Asylum of the Daleks (TV story)

 was the first episode of the seventh series of Doctor Who produced by BBC Wales. It was the first television story to prominently feature the Daleks since 2010's Victory of the Daleks, following their deliberate side-lining.

Synopsis
Kidnapped by his oldest enemies, more powerful than ever, The Doctor is forced on a mission - to a place even the Daleks are scared of... the Asylum. A planetary prison confining the most terrifying and insane of their kind - The Doctor and ex-companions Amy and Rory must find a way to escape. But with Amy and Rory's marriage in meltdown, it is up to the Doctor to save his oldest enemies... and his friends' marriage.

Plot
On the devastated planet of Skaro, a mysterious female talks of a man who would be capable of stopping the Daleks, but he has supposedly died. She has recently contacted him, but no word has returned.

A silhouette of a man is seen approaching her and is recognised as the Doctor. He is surprised that she was able to make contact with him. She announces herself to be Darla and that she's looking for her daughter, Hannah, who was callously taken from her and kept hostage. Darla explains that she was able to escape the Daleks grasp, which the Doctor is unable to understand. He soon realises that she is not who she appears to be. A Dalek Eyestalk appears from her forehead and she extends her hand towards him, which appears to be a Dalek gun. She shoots the Doctor who is sent flying back and hits the ground.

On Earth, Amy Pond is interrupted during her modelling shoot by a man. He claims that her 'husband' is waiting for her. Amy angrily complies to seeing him and finds him sitting in one of the make-up seats. He requests that she sign divorce papers. Reluctantly, she does so and Rory leaves without another word. Amy's make-up artist arrives, but turns stiff as a Dalek Eyestalk protrudes from her forehead and supposedly kidnaps Amy.

Rory embarks a bus outside. The bus driver looks at Rory from his mirror and an Eyestalk appears from his forehead and takes Rory too.

Rory wakes up in a circular room with Amy and when looking out of a thin window, finds Dalek saucers. He believes that they are in trouble. The Doctor enters the room escorted by a golden Dalek, and the platform they are standing on begins to rise. When it finally stops, they find themselves in the centre of a huge auditorium of some kind, with a large number of Daleks watching them. The Doctor announces that they are present within the Parliament of the Daleks.

Inside a spaceship cock-pit, a female human is playing music in order to ignore the sound of the Daleks trying to enter.

The stunned Doctor, Amy and Rory await the Daleks' battle chant, but are greeted with a puny 'Save Us', which is then repeated by every Dalek in the giant space. The Dalek Prime Minister requests the Doctor's presence to consult something. The Doctor is told by Darla to step forward. The Dalek Prime Minister explains the Daleks' predicament. They wish to destroy the Dalek Asylum, which the Doctor recognises as being the dumping ground for trouble-making Daleks who have malfunctioned or become insane. The Prime Minister is hopeful that the Doctor will turn off the Force field, which is surrounding the planet in order for them to complete their task.

Suddenly, music starts to blare through the Parliament and the Daleks become scared by it. The Doctor acknowledges a woman's voice and finds that she is stranded on the planet. Her name is Oswin. The Doctor tries to explain that he would be going down to the planet.

The Doctor feels forced to oblige as Darla places a wrist-band around his wrist, which is supposedly protection from the Hive Mind of the Daleks. When Amy and Rory are equipped with one, they realise that they are to join the Doctor to complete the mission. They are pushed into a Gravity beam and sent rushing down to the planet's surface.

A stranded human on the  Alaska watches from his position as the gravity beams land nearby. He finds Amy in the snow, who is slightly dazed. Finally waking up, she begins to search for the Doctor.

Cast

 * The Doctor - Matt Smith
 * Amy Pond - Karen Gillan
 * Rory Williams - Arthur Darvill
 * Oswin - Jenna-Louise Coleman
 * Darla - Anamaria Marinca
 * Cassandra - Naomi Ryan
 * Harvey - David Gyasi
 * Voice of the Daleks - Nicholas Briggs
 * Dalek 1 - Barnaby Edwards
 * Dalek 2 - Nicholas Pegg

Individuals

 * Amy can no longer have children due to what happened on Demons Run.

Cultural references

 * The music played by Oswin Oswald is from the Opera Carmen.

Ratings
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Filming locations
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Production errors

 * 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.

Continuity

 * The Asylum looks similar to the city in DW: The Daleks
 * The Doctor's death is public knowledge across the Universe. (DW: The Wedding of River Song)
 * Rory mentions waiting outside a box for two thousand years. (DW: The Big Bang)
 * Amy mentions Demons Run. (DW: A Good Man Goes to War)
 * The Daleks in the intensive care section of the Asylum are survivors of encounters with the Doctor on planets such as Spiridon, (DW: Planet of the Daleks) Kembel, (DW: The Daleks' Master Plan) Aridius, (DW: The Chase) Vulcan, (DW: The Power of the Daleks) and Exxilon. (DW: Death to the Daleks)
 * The Doctor is seen on Skaro. The planet was last seen on-screen in Doctor Who (1996) (despite its destruction in DW: Remembrance of the Daleks). It has also appeared more recently in the Adventure Game City of the Daleks.

DVD releases
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Blu-ray releases
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