Having just brought back those Weeping Angels a few weeks ago, Doctor Who is ringing in 2022 by calling in some old(er) foes in the form of the Daleks. Having spent most of Flux out on the sidelines, that emotionless master race is back to terrorize Jodie Whitaker’s Thirteenth Doctor and company in the holiday special fittingly titled “Eve of the Daleks.”
Picking up after the events of this week’s finale to Doctor Who: Flux, the Doctor and companions Yaz (Mandip Gill) and Dan (John Bishop) find themselves teaming up with newcomers Sarah (Aisling Bea) and Nick (Adjani Salmon) to fight off the Daleks. Trapped in a storage facility crawling with Daleks and caught in a time loop, it’s a race to survive and hopefully make it to the New Year. The trailer doesn’t do anything you haven’t seen before when it comes to time loops — see one ad where it repeats and shows its characters in more dire situations, seen ‘em all — but it’s still pretty intimidating to see a row of them bust out their cannons and start blasting.
“Eve” will be the first of a trilogy of specials meant to close out Whitaker and Chibnall’s time on the series. The second special is meant to release not terribly long after the first one, and then the final special will be much later in the year. From there, Chibnall will be replaced by returning showrunner Russell T. Davies, and the new Doctor is currently being kept a secret. In a brief statement on the Doctor Who website, showrunner Chris Chibnall teased the time travelling madness to come in the holiday special:
“We all need a little romance in our lives around New Year. Less so, Daleks. But Aisling Bea and Adjani Salmon’s characters will have to deal with both in a New Year’s Eve from hell. Together with Jodie Whittaker’s Doctor, it’ll hopefully prove the perfect New Year’s Day tonic.”
Doctor Who: Eve of the Daleks will air on BBC on January 1.
