An Hour of Who a Day: 09/21/22

September 21: "Eve of the Daleks"

In the wake of the Flux event, the Doctor decides to head to the beaches of San Munrohvar, where she, Yaz, and Dan can relax while the TARDIS repairs itself after the breakdown of time caused it to go all screwy. Only they don't arrive on a beach, but in a storage facility in Manchester, where they're caught in a time loop. The Daleks are determined to exterminate the Doctor, and they don't care how many times it takes...

So now we've arrived at the first of the final three Jodie Whittaker specials, with this one airing less than a month after "The Vanquishers". And if Flux ended up being something of an overstuffed and overcomplicated mess, "Eve of the Daleks" shows what Chris Chibnall can do when he's not striving to be Epic. In contrast to the universe- and time-zone-hopping antics of Flux, "Eve of the Daleks" is focused on a single location, a small cast, and an easily understandable premise, and the result is a breath of fresh air.

It doesn't hurt that the guest cast are generally likable. Aisling Bea is a bit prickly as Sarah, but she doesn't go too far in that direction, instead striking a good balance between being annoyed and exasperated and being caring, even if she tries to shove that caring side down. Sarah is a character that could have easily become insufferable, but Bea lets the walls down a few times in a way that makes her relatable and thus easier to sympathize with. Adjani Salmon also does a good job as Nick, someone who's awkward but clearly has a big heart, even if he also has a bit of an inability to properly let go (as his storage unit makes clear). And the chemistry between Sarah and Nick is also good, feeling appropriate without being too cutesy or antagonistic overall.

But the main hook of "Eve of the Daleks" is the time loop plot (or Groundhog Day, as Dan puts it), which allows us to see our heroes actually get exterminated, without any lasting consequences. It also lets the Daleks win temporarily, while also letting us see the Doctor and friends learn from the previous iterations of the time loop. This means we get mad scrambling, trying out new strategies, and drama as people get annoyed with each other because of these crazy circumstances. ("Yeah, 'cos it's not my fault, is it?" Sarah yells at Yaz at one point. "It's hers. And there's no point us all sticking together if we keep on dying multiple times.") Plus it's fun to watch the Daleks adapting as well, often rendering the Doctor's plans moot (such as when they knock out the power in the building). And it also gives us a lovely moment where Dan decides to sacrifice himself to buy the Doctor some more time ("If I manage to stay alive, I'll see you up there. If not, I'll see you in the next loop. So there'd better be a next loop"), which then leads to a great scene with Dan treating a Dalek like it works in the building. "What kind of a welcome is that, eh? I'll report you to your manager!" he exclaims, after the Dalek attempts to exterminate him. And the fact that this is a time loop story means that they can do things like this without having to worry about engineering increasingly implausible escapes: just kill them and move on to the next iteration.

One of the other good things about "Eve of the Daleks" is that they actually take a bit of time to introduce some character growth too. You can kinda sorta see it in Flux, but here is the moment where we really learn that Yaz has strong feelings for the Doctor. Admittedly, this could still go wrong -- after all, we've been down this road before with Martha -- but it's at least something. And honestly, what makes it work for me in this episode isn't Yaz's feelings, but the way Dan quietly susses them out. The scene between him and Yaz is quite touching, while also working in some characterization for both Yaz and Dan: "I don't know what to do, Dan," Yaz says. "I've never told anyone. Not even myself." "Just tell her," Dan replies. "... Look, I took way too long to tell somebody that I liked them and then... the universe ended and everything got messy. I wouldn't want that to happen to you, Sheffield." But what's equally great is when Dan does the same thing with the Doctor: "She likes you," he tells her. "I like her, too," the Doctor says brightly. "No, I mean... she likes you," Dan replies. "I don't understand what you're saying, Dan," the Doctor answers. "I think you do. But for some reason you pretend to me, and to her, that you don't," Dan says, a bit harshly. As I said, I'm not fully sold on this potential relationship -- we'll have to see what they do with it -- but I'm definitely enjoying watching Dan nudge both of them along.

Is "Eve of the Daleks" perfect? No. It occasionally feels a touch padded (some of the exploration of Jeff's stuff, for instance), while -- much like Chibnall's very first Doctor Who episode, "42" -- the amount of time we're told they have left versus the amount of time they actually spend in a given loop doesn't bear close scrutiny (that last time through the loop especially). But these are minor complaints. After the excess of Flux, it's good to have a clear, focused, well-written episode again, with a clear indication of what Chibnall can do with the proper discipline. "Eve of the Daleks" is one of the highlights of this block of stories, and possibly of the thirteenth Doctor's entire era.