After almost a whole year in waiting, Doctor Who fans were at last treated to another trip in space a time with the Doctor and her much-loved family. But, was Doctor Who Revolution of the Daleks worth the wait? Let’s find out.
The new years day special, formally shown of Christmas day, have always been a staple point in the show’s legacy as well as being a big selling point of the holiday TV schedules. With so much hype surrounding the episode, it’s fair to say that this year special had a look to do to keep its fans happy. And in my own opinion, it worked just fine. Is this the best episode of Doctor Who ever? Absolutely not. Is this the worst episode of Doctor Who ever, not by a long shot. Revolution of the Daleks was a good episode of Doctor Who. And that means a lot. A good episode of Doctor Who tends to be better than an outstanding episode of most other programs.
One huge selling point was the re-introduction of fan favourite character, Captain Jack Harkness who fans last got a proper look at eleven years ago when David Tennant bowed out of the title role along with showrunner Russell T. Davies. Don’t worry Whoviasn, Jack gets a lot of screentime across the hour and fifteen-minute specials with a lot of his time in the show spent interacting with Yaz. Doctor Who fans will also be happy to see Barrowman face off against Doctor Who’s most iconic creations next to the TARDIS, The Daleks. Without spoiling the episode too much, fans will be treated to a little more than just a few Daleks.
I particularly liked the interaction between The Doctor and her companions. It’s been no secret that Bradly Walsh and Tosin Cole would be leaving the show in this years special, so seeing all these characters together one last time was very heart-warming. The Doctor and Ryan spend a lot of time together working out his possible future travelling in the TARDIS which gave us a very rare chance to see Tosin Cole fully indulge in his brilliant acting skills. It’s a shame we haven’t been able to see more of that in his previous two seasons.
Jodie Whittaker also gives a standout performance in the episode. Whittaker is able to fully explore her acting talents. Jumping from emotion to emotion within the episode alongside friends and danger, Whittaker does an amazing job.
The episode did fall somewhat flat with its storyline. I never felt that this was going to be a giant episode that would always stick with him. The inclusion of some returning characters and monsters was great but the story could have done with a little more attention.
All in all, I would say that Revolution of the Daleks was a fun episode of Doctor Who but like a lot of it’s most recent episodes, the story writing has been disappointing.
NETFLIX & SAX 