The first look at Doctor Who’s festive special shows Thirteen in prison
By Lacy Baugher
The first images from the new Doctor Who festive special show the Doctor in prison, and Team TARDIS on their own.
It’s the most wonderful time of the year – new Doctor Who is here! (Well, almost. It’s coming. Sooner rather than later.)
Several members of the cast of the popular sci-fi series, including Jodie Whittaker, Bradley Walsh, and Mandip Gill popped into this year’s virtual edition of New York Comic Con to share a bit about the upcoming festive special, entitled “Revolution of the Daleks”.
[Pause while we all get our emotions together after realizing we’re about to get new Doctor Who contents for the first time in months.]
The fact that we’re getting a new Doctor Who special at all this year is something of a miracle, given that the episode just managed to finish filming before the spreading coronavirus pandemic shut down production of film and television series around the world.
We don’t know much about this year’s holiday special, other it will, obviously, involve the Doctor’s most famous enemy. But the official synopsis has a few new details.
"The Doctor is locked away in a high-security alien prison. Isolated, alone, with no hope of escape. Far away, on Earth, her best friends, Yaz, Ryan, and Graham, have to pick up their lives without her. But it’s not easy. Old habits die hard, especially when they discover a disturbing plan forming. A plan which involves a Dalek. How can you fight a Dalek without the Doctor?"
During the panel, the BBC released two first-look images from the upcoming festive installment.
The first features a messy looking Thirteen counting days by way of tick marks on a chalkboard in an image that almost immediately calls to mind the Twelfth Doctor episode “Listen”.
(Or creepy Eleventh Doctor enemy The SIlence. I expect the initial way your mind is drawn in that comparison probably says a lot about you as a person.)
Narratively speaking, this image makes sense. When we last saw the Thirteenth Doctor at the end of season 12 finale “The Timeless Children” she was trapped in a high-security Judoon prison.
The first look images also reveal Team TARDIS on their own back on Earth, ostensibly wondering how to readjust to the lives they’ve left behind.
You can watch the full Doctor Who virtual panel from NYCC on Youtube:
There’s no official word yet on when “Revolution of the Daleks” will air, and all the BBC would confirm was that it would transmit “this holiday season”. But, if past is prologue in the Chris Chibnall era, we’re probably looking at another New Year’s Day special, and should plan our holidays accordingly.
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Are you looking forward to the return of Doctor Who? What would you like to see in the holiday special?