Doctor Who - ASYLUM

[Andrew Curnow]

And indeed bits of the TV Movie. Indeed, for one minute when Rob said "you've got an appointment with a man all in white" I thought it was going to be like Beauty School Drop Out in Grease!!

Anyway, mad musical meanderings aside, that was an excellent episode - the idea of the Doctor being totally unaware of who he was, worked really well but thankfully wasn't stretched out too long, so that by the end he's at least partly back with us. Quite where he and a teleport-enabled Rob have gone to is something I guess we have to wait a week (a whole week!) to find out, and-- that cliffhanger!

[Si Hunt]

More to say after another listen but the biggest OMG wasn't the cliffhanger, it was the use of Meat Loaf (or at least Jim Steinman) in the music !!

I felt it had been quite a "straight" episode up until that point, so I could afford a dose of camp!

Incidentally, on the subject of the music, Andrew Clancy's score for "Once" has recently gained (quite rightly) a lot of praise in the re-listening thread for that story and, yes, he will be back next year I believe! But for the remainder of this season, partly because it takes a bit of planning to develop a score with Andrew when the season was already underway, and partly because there's a very "fan friendly" feel to the remaining stories, I've leaned back towards recognisable scores.

There was a time when I strove to do anything to avoid people going "Oh, it's THAT bit of music!" but from this point on until the end of the season, it's the other way. There are lots of big recognisable favourite, famous bits of Doctor Who music putting in appearances. Beginning with the cliffhanger to today's episode!

Glad everyone is enjoying the ep so far!

Si.

[SiHart]

Great stuff! Brill cliffahnger- I could see the close up zooming in before the credits crashed in.

Paul's really good in this one too- I like his befuddled state at the start of the episode and the way he gradually comes back to what we know by the end...

Great stuff from Martin too. Garane sounds more slimy than ever!

As for Steve.... well, he's running away with his performance this week!

I'm looking forward to pt 2!

[Rob McCow]

Tee hee!

Good stuff, though I'm surprised that a few little deviations from the script made it into the final version

Pluses:
- Good performances all round, Martin's voice as Garane is excellent.
- Excellent production, the sound effects work really well and help to make the feeling of a rusty old prison cell. Plus there were killdroids and lasers n'stuff, which sounded fab.
- I did like the choice of music, from Murray to Meatloaf (though I didn't recognise Mr Loaf's music personally)
- Nice side from serious/sinister to funny/amusing. Actually, most of the comedy seems to be centered around Rob's character, which is good because it doesn't demean Tor Garane or the seriousness of the situation.
- Lots of mystery! What on Earth is going on? What's Ed doing there? Did they really have only six notable adventures in 'Many years' of travelling?
- Love the way that the old episodes were stitched in! We had a huge cast after all!

Minuses:
- Although everything else that Paul does is spot on, whenever he has to express sympathy with poor people who have died, there seems to be just a hint of sarcasm in his voice. 'Oh those poor people...' It might just be me hearing that though.
- Don't know how the business with the other prisoners and the robots fits into the main plot, maybe that'll become important later.
- Touch of the Space 1999's with too many uses of '...some sort of...' when describing things. But that's a very minor thing.

But aside from those niggles, brilliant stuff and I'm really looking forward to part two!

[Si Hunt]

from Murray to Meatloaf (though I didn't recognise Mr Loaf's music personally)

Well the music in question, although written by 'Loaf serial collaborator Jim Steinman, is more associated with Canadian balladeer and suspected former man Celine Dion. When the Doctor regains his memories we hear the instrumental of "All Coming Back To Me Now".

Si.

[SiHart]

Oh very clever!

[Richard Brinck-Johnsen]

Of the continuity questions raised one is easily dealt as long as you've heard the version of a previous play in which the Doctor asks the character concerned if they've met before (suggesting to me that from the Doctor's POV they'd already met but for them it was the first occasion they'd encountered the Doctor).
There is another bigger question about someone who seems to have been forgotten about but I get the feeling that was a deliberate omission!
We shall have to wait and see of course!

[Si Hunt]

You will indeed!

I get the distinct whiff that what you perceive as continuity mistakes have spoiled your enjoyment of this a little bit. Am I right?

Si.

[Jon Masters]

Well the music in question, although written by 'Loaf serial collaborator Jim Steinman, is more associated with Canadian balladeer and suspected former man Celine Dion. When the Doctor regains his memories we hear the instrumental of "All Coming Back To Me Now".

Si.

I prefer to think of the version on Bat III, or even the original release by Pandora's Box , than that woman's .

I'd never worry about continuity until we've heard the whole story.

[SiHart]

Continuity should never get in the way of a good story!

[Si Hunt]

I'd also bare in mind everyone that this story is something of a "sister story" to the final adventure of the season, to follow very shortly afterwards. And if you think "Asylum" has some interesting developments to PS Audios continuity, that one'll make your head explode!

Si.

[SiHart]

That's very true indeed. But we avoided one major continuity blow out in that one with some quick thinking!

[Si Hunt]

I like to think this is all in keeping with the story. Do you really know what's happening? Or do you only think you know? Or will more information make it more clearer?

That makes it sound like I know what I'm doing anyway.

Si.

[Richard Brinck-Johnsen]

I get the distinct whiff that what you perceive as continuity mistakes have spoiled your enjoyment of this a little bit. Am I right?

Nope, the idea that certain characters have already met and had unheard adventures appeals to me as a potential short story writer.

There's one element that I feel hasn't fully justified its inclusion yet but I've now doubt that will be rectified in Part 2.

Overall I really enjoyed it.

[Si Hunt]

Which element, out of interest?

Si.

[Richard Brinck-Johnsen]

Don't get me wrong I thought the performance was great and I love that it's been included as it's one my favourite characters I just don't think it's fully justified yet.

This is something of a spoiler so please anyone reading this who hasn't listened be warned...



The Black Guardian

[Rob McCow]

I think we should have had a jive talking, 1970's daddy p!mp black guardian. That would have been like, cool man.

[Richard Brinck-Johnsen]

Just finished relistening. I have to say I adore The Rob and the Autons flashback sequence.

[Martin Penny]

Glad everyone is enjoying it so far!

Si has done a tremendous job with the sound production as always, the Asylum feels like a very grim location - and the scene where The Doctor and Ed can hear someone screaming was wonderfully creepy.

Nice to see all this speculation about continuity...all shall be answered by the time this story is over!

Great stuff from Martin too. Garane sounds more slimy than ever!

We said this at the time, I think it was mainly because I had a cold when we were recording!

[Si Hunt]

Either that or because you're brilliant in it.

Si.

[Si Hunt]

Things are about to get a whole lot darker...

Special trailer for "Asylum" Episode 2, coming tomorrow!

Si.

[Si Hunt]

I'm just tinkering with the final mix of Episode 2 ready for next weekend. I hope you all like this one!

In finest Moffat tradition, Episode 2 is a very different animal to Episode 1. This is a three-act story, and while Episode 1 teased and (hopefully) confused, Episode 2 gives you some answers. And then some! There's a lot of new stuff going down in this one, so it's an episode you have to listen to carefully. It will answer a few of the questions people were asking about from Episode 1, but pose a whole lot more. It's also essential listening if you have been following our whole season and plan to listen to the explosive season finale in February. Things happen here which have far reaching consequences... and it's going to change things for the Doctor for good.

The trailer tomorrow will give you a bit of a flavour of where it's going...

Si.

[SiHart]

It's all terribly intriguing Si!

[Jon Masters]

Really enjoyed the second listen to this - nice because it shows off hints of other stories that we're comfortable with, like Time and the Rani, and the Matrix bits of TOATL (and just about forgive the Rose homage, mainly because its so funny ). The idea of layers of fiction and reality is a good one, and gives us plenty to wonder about whether the things we are hearing are genuine or not. And there are still plenty of questions to answer - I'd assumed Rob had been hypnotised or something to start with, but clearly not by the second half. and I wonder whether the reference to meeting 'the man in white' might not be as simple as it first seems.....

[Richard Brinck-Johnsen]

OK, now that the cat about Ed and Tor Garane being in this story is well and truly out of the bag I'll just add that I also thought Martin was excellent in both roles. Having only just relistened to The Paradise Machine this week Garane does sound a lot creepier than he did originally. Although this suggests to me that he's older and more embittered. I did worry for a minute early in the episode that there was going to be a suggestion that Tor and Ed were one and the same person! but thankfully that didn't come to pass and when Ed first appeared I was literally cheering.

I still think Tor Garane is a strong enough character to have been running the show without the need to bring in The Black Guardian as his erstwhile employer but I appreciate we are building towards momentous events which will I'm sure justify this in time.