Sarah (Aisling Bea) owns and runs ELF storage, and Nick (Adjani Salmon) is a customer who visits his unit every year on New Year's Eve. This year, however, their night turns out to be a little different than planned as they find themselves joining forces with the Doctor, Dan and Yaz in a fight against the Daleks.

Intrigued by the premise of this and I liked the last two Dalek specials so I'm hyped!

13 and Yaz to finally have a moment tonight after that scene at the end of Flux please

That was brilliant! Hands down better than Flux. Intrigued to see where it goes next for Yaz really

That episode was INCREDIBLE! Really, really loved it and the whole concept worked so well! I was hooked from the very beginning, and the stakes just kept getting higher and I loved how ruthless, calculating and analytic the Daleks were this time!

 

Chibnall really is delivering on the 13/Yaz front too, my heart was BREAKING for her in that moment she shared with Dan :( and then when Dan confronted the Doctor about it. I really feel like Chibs is setting us up for a devastating, emotional goodbye between the two in the final special.

 

Also, OH MY GOD I CAN'T BELIEVE WE'RE GETTING A SEA DEVILS STORY, I'M SO READY :cheeseblock: beyond excited for this!!

Much better but still a few flaws, and although I knew it was happening I'm still slightly peeved that Aisling Bea was in it. Not because she's bad but she is my preferred choice for the next Doctor if they go female.

 

Also, the long overdue return of the Sea Devils is a hugely popular decision

 

Really liked that!! Slightly slow start but it got into its groove about 15 mins in and I thoroughly enjoyed the rest of it. Glad they touched on the effects of the Flux a little bit as well!

 

Yaz :cry: :heart: her scene with Dan was one of the most heartfelt scenes of this era, and of modern Who to date possibly? I'm glad they're continuing this route and we're surely going to see more from it in the next couple of episodes.

 

SEA DEVILS! :cheeseblock:

Really enjoyed that, definitely my favourite of the Dalek New Years trilogy. I love time loop/Groundhog Day stuff anyway but it allowed it to be more of a fun romp and stripped back after of the chaos of Flux. I think I’ll have to dive deeper on some of the plot points as I might have missed certain parts but it was definitely a lot of fun to watch.

 

Absolutely loved Aisling Bea, she brought so much life to the episode and some really funny moments, definitely one of the best guest stars the show has had! Speaking of which, actually shook at Chibnall only having two proper guest stars (with an added cameo)! It really made all the difference and I wonder how other episodes this era would have been improved with a more stripped back guest cast.

 

I was actually really surprised at there being such Thasmin development as it’s always been something that I thought Twitter just latched onto from nowhere, although I do wonder if it has become a thing because of that. I’m intrigued as to where it’s leading to given there’s only a couple of episodes left - maybe one of them sacrificing themselves for the other. Yaz has come into her own since Ryan/Graham left but I do still think some of the development could be more explicit. There’s stuff that she does in the background that shows more of her character, e.g. essentially beaming when the Doctor was standing up to the Dalek the first time they met tonight rather than being scared. It can be so subtle that you wonder if it’s just Mandip just taking things into her own hands…

 

Was not expecting the Sea Devils to return! It was something heavily rumoured by fans for Series 12, so I again wonder if that came first or it was Chibnall’s intention all along :lol: It does make me laugh how Series 11 have no returning monsters but now Jodie has since come across Daleks, Cybermen, Sontarans, Weeping Angels, the Master, Judoon, Ood and now Sea Devils.

Best episode, except for Rosa, YET for Chibnab.

 

Chibnab is a DISGRACEFUL show runner and "wroter", but the nee joibt showrunner managed to steer him well with this episode. Since when did Jaz fancy the Doctor??

Since when did Jaz fancy the Doctor??

Since they finally decided to try and give her a personality.

 

So about two months

I'd say there were signs there at least since Revolution of the Daleks when she was the one so keen to reunite with the Doctor, and most greatly affected by her absence!

Since they finally decided to try and give her a personality.

 

So about two months

 

:rofl:

I had zero hype for this after Flux and the other Dalek specials have been quite throwaway but...I was pleasantly surprised, I think that was easily better than the majority of Flux and one of his best episodes. I really love Groundhog Day/Russian Doll style situations and it worked very well in this case and actually made the Daleks seem a challenge to defeat.

 

Loved Sarah and Nick. It was so nice to actually have a supporting cast that had a great, no, actually HAD a personality and didn't worship every word the Doctor says as well as being genuinely funny.

 

It's weird to be saying this for a Chibnall episode, but my main criticism of it would be it was too stretched out because once you realise the concept, it lost its surprise value and starts to drag its heels a bit (and I swear they could've escaped out the other door in like the fifth iteration before the replacement Daleks got there had the Doctor not been waffling? :'')). It appreciate that it did allow for some character moments though.

 

Yaz and Thirteen is cute, I hope it leads to something genuinely emotional, though I do have to agree I wish their chemistry had been stronger before this, again the things that can be done with less characters... I did also like that it acknowledged the actions of the Doctor in Flux committing genocide to the Dalek race, as that was bafflingly out of character for her, Idk if this coupled with 'my actions are catching up with me' is intentional and will come into play later, or a faint acknowledgment from Chibnall that it was badly written. :kink:

 

 

Oh and I can't say I'm familiar with the Sea Devils, not delved that far back #flopfan :ph34r: I hope they're better than the Ice Warriors were x

I hope they're better than the Ice Warriors were x

Don't judge the Ice Warriors by Nu-Who. They've been poorly served.

This was easily the best episode in years. Loved the guest stars and how it was actually a challenge to defeat the daleks. Although I still find the companions utterly pointless. They barely do anything and when they do it’s only because the doctor has told them to. They never seem to have their own independent thoughts.

great episode, proper characterisation, plot, well-paced, tense and it had Mrs Doyle phoning in as a bonus.

 

Sea-Devils. Oh dear. Oh dear oh dear. They were rubbish. The episodes they were in were so tedious, masks in fishnets, about as threatening as a kitten and a ball of string. Plus side, whatever they do it can only be an improvement...

What's shocking about Yaz is that, in real world terms, she's the longest serving companion in the shows history but she's only just becoming more than a blank canvas. Even Dan, who's been in the show for 5 minutes, has more development and personality already.

 

I'm not blaming the actress, she seems ok but the series has been on cruise control too often since series 10 and only just now showing signs of recovering

Since they finally decided to try and give her a personality.

 

So about two months

 

:w00t:

I had zero hype for this after Flux and the other Dalek specials have been quite throwaway but...I was pleasantly surprised, I think that was easily better than the majority of Flux and one of his best episodes. I really love Groundhog Day/Russian Doll style situations and it worked very well in this case and actually made the Daleks seem a challenge to defeat.

 

Loved Sarah and Nick. It was so nice to actually have a supporting cast that had a great, no, actually HAD a personality and didn't worship every word the Doctor says as well as being genuinely funny.

 

It's weird to be saying this for a Chibnall episode, but my main criticism of it would be it was too stretched out because once you realise the concept, it lost its surprise value and starts to drag its heels a bit (and I swear they could've escaped out the other door in like the fifth iteration before the replacement Daleks got there had the Doctor not been waffling? :'')). It appreciate that it did allow for some character moments though.

 

Yaz and Thirteen is cute, I hope it leads to something genuinely emotional, though I do have to agree I wish their chemistry had been stronger before this, again the things that can be done with less characters... I did also like that it acknowledged the actions of the Doctor in Flux committing genocide to the Dalek race, as that was bafflingly out of character for her, Idk if this coupled with 'my actions are catching up with me' is intentional and will come into play later, or a faint acknowledgment from Chibnall that it was badly written. :kink:

Oh and I can't say I'm familiar with the Sea Devils, not delved that far back #flopfan :ph34r: I hope they're better than the Ice Warriors were x

 

LMAO I thought the same thing!!! Instead of explaining the situation, and waiting for thr last time loop WITHIN THR BUILDING, why not just ... exit the building via the door downstairs before any more Daleks appear, and exit the time loop? :') :nickyoung: :nickyoung:

 

would have fixed that plothole right up!!

 

I also couldn't help but compare the two new people WITH ACTUAL PERSONALITIES AND AGENDAS with the two current wet blankets we have. Yaz should have been the ONLY companion from the start, to try and give her a personality. As is, The two new ones last night had motivation to join the doctor: to travel, family business destroyed. Great, done, but, why are Yaz and Dan there?? What function do they serve? Do they EVER challenge the Doctor? What do they bring to thr Tardis or the show? The two from last night had much more enjoyable scenes than Yaz and Dan.

My understanding was that they couldn't just make a plan to go to the other door in the next time loop because the Daleks would have anticipated it if they started planning that move, so they had to throw them off and throw a couple of random ones in before time was up? :unsure: