Doctor Who: Asylum of the Daleks

Todorov’s theory of narrative equilibrium

Equilibrium – Going about their daily lives. Amy is doing her job where she is a model which is stereotypically female job.

Disruption – Daleks kidnap the Doctor, Amy and Rory. Daleks send them on a mission, that they are too afraid to attempt, to the Asylum to disable the shield that surrounds the planet so the daleks can destroy the planet.

Recognition of the disruption –  “How much trouble are we in?” “On a scale of 1 to 10, 11.” This is said when the doctor first realises they are on a dalek ship

Attempts to repair the disruption – When they are sent down to the planet Rory gets separated. The Doctor tries to find him. This subverts the stereotype that the heroic men rescue the princess but here a male character needs to be saved. He goes to save Oswin (aka Souffle girl) and disable the shield and teleport off the planet to save the day. He saves Amy by giving her his device that prevents him from becoming dalek (Dalekifying Prevention Device or DPD for short) because she has lost hers. 

A new state of Equilibrium – Safe from the daleks, Rory and Amy get back together. The doctor goes off and does what he loves, travelling through time and space.

Field’s 3 Act Structure

First Act – Woman on the daleks side kidnaps the Doctor and takes him to the Daleks. The Daleks tell the Doctor that he has to save them by deactivating the shield down from the planet so they can blow it up.

Second Act – Doctor tries to avoid danger, destroys a room full of Daleks. Goes to save Oswin while giving Amy his DPD to save her.

Third Act – Discovers Oswin is a Dalek so he can’t save her. He then gets rid of the shield and teleports back to the Dalek ship before the planet is blown up. Amy and Rory get back together and it's a happy ending 

Levi Strauss’ Binary Opposition Theory

The Doctor is the hero, the Daleks are the villains. Amy, Rory and the Doctor are the protagonists whilst the Daleks are the evil antagonists. Oswin thinks she is on the Doctors side, but it turns out that she has been turned into a Dalek and is imagining she is still human. She is technically good because she helps them the whole time, but at the end when she realises what she is she does try to kill the Doctor.

Good does triumph over evil in the end and the humans defeat the machines.

Propp’s Character Types Theory

Hero – The Doctor, adhering to the male stereotype 

Villain – The Daleks

Donor – The Daleks give the Doctor, Amy and Rory the DPD's.

Dispatcher – The Daleks give the Doctor his mission to take down the shields so they can destroy the planet and all the rogue Daleks.

False Hero – Oswin because she thinks she is helping them and she will be saved but it turns out she is a Dalek and she didn’t realise (she has been Dalekified without her knowledge). She is also the helper.

Princess – Amy is the princess because she is being turned into a dalek and so is Oswin. They are both not typical princesses because Oswin guides and helps the Doctor whereas usually the princess is helpless. Amy helps save Rory at the start but soon has to be saved herself

The characters don't easily fit Propp's theory because they fit into more than one category. For example

Representation of the Characters

Amy – Stereotypical girls job (model). Shows her as a child as a ballerina which is also stereotypical of little girls. In one scene she is being carried by the doctor showing she is being saved. In this episode she is the princess 

Rory – He has to be saved which subverts the stereotype of males being the heroes. Seen as the less dominant male compared to the Doctor because he doesn't make the plans.

The Doctor – He is shown as very clever, makes all the plans to lead the way and hints that he might know that Oswin is in fact a dalek. He saves everyone which connotes that he is the alpha male. In one particular scene it shows the doctor carrying Amy which clearly shows him being the hero adhering to the stereotype that all males are strong and save the princess. His sonic screwdriver could be seen as phallic symbolism.

Oswin – Wearing red throughout the episode and the connotations of this are that danger is close by. She’s not the typical “princess” because although she is being saved by the Doctor, she is not helpless as she is helping the Doctor and at one point saves him by controlling the daleks by hacking into their network but at one point she makes souffles which agrees with the female stereotype.