Far Isolator

A doctor is a traveler in space and time. It looks like a man, but belongs to the race of the Time Lords from the planet Gallifrey . Representatives of his race have the ability to regenerate (reborn) as they get into fatal situations, as a result of which their appearance and partially their character completely change. The Doctor is the last Time Lord. Deprived of his home, he saves other worlds, including humanity ^[8] .

As a way of transportation, the Doctor uses TARDIS ( TARDIS - T ime A nd R elative D imension (s) I n S pace) - a living time machine (and at the same time a spaceship ) that looks like an English blue police booth of the 1960s, but containing much more than it seems (“it is more inside than outside”) ^[9] . As an improvised tool for performing small operations with objects (locking and unlocking locks, fixing devices, scanning something, etc.), the Doctor uses a sound screwdriver . In addition, he has a non-human intellect ^[8] .

The Daleks are the main enemies of the Doctor, and according to himself, "the most powerful race in the Universe after the Time Lords . " Hailing from the planet Scaro, almost all the distant are now destroyed or trapped in a temporary trap along with the Time War on Gallifrey, but some managed to escape and make several attempts to revive the race. They are distinguished by the absence of emotions and their only goal - “to destroy everything that is not far away” ^{[10] [11]} .

Starting with the fifth season of the television series (2010), the Doctor, or rather, his eleventh incarnation, travels with his new companion named Amelia Pond , who appeared in the opening episode of the fifth season of the “ Eleventh Hour ” ^[12] . Also traveling with them (in the fifth season from time to time, starting from the sixth - constantly) is Amy's groom (and later husband), Rory Williams , who became one of the few male companions ^[13] .

Prequel

On September 1, 2012, a prequel appeared on iTunes for “Isolator of Daleks,” the next day the prequel became available on Amazon Video and Zune ^{[14] [15] [16]} . In the story, the messenger informs the Doctor that he is wanted by a woman named Darla von Carlsen, who needs help finding her daughter. After the messenger gives the spatio-temporal coordinates of the planet Skaro, the home world of the far.

In addition, even before the prequel, five mini-episodes under the general title “The Life of the Ponds ” gradually appeared, the events of which also precede the events of the “Isolator of the Far” ^{[17] [18]} . The fifth part shows how Rory leaves Amy in a rage, which indirectly hints at their divorce ^{[19] [20]} .

Synopsis

Some time after the Doctor went to the bottom after the events of the “ River River Wedding, ” he was tricked into Scaro , the home planet of the Daleks, a girl who turned out to be far in the guise of a man. He, as well as Amy and Rory, who, due to problems in their relationship, decided to divorce, are delivered to the Parliament far. The Prime Minister of Daleks explains to the Doctor that there is a planet called the Isolator, where their race keeps their most dangerous and crazy relatives, refusing to kill them only because of their ability to hate, which the distant deify. During the conversation, the composition from the opera Carmen is turned on in the hall, as a girl named Oswin Oswald hacked the ship's systems. It has been down below on the planet since her ship, Alaska, crashed there a year ago. Because of this, a gap formed in the force field surrounding the planet, which is fraught with the escape of the far distant there. Now the Parliament wants to destroy the planet and asks the Doctor and his companions to descend on it and turn off the field, preventing them from launching an attack from the outside. To protect them from transforming into human copies of the Daleks due to the nano-field, which is a kind of planetary security system, they give the Doctor, Amy and Rory special bracelets and send them to the destination with the help of a teleportator beam.

Waking up on the surface, the Doctor and Amy meet Harvey, another survivor of the Alaska ship, which in reality turns out to be a copy of the distant. He and his dead partners, also transformed by a nano-field, attack the Time Lord and his companion, pulling off the protective bracelet from the last. Meanwhile, Rory wakes up inside the Isolator, where he landed through a hole in the ground, and almost dies under the shots of awakened distant ones, but escapes with the help of Oswin, who has access to computers and guides him through the tunnels via voice communication. In the same way, the girl helps the Doctor and Amy get to Rory. Due to the lack of a bracelet, Amy becomes vulnerable to the nano-field and begins to undergo a transformation. She gradually loses her memory and she has hallucinations.

The doctor understands that as soon as he turns off the field, far away they will destroy the planet along with everyone on it. However, they discover that the room that Osvin brought them to is a teleport that allows them to teleport to a ship far away as soon as the field is turned off. Oswald agrees to help them in return for his salvation. The doctor leaves to look for the Alaska ship, and Rory persuades Amy to put on his nano-bracelet to slow down the transformation. They discuss divorce: Rory admits that she still loves her, and Amy tells the true reasons for the breakup - due to the events of the series “The Good Man Goes to War ” and what happened in the Demon Refuge, Amy can no longer have the children that Rory so wanted. Having clarified the relationship, they notice that the Doctor quietly put his bracelet on Amy's hand.

The doctor makes his way to Oswin through a group of especially insane distant ones - all those whom he met in the entire history of the struggle with representatives of this race - and they attack him. However, Oswin reprograms their general telepathic knowledge and removes the memories of the Doctor. As a result, the Time Lord safely gets to the room from where he should pick up his assistant, but with horror discovers that she was completely transformed into a distant place. Without protection from nanogens, for a year she could not resist them, and the far away decided to use her ingenious intellect, introducing into her mind the illusion of survival. The doctor tells the girl the truth, and she, still preserving the remains of human thinking, helps him escape with Amy and Rory.

The doctor teleports back to the TARDIS, and the planet is destroyed. Going out to say goodbye, he realizes that not only the prisoners of the Isolator, but also all the distant forgotten who he is, and now they in chorus ask him the same question: “Who is the doctor?” The doctor takes Amy and Rory home and, returning to the TARDIS, enthusiastically repeats the question asked by the distant.

Link to other series

• Oswin at the end says to the Doctor "Run, wise guy, and remember." This phrase also sounds in the Christmas series “ Snowmen ” (Klara tells her to the Doctor before her death). In the series “ Bells of St. John ”, Clara has problems with the Internet and calls technical support, but instead calls the Doctor on the TARDIS. The Time Lord explains to her what to do and asks to enter the necessary password for the connection (the password in the English version looked like rycbar123). To remember him, the girl coined the phrase "Run you, clever boy and remember", which translates as "Run, wise guy, and remember."
• The craziest faraway ones are, in fact, the very ones that the Doctor met on the planets Spiridon (“ Planet of the Daleks ”), Kembel (“ Master Plan of the Daleks ”), Exxilon (“ Death to the Far ”), Aridius (“The Chase ”) and Volcano (" Energy of the Far Away ") ^{[20] [21]} . Apart from them, the series also has a cameo far with special weapons from the series “Commemoration of the Daleks”.
• In her speech, Darla mentions the fact that the Time Lord faked his death (the events of the episodes of The Impossible Astronaut and Wedding River Song ).
• The concept of the existence of nanogens and nano-fields was the main theme in the two-part story about the adventures of the Ninth Doctor “The Empty Child ” / “ Doctor Dancing ”, also written by Stephen Moffat ^[22] .
• Also, in one of the scenes in the Dalek Parliament, the Doctor mentions that one of his nicknames is “The Coming Storm” - the last time this nickname sounded in the episode “The Ways Separate ” ^[23] .
• The question that the distant chorus asks at the end of the episode (“Doctor who?”) Is not only a reference to the name of the show, but is also considered, according to Dorium from The River Song Weddings, “the oldest question in the Universe, the answer to which should never be found ” ^{[20] [24]} .

In 2011, the executive producer of the series, Stephen Moffat, announced that he intended to “give a break” to the distant ^[25] . The official reason for this was the fact that the too frequent appearance of these aliens in the revived series made them “the enemies of the Doctor with the greatest chance of failure” ^[25] . Moffat admitted that they were previously remembered and feared, but, having turned into symbols of Great Britain, they became “pleasant” and, as a rule, they forget about their threat ^[26] ; in this regard, Moffat wrote the script for “The Isolator of the Far Away,” in which the former glory of the main enemies of the Doctor was to be revived ^{[26] [27]} . In his opinion, the best way to make this alien view scary and menacing again is to show its representatives even crazier than the audience is used to seeing them ^[26] . The seventh-season executive producer Caroline Skinner said that “if you think you know everything about the distant, think again” ^[28] , and actress Karen Gillan admitted that she was far from scared before filming this episode ^[29] . The series is also the first distant story to be authored by Moffat - the screenwriter “just couldn't resist” the temptation ^[30] .

In March 2012, it was announced that actress Jenna-Louise Coleman will replace Karen Gillan and Arthur Darville in the role of satellite, which will initially be presented in the Christmas special issue “Snowmen” ^[31] . However, Stephen Moffat went further: he decided to introduce a new character into the scenario of “Isolator of the Far”, which should be played by Coleman ^[32] ; Initially, this was not included in the plans of the creators, and the actress herself was convinced that the additional audition was underway for the creators to determine which character was more suitable for her ^{[33] [34]} . Prior to the release of Isolator of the Daleks, Moffat chose to keep the appearance of the new companion a secret and subsequently thanked the press and fans for their patient wait ^[35] . Scenes featuring Coleman were shot indoors against a green screen ; the shooting of these scenes lasted six days ^[33] . The creators did not disclose information about whether the character Oswin Oswald was in any way connected with the new Doctor’s satellite ^{[22] [36] [37]} , but with the release of “Snowmen” it became clear that there was still a connection ^{[38] [39 ]} . Coleman played each version of her character “with the hope that the ball would sooner or later be unraveled” ^[40] .

The director’s chair on the set of the episode was taken by , who had previously worked on the series “The Girl Who Was Waiting ,” “ The Complex of God, ” and will also return to the show as the director of the fifth episode ^[20] . The episode contains a large number of different models of Daleks , which the Doctor met in the entire history of the show, including the Dalek with special weapons from the episode " Remembrance of the Daleks ", released in 1988 ^{[7] [41]} . According to an article in The Daily Telegraph , the production team located copies of each model far away and, putting it together, sent them to Cardiff . Among these copies was far away, owned by Russell T. Davis , who transferred in 2010 the post of chief screenwriter and executive producer Stephen Moffat ^[42] . Caroline Skinner personally knew Davis and asked the former showrunner to provide her copy of the distant for upcoming shoots. According to her, Davis was “thrilled” because his version of the distant would become part of the canon ^[43] . The total number of all models that appeared from 1963 to 2010 reached 25; Skinner commented on the situation: “there was something magical and meaningful in that they exist” ^[44] . Moffat was initially worried about how all this would look together, but what he saw only pleased him; According to him, the whole variety of far-off models made them look like a full-fledged alien view, rather than a regular set of identical robots ^[20] . A lot of things were restored from scratch ^[45] . Scenes on the snowy surface of the Isolator were filmed in Spain , where at that time the filming of the episode " City called Mercy " was taking place ^[20] . In addition, the creators included an excerpt from the aria “Habanera” , known by the opera “ Carmen ” by Georges Bizet, among the musical compositions for “Isolator of the Far Away” ^[46] . The logo of the series in the opening credits, in accordance with the “blockbuster themes” of the series of the first half of the seventh season ^[47] , was stylized as a distant texture ^[21] .

Initially, the start of the season was planned for the end of 2011 ^[48] , but then it was decided to postpone the premiere for the summer-fall of 2012 ^[49] . A preliminary show of the series took place on August 14, 2012 at , where a meeting was also held with the main actors and producers of the series ^[6] . On August 24-25, 2012, the series was shown at the Edinburgh International Television Festival MediaGuardian ^[50] , and subsequently were shown in New York ^[51] and Toronto ^[52] . After the premiere at the end of August 2012 ^[53] , the television premiere took place on September 1, 2015 on the channels BBC One ^[3] , ^[54] and ^[55] . The next day, access was opened for viewing on the streaming service ^[56] . On September 8, 2012, the episode premiered on the Australian channel ^[57] , and on September 13, 2012 on the in New Zealand ^{[58] [59]} .

According to the evening ratings, a total of 6.4 million Britons watched the episode, which the creators considered rather low for the premiere series of the season of the revived series; however, information was soon received that most viewers of Doctor Who usually did not watch the series live, as a result of which it was decided to revise the indicators ^[60] . After calculating the overall rating of views of “Isolator of Daleks,” the number of people watching only in the UK grew to 8.33 million people and the series became the third most popular BBC One premiere among all the shows of the week ^[61] . It also became known that the number of online views on the website reached 2.2 million ^[62] , making Isolate Daleks the most watched premiere of both the day and the month ^[60] . was 89 out of 100, which is the highest among the Premier Seasons of Doctor Who ^[63] .

Ratings in other countries were no less high. The premiere in the US watched 1,555 million Americans - the highest figure in the history of BBC America. In the age group from 18 to 49, the episode rating was 0.6 ^[64] . Also, the episode broke all records for views on the ABC iview service (75,000 views) and became the second most popular on the Canadian Space channel (having collected 620,000 viewers from the TV screen) ^[65] and the New Zealand Prime TV channel (171,690 viewers) ^[66] .

Criticism and reviews

The “Isolator of the Far Away” was received positively by critics. Dan Martin of The Guardian praised Moffat's "original script, filled with first-class feints and juicy dialogues," as well as directing Nick Harran. The critic also noted that “more happened in the premiere episode than in other two-part stories, both in terms of the number of events and in terms of their depth.” They also positively accepted that much of the Isolator sends the viewer to the classic series ^[22] . Gavin Fuller, a reviewer for The Daily Telegraph , rated the series four out of five possible stars, describing it as a “sure start” and particularly touching on the fact that the Insulator existed and its design. Particular praise from him was awarded to the acting Coleman, which he called the "star of the episode" ^[67] . His colleague, Max Hogan, also praised the actress’s play, as well as many of the features of the original script, giving “Isolator of the Far” a higher rating of four and a half stars ^[68] .

Niela Debnat from The Independent praised the distant and “more adult tone of the narrative”, and praised the acting, Smith, Gillan and Darville ^[36] . Patrick Malkern, who writes for Radio Times , noted that the episode “gathered all the fans of Doctor Who over the last 40 years” and described the series as a “smart, fast-moving, funny, creepy, amazing, and tearful story” ^[69] . Nick Sechfield, a critic from SFX magazine, gave Isolator Daleks the highest possible rating (five stars), calling the episode “a strong, cinematic-inclusive start to the season,” which succeeded in making Daleks scary again. Coleman’s debut, Smith’s acting, quality of special effects and emotional overtones in the relationship between Amy and Rory were also praised ^[21] . The reviewer, Charlie Jane Anders , called the series “a common reason to study the Doctor’s long-term relationship with the distant and show their failure” ^[70] . Both Anders and Malkern noted that Osvin’s admiration for the eggs needed to make soufflés can in fact be a mental block for the “instinct of annihilation” (critics cited the word play - English exterminate (“destroy”) and English eggs-terminate (“ run out of eggs ")); this pun is found everywhere in the form of subtle hints, including in the scene where Rory runs into a malfunctioning far, repeating "uni ..." ( Eng. "ex ..." ), which for Rory sounds like "eggs" ( Eng. eggs ) ^{[69] [70]} .

Digital Spy's Morgan Jeffrey also rated Isolator Daleks the highest rating, although he had doubts about Amy and Rory’s divorce “you can buy,” because in his opinion everything happened too quickly, even considering that the situation was “dictated emotions ”and“ skillfully presented ” ^[71] . Keith Phipps, a reviewer for The AV Club , rated B + for the episode, also admitting that he had every reason to “pick on” Pond’s family problems, as divorce did not bode well, but at the same time, the critic believes the series “gives a great start to the season and leaves a feeling that something could happen ” ^[72] . Matt Riesley, who wrote for IGN , set the episode 8.5 out of 10, noting “the only flaw”: in his opinion, the “Isolator of the Daleks” “spoke less about the distant than about the adventures in which they simply met” ^[73] . Marine Ryan from The Huffington Post , called the episode "the devastating start of the season" that justified the Daleks from the Daleks Victory episode. Despite the fact that she praised the emotional scene in which Amy and Rory discuss their divorce, she felt that they did not look like a couple ready to scatter due to infertility ^[24] .

In 2013, the episode was nominated for the Hugo Award for Best Performance (Small Form) along with the episode Angels Capture Manhattan and the special issue Snowmen ^[74] .

• Graeme Burk, Robert Smith. Who's 50: The 50 Doctor Who Stories to Watch Before You Die — An Unofficial Companion . - Toronto: ECW Press, 2013 .-- P. 379-383. - 420 p. - ISBN 978-1-77090-475-0 .
• Graeme Burk, Robert Smith. Who Is the Doctor: The Unofficial Guide to Doctor Who-The New Series . - Toronto: ECW Press, 2012 .-- 421 p. - ISBN 978-1-55022-984-4 .
• Gillian I. Leitch, Sherry Ginn. Who Travels With the Doctor ?: Essays on the Companions of Doctor Who . - Jefferson, North Carolina: McFarland, 2016 .-- 180 p. - ISBN 978-0-78649-525-2 .

• Asylum of the Daleks (TV story) on the Tardis Data Core, external wiki
• Asylum of the Daleks on the official website of Doctor Who
• Distant Isolator at the Internet Movie Database