Okay, Whovians, if you have not seen the New Year’s Day Special of Doctor Who yet, please bookmark this review, and come back. This review will contain spoilers, massive ones. So to be nice, I’m giving you a warning.
Alright? We good?
Good.
So when the news came out that there would be no Doctor Who Christmas Special in 2018, I was not happy. The Christmas specials are some of my favorite episodes in the Whovian calendar. Excluding Capaldi’s wonky Superman-esque special, these episodes tend to be terrific fun, emotional, sometimes devastating and carry a strong message. Hell, we first met Jodie Whittaker in a Christmas special!
So, the fact that Whittaker was not getting her own special did not sit right with me. She’s done such a terrific job as The Doctor, and quite frankly she deserved her own Christmas episode. This Doctor placed inside a hallowed Who episode would’ve been perfect. Luckily, the anger was somewhat dissipated by the fact that there would be a New Year’s Day Special instead.
At first glance it seemed that the episode, ‘Resolution,’ would be another fun, yet emotionally charged episode of Whittaker’s Doctor and friends. We had a mysterious alien presence that had taken over the body of a young archaeologist, and the emergence of Ryan’s estranged dad. And had that been the episode, it would’ve been a really nice special, that sadly would’ve been the only Who episode for 2019.
But then Chris Chinball and his team hit us right in the mouth with a twist we should’ve seen coming — that’s no alien — that’s a Dalek.
Now that there was a small hint that the Daleks could be involved the episode. If you listen to the episode trailer for the episode you could hear that familiar Dalek drone for a brief moment.
However, the introduction of The Doctor’s most famous foe to the Whittaker era was at the same time a shock, a moment of joy, and a frustration. Let’s break all this down.
The shocking part of this reveal is because we really hadn’t touched upon The Daleks in the Whittaker cannon. In fact, outside of “Tim Shaw” there was no recurring villain — just the monster of the week really.
And for those not paying attention (like me) we took this squid-like being to be just another monster of the week. So, when the reveal came, it was drop your drink on the floor and throw your arms up in surprise.
The reveal was a moment of a joy because who doesn’t want to see Jodie Whittaker’s Doctor tangle with a Dalek? The Daleks have always brought out a different side of The Doctor. It’s a tougher, sometimes vicious, and unrelenting Doctor. Whittaker’s Doctor has shown her mettle, but has never stepped toe-to-toe with the ultimate Who villain. Of course she knocked it out of the park. The inclusion of The Daleks here leads me to believe Cybermen and other renowned Who baddies will be stopping by next season.
The frustration here is selfish. We finally got to see Whittaker’s Doctor step by against The Daleks, and now we have to wait a whole year plus to see things work out? We finally saw Ryan beat his dyspraxia and now we’ve got to wait a whole year?
That’s frustrating.
However, if Chinball and company proved anything with this episode it’s this — good things are lying in wait for fans of Doctor Who.
Rating: 8 out of 10
