Asylum of the Daleks

I read an interesting comment on Asylum of the Daleks (the latest episode of Doctor Who) over at bureau42. One commenter wondered why the Daleks didn’t just beam nukes down to the planet instead of sending the Doctor in. After all, they were able to send people down so why not weapons? That does seem to be problematic until a deeper examination is made.

First, there must be some way to get the inmates into the asylum. A relatively low speed kinetic delivery system makes sense for this given that the asylum itself is fully automated and occupies the entire volume of the planet (not just the surface). This also explains why passing ships can manage to crash on the planet, too.

Now, consider that the asylum has advanced security measures operating using, presumably, an artificial intelligence. Perhaps it even operates based on the “hive mind” thing the Daleks apparently have. Such a system would be able to trivially differentiate between an incoming space ship, kinetic time lord, or eleventy bajillion magaton nukes and would certainly be able to recognize any weapon the Daleks would be capable of producing.

Consider also that the asylum has been provided with a means to both defend itself and keep its inmates on the surface. Presumably the shield is only one part of the defense. It seems likely the asylum has additional defensive capabilities which would be able to destroy or neutralize any inbound weapons that would be sufficient to destroy the asylum without also destroying the attacker.

Let’s look at it from another angle as well. Planet-busting weapons would be expensive. They require a mind bogglingly huge energy source and possibly a large quantity of rare materials. Such weapons would be dangerous to carry around. Additionally, while such weapons would be very effective, they are, of necessity, very blunt. It is possible for a sufficiently crafty and supplied victim to manage to escape the destruction of the planet. A fully functional Dalek would qualify in this case. So there are two reasons the Daleks might not use planet-busting weapons of mass destruction. One is the cost in resources. The other is the need to make certain everything is destroyed completely.

So what is the best way to destroy the asylum, then? Multiple smaller but carefully targetted weapon deployments ranging from precision projectiles to the classic energy weapons the Daleks are known for. Presumably, the shield is designed to deflect these and the asylum can, no doubt, self-heal from impact damage. After all, it can convert organic matter to its own purpose, why not inorganic?

Okay, so now the Doctor and his merry band have destroyed the shield generator on the forest moon of—wait, wrong movie—switched off the shield. Why does it take so long before the bombardment causes significant trouble down at the teleport station? Well, they are a fair distance underground there. It would have taken a while for the Dalek bombardment to have made a significant dent in the infrastructure above. Remember, this is a Dalek constructed prison that was designed for defense and presumably buried under rock and other dense material, not a concrete and steel monolith on the surface of a planet. It is not unreasonable that it would have taken a few minutes for the Dalek fleet to inflict sufficient damage to cause everything to go critical. (Also consider that we do not know precisely when in their timeline we are seeing the Daleks. They have time travel after all.)

In other words, whatever problems the episode has, the basic premise that the Daleks need help from the Doctor (they are terrified of going down themselves and, really, why risk it if they can send someone else) is not one of them. Neither is the timing of how the climax plays out. In fact, the episode is teeming with minor and major details that will, no doubt, turn out to be very important later, even the ones that are obvious nods to what has gone before like the picture of the Dalek city on Skaro.

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