“Revolution Of The Daleks” Release Revealed

Well, this was going to be fun either way. The “special” that is no longer that special bit of Christmas-time, is now a tradition to sit and watch a bit of Doctor Who. Now it’s just that bleak and general “festive special.” No, that isn’t me bemoaning a culture shift to be more inclusive by not use the Christian/Catholic celebration exclusively. I don’t care for frivolous religions and their celebrations, it just felt right. 2010’s “A Christmas Carol” can be watched all-year-round. However, it’s one of those warm family adventures with a mad alien, Michael Gambon, Katherine Jenkins, and a wonderful sci-fi twist on Dickens’ 1843 story we all know and have our preferred versions of. If you do not say The Muppet Christmas Carol, you are a monster!

The specials always have a bit of fun to them. Something grand and outside of the usual series that makes them distinctive. A guest star like Kylie, a regeneration, a ‘one-off’ companion that is different, or even the 2008-10 specials which… We’ll get to them in a short while. I’ll not beat around the bush here; Instead, I’ll run right over it with enormous hedge trimmers. Chibnall’s last special was a bit crap. Series 12 made me want to kick him off a building to his death, and I’ve not been excited for this one since he (Spoiler Alert!) changed the question from Who to What, and the name Gallifrey to a question mark. I also want to lock up the Daleks and Cybermen for a while. Let them rest for a bit.

With “Revolution of the Daleks,” I had a doubt that would ever happen. Set to air on January 1st, 2021, the episode will continue from the rather anti-climatic ending of Series 12. As was teased about a week ago, Captain Jack is back and taking up the role of the de facto lead (the Doctor) for an episode? I’ve already said it, I’m not a fan of Chibnall. That is because his track record is in the toilet where it belongs. Going by the newly released trailer and what we know, it just looks like his signature busy, exposition-heavy Who-gasm without purpose. It seems like it will be without reason to keep going.

[WARNING! NEWS-Y BIT OVER, POSSIBLE SPOILERS AND LENGTHY SPECULATION AHEAD]

Right, at this point I’ve already written (and rewritten) 2,000 words on this. I feel like I’m going around in circles kicking Chris Chibnall square in the testicles. I don’t want to do that. In essence, there is weak symbolism of Thatcherite policy with a faux-Donald Trump analog that was hastily put together last time in “Arachnids in the UK.” Chris Noth’s great acting can’t save a poorly written parody of a cartoon. We’re once again running the gambit of idiots trying to control the Daleks for their political will (Hi, Winston!), there is a Prey (2017) like tendrilled beastie hugging faces like it was Half-Life or Alien, and Jack is taking up the lead.

I know it is just a trailer, but there is something about it that I’m just not excited about. I’ll put the cards on the table and admit that I hated “The Timeless Children” for several reasons; mostly Chibnall’s exposition-heavy changes I’ve already mentioned. However, after my lengthy and rather therapeutic diatribe on what makes a good companion in last week’s “The Doctor’s Daughter” review; I can’t help but echo part of what I was getting at here. The Doctor is the lead character. Having Clara (or Jack and the gang) do most of the work isn’t what the show is about. That’s what the trailer seems to hint towards, and that’s my biggest issue with it.

I’ve seen one or two people lament their disgust at the new Dalek design and I’ll be honest, I don’t hate it. It is no Ironside Dalek (the best Dalek) but it does bring an authoritarian modern understanding of near-futurism to the upside-down Nazi dustbins. As a one-off, I think it could work. As a standard going forward for an 8-episode run with them as the central arc? No, I’d rather we had a crap Zygon episode than another Dalek-heavy series. Personally, I think we should be locking them and the Cybermen in Stormcage alongside River. At least for a couple of years we should give new monsters a chance to breathe life into the show.

That seems to be our two main points of the plot. Jack is back to save the Doctor with an already crowded T.A.R.D.I.S of Yas, Ryan, and Graham, while faux-Thatcher/May and the faux-45th president (in all but hair and name) are idiots playing with Daleks. Well, I say two, there are four important things it seems to the episode, and I hope those blob monsters have to do with the Daleks. Part of me doesn’t want them to be the little decaying bodies within the Daleks but the sensible portion of me says that would make the episode less busy, though nonetheless stupid. If you know Chibnall, he loves making an episode busy!

What’s the 4th? Well, as confirmed by the latest issue of SFX magazine, Bradley Walsh and Tosin Cole will be leaving this episode. Chibnall is quoted as saying “It is Ryan and Graham’s final episode in the show. So it’s big and it’s epic. It’s emotional.” Why? To return to the point of the companions talk the other day, Ryan and Yas aren’t great companions. They aren’t proactive in their roles because the T.A.R.D.I.S is full as it is. So why leave Yas and not Graham? Most of the time she simply forgets she’s meant to be an authority figure. Is she finally going to remember from now on?

I was going to hold this off until it felt important to say it in the reviews, but I’ll say it here. I love Jodie, and I think she is brilliant and one of my favorite Doctors. Give her a well-written, thought-provoking, or fun script and she will run with it like there is no tomorrow. If you give her “Daleks in Manhattan,” “The Vampires of Venice,” or “Dinosaurs on a Spaceship” she’d mostly find it hard to work around her three companions. Jodie (unlike Smith or Tennant) cannot get a good hold on a bad script to wrestle it into a well-received episode. If she had a good lone companion, maybe she’d be able to do it. At least if Chibnall wasn’t writing complete crap.

The fact that we’re not getting to see our lead character simply in-contact with the companions in the trailer (not even a tease) somewhat exasperates me. I think my issue there is an assumption that Chibnall will do a very Doctor Who thing and red button it. Instead of solving the problem at hand, he just cuts right through it. There is too much going on with the tendril creatures sucking face like a geordie on a night out, little tin Nazis patrolling the streets like it was “Jubilee,” the political analogs, Jack’s return, the companions trying to save the Doctor, the Doctor still in prison, and getting rid of Graham and Ryan. 60-70 minutes isn’t going to be enough.

I’ll admit, I’m not excited for New Year’s day the same way I could with the likes of 2010’s “A Christmas Carol,” 2017’s “Twice Upon A Time,” and glee knowing the Taskmaster would be in “The Husbands of River Song.” Am I condemning it to its death already? No, I just look at the mismatched puzzle pieces we have and don’t know how we’re going to fit them together in a satisfying way. It will be interesting to see if Mr. Big is less of Mr. Orange this time, and isn’t written by Mr. Brown’s cousin who writes in his own poo. If it’s companion-heavy, I don’t see it outperforming in terms of critical opinions of “Blink.”

Looking a bit further ahead, we know series 13 will have 8-episodes. We assume we’ll have Yas, and we assume (I hope) we’ll move on from “The Timeless Children.” I’ve already said it, I think Jodie Whittaker is fantastic. She’s just been given dreadful episodes to work with more often than not and shoved aside to accommodate three companions for the two series. I hope I can change my tune on Chibnall and series 11-13 and possibly beyond, but only time will tell if that will happen. We’ll see what “Revolution of the Daleks” brings to the table on New Year’s Day. For specific times, check local listings.