New Years Day 2021 Special – Revolution Of The Daleks Review

As the New Year appetiser tiding us over until Series 13 debuts later this year it was with some excitement that I settled down to watch the latest offering from Chris Chibnall. The recently released trailer had heightened my expectations granted mainly due to the re-appearance of Captain Jack. I felt we needed something familiar after the left field finale of The Timeless Children nine months previously. That had frankly shaken my faith that Chris Chibnall understood the legacy of Doctor Who so this needed to be good. Did it succeed? Let’s get into it.

The recap of the finale of “Resolution” which followed and aired two years ago showing the defeat of the reconnaissance Dalek seemed at first a surprising thing to go back to but it’s a neat idea if handled correctly. Whilst the reputation of the festive specials is a bit hit and miss amongst the fans the audience appreciation index figure has remained stable sitting in the 80’s. An AI of 85 or over is to be considered excellent according to internal guidance to BBC production staff and “Resolution” which aired two years ago scored 80. Revolution of the Daleks” scored an AI of 79. There is some audience familiarity with using the Daleks again but I hope it’s not in some contractual agreement with the Terry Nation estate that we will have them on repeat next New Year too.

I’ve watched this story twice and on the first watch with the excitement of any new Who I was quite forgiving as it was entertaining due to a few key elements namely having Captain Jack and good supporting characters such as Patterson, Robertson and Leo. There were little irritations. The Star Wars style wording of the opening ‘a long time ago… far far away ‘ in ‘Cheltenham 2019’ came across as a little “cheesy” almost suggesting we were in store for a comedic romp. Then the huge Arial bold GCHQ wording almost filling the screen had me sucking my breath. The current team seem very fond of using this font style. I’d understand if we were watching the episode on a 20-foot screen in the cinema but I’d like a more discrete text that doesn’t SCREAM at your audience to notice.

On the second watch, the things that didn’t quite work were more noticeable. Writer checklist for this episode, Daleks (check), the return of an old companion(check), writing out companions (check), two fighting factions (check). This could describe the ingredients of “Doomsday” which was a far more successful execution. An energetic doctor, the Tyler family and Mickey reunited, a face-off between the Daleks and Cybermen, and a moving ending for Rose lost in a parallel world. “Revolution of the Daleks” had all the same ingredients but the pacing felt very up and down at times not as cohesive.

For example, the Doctor’s tete a tete with Ryan came after Captain Jack and Yaz were attacked by the Dalek creature (approx. 2 minutes) then a minute for Jo Patterson to present the defence drones outside Downing Street. All high action and drama then slowed down to a crawl for 4 and a half minutes with a leisurely ride to Osaka ( huh ?) and a heart to heart. A slightly odd scene as Ryan and the Doctor has not been particularly close before. Some of these slower scenes needed some serious trimming.

Ryan: Things change all the time, and they should, cos they have to. Same with people. Sometimes we get a bit scared, cos new can be a bit scary, right?

The Doctor: New can be very scary.

Maybe it was an expectation from the trailer but I honestly thought more was going to be made of the Doctor’s incarceration “ in space jail”. We never saw any Judoon and the escape, whilst I love Captain Jack, felt so easy and quick. There were few consequences for the Doctor from it. Captain Jack was, of course, back and he brought the “in your face” energy and wisecracks so badly needed for this story. His role in Doctor Who is always slightly different from his leadership role in Torchwood. For Doctor Who he is usually there as Tardis muscle doing the things the Doctor wouldn’t do so, I liked the idea that if anyone was going to break the Doctor out of prison it was Jack. Although I can’t imagine him with the patience to actually spend 19 years to get next to the Doctor’s cell. Did he use the vortex manipulator (did Moffat think that up or RTD? ) to jump around in time I wonder? That man loves a gadget doesn’t he with his squareness gun and now a temporal-freezing gateway disinhibitor bubble or breakout ball.

The 13th Doctor’s reaction to him was a little more disapproving than I hoped. A smile wouldn’t have gone amiss as Jack hugged her. Yes, she gave him a gold star for rescuing her but her reaction to him was generally low key. She just missed “her fam” and it all got a bit maudlin for a while pondering how much time she was away. That should have all been cut down, to be honest. A bit of self-reflection is fine but the script brooded on it. Jodie’s Doctor became more authoritative in series 12 and I enjoyed that evolution of her character. Jodie’s interpretation of the Doctor isn’t my favourite and here she was a bit and miss. She’s still doing kooky too much, talking to herself but at least she isn’t gurning.

There were some old issues with Chris Chibnall not creating consequences for the characters which reminded me of series 11. I was disappointed considering Ryan and Graham were leaving this episode that neither had a strong role in the action. Normally the companions go through some kind of emotional trauma to leave but both were there and in the background. Pairing Jack with Graham and Ryan on the Dalek ship gave him a “Doctor like” presence and they were his own crew really but it served to highlight how overcrowded the Tardis is really with three companions. Graham and Ryan were both on the Dalek ship and I honestly thought it was a lost dramatic opportunity to kill one of them off and create some genuine emotion.

The dramatic endings in Moffat’s writing such as Amy and Rory being touched by a weeping angel or Clara’s death and resurrection gave us something to feel even if it was anger. I don’t mind alternatively that Ryan had decided he wanted to stay at home but it was all explained in such turgid exposition in a lengthy scene between the Doctor and Ryan. Tosin Cole isn’t a hugely expressive actor and so you have to rely on the dialogue understand what’s going on with the character.

If the emotion that they wanted to explore was moving on it felt clumsily handled. Why didn’t the episode show Ryan with his friends and family and the impact of seeing them so his words than to the Doctor would deliver that emotional punch instead of a laid on with a trowel message about change? Show don’t tell! I did roll my eyes at the Doctor’s references to the Timeless Children which I fear may be the ongoing theme in Series 13. Please let’s not go there EVER but its probably too late now (sigh).

Graham was the star companion of series 11 but felt subdued and was used for background comic relief for Series 12 but his decision to stay with Ryan made logical sense. I felt for a character who made such a big initial impact. Bradley Walsh needed a less hesitant speech but it reflected Graham’s ordinary man status I guess. I will miss him. Going back to the hillside was a really self-indulgent piece of writing but served to show both characters would be okay and brought everything full circle. Chris Chibnall obviously wants us to care about Grace a bit but we only really knew her for one episode so the sunbeam was a sweet moment for the characters even if I didn’t care much for it.

Graham: Yeah, well… Yeah, well, you know, there’s lots to explore, so much more to see. You know… But, um… I don’t want to miss out on you, you know, and being here without you ain’t going to be… the same. You know, I’ll always be looking around, then, to say stuff to you, you know? You see, Ryan, you’re my family. And I remember, Doc, what you said, you know, that we…we wouldn’t come back the same people, and you’re right. Just not in the way I thought. I’m ready. I want to… I want to be at home with my grandson.

Yaz had the most development in series 12 I’m assuming because Mandip Gill is staying with the show so pairing her with Jack was a good move. Chris Chibnall knows Jack so well through writing for Torchwood so the conversation with Yaz where Jack says “ you don’t get to choose when it stops” hit some interesting emotional beats for me. (Yes I know companions like Martha have chosen to leave) Yaz is discovering the wonder of travelling with the Doctor and Jack saw that too so when he gave his truth after being abandoned it did feel an earned authentic moment for him. Yaz’s devotion has to be seen for what it is, temporary hero worship, a crush even that is ultimately unrealistic. The Doctor doesn’t stay in one place forever.

From the trailer, I thought Jack would be in the special more than he was. I really enjoyed the actions scenes with the squid-like Dalek on the face in the cloning factory. I think he deserved to be, as every scene he was in Jack stole it through his upbeat presence. Therefore, his voicemail exit off scene seemed a little short thrift and disappointing as if he had served his purpose and had to be gone.

The publicity before the special aired had shown the new drone design and I’m really pleased that it wasn’t planned as the new Dalek design going forward. There is something iconic about the classic Dalek design which doesn’t suit any messing with. The SAS Death Squad have a superb design. The drones do look very utilitarian in style and their design suited their purpose as the “security equivalent of the iPhone. “How handy they were packed with useful water cannon, cs gas and sonic deterrent. A sly commentary about how new technology is seen as the great panacea where it can inhibit the public right to debate or protest.

Chris Noth’s Jack Robertson from series 11 isn’t an obvious choice as a villain to bring back but I enjoyed his political machinations with Harriet Walter’s Jo Patterson for the first ten minutes very much. They had great chemistry and I liked that the cruder parody of Trump from his first appearance was played down slightly. I’m surprised Robertson didn’t input the drones with an automatic feed to security cameras. It’s the kind of idea that I could see him as a ruthless entrepreneur (which he is in the loosest sense) create and try to promote on Dragons Den if he wasn’t so dishonest!

Chris Chibnall used Robertson on this occasion to point a finger on the British public’s lack of trust in people in authority after the debacle of Brexit. Robertson’s rant at Leo upon discovering the Dalek creature “this is why people don’t like experts“ cleverly references back to MP Michael Gove’s statement (that the public had had enough of experts) and what a dodgy breed both he and Jo Patterson were. Watching her channelling a cut-price Margaret Thatcher (or is that Boris Johnson) with the “ great opportunities ahead for this country …. the age of security “ speech sent a knowing shiver up my spine at her misjudgement. She wasn’t a bad person though and I’m sorry she died. Robertson making a deal with the Death Squad Daleks suited his personality and he got away with no consequences again! He’ll be the next Teflon president for sure.

Verdict – The episode at 77 minutes long felt slightly flat at times. Some really interesting ideas not developed enough to fruition Bit of a mixed bag.

7.5 /10

Best things of the episode

• Captain Jack just appearing in the episode
• The exchange of SAS Daleks exterminating the last defence drone
• Jo Patterson and Jack Robertson conspiracy
• Bye Bye Tosin and Bradley. Good luck in the future.

What did you enjoy most? Post your comments on here, the BBBP Discord server or on Twitter. Let’s talk!