Friday 14 August 2020

Series 7 Prequels - Asylum of the Daleks


In which the Doctor has a strange visitation. He is enjoying a cream tea in a cafe when he notices a cowled figure seated across the room. Suddenly everything goes quiet, and he finds himself alone with the mysterious figure. The figure informs the Doctor that there is a woman named Darla Von Karlsen who wishes to speak with him. The Doctor dismisses the request and stands up, suddenly finding himself in a darkened room. He realises that the message is a psychic one, and so wills himself back to reality, where he is sitting on a deckchair on a beach.


However, this is not real either, as the monk-like figure reappears before him. The figure gives him a set of space-time co-ordinates, and says that Von Karlsen needs his help in saving her daughter. He is asked if he recognises the co-ordinates, but refuses to give an answer. He knows them, and is horrified at the thought of going there.
He wakes up in the TARDIS, and says aloud to himself the name of the planet to which the co-ordinates correspond: Skaro...


This prequel was written by Steven Moffat, and was initially only available to subscribers of the US i-tunes store, or for customers of Amazon Instant Video who were resident in the States. It was released on 30th August 2012, two days before Series 7 began broadcasting.
It quickly turned up on YouTube and on fan sites, so UK fans got to see it gratis prior to Asylum of the Daleks.
Almost all of the prequels of the Matt Smith era are fairly disposable, and it matters not if you have caught one prior to the episode's broadcast, but this one does explain why the Doctor is on Skaro at the start of Asylum.
The monk-like figure, whose face we never see, is played by regular Dalek operator Barnaby Edwards. The costume is clearly a reuse of a Headless Monk robe.
Fans who like to visit filming locations, and who love cream teas, should visit 'The Plan' artisan cafe in Cardiff's Morgan Arcade. Four stars on TripAdvisor.

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