This post discusses the big surprise in Asylum of the Daleks, which is the first episode in the new season (7) of Doctor Who.
If you’ve not seen the episode yet and are allergic to spoilers then this post of a Predator hunting Na’vi on Pandora should distract you away from this post, click on the link and flee.
There’s an assumption here – so let’s recap.
Jenna-Louise Coleman will play the next Companion in Doctor Who and we’d previously been told that would start at Christmas. It had previously been reported (and denied) that she would be called Clara Oswin and her first line was going to be; “Rescue me boy and show me the stars”. The same report said she would be a computer genius.
In Asylum of the Daleks Jenna-Louise Coleman plays Oswin Oswald, a computer genius. She also needs to be rescued. She uses a very similar line; just add “chin boy”.
The assumption is that the Oswin in Asylum of the Daleks is the same Oswin that becomes a Companion and rides in the Tardis.
What do you think? Think that’s right?
The rest of this post is just speculation.
It’s Oswin who is responsible for hacking the pathweb and making the Daleks forget about the Doctor. If her transformation is not a fixed point in time does that mean the Doctor can go back to save her?
If the Doctor goes back to save Oswin then does that mean no one is able to reprogram the Daleks and make them forget about the Doctor? Here’s a paradox. If he rescues Oswin, she doesn’t transform, doesn’t upset the Daleks, then Daleks won’t kidnap the Predator and the Doctor will never meet her. At least; he won’t be pre-warned that she needs saving.
Why would the Doctor rescue Oswin in the first place? He might be so upset at the loss of the Ponds that he makes the decision to rescue the souffle girl. If he can’t rescue the Ponds then maybe he’ll make the decision to go back and rescue someone who deserved rescuing.
There’s another important point too – there were seconds between the shield dropping and the prison planet exploding. The Doctor could have popped back in that time for an Oswin rescue. If Oswin was capable of teleporting or even time travel – which Daleks are – she may have rescued herself.
What would post-Asylum of the Daleks and rescued Oswin be like? There’s an outside chance that the teaser pictures we’ve seen of Oswin are of the Doctor and a projection. There’s a terribly small chance that the next Companion is a Dalek. A Dalek that uses a projection system (Rimmer from Red Dwarf? The Doctor from Star Trek?) to explore beyond the TARDIS.
I think a pre-Asylum of the Daleks Oswin is a more likely companion, though, and that means messing with the timeline that we’ve seen.
Messing with the timeline, saving someone who appears to die but actually doesn’t is a very similar plot line to season 6, River Song and the Silence. There’s also an echo to when the 10th Doctor met River Song. The first time he met her she, effectively died, being tied into the machine.
What do you think? Is this speculation way off? Was this the Companion? Will she be saved? Or is this a River Song-esq “first time is the last time” style introduction?
What do you think? Sound off in the comment section below.
