Hello, it's Reviewsday Tuesday and I am back with a Doctor Who review today, it's been a little while.
Today I am going to talk about Revolution of the Daleks which was the 2021 New Year's Special,
First broadcast on BBC One on January 1st.
The episode is an hour and 10 minutes long and follows on from series 12 last year with the Doctor imprisoned by the Judoon.
Yaz, Ryan, and Graham have been left on earth for 10 months and don't know what has happened to the Doctor.
They discover that a defense drone has been funded and built by businessman Jack Robertson, who they know of old,
And it looks remarkably like a Dalek, which can't be good.
Just a note before I start talking about the episode, this video will have spoilers
So please do not watch it if you haven't seen Revolution of the Daleks yet.
I was looking forward to seeing a new episode of Doctor Who and I really enjoyed this special.
I did need the little recap at the start and to be honest I could have done with more of one.
I was a little rusty on what happened before.
For instance I can remember that Jack Robertson is a returning character, but I couldn't quite remember how many times we have met him or the circumstances.
This episode was kind of a sequel to many Doctor Who episodes
Which is where I got a bit lost because I could remember some better than others.
It's a follow-up to Arachnids in the UK from back in series 11.
It's also a sequel to the 2019 special, Resolution,
And of course to The Timeless Children, the previous episode of Doctor Who from last year.
I kind of wish that I had watched, or read a synopsis of, some of series 11 and 12 before I watched this episode.
I did feel like I was missing things.
Having said that, I did enjoy the references to previous series of Doctor Who that I did get, the ones that didn't go over my head.
For instance all the creatures in the prison, like the Ood and the Weeping Angel and The Silence.
I love The Silence, and it led to my favourite line in the episode by the Doctor
Although I'm biased because I love The Silence.
And Captain Jack was back! I really enjoyed his role in the episode.
I think mainly because he was crucial to the plot, he wasn't shoehorned in,
Nobody but Captain Jack would have been as good in that role in the episode.
He broke the Doctor out of prison, obviously very helpful,
But more importantly I thought, he had experience of the situations with the Doctor that Yaz, Ryan, and Graham were coming across for the first time,
The experience of being left by the Doctor, of not knowing what has happened to her, of not knowing whether you're going to see the Doctor again,
The need to think about what you're going to do when you're no longer traveling with the Doctor
And how you come to terms with not living that life anymore.
I feel like Captain Jack was woven into the story so well.
I would have been happy with him being there at any case, I love Captain Jack,
But I felt like his role in the story was especially good, especially relevant, especially useful.
The only downside to me was his off-screen exit, he did just sort of go away,
But it would have taken attention away quite a bit from what was to come, which was the splitting up of Yaz, Ryan, and Graham.
Onto our main team, our Companions.
It's the first time we've seen them having to deal with the situation of being left, and I like that they all reacted differently and used the 10 months differently.
Yaz was very upset and determined to find the Doctor, and really glad to see her again and also a bit angry.
Graham and Ryan were both coming to terms more with being left,
They had both come to terms with the idea that she might never return,
And when she did come back, Graham was happy and excited to be able to go on another adventure,
Whereas Ryan had sort of moved on more with his life and was kind of taking a step backwards by stepping into the TARDIS again.
So I found that really interesting to delve into in the episode and I was glad that we got to delve into it as much as we did.
We had a nice conversation between Ryan and the Doctor, we don't have that many Ryan and Doctor heart-to-hearts so that was good.
We had the conversation between Yaz and Jack in Osaka, which was great.
Graham had maybe less to do in terms of character development in the episode as whole,
But I feel like if we were going to not concentrate on anyone, I feel like Graham was the right person to be in the background more.
But the splitting of the team at the end affected me more than I thought it would.
I knew it was coming, I knew that Ryan and Graham were leaving at the end of the episode,
But I think because it was a split of the team, it was two staying, two going, it felt worse and sadder to me.
Especially because Graham wasn't intending on leaving,
Until Ryan said that he was going it didn't really seem to have crossed Graham's mind,
But I think he made the right choice to stay with Ryan, because he was right, he would be different when he came back, and Ryan would be different,
And they've worked so hard on their relationship over the last couple of years, it would have been very strange for him to have stayed.
And I understand why Ryan left as well, and Tosin Cole I thought played it really well.
He'd mentally prepared for being on earth from now on and he was planning for his future
And if he'd just dropped everything again and just ran off with the Doctor it wouldn't have been the same.
So yeah, I quite liked the ending, and I thought the performances throughout the episode were great,
From the main cast, Jodie Whittaker, I haven't talked about her that much but I really loved her, I really enjoy her as the Doctor,
And then of the guest characters, I especially loved Nathan Stewart-Jarrett as Leo, I thought he was amazing in the episode.
As I say, really enjoyed the episode, I think it's my favourite special in a few years.
I think it was the right length, sometimes I feel like they're a bit too long or a bit too short but this one felt right.
Good use of guest characters, both new and returning.
I liked the Daleks in the story. I liked the look of the 3D-printed Daleks, actually,
But I was also really happy to see the more familiar-looking and -sounding Death Squad Daleks,
And there were also some timely themes to be found in the whole government plot.
And I felt like the episode had a good script, and I felt like it also built some intrigue for the future, I'm excited for the next series.
Speaking of, what did we think of the reveal at the end of John Bishop as new Companion, Dan.
I'm excited. I know him mainly for comedy and a bit of presenting, but I have seen him acting in a few things, for instance, Skins.
But I'm interested to see the role that Dan will play in the group.
Anyway, I will give Revolution of the Daleks 4.3 out of 5.
I'd love to know what you thought about this episode, feel free to let me know in the comments below.
Please mark spoilers if possible, just in case.
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