Written by Brian McNamara
Jodie Whittaker returns for her second New Year’s Day outing and her second time facing down the eye stalks of the Daleks. ‘Revolution of the Daleks’ is a direct sequel to the 2019 holiday special, “Resolution” and picks up right where that episode leaves off with the lone Dalek’s shell being surreptitiously shipped off into the hands of Jack Robertson (Chris Noth, reprising his role from 2018’s “Arachnids in the UK”). Robertson meets with Jo Patterson (Harriet Walter, Sense and Sensibility), a rising star in Parliament about using the Dalek travel case as a new wave of automated defense systems across the UK. A short time later, he demonstrates these new black-cased Dalkes who have water cannons and noise emitters to quell a clash between protestors and police. As production ramps up, these new Daleks take their place across Britain but, of course, you can’t just replicate the Daleks without consequences.
The Doctor has been imprisoned in the Judoon jail we saw her transported to at the end of “The Timeless Children” for some 20 years. Forlorn and still reeling from the revelations about her past not being what she thought, the Doctor seems to be accepting her fate as a sort of penance, a time to reflect. One day Captain Jack Harkness (John Barrowman, Arrow) is able to finally get next to her in the “prison yard” and affects an escape for them both. They return to Earth, and the Doctor’s Fam, for whom 10 months have passed since they last saw the Doctor. As all the threads come together, a new breed of human-based Daleks launch their plan to take over the earth.
Throughout ‘Revolution of the Daleks,’ I was struck by how much the episode felt like a throwback to the days of Russel T. Davies. The plot is overstuffed but moves at a quick clip, there are a number of small cameos and some big ideas. It feels somewhat different from how the show looks and feels since Chris Chibnall took over three years ago. The plot itself is relatively simplistic, but offers some fun moments and highlights some of the cast while still serving up a fun adventure for the holiday. The episode feels light, airy and more of a romp, compared to the more serious turn much of the plots have taken. The change is immediately evident, and not just because Captain Jack is visiting. It feels like an effort to scale back. However, some may note that the plot is paper thin, not too dissimilar from previous Dalek stories and that the Doctor largely sits most of the story out. It’s almost like being on a Doctor Who ride at an amusement park, the Doctor pops in “from the TARDIS” while the events play out.
Jodie Whittaker plays a Doctor that is much different from where she had been. Certainly her joy and wonder still shine through, but she is visibly conflicted throughout much of the episode and feels changed from last season’s revelations. The episode also gives her a few meaty character scenes which really resonated. She also plays off Captain Jack wonderfully. Captain Jack himself is a welcome change to the show. He immediately injects a different feeling into the show and hasn’t lost a step at all since his last time playing the immortal time agent 11 years ago. All the expected winks and nods are there, but he’s also matching the tone of this new era. He has a great scene with Yaz (Mandip Gill, Hollyoaks) as they travel to Osaka that really stood out, in which they talk about their not-so-hidden feelings about the Doctor and what it’s like to be left behind. A perfect return and one that felt organic. Chris Noth is a little less of an ersatz Donald Trump and more of a typical sci-fi evil businessman. He’s pretty fun this time out and ends up with nice little bits with everyone in the episode.
The biggest throughline of ‘Revolution of the Daleks’, though, is that the Doctor has left her friends for nearly a year. The Fam has returned to their normal lives and each of them is dealing with it differently. Ryan (Tosin Cole, Star Wars: The Force Awakens) has the strongest arc of the episode. Seeds from the previous season of Ryan missing out on his friends’ lives come to fruition as Ryan realizes he will need to move on from the Doctor. In what is likely Tosin Cole’s finest scene in the whole show, he has a four-minute conversation with the Doctor about life, about learning about yourself and forcing the Doctor to not hide her feelings. You’ll wonder why Ryan wasn’t given such a meaty piece before his final episode of the season, but I was quite happy to see this scene. Yaz has a few key scenes throughout the episode that feel so necessary, as she often ended up not getting the focus of the other two companions. Obsessed with finding the Doctor, Yaz refuses to give up on her, but once the Doctor returns she struggles with abandonment. There is definitely an undercurrent of attraction to Yaz’s actions, confirmed with her conversation with Captain Jack, if still unsaid. She also reacts interestingly to Jack’s quick summary of Rose’s fate. Again, you’ll wonder why Yaz wasn’t given this more directly before, but it is nice to see here.
Perhaps the most baffling choice in ‘Revolution of the Daleks’ is that Graham (Bradley Walsh, Law & Order: UK) is not given all that much to do or say. He does have some great moments, and Walsh has been the standout of the Fam over the past three years. However, I was shocked that in his final episode, he doesn’t have a scene where he has a heart-to-hearts with the Doc. It seems like a big oversight. While Walsh’s motivations to leave – having bonded with his grandson and not wanting to miss out on Ryan’s life as Ryan decides to stay on Earth – make sense, it was odd for it to just come up at the end of the episode. Ryan and Graham have a great final scene that takes us back to the first episode of Jodie’s era. It’s maybe the best companion departure in years; an emotionally fulfilling arc.
Ultimately, ‘Revolution of the Daleks’ is just odd, though. It has a lot to handle: companion departures, two returning actors in focus roles, the Doctor dealing with the big revelations, the sequel nature of the plot. And to be honest, it jumbles a lot of it. For the focus on Captain Jack returning, we get a very strange ending scene where Jack calls the Doctor over the phone to say his goodbyes rather than a face-to-face scene. The Fam breaking up is well-handled, but we probably could have seen more evidence of the companions dealing with the Doctor being out of their lives. The companions also seem irrationally angry at the Doctor missing so much time despite being in jail. An evil prime minister plot line feels unnecessary in how quickly it’s resolved, where it probably could have been folded into a more streamlined story with just Noth in the role.
It’s still fun, though. And there are some truly emotional scenes. “Two hearts. One happy, one sad” is going to have a long life in fan circles as an iconic line. But it does feel like a whole that’s lesser than its parts.
