Amy glues herself to the sofa and experiences the most hotly anticipated SF on UK TV today…
Well, what a start to Series 7 with shocks and surprises at every corner, it was a tremendous opener, filled with sharp writing and performances in an episode that had it all: explosions, excitement and an extraordinary amount of soufflés and despite a twist that saw the Doctor being kidnapped along with Amy and Rory and forced into helping his sworn enemies, it’s classic Doctor Who as we see our heroes run about on a spaceship, blow up some Daleks, overcome mortal peril, and teleport back in time for tea.
“Don’t be fair to the Daleks when they’re firing me at a planet!”
The kidnapped time travellers are begged by the Daleks to beam down onto a planet so fearsome they won’t set foot on it: an asylum for lunatic Daleks who can no longer be controlled, and due to an impenetrable force field that can only turned off while on the planet, they can’t destroy it so the Doctor faces an impossible mission because as soon as the force field is turned off the Daleks will blow the planet up but of course with a little help the Doctors ingenuity saves the day and as the planet is blasted into dust, cries of “Doctor Who?” ring out because in an unexpected twist every memory of the Doctor is wiped from Dalek history.
The biggest surprise was most definitely Jenna-Louise Coleman’s appearance in this first episode, four months before her expected debut; we see her 
playing the part of Oswin Oswald, dazzlingly funny, charming and offbeat, with a striking familiarity to the Doctor. When watching Oswin in her apparently cosy spaceship communicating with the Doctor outside in the snow, we naturally assume that both world’s we see are real and form part of the same universe and as all of Oswin’s actions come through the planet’s technology, we never question that she isn’t real, however the Doctor realises straight away that something is wrong, constantly questioning her about the milk for her soufflés and the reveal that Oswin was killed long ago and has been transformed into a Dalek, and that her cosy home-cooking lifestyle on board the spaceship is a fabrication is a total shock!
“You dreamed it for yourself because the truth was too terrible.”
How Oswin can be saved remains to be seen, and how does she become Clara? But as we await these answers I am looking forward to seeing her character evolve as this was a stunning first appearance.
Viewers of the series 7 webisodes prequel ‘Pond Life’ won’t have been surprised to see Amy and Rory in the middle of a divorce at the beginning of this episode, torn apart the fact Amy can’t have children due to the incident in Demon’s Run, where the Silence trapped Amy until she gave birth to River Song. The Doctor desperately wants to help fix the problem but while he is otherwise occupied they fight it out, and in an emotional and heartfelt scene we see them make up leaving the Doctor to push the escape button.
But things are due to keep getting better as this Saturday we see Doctor try to save a spaceship filled with dinosaurs from imminent destruction, so don’t forget to tune in and enjoy!