In the aftermath of the decidedly mixed bag of the Flux storyline, Doctor Who heads into the endgame of the era of showrunner Chris Chibnall and Jodie Whittaker as the Doctor.
With the countdown of a ticking clock on their time with Doctor Who, will the pressure produce more of a mess or possibly wring some diamonds out of lumps of coal?
On New Year's Day, we get the first of 3 specials that will round out the Chibnall/Whittaker era. The special is featuring the Daleks which does bode well as the previous two New Year's Specials featuring the Daleks have been some of Chibnall's stronger episodes.
After the break, let's see if Chibnall and the gang can go three for three.
by Chris Chibnall
The Doctor promises Yaz and Dan a beach vacation on an alien world. But first she's setting up a reset of the TARDIS to fix the damage caused by the Flux.
Being in the TARDIS during a reset is not a good thing so the Doctor starts it and our trio jump out of the TARDIS into...
The basement of a storage unit center in Manchester, England a few minutes before midnight on New Year's Eve.
Which is not a beach on an alien world.
Meanwhile, storage unit customer Nick encounters a Dalek. And is killed.
Meanwhile, storage unit manager Sarah encounters a Dalek. And is killed.
And storage unit visitors Yaz, Dan and the Doctor encounter a Dalek. And are killed!
Well, I guess that's it for Doctor Who then! See y'all in 2023 when Russell T Davies brings the show back....
WAIT!
Nick arrives at the storage unit, a few minutes before midnight on New Year's Eve. Funny! Wasn't he just killed by a weird robot thing?
Sarah's working at the storage unit, a few minutes before midnight on New Year's Eve. Funny! Wasn't she just killed by a weird robot thing?
Yaz, Dan and the Doctor exit the TARDIS, in the basement of the storage unit, a few minutes before midnight on New Year's Eve. Funny! Were they just exterminated by a Dalek?
Nick encounters a Dalek. And is killed.
Sarah encounters a Dalek. And is killed.
Yaz, Dan and the Doctor encounter a Dalek. And are killed!
Well, I guess that's it for Doctor--
HOLD ON!!!
A few minutes before midnight on New Year's Eve, Sarah, Nick, Yaz, Dan and the Doctor are in a storage unit center and...
What the hell? We keep getting killed by a Dalek?!?!?
Sarah, Nick, Yaz, Dan and the Doctor eventually converge and start to suss out what's happening to them. They are caught in a time loop and every time they get killed, the loop gets reset.
Good news: everyone is retaining their memories of the previous loop and can use that knowledge to potentially outsmart the Daleks.
Bad news: The Daleks are also learning from each pass through the time loop and can anticipate whatever Sarah, Nick, Yaz, Dan and the Doctor do.
More bad news: each loop is one minute shorter than before. Whatever Sarah, Nick, Yaz, Dan and the Doctor might learn from each time loop, they have less time in the next loop to do anything with that knowledge.
The bulk of the special is our 5 characters reacting and learning about themselves and each other as they repeatedly keep trying to outsmart and outrun Daleks while repeatedly getting killed by them.
Maybe I should say 6 characters? I would be remiss in not mentioning Jeff. Jeff is the one who does not show up so Sarah has to go to the storage unit to open it up for a customer. Jeff is keeping stuff at in the storage unit that violates every rule that place has on stuff that should not be stored. It's Jeff unauthorized stuff that will help the Doctor and the gang stop the Daleks and escape the time loop.
Oh, spoilers: at the end, the Doctor and the gang stop the Daleks and escape the time loop.
Well, du'h!
Of course they're going to get out. It's how they're going to get out and how they get there is where the fun is.
Of the two guest characters, I had the most fun watching Sarah (Aisling Bea) who is cranky about every thing.
Sarah is cranky about:
- Jeff not showing up for work.
- Nick showing up at the storage unit to put stuff in a few minutes before midnight on New Year's Eve.
- All her friends and acquaintances having fun in these few minutes before midnight on New Year's Eve.
- At her phone beeping at her with all the notifications of updates on how much fun all her friends and acquaintances are having in these few minutes before midnight on New Year's Eve.
- The notification thingy on her phone that she can't shut off.
- Her mother calling at 4 minutes before midnight because she doesn't want to wait to call at midnight because all the lines will be busy. ("It's NOT 1973!")
- Her uncle who ran this damn self storage place and then died leaving her stuck with it.
- The lack of funds available to put in computer access codes for the unit's customers instead of dragging her butt out at a few minutes before midnight on New Year's Eve to let customer's like Nick in.
- Nick again when she finds out WHY he's storing stuff in the storage unit a few minutes before midnight on New Year's Eve. ("Just throw stuff away!")
- The Doctor and her weird friends for however the hell they got there in the first place.
- The Doctor when a Dalek says they are there to kill the Doctor.
- And at the Daleks for killing her over and over and.. ("I am so tired!") over and over.
- "Daleks are not fair!!"
- "Daleks do not have managers!!"
- "Daleks do not store stuff!!"
- "I am not Nick!!"
OK, the last one is a bit meta as Nicholas Briggs is still proving the voice of the Daleks.
So technically, the Dalek is Nick.
AND I have to talk about the big character development, the one that Whovians always suspected was there but until now Chris Chibnall as said fuck all about.
And it took Dan Lewis to call it out.
Yaz loves the Doctor!
No, Yaz does not tell the Doctor this and she only brings it up to Dan because Dan is a keen observer of human behavior.
Dan even tells the Doctor that Yaz likes her but the Doctor keeps her own counsel about that.
But it's own limited way, the "Thasmin" ship is not just in our imaginations but it's out there now.
With only two specials to go, what exactly will be done with this information is anyone's guess.
I could be my usual cynical self and say that considering we're relying on Chris Chibnall to deliver on this, I'm not too hopeful.
But I have to say, the ol' Chibster really surprised me with "Eve of the Daleks", a tightly plotted tale with humor, heart and lots of action. There may be some hope for the kid yet as we head into the final stretch.
Up next sometime this spring, the revival of a Doctor Who monster from the classic series but unseen to date in the modern era, the Sea Devils.
Until next time, remember to be good to one another and never forget that Daleks do not store stuff.
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