Doctor Who: Revolution of the Daleks (2/365)

[white_hart]

I think I prefer having a New Year's Day special of Doctor Who, rather than a Christmas special, as it takes away the pressure to shoehorn Christmassy elements in and means we just get a slightly extended episode.

I thought Revolution of the Daleks was OK, but not as good as last year's Spyfall with its absolutely unspoilered twist or the previous year's Resolution. Apart from anything, I'm not that keen on the full-on alien invasion of modern Earth stories; I like to pretend I believe that Doctor Who is actually real, and while I could believe in aliens in a small village in Somerset being foiled by the Doctor and her fam and everything being hushed up, an attempted Dalek takeover of the planet breaks my suspension of disbelief rather. Also, I always worry about the aftermath and collective trauma of so many people being exterminated before the day is saved.

I did like that Chris Chibnall chose to show us two companions voluntarily deciding to move on from the Doctor, which happens far too infrequently in the new series. And it was fun to see Captain Jack again (and I liked the reference to Gwen Cooper taking out a Dalek with a moped and her son's boxing glove, because of course she would). I was very disappointed by the post-credits reveal of the new companion; I'm not familiar with the actor and he may be very good, but I'd really hoped that we might get at least a few episodes of just Yaz and the Doctor. I feel like there's a lot to explore in that relationship*, and why does there always have to be a man in the TARDIS?

*by which I mean "I've always been dead against Doctor/companion ships but I can actually really see Yaz/Thirteen".

Comments

[strange_complex]

"I've always been dead against Doctor/companion ships but I can actually really see Yaz/Thirteen"

Oh god, yes! That was my presiding feeling when it looked like the two of them were going to be left in the TARDIS all alone too!

[white_hart]

I'm surprised how much I'm shipping this! Also, I'm getting very strong Ace vibes from Yaz, and would have loved to see how things developed with just the two of them.

[cosmolinguist]

I'm still against Doctor/companion ships but am still sad we won't get Yaz and the Doctor on their own. Or if we need more people (because I also really loved having a Tardis team), why another white guy, ugh.

[white_hart]

I loved having a TARDIS team but Yaz often felt a bit underused and would have really liked her to be the only companion for a bit. And yes, why another middle-aged white guy?

[antisoppist]

I felt we've had "People think daleks/alien tech will further their own ends and then earth gets invaded" rather a lot really. But it was great to have Harriet Walter as a politician with excellent coats.

My childhood Dr Who was Peter Davison with Nyssa and Tegan so I feel there should always be two female companions in the Tardis and I am always disappointed.

[white_hart]

It was an absolute staple of the Russell T Davies era. As was the tendency for the human villains to be middle-aged women. But Harriet Walter was excellent.

Yes, if there was going to be a new companion I would have loved if it was another women, but I suppose they thought that men might spontaneously combust if there were three women in the TARDIS and no men at all.

[norfolkian]

Oh, those were my thoughts exactly. I'm familiar with John Bishop as a comedian, but no idea what he's like as an actor. I got excited thinking, 'oh, they're actually going with just two women on the TARDIS!'. But maybe they are too worried about upsetting the fragile egos of their male viewers who might not be able to cope with such a concept!

[white_hart]

Yes, I really liked the idea of just having two women in the TARDIS! I did wonder if Jack might be back as a companion for a bit, though I suspect that would have got annoying fairly quickly.