Resolution of the Daleks

Surely that’s the title we were all expecting. We didn’t get a title sequence this week. I thought, presumably, because that title was going to be the real deal, announced at the story’s conclusion so as to avoid the big spoiler. And why not? No, it doesn’t make any sense but neither does Revelation or Remembrance so why not continue the fun tradition of R… of the Daleks? But alas, the strangely lifeless Resolution it was. On consideration though, it’s an apt title for a narrative which brings to an end the story of Ryan’s antipathy towards his father and his public acceptance of Graham and provides Season 11 with a satisfactory resolution the series finale itself lacked. If Doctor Who started and ended with Jodie Whittaker’s era alone, it would make perfect sense. The only character not to develop across the eleven episodes is Yaz, criminally ill-served throughout. I stand by my assertion that a rather better, more focussed series would have been produced without her. This really has been the story of Ryan Sinclair.

What of Resolution itself then? As a mini-movie version of Doctor Who, it stands as an accomplished, polished and resounding triumph. I’ve always found the suggested notion of Doctor Who as a film series awkward such is the anthological nature of the show, but Resolution proves that a movie version could indeed work, alongside a few other Christmas Specials, notably Voyage of the Damned or The Husbands of River Song which have the word blockbuster running through them like sticks of rock. Here, director Wayne Yip proves himself the perfect taskmaster to accomplish such an epic ordeal. He does creepy well (the sewers). He does action well (that astonishing sequence with the army). He even makes the emotive sections work (the café scenes - whilst slow - serving the ending, giving it weight). For those familiar with Dennis Kelly’s Utopia, Yip’s skills won’t come as a surprise. He is endlessly inventive and cinematic, glorying in the variety of colour afforded him by Chris Chibnall’s script which gives Yip a true scale to work on. The earliest scenes spanning the globe feel - as Chibnall at his best has demonstrated this year - mythic, historic, the stuff of legend.

The Dalek itself works too. As an insidious squid, the thing looks and sounds repulsive. Praise must go the DNEG CGI boys and voice artist Nicholas Briggs. Charlotte Ritchie puts in an understated masterclass in possessed acting too, further deepening the creature’s sense of threat. Cleverly, Chibnall makes us wait what feels like an age for it to get into its makeshift armour and when it does, it’s almost like a frightening child’s drawing of a Dalek, not quite right but unmistakably deadly. An uncanny Dalek if you will; quite enough to terrify. There is method in Chibnall’s madness though: the Daleks have arguably become too powerful. The television cannot really begin to represent the scale of destruction they now cause and so Chibnall contents us with a damaged Dalek and one which, when it is reborn, does indeed prove a credible, visceral enemy, wiping out a military regiment with ease before disabling the internet and power supply of Great Britain. This is the Daleks at their most powerful, ironically when flying solo and disabled.

The script itself keeps events moving apace and has a far stronger sense of pace and spectacle than Chibnall’s last offering, including car chases, explosions, supernovas and literal fireworks. Although Aaron’s microwave is quite obviously a Very Important Microwave as soon as it’s given such a great swathe of dialogue, the story for the most part moves with alacrity from one big event to the next and avoids Chibnall’s occasional cod dialogue. The aforementioned café scene is close to being on the nose but manages to avoid cliché, Chibnall cleverly painting a picture of a family unit which has become so complicated it’s almost impossible to claw back normality. The scene between Aaron and Graham later when the former admits his reasons for not attending Grace’s funeral is as close to the heart as Doctor Who is ever likely to get. 

Alongside The Woman Who Fell to Earth and Arachnids in the UK, Resolution forms a trio of stories which really showcase Chris Chibnall’s new world for Doctor Who. This is a world in which sci-fi takes place in car parks and grey buildings. It feels more down to Earth but also perhaps more po-faced and earnest. We could do with a few more gags. (Take note, Chibnall, “skillz with a zed” does not a good gag make.) I’d like to see a bit more of the flippancy and irreverence seen in Chibnall’s Torchwood episodes and indeed Arachnids in the UK. When Doctor Who takes itself too seriously, it becomes paradoxically, sillier. When it pokes fun at itself, we’re more likely to go along with it. The effort to send up Dalek Rels is a step in the right direction but annoyingly comes at the precise moment it’s time to drop the gags and play the drama. There’s a sense of groundedness and a spirit of wonder but it’s not much fun to be around this TARDIS “fam.” Ryan is angsty. Graham is sarcy. Yaz is there. And the Doctor’s nice. My hopes for next year are that Chris Chibnall retains the vastness of the universe and its beauty, goes more for the broader stroke storytelling of Arachnids or Resolution and gives this TARDIS team a bit more fizz. Let’s see them loving life. And I’m aching to learn a little more about Jodie Whittaker’s distant, sometimes vacuous Doctor. It’s heartening to see her meet a Dalek. For once, there’s a sense of history here, of an impossibly ancient hero. That’s the Doctor I’ve always loved. Whatever I think of Whittaker's performance, it's in the writing that the Doctor really comes to life. And in Resolution, he/she feels finally to back behind the TARDIS steering wheel.

8/10

Addendum:

For the sake of fun and anality, here’s my series ranking. Enjoy!

1 DEMONS OF THE PUNJAB

2 ARACHNIDS IN THE UK

3 THE TSURANGA CONUNDRUM

4 RESOLUTION

5 THE WITCHFINDERS

6 THE GHOST MONUMENT

7 THE WOMAN WHO FELL TO EARTH

8 KERBLAM!

9 THE BATTLE OF RANSKOOR AV KOLOS

10 ROSA

11 IT TAKES YOU AWAY 

Whilst the series may not have reached the dizzying heights of Doctor Who at its very best, there have been consistently beautifully directed episodes, looking as glorious as Doctor Who has ever looked (aside from that nasty TARDIS set), a variety of episodes in terms of locations and moods, and a pleasing sense of freshness given the complete lack of continuity until Resolution.  There are only two episodes in the list above that I’ve actively disliked. In their own ways, the rest have been in different ways striking. The series is again a huge success, and now, given what Chibnall and Whittaker have achieved, will likely last forever. For all its faults, and speaking as someone who adored the Moffat/Capaldi years, Doctor Who in 2018/19 feels alive and vital and new again.

JH