The last season of Doctor Who was a mess of plot threads, unconvincing resolutions, and high stakes that never really lived up to the series' attempt to return to a serialized story format. It returned on New Years Day in the exact opposite way.
It feels different than the wake of Flux. It feels far removed from the thought of the death of most of the universe, the Doctor is on the edge of discovering their hidden past, and a lot of beings are walking prison-forms. It is refreshing to have an episode where the Doctor and her friends just happen to show up as something weird happens. The only two people in the storage unit are Sarah and Nick, who are the only two people in the world who visit on New Year's Eve. As the Doctor, Dan, and Yaz are drawn into the killer loop and Daleks are roaming the halls of Elf Storage, the stage is set for them to find out what caused the loop to break and save Sarah and Nick.
It is a simple premise, but executed well. The temporal loop gives the show a sense of structure even if it is defined by our heroes failing and getting blasted by the Daleks time and time again. The Doctor and his friends are stuck in a cycle of execution until the loop is reset one minute closer to midnight, giving them less time to escape, and the stakes never stray into high territory in the way they did with. The Daleks established a loop to trap the Doctor and execute her for the destruction of their fleet at the end of Flux, but it still feels contained and low-key. They are not invading earth or trying to conquer the universe as the Daleks are so often wont to do, they are just planning to get back at the being they hate most in the universe.
The cast of "Eve of the Daleks" is just as refreshing as the five people in total, because of the low stakes and compellingly small central mystery. The majority of that attention is given to new characters Sarah and Nick, who are so new to each other that they are almost invisible to the other. Their arcs give our heroes something to fight for even as they keep, and give us the chance to invest in the stakes of the show, instead of being threatened by reality. The small scale of the story and its simple narrative conceit in the loop means that we get to explore the Doctor's relationship with her friends for the first time in a long time.
This is only to focus on one particular pair in particular, and that is the Doctor and Yz, when he is not reminding everyone of his most important and delightful character trait, that he is fromLiverpool. The Doctor and the Doctor's friend, the Doctor's companion, were pushed to realize a deeper meaning in the moments alone with them. It makes sense, given that Chibnall has been frustrated by the Doctor refusing to let her into her life more, keeping things secret all the time. It makes sense for the Doctor, who has been through this before, to now have to face the consequences of hiding things from her friends. Doctor Who is running around at a mile a minute screaming about the end of the world/universe/time itself and this has taken up until now. Even if we are still in the early stages of exploring this development in the Doctor and Yaz's relationship, the fact that we got time to breathe in an episode and explore it is reason enough to celebrate the simplicity of "Eve of the Daleks."
After Flux tried to throw big plot reveals and story stakes together across its six-week-long tale, "Eve of the Daleks" feels like a reset as we head into Jodie Whittaker's final. There is no overarching plot connection or grand mystery here, just what emotional ramifications there will be for the Doctor and her companions moving forward. There is a simple, effective use of a familiar villain that feels justified beyond the event status of them showing up. Doctor Who has the most powerful weapon against any monstrous threat, which is a lot of love in the air. As Chibnall and Whittaker's time on the series draws to a close, Doctor Who seems to be heading back to basics.
There are various musings.
It will be interesting to see how the Doctor will view the object of Yaz's affections in the next two episodes. Will she stay with the Doctor and have to deal with her complicated feelings like Clara, or will she leave before the Doctor is done? At some point this year, we will find out.
The Dalek has developed a Gatling-gun-esque blaster that is either the most horrifyingly overkill portable weapon or the least accurate laser gun in Doctor Who history.
Karl, the random dude targeted by Tzim-Sha in Jodie Whittaker's very first episode of the Daleks and Elf Storage, made a strange appearance at the end of this episode. Certainly... a reference.
Next time, at least in a couple of months, the return of the Sea Devil! The Silurians have been associated with the Who race since it first appeared in the 70s. It is interesting that this time around the SeaDevils look pretty faithful to their classic design, since it was Chris Chibnall who re-introduced them with a very different take way back in season 5's "The Hungry Earth".
Wondering where our feed went? The new one can be picked up here.
