Add Doctor Who to the list of reasons to look forward to 2021: the latest holiday special, “Revolution of the Daleks,” will air on BBC America on New Year’s Day!
The Doctor is still in prison. Not just any prison—an eternal prison. Back on Earth, Yaz, Ryan and Graham are trying to keep an eye on things, but that’s a big job at any moment. And in this particular moment, someone’s decided that Daleks would make good “defense drones.”
“Revolution of the Daleks” is a grab-bag of guest-star goodness: always-welcome John Barrowman, still convincing us he’s as immortal as Captain Jack Harkness; smug-faced Chris Noth (Sex and the City), also returning to the series as That Guy With Money Who Thinks All Of His Ideas Are Great; brilliant stage actor Harriet Walter; and the excellent Nathan Stewart-Jarrett (Misfits, the 2018 Angels in America revival). The tone here is Doctor Who perfection, from Jack’s ominous voiceover (“You don’t get to choose when it stops—whether you leave her, or she leaves you”) to Yaz giving Harkness a hard time about how he seems to need a lot of praise.
Doctor Who‘s 13th season began filming earlier this month, but will be a short eight-episode season, as the protocols for filming during the pandemic make everything take a little longer. A 14th season is also confirmed, but it’s not clear yet whether Jodie Whittaker and showrunner Chris Chibnall are sticking around past lucky 13.
