The Written Podcast: Doctor Who – New Year’s Special: Resolution

Series 11 could have been better. That’s probably an unpopular opinion, but there were many factors that should have been different, or shouldn’t have been included altogether. Chris Chibnall’s approach to the new era was met with mixed opinions. He once wrote for Torchwood, and those stories are known as the worst episodes, and a couple of episodes of Doctor Who he wrote weren’t exactly met with critical acclaim. On the flip side, however, his outstanding performance being the head writer of Broadchurch allowed for some leeway when it came to doubting his leadership with Doctor Who.

It was a whole new era. New head writer, new producer, new Doctor, new companions. For the first time in the show’s history, the Doctor would be played by a woman, Jodie Whittaker, and the show would be shown on Sunday evenings instead of Saturday’s. It was the biggest change the show’s ever had since coming back in 2005, so it was understandable a fair amount of people was hesitant to accept it. Given Chibnall’s CV, there really wasn’t much to predict – he could do anything. He could do a terrible job or a sensational one. I waited patiently, eagerly awaiting the new episode of Doctor Who, series 11, episode 1, The Woman Who Fell To Earth, and I absolutely loved it. The omission of the title sequence until the end was the perfect artistic choice needed, allowing the audience be fully absorbed into the new world without any interruptions.

The first episode is usually where people make up their mind on whether they want to continue with the series, and I’m confident in saying a large chunk of those who watched the first episode stuck around to see what the rest would bring. Unfortunately, the rest of the series didn’t live up to the first episode’s performance, and a few had clunky writing, and far too much exposition instead of showing us what’s going on. I understand, with a new doctor, new head writer – new writing style, new personality. However, throughout Doctor Who since 2005, there has been one constant thing in each episode, the Doctor figures it out over time – or if he already knows the answer, plays it to his advantage to beat the enemy in the episode. Jodie Whittaker’s Doctor didn’t stop explaining what was going on. There was no mystery anymore. The episodes didn’t see the Doctor figuring out, just telling us what’s going on instantly without any prior information. Yes, the Doctor is smart, but we, the audience, aren’t finding much enjoyment with having everything put in front of us instead of letting us be a part of the mystery.

It seems that it’s gone from one extreme to another. Stephen Moffatt hardly explained anything and let us fill in the gaps, whereas Chris Chibnall is explaining everything, leaving no gaps for us to roam around in.

It was a good idea to only have new monsters. It was a good idea to explore history again as the show started out doing way back in 1969 – but not as many stories as I had expected, which only tells me I accidentally got caught up with that section of the hype.

When it was announced we weren’t going to get a Christmas special, but instead a New Year’s special instead because they had run out of ideas for Christmas, whilst I was disappointed there wasn’t going to be the traditional episode on Christmas day, I was also intrigued as to what they could do for New Year’s Day. It can basically be an hour long episode of normal Doctor Who without Christmas.

Resolution was promised to be a blockbuster episode, and dare I say it delivered upon that promise. It certainly was a blockbuster episode, and brought back a classic villain, the Doctor’s greatest enemies, the Daleks. This would mark the very first time Jodie Whittaker’s Doctor has faced the Dalek’s. Given series 11’s performance, I was hesitant to be excited for this episode. What would Chibnall do to the Dalek’s, and how would he write the Doctor’s interactions with them? Two question’s I hoped would be answered with a good episode.

Strangely enough, it was a blend of both the good and the bad of series 11. Chibnall didn’t just bring back the Dalek’s he brought back the show’s history, whilst adding new elements, such as the Dalek being the first to leave Skaro, ended up on Earth, got defeated. Having a Dalek being built from scrap metal made it seem even scarier than normal, because it’s a weakened Dalek not at full strength, yet is still terrifying, and truly made the Doctor scared for the first time this regeneration. The Doctor’s emotions were explored, and Jodie Whittaker’s performance was sensational. She was scared and she was angry, and Chibnall’s writing allowed the Doctor to battle with her emotions as what normally happens whenever confronted with the Daleks, even stating that, “a long time ago I learned to think like a Dalek,” which could possibly be alluding to the time war, but is a statement open to interpretation, but I would like to think it was a reference to the time war.

Having Ryan's father drop by unexpectedly and shaking up Ryan's world was well written and displayed one of the few times Ryan actually had a good script to work off. Even Graham's time with Ryan's dad was well-planned out, even from the Doctor's perspective. Even when in the middle of a battle with the Dalek, she still felt responsible and made sure Ryan and Graham had the important time together with Ryan's dad. I just hope he becomes a occurring character in series 12.

The bad points were (maybe) killing of UNIT, and a few unnecessary jokes and scenes littered throughout. Having UNIT being forced to shut down off-screen due to budget cuts was a kick in the teeth, to be honest. The organisation that’s been around since the Doctor’s third regeneration, have UNIT pop up time and time again, even be celebrated in the 50^th anniversary episode – suddenly saying it’s no longer operational left a bad taste in my mouth. I do hope Chibnall realises his mistake and brings back UNIT at full strength. It would have been epic if the Doctor had teamed up with UNIT, because then we would see the Dalek prove just how powerful it is even in the weakened it was, because we all know the Dalek would have either put up an incredible fight, or prevailed. But instead, the Dalek gets defeated by a modified microwave oven – which was a predictable outcome, to say the least and is my second bad point of the show.

Having the scene where the family notices they’ve been disconnected from the internet, the TV’s gone down and the mum realising they have to have a conversation, much to her kid’s dismay was the most forced, out of place, unnecessary scene in Doctor Who I’ve ever witnessed. It threw us out of the tension of the moment – it tried to make us laugh, but all it did was make me disappointed it was even included in the final edit.

There were one or two jokes that shouldn’t have been included, but the one which stands out the most to me was the Doctor wondering how long a rel, the Dalek’s own timeframe. It didn’t make sense on the basis of continuity, because surely, if the Doctor had learned to think like a Dalek a long time ago (and might I add that Chibnall did do a superb job capturing the Doctor thinking like a Dalek, but figuring out its plan and trying to catch up and become one step ahead) then surely she should remember how long a rel is. The moment the Doctor found out the DNA belonged to the most dangerous creature in the universe, the Dalek, she instantly began thinking like one, you could see it in her expression and mannerisms from that point forward, so making a joke about forgetting a crucial part of how a Dalek operates as its ultimate plan starts developing, was another instance of clunky writing.

Much like the entirety of series 11, Resolution could have been better. It was classic Doctor Who that we’re all familiar with, and of course there has to be a new spin on the formula now we’ve got a new Doctor, but it would have been better if it left out the unnecessary moments and focused on being what it started out as – one heck of a blockbuster, action-packed, classic Doctor Who episode, which if it wasn’t so clunky in places, probably would have been one many would’ve seen as a good starting point for those who’ve skipped series 11 because it diverted too much away from what the previous focused on.

Thanks for reading

Antony Hudson

(TonyHadNouns)