Doctor Who (TV Series) Eve of the Daleks (2022) User Reviews

Eve of the Daleks

[studioAT · 8/10 · 18 February 2022]

Well I enjoyed this, I thought actually it was the best episode of the show I'd seen in a long time.

Funny, romantic, and reasonably easy to get your head around - I don't see why it's being slated quite so much here.

Good fun.

Eve of the Daleks

[Prismark10 · 8/10 · 1 January 2022]

Doctor Who does Groundhog Day. This is also the first new year special where there are still Christmas decorations about.

The setting is a storage depot in Manchester. The Doctor, Yaz and Dan along with two people in the depot get repeatedly killed by the Daleks.

This was a bottle episode with only a few sets and a small cast. Pauline Mclynn literally phones in her performance.

It also meant that Chris Chibnall can keep things more focussed. There was still some clunky dialogue.

However the task was simple. The Doctor needs to escape from the depot and somehow get rid of the Daleks. All the while the time loop would shorten by one minute.

It was perversely pleasing to see the Daleks repeatedly kill off the Doctor.

This was a good fun romp, some nice bit of humour and a good dollop of action.

There seemed to be a bit of foreshadowing as well. A character turned up from Jodie's first episode as the Doctor.

mildly surprising, and for once it's for good

[kutner-15247 · 8/10 · 3 January 2022]

I came to this episode with zero expectations, and I definitely didn't expect it to be as good as it was. As of now, this might be my favorite episode of the Chibnall era.

For once, it felt like we got what Chibnall promised all that time ago, back when he became a showrunner. We have a character driven, light plot with some good interactions and a doctor that for once doesn't just go around looking confused or says "i don't know" every five minutes.

The regular characters all had their moment to shine and some character progression, and the guests did a tremendous job, especially for such a sparse environment as they were given.

The plot wasn't all that exciting, but it had a solid pacing and it lacked the usual hyperactive frenzy that many Chibnall-era stories tend to spiral to. Also, the fact there were no deus ex machina or sudden last minute twists really helped me stay immersed in the action without rolling my eyes at the sheer absurdity of the what's happening.

Overall, I might start thinking Chibnall is actually capable of writing a decent Doctor Who episode.

An Interesting Concept Done Ok

[atkinsonlouise-73873 · 6/10 · 9 January 2022]

The latest New Year/Dalek special was a flawed, but decent storyline. Highlights included Aisling Bea who brought a lot of humour and character in her performance, while the 'Groundhog Day' like concept was definitely intriguing, if a little predictable of where the story would go. The Dalek's were ok, they had some humorous lines here and there, but were generally what you expect. Jodie and Mandip were decent, with John Bishop bringing most of the entertainment from the main 3. The other side character,(played by Adjani Salmon) was kinda forgettable and his romantic sub-plot with Bea's character, was something I didn't care for at all. I kinda knew about the love aspect between Yaz and the Doc before we even got this story, but I'm intrigued to see how it's done and it did raise the emotional stakes slightly. After a very enjoyable series, I was slightly disappointed here, but I did have fun and hey maybe this episode will grow on me.

Slightly Above Average

[EthelredBusybody · 6/10 · 1 January 2022]

I was going to rate this 6.5, rounded up to 7, but after a bit of thought, decided to round down instead.

This had its moments. I didn't think there was much to the story, but I guess the intentional repetition was the main reason for that. I thought all performances were slightly above average and there really wasn't anything I hated.

Bottom line - a bit of feel good to start the new year. The past couple of years I have come to have very low expectations, so I guess the bar is set very low for me at the moment. This episode cleared that low bar.

Here's hoping Doctor Who can improve and get back to what it was in the past.

Actually pretty good

[weatherladykatie · 8/10 · 2 January 2022]

I'm one of Chibnall's biggest critics. I've not been a fan of his writing since about halfway through his first season. I thought Flux was a mess. He crammed in way too much and tried way too hard.

Eve of the Daleks he got back to basics. It was simple but straightforward. To avoid spoilers things seemed to flow a lot better. The romancing The Doctor schtick has gotten old... The doctor is an alien. Why do humans keep forgetting that and falling in love with him/her? My other criticism is that the Daleks don't usually miss, and it seems as though they were training with their new firepower with Storm Troopers. They couldn't hit the broad side of a barn. Otherwise a solid effort.

Good story, weak execution

[jamesrupert2014 · 6/10 · 3 January 2022]

A TARDIS reboot causes an ever-shrinking temporal stutter that the Daleks exploit as an opportunity to kill the Doctor. I like these kinds of time-loop stories, in which lessons from each iteration can be applied to solve an overall problem, and so I generally liked this episode despite the tedious, irritating and unnecessary secondary characters. Even though the most feared creatures in the universe can be slow-moving and lousy shots (when the plot demands it), any adventure featuring the polycarbide-armored malignant blobs is usually worth the couch time. That said, I still dislike Jodie Whittaker's goofy 'people's doctor' (she is a Time Lord after all, not some moderately advanced monkey like we are) and the flippant, jejune script and strained attempts at humour undermined what could have been a particularly clever story. Hopefully if the Doctor decides to engage in some inter-specific miscegenation, it will be with something interesting (like a Zygon or a Denebian slime devil).

Naïve of the Daleks ...

[Xstal · 8/10 · 11 January 2022]

If you'd like to lock something away, to repair itself while you go play, consider Elf Storage, for your TARDIS moorage, we've 'Beef'n'Beans well past their day.

Be aware that you'll have to replay, an escape room where you are the prey, feeling like a groundhog, where you're the underdog, all free but you will have to pay.

Extermination by lethal ray, your life is removed as they flay, you come back with a whoop, shortening the time loop, as a minute from your totals decay.

Lots of running around the hallway, but you'll need to unlock a gateway, a smoke screen or red herring, readjust get your bearing, guaranteed to annoy and dismay.

Three New Year's Day Dalek adventures, the groundhog has got its indentures, now the canons been shot, the race is on for the spot, will new Doctor be his, theirs or a hers.

Eve of the Daleks Review

[theredsky · 1 January 2022]

It definitely improved the longer it went in but the middle section was awful. I did enjoy parts of this episode. There are some genuinely great moments here like Dan's confrontation of The Daleks and anything related to The Doctor and Yaz's relationship. The new characters weren't great but their performances were pretty good. The Daleks were all over the place though. Sometimes they were good and sometimes they were absolutely stupid. The "duck" moment is one of the worse scenes in New Who. The concept itself is great and it's executed decently well but the story could have been more interesting. I said it in my Letterboxd review Best, some genuinely great moments in a scattershot episode. Looking forward to Spring though.

Very very naff

[samtimoney-79758 · 6/10 · 1 January 2022]

Not much happened, clever idea but just a mimic of the film 'Edge of tomorrow' and "happy death day'. I enjoyed it and there has been much much worse chris chibnal episodes but that wasn't too bad, besides I love Aisling Bee full stop. Also loved the the cameo of Misses Doyle ! I Did also like how they've finally addressed the weak but clearly present storyline which is the romance between Yaz and the doctor.

Downers:

• music (no longer Murray gold and hasn't been good since he stopped)
• cringey and badly written dialog, this is the writer of Broadchurch for god sake you'd think he'd be able to poo out some kind or reality and intelligence.

• just a very simple plot, sometimes you need them in this show but this was just a bit to much
• felt like a filler episode but it's a New Years special, should of been a lot more.

One down. Two to go.

[W011y4m5 · 5/10 · 1 January 2022]

"Eve of The Daleks" brazenly attempts to accomplish what Steven Moffat previously achieved with S9's "Heaven Sent"... But with Chris Chibnall as writer (what do you even expect by this point?), it's no surprise to say it obviously pales in comparison, wasting the concept presented.

Alas, maybe I could've invested myself in the general story, overlooked & forgiven the ridiculousness of it all, turning a blind eye to the contrived sequences, the blatantly bad pacing (the loop they're stuck in decreases by a minute each time it restarts from 8 to midnight onwards, so the episode should therefore conclude at the 36 minute mark - yet it's an hour in total?), the eye-rolling-ly convenient bad aim from the Dalek death rays fired down straight, narrow corridors (whenever required by the plot), the EXTREMELY questionable portrayals of creepy, voyeuristic, male behaviour etc. If I'd at least cared even slightly about the people featured within this messy tale but to be quite frank, I've finally reached a point where (although it pains me to say) I'm truly sick & tired of Jodie Whittaker's hateful Doctor. Just want her gone.

The worst part is it's not actually her fault as an actress - so the blame for this overwhelming feeling of lethargy isn't her fault - because there's no doubting her talents as a performer & her potential (I'm also sure she's a wonderful person on set & off); we simply find ourselves in a very regrettable situation where the first woman to ever embody the iconic role has been continually saddled with abysmal, offensive writing from the current showrunner throughout her era, squandering her capabilities - & especially after watching 13 exploit a disabled character's blindness in S11's "It Takes You Away", weaponise the Master's race against him in S12's "Spyfall Part 2", prioritise moral lectures in the TARDIS over saving people's lives in "Orphan 55", show ambivalence towards discussions regarding Graham's experiences with cancer in "Can You Hear Me?" (the list goes on) etc. Seeing her iteration of the main protagonist still show absolutely no discernible sign of progression whatsoever, happily sending Dan off to act as Dalek cannon fodder whilst continuing to respond (after 3 arduous seasons) with wilful ignorance & a lack of sympathy - when confronted with the reality that Yaz has always had romantic feelings for her... These damning moments culminate to form a series of misdeeds which act as irrefutable proof of her irredeemable nature. She is intrinsically unable to change or the see error of her ways & remains immoral, manipulative & unconscionable, lacking basic decency, behaving selfishly, cruelly & having not developed one iota in 4 years since we first officially met her in the introductory installment "The Woman Who Fell To Earth". That stagnation & refusal to evolve reeks & I unfortunately find myself growing increasingly unable to show any enthusiasm for her tenure. Perhaps if the show depicted her villainy as exactly that - subverting audience expectations by addressing her vulgar inhumanity - I'd be more inclined to pay attention... But I'm done excusing bad writing & Chris' lazy, complacent lack of consideration. Portraying cold callousness as somehow righteous has become excruciatingly predictable & speaks volumes about his perceptions of good & bad - if he can't decipher the difference.

In fact, for it to have taken THIS long to address a character's sexuality in 2022? That's regressive, not progressive. Shan't applaud a big TV exec. For doing the bare minimum when we should be demanding better from our creators. Thus, this new year's special is certainly a difficult slog & one of the final nails in the coffin, created to entomb a charmless, lifeless era, trudging to its lacklustre, inevitable end.

FINALLY!

[franchielo · 9/10 · 2 January 2022]

After two New Years specials that seemed like just two out of place normal episodes, Chibnall finally manages to balance a festive story that works really well!

The loop concept is amazing. Although the daleks are still underused like in the other two times, this one doesn't bother, actually it's a lot of fun.

What a wonderful addition John Bishop was to this cast, Dan is such a charismatic and wonderful character. Jodie Whittaker is very comfortable in her role as Doctor, always surprising. And Mandip delivers really exciting scenes as Yaz.

What an episode!

Boring and dull, but humourous and inoffensive.

[goape-67215 · 6/10 · 2 January 2022]

This episode is really quite dull and repetitive, but a couple of the jokes are funny and as someone who detests the Chibnall era, it's refreshing to have an episode that isn't terrible and doesn't disrespect Doctor Who's history.

The worst bit of the episode was The Doctor and Yaz element; not because it's affection between two women, but the way it's approached is always so ham-fisted and Yaz is undoubtedly up there with Mel as the worst companion of all time.

Oh dear.

[stephen_mac · 3/10 · 7 January 2022]

It would be easy to just give this a 1 because it seems to be disappointment after disappointment when it comes to Doctor Who these days. However for once this episode was not quite that bad.

There were some good moments of humour in this episode, just sadly none of it generated through the so-called stars of the show.

I can't recall any meaningful dialogue from Yasmin and the storyline of her being in love with the doctor is tired and badly played out. The Doctor's equally tortured reciprocation or lack thereof is so wooden and forced it seems quite insulting to what it tries to stand for. The chemistry does not exist and relies on statements by other characters in order to become established at all.

And the whole concept sadly lacks any originality. We've been here before haven't we? With a passion through Rose and the 9th and especially 10th Doctors, then unrequited Martha and the 10th, and Amy with the 11th! So forgive me yawning loudly when the current incarnation, 13, tries - and fails - to capitalise on recreating previous love tensions and grab some ratings but thus time around attempts by trying to inject some lgbtq aspect into it.

Ashling Bea (Sarah) and Adjani Salmon (Nick) carried the acting part of the story and John Bishop (Dan) filled in his part well to the limit that the writing allowed. There could be a good character there and Bishop does well but there is so little opportunity for him to do anything to widen his scope.

Too many characters has been a constant criticism of the Chris Chibnall era. Trying to play down the Doctor and equalise with the companions has left little room for developing so many different characters however. Too little time per episode and too few episodes to allow this approach.

The storyline itself was okay, one of the better ones of this Doctor. Poor dialogue and direction, a lack of room for the actors to develop their roles and social politics underlying the storylines have undermined the Doctor what it has stood for.

Wherever it goes from here I trust at least the new Doctor will not dress like a clown or run like Phoebe Buffay.

Two episodes to go and then i wish Chris Chibnall and Jodie Whittaker good fortune in their future endeavours but their stint with the Doctor will only be remembered with cringing.

As an aside i watched two Christmas specials (as opposed to new year specials) of the 12th Doctor which were available on ABC iview - Last Christmas and Twice upon a time. Good comparisons as the 12th was not without detractors.

The result was night and day compared to 13 however. Last Christmas was fun, jaunty and witty with its dialogue and delivery. It carried a story, not just in this episode but from prior ones and capably set up ones to follow.

Twice upon a time however reduced me to tears such were some of the moments that it produced. Mark Gatiss as a writer and actor is extremely talented and the lethbridge-stewart family connection in the story was a nice touch despite the slightly contrived nature to it.

Bring on the new start and new opportunities to claim back what has been lost.

It wasn't horrible but still enjoyable

[emma-70719 · 6/10 · 3 January 2022]

I really enjoy Doctor who, especially the newest regeneration, but a lot of the writing is rather poor, this episode/special was still pretty entertaining and I can't wait to see how the storyline between Yaz and the dr will fair. Although I do wish the writers could come up with some original ideas, this episode felt like many others. I had to cringe at the dr's 'inspirational speech' and her sonic screwdriver is way over used!! Not rubbish, not amazing, not my favourite Ep.

A passable time loop dalek story

[rulerofgallifrey · 7/10 · 3 January 2022]

The Daleks are up to their old tricks to exterminate the Doctor but now stuck in a time loop counting down. The Doctor must out smart her oldest foe.

Look this episode is written by Chibnall and for him it's decent episode but for any other writer it's a passable story.

The Daleks aspect of this story in the weakest plan for a long time but they fit in this episode well as a persisting threat.

A time loop story with a difference

[Tweekums · 8/10 · 3 January 2022]

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.

Meh...

[agetch · 6/10 · 15 February 2022]

Love the girl who owns the storage unit highlight of the episode outstanding doctoresque feel. She should stay as a companion. I'm all for the doctor being a woman if it's done right an actress like who played river season 5 or someone like Kristen bell with that natural whimsical crazy to her tone. Unfortunately still not feeling jodi, she's a good actress but she's no doctor... miss Matt smiths and David tenants reign hope they switch it back to a male next season and continue to search for the perfect female lead :( but still the best episode I've seen in years the closet to the older episodes! The story was interesting the timer gave a nice twist nick and Sarah were great.

A new favourite episode for me! A truly engaging adventure.

[keelan1995 · 10/10 · 2 January 2022]

This is the first time in a long while since I've felt true excitement whilst watching a Doctor Who episode. And I've missed it. A really engaging and entertaining story, surprising heart warming moments (hint hint Yaz), an amazing performance from Aisling Bea, Jodie whittaker was in here element here and I truly wish she had more opportunities like this throughout her run as the doctor, Bishop was great despite me previously being unsure about him (particularly enjoyed him being more serious, blunt and direct with the doctor), Adjani ( who played Nick) was very entertaining / a refreshing character, and finally the Daleks were truly a force to be reckoned with - first time in a while they have felt scary, unpredictable and provoked a true fear throughout the episode.

An absolute ride. I will miss Jodie whittakers take on the doctor but this has refuelled hope and excitement again as a doctor who fan.

This deserves higher reviews, and Jodie deserves more credit here.

Looking forward to the future of Who!

I just can't... another countdown

[psihozzz · 7/10 · 29 April 2022]

What's up with his proclivity for including countdowns? Also, daleks... again?! Can't wait for a new showrunner and the next regeneration! 3, 2, 1 🤣 🤣🤣

Plot holes and unpleasant characters

[Tug-3 · 2/10 · 3 January 2022]

This is another puzzling episode from Chris Chibnall. Again, he chose to rework concepts done far better by his predecessors; probably unwise to do a different take on the majestic Heaven Sent, only with more characters and less emotion.

About those characters. Why is every Chibnall character, perhaps with the exception of Dan, so unpleasant? Aisling Bea is a fine comedic actor, but her lengthy pre-credits sequence consists of her being rude and angry with her mother and a guy who just wants to be friendly. That guy, Nick, is given a bizarre backstory, and describing him as a weirdo stalker sure seems appropriate.

The Thirteenth Doctor continues to be terribly written and unsympathetic. Is there ANYTHING likeable about this Doctor now? She's recently committed genocide and is celebrating by going to the beach. She consistently puts people in jeopardy, but unlike previous incarnations who "got clever" yet regretted manipulating their friends, Thirteen just yells her cohorts into following her orders, which often make no sense. Her jokes fall flat, she has one scrunchy facial expression, and her "big Doctor moments" come off as pompous and pat. The low point of this episode was her inspirational speech, which felt like something a middle school PE coach would say to a volleyball team.

Aftermath of the Final Flux Event & DALEKS!

[wetmars · 9/10 · 1 January 2022]

This has to be now my all-time favorite story of the Chibnall era. It is a massive improvement of the Flux series. I grew deeply attached to Sarah & Nick. We all know that Chibnall's characters are very poorly written, but these two. They have actual character and chemistry. Although I will agree that the romance was a bit too silly, I dig it rather than the wacky dialogue.

The episode did a great job on how time loops can drive a human being to insanity, losing it all. I do appreciate it was rather not an actual time loop, but a time loop that decreases time by a minute each death which is a lot of creativity I got to say.

Dan's character has improved a lot since the last stories of Flux rather than doing nothing. His relationship with Yaz is strongly building up, he knew that Yaz was hiding something from 13. Oh yeah, speaking of that. It's been confirmed that Yaz has feelings toward 13 as being romantically inclined. I do hope to GOD that 13 will shrug it off, and remain friends. Just don't make the same mistake that RTD did with 10 and Rose. Just PLEASE DON'T.

About the Daleks, they're just amazing and menacing. Moffat's idea of the Daleks was poor like they screamed: "EXTERMINATE" and not exterminate, like what was up with that? Lol. Of course, they're sticking to the overused Bronze Designs, but I bloody love the Gatling gun. Overall, it's an enjoyable fun story with a sense of humor where Dan interrogates the Dalek Executioner.

The plot is not bad and was pretty interesting. The pacing didn't feel too rushed or slow. Next time, we will be seeing the return of the beloved Sea Devils! About time we get to see them again. Oh, good times when we all thought they were coming back in Praxeus, wasn't it? Speaking about the Sea Devils, I totally believe that Chibnall is a Pertwee fan since there is a lot of references to that era like when one of the Commanders in War of the Sontarans referenced Linx. Incidentally, a happy New Years to all of you at home! (( not to you, NMDers. ))

Eve > Resolution > Revolution (( good, but no longer a 8/10 due to with the stuff with Barrowman doing nasty stuff on set, and the actor of Jack Robertson sexually assaulting three women. I just can't with Jack's character anymore since Barrowman acts like him. ))

9/10.

Flux and beyond

[busclas · 7/10 · 1 January 2022]

This entire season has been very poorly written. There was and might be if done correctly still potential for the entire timeless child arc, but we will have to wait and see as the writing changes once again after this season.

As for this story that is the equivalent of every other Christmas special done, just a different day this year, it fell in line rating wise with past Christmas specials. I am inclined to like the way the story folded out, but the details were overly obvious. To start, (and only as far as I can remember) the Doctor has never performed a manual reset on the TARDIS in this manner before, and then seeing the cracks you knew the TARDIS was going to kick in and time loop them for safety until it was done resetting. Too much history of the TARDIS doing things on its own to protect itself and the Doctor to have any other options here.

Second, it has the classic everyone working together within one episode to defeat the common enemy, which in a way was nice because it was more in line with classic WHO were most if not all the story was confined to a single episode.

Third, I think the BBC needs to really sit down and rethink their entire strategy for this all time classic show because between the poor writing as evident was given to Whitaker, and the complete change in canon with the introduction of the Timeless Child, they're going to cause this show to go the way of every other great series and be no more.

There were a lot of quirky real world references in this episode, and that's to be expected, but none caught me more off guard than the "two girls one cup" reference. Don't look it up, trust me on this, anyone from the early internet days will vouch for me on that one, but we're also the generation that will say do it, so you've been warned.

As specials go, it wasn't very special

[deekbee-18424 · 4/10 · 2 January 2022]

It was an average episode; doctor does groundhog day. Aspects were fun, but it didn't have anything that stood out as spectacular.

JW has such enthusiasm for the role, it's a shame that she hasn't had a chance to tap her potential.

Decent but too childish at times

[maxx_ · 7/10 · 1 January 2022]

This is not an in depth review but a quick and simple summary of my thoughts.

A good well flowing plot, nice ideas. Dialogue childish at points but the scene with the daleks killing each other just by someone ducking was just mere laziness in my opinion. Surely they could just.. stop shooting? Rest was pretty decent but at points just lazy and childish.