is a Dalek, however, she is clever and there could have been a way for her to make a quick escape. When she escapes she could still be in this dream state, controlling the Dalek she is and transferring herself into (as the comment above) an android. On the exterior we will see her as a human when in fact she is not. It adds up to the hints from Moffat that the new companion may not be human and opens out Clara/Oswin's character to many possibilities throughout the show.

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1. Oswin and Clara are the same character

The most popular theory is that they are the same person, and out of all the theories out there right now, seems to be the most likely scenario.

One interesting detail about this episode that can easily be looked over is the fact the Doctor never saw Oswin. He does not know what she looks like. If Clara/Oswin's story is similar to River's, with the first episode being the death of the character - then from the Christmas special onwards we could be viewing the Doctor slowly learning more about Clara, who she is, who she will become and ultimately, what her demise will be. It could provide for a very heartbreaking story. My main issue with this is that it is very similar to River's story and it's hard to not view them as two different character paths when they follow the same path.

Another story that could stem off this is the Doctor saving Clara from ever going to the Asylum. However it is Clara that saves the Doctor in the Asylum. If this story were to be done we would be sure to see some very timey wimey stuff happening - and it could even lead to the second part of series seven having this story arc of the Doctor rewriting the life of Clara and where she should be. Causing the destruction of time due to events being changed surrounding Clara's life.

One question that people pose over the idea of them being the same is that wouldn't the Doctor know who she is by her voice? I would say not necessarily. We can easily forget a voice and while Oswin did something the Doctor will never forget, he may have lived too long to instantly know what her voice sounds like when meeting Clara in the Christmas special.

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Conclusion

Moffat has done something very clever here. He has surprised the audience with introducing the new companion months before we thought she would appear on Doctor Who. The introduction of Oswin could prove to have a huge significance on the rest of this series and beyond.

Are they the same character? Are they related? Why introduce her to us in episode one? Will episode one be significant for her story? Are we seeing the death of Oswin? Or the start of her life with the Doctor? How long will it take for the Doctor to know who she is? Will she know the Doctor?

There are still many questions left unanswered, but one thing's for sure - the next few months are going to unravel a lot of mysteries around Oswin Oswald and Clara Oswin. We're in for a bumpy ride.

 

[DiogoJ42]

All I know is, this is the first time I have ever wanted to pork a Dalek.

 

[Tim]

Doctor Who can be infuriating at times. Despite being a pretty big fan I’ve been deliberately avoiding any spoilers as doing so previously caused the show to lose its charm. I thought that just watching every episode would be enough to keep me in the know. However I now feel really confused by a couple of points in this episode.

So Oswin will be the new companion? I honestly didn’t know this until reading it on here (although I did guess during the episode). I didn’t even know they’d announced the new companion and so was more than a little shocked to see that detail taken as fact.
Now that I do know though I can say that I think this reveal has been handled very well. For a non-fan (and me) it seemed as if she was just a one off character (although the hint didn’t go unnoticed). While for everyone in the know it’s a great mind-blowing question to try and figure out. This is a big improvement over how previous long running fan plots have been handled as it isn’t at the expense of the casual viewers.

The second and more frustrating plot point was the whole Amy and Rory splitting up business. It really annoys me when shows do things like this just to add some tension. Their relationship has been getting stronger as the series have gone on so it felt so out of character for them to suddenly break up. It made even less sense given that they were perfectly happy at the end of the Christmas episode (where I assumed this story was going to take off from). Still at least they got that over with in one episode, it would have been terrible if they’d drawn it out over the whole series (looking at you Series 3 Rose > Martha).
Only now I’m lead to believe their relationship break up was already mentioned before now and that I should have already known about this plot point before the episode began?

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Anyway my lack of foreknowledge aside I thought it was a really great episode which did a good job of introducing Oswin and reminding us why the Daleks are great characters.
I couldn’t understand why they couldn’t have saved Oswin. So what if She’s a Dalek she was still an ally. I’m sure she could have levitated onto that teleport. But I suppose as her character looks likely to come back it’ll probably turn out she was saved anyway, so I’ll ignore that little detail for now.
I’m also perfectly happy with the big twist that the Daleks no longer know who The Doctor is. It’ll give them a chance to really play around with fresh the start idea of The Doctors faked death from last series. Anyway if you don’t like it then no doubt the Daleks will get their memories back in a few series time, that’s how Doctor Who continuity tends to work

 

[James]

So Oswin will be the new companion? I honestly didn’t know this until reading it on here (although I did guess during the episode). I didn’t even know they’d announced the new companion and so was more than a little shocked to see that detail taken as fact.

Now that I do know though I can say that I think this reveal has been handled very well. For a non-fan (and me) it seemed as if she was just a one off character (although the hint didn’t go unnoticed). While for everyone in the know it’s a great mind-blowing question to try and figure out. This is a big improvement over how previous long running fan plots have been handled as it isn’t at the expense of the casual viewers.

Yep, the new companion was confirmed a few months ago - mainly due to the fact that she's been in Wales filming on location the past two months.

It is indeed a great idea by Moffat. For casual viewers, they will believe she was just a one-off, then come later this year they will have the surprise of learning she'll be back as a companion.

I'm quite happy they've introduced her so early, as it gives us a good insight in what her character will (could) be like and brings that companion - audience connection earlier into the show. It's certainly something that's never been done before in the show (unless you count Donna) so I'm looking forward to seeing how it all plays out.

A well done goes to the Doctor Who crew, team and all the Doctor Who fans for keeping this quiet though. Considering the first episode has been shown at four different screenings in several countries and it has still been kept quiet it just goes to show how loyal Doctor Who fans are, the press are and how dedicated the DW crew/team are to keeping big surprises quiet. It's rare you get such things kept quiet in television (and anything else) these days.

 

[DiogoJ42]

I've just realised, this is the first companion in New Who that doesn't come from the present day (give or take a few years). Finally! One of the things I hate about getting a new companion is that they usually spend half a series not having a clue, and needing things explained to them. Hopefully we can skip all that guff now.

Oh yeah, and have her scrubbed and sent to my trailer.....

 

[Squiggs]

I was rather pleased by the Asylums of the Daleks, it was a good season opener.

I can't help but feel that the introduction of the new companion at this stage and the ensuing discussion might be a good old fashioned bit of smoke and mirrors to divert people's attention from the Alaska, a seeming pleasure ship (I can't imagine what other vessel might end up with a junior entertainment officer?) which has penetrated an impenetrable forcefield. There would seem to be more going on there than meets the eye.

 

[Rowe]

Well, just as I thought my cynicism as to Doctor Who and Moffat had begun to fade away, this post has come to my attention from Tumblr. Here's an excerpt (warning, swears):

So when I watched Asylum of The Daleks, I couldn’t even be bothered. I could not. Even. Be. Bothered. I watched as the pointless, nonsensical plot meandered along, not even able to gather the strength to wonder

-Why the hell there are suddenly [swear word removed] of Daleks,
-Why the Doctor has a new nickname (The Predator) that is also apparently age-old that we’ve never heard of,
-How Skaro has magically appeared again,
-Why Moffat thinks we all have the attention span of five-year-olds (a continuing theme)which means he has to break up an important couple off-screen and then BOOM reunite them in the same episode before it even sinks in and we can actually Give A [swear word removed] (Again, a continuing theme – Moffat, I am not going to Give A [swear word removed] about Mels if you cram her down my throat in a montage, and then shoot her, and then have her be River Song all in the space of ten minutes),
-Why Amy’s only concern with the whole children thing is ‘oooh poor Rory’ and not ‘actually I was trapped by a freaky cult and forced to give birth against my will so yeah, no, won’t be doing that again’ – Seriously, when she said “I can’t have children” I IMMEDIATELY assumed she meant that it would be mentally too traumatic for her.
-Why the hell Moffat thinks he can smugly claim that he represents queers in the show when he keeps pulling [swear word removed] like “I went through a phase” and then has the character say that they only mentioned their girl-on-girl experience because they’re flirting.
-How the [swear word removed] Rory thinks that it is healthy, and not at all passive-aggressive to say “I love you more! We both know it!”. Seriously, that is some [swear word removed] Mr. Nice Guy TM behaviour right there. I previously liked Rory, though he had his flaws (e.g. his constant inability to trust Amy when it came to the Doctor), but that was a disturbing insight into the way his mind works. He clearly ‘keeps score’ of the things they both do for each other, and that is just wrong. 2,000 years, Rory? You weren’t ASKED to wait. You didn’t HAVE to. But now you’re going to hold that over Amy’s head as Proof I Love You More And You Can Never Top That forever? After everything Amy has been through? Jesus.
-Plus there was the weird implication that if Amy did love Rory less, that means she has less love in her for the Daleks to erase. So if she can’t love Mr. Super Perfect Rory, she can’t love anyone? What about her family, her friends? Get over yourself, Rory.
-So many other things. Too many other things

I really don't know about anybody else but upon reading the said post, not initially realising what had been going on, I've begun to feel incredibly angry towards Moffat and the way he's portraying the show, the characters etc. There are just so many unanswered questions like Clara hacking into the system (regardless of her already being a Dalek), the deterioration of Amy and Rory's relationship, where the Daleks actually came from and how Skaro kept existing (Time Lock style??). There are so many more issues, ones I would write in a blog even, out there aside from this episode that I know a lot of you have seen and commented on.

I get that it's suspension of disbelief, you're not meant to take it seriously ALL the time, it's a sci-fi for families at heart with cheesiness galore but... Urgh, when a show set in a very diverse universe actively inspires generations of all ages and issues like these pop up in its peak, I can't help but find the longevity of the series in entertainment alongside education (both in universe and in production) depleting.

This blog post titled 'Dissatisfaction' gives a good idea of how I feel right now.

So, does anybody else feel like a disappointed member of the audience?

 

[Islander]

Doctor Who

I've been feeling like that since the start of Moffat's era . It perplexes me that you've seemingly been fairly pro-Moffat, though, and only now started seeing the flaws. Wonder if many others will 'see the light', as it were...

 

[RyanY]

I do agree with quite a lot of that quote, but not all of it.

But reading made me realize how the quality of Doctor Who has dropped since Matt Smith has arrived, I personally prefer David Tennant to Smith. But I don't think the decline in quality is Matt Smith's fault, but the writers. From the first episode of Smith the writers have tried to force emotions on to the audience and not let the audience feel them for themselves. Also I think since Matt Smith has become Doctor the episodes have become a lot more cheesy and younger child oriented than they were when Chris or David were The Doctor, and I feel the writers are using that as an excuse to have multiple story lines running at the same time as mentioned in the quote.

Anyway thats just my point of view, I did enjoy the season opener but since reading that I realize how flawed it was.

 

[Rowe]

Admittedly I've felt silly for being pro Moffat, especially an awful lot of this criticism has been crawling out of the woodwork, but there's been a twinge of doubt since Doctor Who was revitalised regardless of whether I watched the classic series beforehand or not.

It was when Moffat started off as the new show runner that the doubt started sinking in fully from the way he wrote and drew out what would become series 5. He is first and foremost a fanboy, secondly a storyteller and I think that's where his priorities lie as he isn't doing it for the audience, new or old, it just feels like he's doing it for himself. Letting out the fanfiction dreams into nationwide television.

As for seeing the light, there is quite a big rally of anti-Moffats out there; already that first Tumblr blog has 1k followers.

 

[John]

It will take a lot for me to lose my love for the Moff', primarily as I saw his episodes as beacons of light in the RTD era.

I loved the opening episode of the new series. It's the first time I've seen the Daleks portrayed to be scary in any way. It also found it to be an exciting and emotional episode and it's left me hugely excited for the rest of the series ;D