This episode opens in a storage facility in Manchester shortly before midnight on New Year's Eve. Customer Nick is greeted by Sarah, the owner. Meanwhile on the Tardis, The Doctor is preparing for a system reset to fix problems caused by the Flux; this will necessitate them leaving the Tardis for a while. She plans to do this on a beach planet... instead they end up in Sarah's storage facility. As Nick goes to put his item in his storage locker he encounters a Dalek and is killed. Shortly afterwards it kills Sarah... and then The Doctor, Yaz and Dan! Obviously this is not the end... suddenly time rests to the moment The Doctor and her companions exit the Tardis. They are caught in a time loop and the building is sealed. Everybody in the building is aware that they are in a loops so they work to ensure each time round they get closer to finding a way to survive. There is one other problem though; each loop is shorter than the last.
The idea of a time loop has been used in many films and TV shows; usually characters initially just have a sense of déjà vu, or at most one character realises what is happening so it was in interesting change to have everybody aware from the start thus avoiding the repetition of explain to people what is happening every loop. Similarly having the loops get shorter added a degree of tension as we know the characters can't keep trying different solutions for ever. The single location and limited cast of characters may have been done for budgetary reasons or for easy of filming under Covid rules but it did create a decent sense of claustrophobia and enabled good character development for Sarah and Nick. There were some good funny moments, most obviously being when we learn what Nick is storing and why. The cast was solid with fine guest performances from Aisling Bea and Adjani Salmon as Sarah and Nick. Obviously there were some weaker moments; how Nick defeated a pair of Daleks was rather silly and having Yaz admit to Dan that she has feelings for The Doctor was a mild distraction from the drama; at least for once the wretched sonic screwdriver proved to be useless. People complaining about time loops clearly have sat through 'The Endless Eight' episodes of 'The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya'; that has eight episodes of it with only minor changes between each! Overall I thought this was a pretty good stand-alone episode; of course it might have helped that reviews had set me up for a disappointment.