Happy New Year, fam! Saturday brought the first of three Doctor Who specials in 2022 as we bid farewell to Jodie Whittaker and her striped shirt. And the first of those features some shenanigans with time loops and everyone’s favorite armored aliens, the Daleks! The “Eve of the Daleks” is upon us – – but don’t forget, Spoilers!
1. What Are You Doing New Year’s Eve?
If you’re Sarah from Manchester, you’re manning the front desk at your business, ELF Storage (the “S” fell off), and you’re none too happy about it. Your friends are all out at parties and you’re passing time at the customer service desk, scrolling Facebook, and bathing in FOMO until your fingers get all pruney. (Given the current omicron variant of COVID burning through the world, Sarah might be the one better off.) There is one customer paying ELF Storage a visit – – the every-wholesome Nick, off to drop off a Monopoly set but clearly sweet on Sarah as he has her read off the list of prohibited items for the facility, despite knowing them by heart from years of being a customer.
If you’re Thirteen, Yaz, and Dan, you’re planning a beach party to ring in the New Year to allow the TARDIS to get some of that remaining Flux out of her system . . . but the TARDIS has made a wrong turn at Albuquerque and end up in Manchester, right in Sarah’s storage facility. So much for mocktails on the sand.
If you’re the Daleks, a little EXTERMINATION makes a perfect New Year’s Eve . . . especially when you get to do it over and over again. And again. And again.
Yes, friends, we’re in a time loop – – only this isn’t your normal time loop!
2. Loop de Loop
It doesn’t take everyone long to figure out that they’re stuck in a time loop, as time resets itself after all five of them meet their end at the stalks of the Daleks, with events starting to play out roughly the same each time once the loop resets. But there’s two differences in this time loop.
First, each time the loop resets, time advances one minute. Less time for each party to figure out how to get rid of the other. Since Nick is the first one the Daleks kill, there will come a point where the loop will reset and he will not come back. So Nick has to tread very carefully to ensure his survival.
Second, the Daleks are learning each time the loop resets, so while the humans are doing their best to stay one step ahead of the Daleks, the Daleks end up two steps ahead.
As for the cause of this loop itself, the TARDIS is the one to blame. That residual flux just had one more parting gift for 2021, and this was it.
The time loop as enemy is also a beautiful metaphor for our 2021 (and 2020) lives, particularly as the Omicron variant of COVID wreaked its havoc on the world, making many of us feel stuck in a time loop of March 2020 that we never seem to be able to escape.
3. Derisive Daleks (and Dashing Dan)
The Daleks are at their best (after exterminating, of course) when they’re just a little bit snarky and sarcastic, and “Eve of the Daleks” gives them moments to really let that sarcasm shine. Daleks don’t have friends! Daleks don’t have managers! (If a Karen Dalek exists, they’re going to be unhappy about that revelation.) A Dalek is not Nick! (That’s a charming Easter egg, since the Daleks are in fact voiced by a Nick, namely Nicholas Briggs.) They may be killing machines with plungers, but they sure do provide some great comic relief.
Another good source of comic relief this episode is Dan, who gets a few good Groundhog Day jokes in between dodging Dalek fire. But where he does shine is in emotional moments with Yaz, showing how much his friendship with “Sheffield” has grown in their time together . . . and how he encourages her to put her heart on her sleeve. (More on that in a bit.)
Continued below4. Affairs of the Heart
Throughout the first half of this episode, Sarah proves to be so coarse and caustic you feel bad for poor Nick, who’s as wholesome as she is biting. (We’ll overlook his tendency to keep items from his exes in storage, for the moment.) There’s a complete 180 when he confesses his long-standing crush on her – – perhaps all she was looking for was love, and for love to come on her own terms, instead of pressure from Mom to meet a man.
But that’s not the love story that has our hearts: Yaz is in love with the Doctor. Certainly something that isn’t new to the world of Doctor Who, but revolutionary in that this is a same sex pairing that is treated as casually as Rose’s unrequited love for Ten, or Amy’s attraction to Eleven. And Yaz’s realization that her feelings are more than just friendship mirrors what many people go through on their way to realizing who they truly are. Thirteen broke barriers as the first female Doctor, and she breaks barriers yet again as part of a significant same-sex storyline on the series. (The show has received commendation from UK charity Stonewall for this storyline.)
How all this plays out – – especially as the Doctor regenerates – – remains to be seen. But if there was ever a time for Russell Davies to bring another woman in as the Doctor, this is it.
5. Try, Try, Again . . . and Again . . . and Again.
As everyone tries different ways to (unsuccessfully) beat the Daleks, frustration in the team grows — most of it directed at the Doctor, who Sarah and Nick feel should have had this in the bag many many time loop resets ago. Her pep talk isn’t the kind of “hey, we’re going to get out of this” but more of an explanation of just how they will get out of this: by trying, learning, and using what was learned to improve. And it may have to happen over and over before things finally get right.
If there was ever a concise, powerful explanation of the scientific method, this was it. And in our pandemic times when ever-changing advice can make one’s head spin (and one lose faith in science), this is a message that needs to be broadcast from the rooftops. (Though let’s be clear: there is some pandemic guidance, such as the U.S. Centers for Disease Control’s December 2021 updated guidance for COVID isolation, that is based more in economic influence than public health influence.)
And it is after several tries, and a lot of prohibited items from the storage bin of one man named Jeff (we won’t talk about just how much prohibited stuff he has in his storage bin, along with the fact that it looks like he’s living there), the humans and the Doctor defeat the Daleks by blowing up ELF Storage. Insurance won’t cover the damage, so Sarah’s off for a new life with Nick traveling the world. And the Doctor and the fam are off to their next adventure. All’s well that ends well . . . though Yaz’s unrequited feelings for Thirteen are still out there.
Doctor Who‘s next 2022 special features the return of the Sea Devils for the first time since 1984’s “Warriors of the Deep” in “Legend of the Sea Devils.” Farewell mateys, and we’ll say ahoy to you again in the spring!
