Written by Chris Chibnall
Directed by Annetta Laufer
Dan (to the Doctor/Yaz): "Anyone get a proper sense of deja vu?"
It's somewhat incredible for a show that's getting closer to it's 60th year that it's only now that the show decided to do an unashamed take on Groundhog Day complete with our TARDIS trio, a trio of Daleks and two guest characters for good measure.
After the universe destroying events of Flux, perhaps it was necessary for the Doctor, Yaz and Dan to have a more small scale adventure and this time loop themed one managed to fit that in. Taking place in Elf Storage, this was going to be the New Year's Eve adventure that would play over and over and over. Well, until finally there was a way for everyone to work and beat the Daleks at their own game.
The Daleks have been served well in Chris Chibnall's era. They've been one of his more successful stories here. From a modest start with a Recon Dalek to two different Dalek groups playing off one another , this story had them wanting revenge on the Doctor for the events of Flux and though their plan was definitely repetitive, it did almost work. Then everyone got a bit wiser, loop got broken and Daleks went up in bits.
With the Daleks on a loop as a threat, what of our guest characters? We had storage owner Sarah (Aisling Bea) who clearly hated her business and for the first half of the episode, her admirer/stalker Nick (Adjani Salmon). She also wasn't best pleased with getting repeatedly killed by the Daleks or the three strangers that she had to rely on to save her life.
Needless to say as guest actors go in this era, Aisling Bea was a delight as Sarah. She could've easily made the character unsympathetic but managed to hit all the right notes, even when Sarah was rather prickly to everyone. Adjani Salmon did well too as Nick but the romance between their characters definitely felt somewhat off. I don't think someone like Sarah would date Nick in real life, especially given his penchant for keeping stuff from his exes.
As for the TARDIS trio, well this was an enjoyable enough adventure for them. Dan had a brilliant scene with a Dalek that might be one of my favourite scenes with the character. On top of that, it seems that fans of the Doctor and Yaz might get their wish as Yaz finally admitted that she has feelings for the Doctor, which might even be reciprocated. At this point, why not? There's only two specials left.
- Karl from The Woman Who Fell To Earth made a brief appearance. I have to admit, I had completely forgotten about the character.
- Pauline McLynn appeared as Sarah's mother, Mary and the use of her bad timing did help with Daleks defeat.
- Aside from the lack of Davros, I was also surprised there wasn't much continuity from the previous Dalek specials.
- This is the first episode to air on a Saturday and the TARDIS problem from Series 13 has now been resolved. It also caused the time loop problem here though.
- The next special, due to air in Spring was revealed to be Legend Of The Sea Devils.
- Chronology: New Year's Eve 2021/New Year's Day 2022.
Eve Of The Daleks might have been a bit of a lowkey start to the 13th Doctor's final specials but it was rather solid as a story. Some nice scenes with the main and guest characters as well as the Daleks getting some nice one liners ("I am not Nick" for example). Saying that, I do hope the next special packs a bit more.
Rating: 7 out of 10
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