Doctor Who: Eve of the Daleks, review: funny, scary, inventive and the best episode in years
New Year, New Who. Happily, Doctor Who (BBC One) began 2022 with a bang. A demolition blast and a spectacular pyrotechnic display, to be precise. Hour-long special Eve of the Daleks was the most entertaining episode in a long time, raising hopes that the Chris Chibnall/Jodie Whittaker era may just end on a high after all.
This adrenalised adventure was essentially Groundhog Day with Daleks instead of hibernating rodents. It combined high-octane thrills with time-loop trippyness and a sweet romcom subplot. A stripped-back single setting provided narrative simplicity, tightness of focus and lent propulsive momentum to the plot. Sometimes the limitations of a BBC budget can be a blessing in disguise.
It was nine minutes to midnight on New Year’s Eve in Manchester and long-suffering Sarah (Aisling Bea) was reluctantly working the night shift at Elf Storage warehouse. We later learnt that it wasn’t a festively named business. An “S” had simply fallen off the sign.
Shy, nerdy Nick (Adjani Salmon) was her only customer. The lonely pair had slipped into their same old annual routine, except this year the countdown to midnight was accompanied by deadly pepperpots rasping “Exterminate!”
The Doctor (Jodie Whittaker), Yaz (Mandip Gill) and Dan (John Bishop) landed in the damp, dingy warehouse by mistake, having been aiming for a beach holiday in space. Executioner Daleks with machine gun weaponry were on a mission to kill the Doctor. The innocent humans were collateral damage. “Increased fear levels detected!” honked a Dalek, referring to viewers at home as much as its on-screen adversary.
However, whenever anyone died, time was somehow reset and the plucky quintet had to live through the same lethal moments again. They had mere minutes to work out why and hatch a plan to escape. The extra complication was that on each lap around, the loop closed by another minute. This device cleverly cranked up the jeopardy as proceedings built to a combustible climax. Could our heroes learn from their mistakes, outwit the relentless killing machines and survive into the New Year? Would anyone happen to find love along the way?
The guest cast certainly pulled their weight. Bea was especially excellent, adding humour and heart (she’d make a cracking full-time companion if she was so inclined). The ensemble were joined on a smartphone screen by Sarah’s mother, Mary (the mighty Pauline McLynn of Father Ted fame). Her "pre-bongs” phone calls were an irritant which the Doctor ingeniously turned into an advantage.
In adversity, Sarah dropped her emotional defences. Lovestruck Nick confessed that he’d nursed an unrequited crush on her for the past few years. The couple tip-toed towards a tentative romance. This was paralleled by matchmaker Dan gently encouraging Yaz to tell the Doctor how she felt. Both companions were on fine form: Dan canny and courageous, Yaz tongue-tied and touchingly tearful.
Amid the high-stakes action, the script was genuinely funny. Snappy screwball-style dialogue zinged and zipped. There were knowingly TV-literate references to Supermarket Sweep, Are You Being Served? and Jools Holland’s Hootenanny.
A running gag about dodgy geezer Jeff and the shady contents of his lock-ups eventually paid off when the Tardis crew found crates of contraband fireworks. “I haven’t seen this much gunpowder since 1605,” said the Doctor. It helped them defeat the Daleks, with the bonus of ooh-aah illuminations in the sky.
After recent six-part series The Flux lost its way and vanished up its own vortex, a self-contained story was most welcome. This was the first of three special editions this year. The next airs in spring, before Whittaker’s swansong episode transmits this autumn as part of the BBC’s centenary celebrations.
Written by showrunner Chibnall and directed by rising talent Annetta Laufer, Eve of the Daleks was Doctor Who at its purest: giddily imaginative, old-fashioned fun and just frightening enough. If it sets the tone for the rest of 2022, we’re in for a worthy farewell to Whittaker.
