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Tag: New Year’s

Confession #160: I Miss the Holiday Specials

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Doctor Who holiday specials have never been particularly high on my list of “must see TV.” Aside from them being Doctor Who, which gives them inherent watchability in my eyes, having something over-the-top fluffy (or even silly) that doesn’t necessarily fit within continuity (that is, if you eliminated one entirely, the arcs of the stories surrounding it wouldn’t really be affected) doesn’t particularly appeal to me.

As an American, I’ve not had the cultural tradition of Christmas specials designed for the whole family to sit down and watch together on Christmas Day (presumably at least in part to keep the peace for a while in the event that one’s family doesn’t even get along). At most, the TV traditions around here were watching Rudolph the Red-nosed Reindeer or The Year Without a Santa Claus, but those were always aired well before the holiday itself.

So imagine my surprise when I found myself feeling a bit distraught at the idea that there would be no “festive” Doctor Who episode airing this year (on either Christmas or New Year’s).

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Countdown to the End Game

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Review of Eve of the Daleks
Warning: This review may contain episode-specific spoilers and wild speculation about future episodes.

Welcome to year 12 of the blog! I’m not sure how much longer I’ll continue to update (at least through the middle of 2023, but more on that in my second January post), but for now I’m looking forward to continuing to share the journey with you.


Source – bbc.co.uk – © 2022 BBC

During the Thirteenth Doctor’s tenure, the tradition of a Christmas special has shifted to that of a New Year’s special. This year is no different, though we also get a special countdown to New Year’s in the deal.

In a shocking turn of events, at least on first viewing, the pre-credits sequence shows the Doctor and her friends bolting from the TARDIS as it does a self-reset, only to be confronted by Daleks—and summarily exterminated.

But we all know the Doctor can’t die here and now—she can’t even regenerate, since we know she’s got two more specials to go before that, and her replacement hasn’t been announced—so it’s not a complete surprise when the TARDIS team, not to mention their soon-to-be new acquaintances Sarah and Nick, are back. It’s a little surprising that everyone remembers having been exterminated, but that, of course, makes things all the more interesting.

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Revolutionary Departure

Review of Revolution of the Daleks
Warning: This review contains episode-specific spoilers and wild speculation about future episodes.

Maybe I’m just feeling traumatized by all that 2020 threw at us and am thereby in a headspace where I am only prepared to find joy and not fault, but I was pleasantly surprised at how well the 2021 New Year’s special held up upon a second viewing.


Source – bbc.co.uk – © 2021 BBC

Usually I can really enjoy a new Doctor Who episode on first viewing, but when I stop to reflect, particularly when I’m watching again and preparing a review, I find aspects that bother me on levels anywhere from mild annoyance to outright ruining the episode for me. (This is especially true of those written by Moffat, who specializes in pacing his stories so fast that you don’t have time to notice its flaws that first time.) This time, however, nothing killed the buzz.

Not to say I thought it was the best thing since sliced bread. I think I’m too numb these days to be that effusive. But since I didn’t go into the episode expecting great things—it was a holiday special; I wanted a romp, and that’s what I got—I didn’t come out disappointed. In fact, I came out feeling fairly impressed. Because the thing about Revolution of the Daleks is that its purpose, more than being a holiday special, was to be the farewell story for Ryan and Graham. And in that respect, it did a damn good job.

I think it’s fair to say at this point that the audience has become pretty inured to Daleks. (Terry Nation’s estate is doing no one any favors by insisting that Doctor Who use the damn things every calendar year in order to keep the usage rights.) Personally I kind of roll my eyes every time they show up again, so the entire Dalek storyline was very peripheral to my experience of this episode. What made the special special was the return of Captain Jack Harkness (as more than a teaser) and the ending of two Companions’ time in the TARDIS.

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Bookends

Review of Resolution
Warning: This review contains episode-specific spoilers and wild speculation about future episodes.

Last month when we watched the final episode of Series 11, we weren’t actually watching the final episode of Series 11. This was the final episode of Series 11.


Source – bbc.co.uk – © 2019 BBC

Resolution ties into the rest of Whittaker’s tenure to date so seamlessly, I can’t help but wonder whether or not it was Chibnall’s intention all along to make an eleven-episode series. Evidence of that idea is peppered throughout the special, making Resolution and The Woman Who Fell to Earth a pair of perfectly matched bookends.

For starters, both episode titles have double meanings. In TWWFtE, the identity of the eponymous woman is up for interpretation, while here the titular resolution could either be the Doctor’s stated intention to come for the Dalek or the completion of a plot through-line or two.

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