In the about 14 years Doctor Who has been back on idiot box , the Daleks have been built up as the most fearsome army in Time and Space , and then broken down todeconstruct the very ideaof whata Dalek represents . But Doctor Who ’s New Year ’s special take them right back to 2005 ’s “ Dalek”—and finally nailed a residual the show aimed for all season long .
In many ways , “ Resolution ” feels like a much more successful version of serial 11 ’s finale , thesolid if raggedly divided“The Battle of Ranskoor Av Kolos . ” While the finis tried to awkwardly marry its character arcs ( principally Ryan and Graham ’s human relationship ) with grand stake to the full stop that none of the stakes ever felt like they count , “ Resolution ” did a much right job of balance its character body of work — once again primarily filtered through Ryan — with a traditionally Doctor Who - y chronicle about monster , dying , and destruction . It give us the safe of both worlds . In Ryan ’s tempestuous reunion with his absent sire , the personality - drive drama that made season 11 feel so unique shone bright . And in its take on Doctor Who ’s most iconic demon , “ Resolution ” gave us an explosive re - revolve about on just what the Daleks should be , with a twist that makes them tricksy ( and scarier ) than ever .
The Daleks — despite being hate - screechingpepperpotsthat exterminate first and then call domination - laden rant secondly — are a surprising delicate tool for Doctor Who to treat . They are , of course of action , iconography so key to the fabric of the show that even people who do n’t check have it away what a Dalek spirit like — and there is an expectation work up into that . You ca n’t not apply them , and doc are defined by their encounters with the airstream more than almost anything else they do in their ERA .
The system of weights of that expectation , and their constant re - function , has in equal measure both turn the Daleks into a bit of a joke and made them predictable to the compass point that — since 2005 ’s “ Dalek ” specifically addressed all that joking by reforging a lone Dalek as a terrifyingly powerful force-out of destruction — the show has since gone on to pick off and deconstruct the idea of what a Dalek story can be . They ’ve been grand army of disposable whole that exist to get blow up , rendering their threat impotent , and they ’ve been literally clambered about inside to discover the true kernel of what a Dalek is as a being . All that jabbing and spur has turned the Daleks more into an esoteric ideal rotate around the Doctor’sown honorable choiceto conflict gross evilness , rather than needs a creature to be fought .
“ Resolution ” however , went all the means back to “ Dalek”—sometimes literally , with military action position piece forthwith mirror sequences from that about 14 - year - older episode — to invigorate the potentiality of their threat . The recon Dalek we meet in this episode , pull parts of itself back together to summarise its mission as the predecessor of Dalek invasion , is an incarnation of pure hatred . It does n’t need an army of its brother to carve a bloody path throughout the episode , in and out of its shell — a tress that makes this “ unexampled ” Dalek much more sinister and malinger than they ordinarily are . This reforged Dalek is raw and approximate around the edges , but still unstoppable and almost satisfyingly homicidal . Stories like “ The Army of Ghosts / Doomsday ” or “ The Stolen Earth / Journey ’s End ” test to amplify the threat of the Daleks by upping the gauzy quantity of them , but “ Resolution ” remind us that all Doctor Who take is one angry , crafty pepperpot to distinguish an action - packed adventure epic — and one that weaves rather bright with the smaller - exfoliation stakes Chris Chibnall ’s debut time of year of Who has built itself on .
ab initio , those more personal wager do a few crack in the sheen of “ Resolution . ” The dull burn with Ryan ’s Father of the Church Aaron awkwardly re - enrol his Logos ’s life after Grace ’s end combat with the shell - less Dalek ( sneakily puppeting its wretched human drone Lin about in its pursuance to rebuild itself ) in a rubbish that threaten to bring the pacing of the episode screeching to a halt in its first one-half . But when all Dalek - based blaze broke loose in the back one-half , and Aaron found himself drag out along for the ride , “ solvent ” deftly managed to bring the two storyline ’s together — literally , when the ostensibly destroyed Dalek managed to creep up and stick to itself to Aaron ’s body — to prompt us of an eld - old Doctor Who - philosophy : the power of teamwork , the index of love , can overcome even the most visceral hatred and pitilessness .
In write Aaron from being roasted to a Saratoga chip alongside the Dalek — being there for his Fatherhood , despite the fact his father was rarely ever there for him — Ryan resolved his own interior grief and feelings of abandonment , setting up the possibility of reforging that relationship . The Dalek , arrogant to trust that as the upright of its kind it could stand alone on the ashes of humanity as the cutting edge of its backwash , ca n’t contend with even the simple human action of a son turn over out to his sire in love , and is finally defeated .
“ Resolution ” might not have been as mind - driven as the high highs of Doctor Who ’s 11th time of year , but in sacrificing some of that existential philosophy to tell a classically Who - vian fib — one that still deftly managed to solve one of the biggest character arcs it had built up over the past season — it have a large template for its next season to progress on . doc Who can tell so many kind of stories , from the straightforward - up monster - ladened action to heady story of ethical motive , but it is arguably at its best , as it was here , when it naturally manage to mix the both of them . And throws in a shuddery killer pepperpot for good measure .
Assorted Musings
UNIT being loosen not by ruinous alien intrusion but alternatively austerity - associate funding cuts might be the only good Brexit - contiguous joke that ’s ever been made .
utter of which , the set up of the Dalek shutting down the UK ’s wireless local area web and video sign just for a throwaway scene of a horrified family get word that they may in reality have to talk to each other on New Year ’s Clarence Day might be the most Russell T. Davies - manner gag the show ’s done in years . significant to the plot ? Not at all . Delightfully silly ? Absolutely .
I get it on the rough and tight take on the Dalek design in this episode . It looks inherently wrong and slapped together — it works because it ’s not a new guide for the Daleks locomote forward but or else because it ’s this slapdash thing soldered together out of odds and ends and scraps of genuine Dalek . Plus , you get the captivating analogue between “ Resolution ” and “ The Woman Who Fell to Earth”—both the Doctor and her greatest enemy , reforged in the melting pot of Sheffield brand .
How long is a Rel , the Daleks ’ preferred measurement of time ? Well , fact sports fan , according to the 2007 sequence “ organic evolution of the Daleks , ” it ’s about 1.2 seconds . To be fair though , it ’s gentle to forgive the Doctor draw a blank the events of thatrather turgid Dalek story .
And that ’s that for Doctor Who this year ! Itwon’t be back until 2020 , but hey , at least this morning we got the decent intelligence that it might be “ very early ” into 2020 , so we wo n’t be waiting that long . I ’m gon na spend the class hoping that now that both Graham and Ryan ’s arcs have been properly resolved , they can step out of the focus a routine and really get Yaz get some meaty storytelling to make do with . Can 2020 be the Year of Yaz ?
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