Doctor Who review: Was Resolution a strong return for the Daleks?

We finally review the first and only Doctor Who episode of 2019. What did we think of it?

(Image credit: Doctor Who/BBC.

Image obtained from: BBC Press.)

With the story now out on DVD and Blu-ray, we finally take a look at Resolution, the only Doctor Who episode we’re getting this year. Was it a strong return for the Daleks?

Ah, Resolution. The only Doctor Who episode of 2019. Already, the Thirteenth Doctor’s first Dalek episode is almost two months old. So why is this review article only getting published now?

I must admit: this was one article that was a struggle to get ready. Not because of my fellow contributors, not in the slightest. They got their reviews in for this one very quickly. No, this one is entirely on me.

Why? Well, quite honestly, Resolution is a story that I’ve felt very divided on. On the one hand, it almost feels like the best Dalek story we’ve had in years. And yet…and yet…

Very soon, we’ll be looking at twenty of the best Dalek stories in Doctor Who history. Will Resolution make the list? Most likely, no. But I thought it was important that we got our views for this particular special out of the way first.

And honestly, with no other episodes to look forward to on television this year, this was a review that I needed to take my time with. To really get right, especially with a second viewing. Did it help to improve my thoughts on the episode? Or did it only help to highlight the episode’s flaws?

Let’s find out and take a look back at the Thirteenth Doctor meeting the Daleks.

The Thirteenth Doctor finally fought against the Daleks in this episode. Was it a strong return for the pepper pot monsters?

(Image credit: Doctor Who/BBC.

Image obtained from: official Doctor Who website.)

Raphael Kiyani – Staff Writer

Doctor Who, for the first time in over a decade, has decided to forgo the traditional Christmas Day slot in favour of New Year’s Day. The aptly named Resolution carries many hallmarks of the New Year’s period: explosions, reconciliations, love and a wistful looking to the future. Resolution accomplishes being a serviceable festive event, but is majorly handicapped by an uninteresting and muddled story.

One of the core complaints directed at Series Eleven was the lack of good villains. Resolution, almost apologetically, offers us the show’s most infamous enemy. Seemingly a last ditch bid to remedy the weak to non-existent threat level seen prior, Chris Chibnall implements his Skaro-induced remedy to great affect here.

The solitary Dalek feels imposing and formidable in ways not seen since the Russell T. Davies era. It felt genuinely creepy and threatening – and with a high body count to actually show for it, too. I was impressed with how well Chibnall grasped the fear-factor of the Daleks, something that has been sorely missing in recent years.

What we see of the Dalek is exhilarating and a bit of mindless fun – I mean who doesn’t like seeing a Dalek explode a tank? In a morbid way it felt appropriately celebratory. It’s New Year’s Day: and the Daleks are back.

Dalek lore problems

The Dalek action is no doubt fun to watch, but it is dragged down a little by a few issues. The surprising inclusion of new Dalek lore – the introduction of the genetically superior Reconnaissance Daleks – was odd. In principle I have no issue with this development, but I found no justification for its inclusion. Resolution doesn’t really do much with it and in this way made the conceit of the narrative feel a little shallow and forced.

Furthermore, according to Resolution, a Recon Dalek is more powerful than the typical rank-and-file Daleks we normally see. This is frivolously contradicted by the fact a few humans (in a pre-gunpowder society, no less) managed to defeat it. This may be seen as nitpicky but it put me off.

Though the Dalek, in turn, gave more meat for Jodie Whittaker to work with. I thought it was one of her stronger performances, playing off the threat with a resolve and fiery defiance that we haven’t fully seen in Thirteen before.

Having said that, there was a little gravitas missing from the general mood and dialogue. Especially when compared with other modern Doctors’ first confrontation with the Daleks. A darker, more volatile streak in the Doctor’s psyche is unearthed. We don’t get this here despite Whittaker’s good performance.

Ryan’s father showed up in Resolution. But was this a smart choice for the episode?

(Image credit: Doctor Who/BBC.

Image obtained from: BBC Press.)

A problematic mix?

Other performances stand out here too, with the character drama between Graham, Ryan and Ryan’s dad, Aaron being particularly moving. It was emotive and intimate, which gave way to a strong showing from Tosin Cole – probably the best emotional range he’s exhibited thus far.

These scenes are well-defined character driven moments that I appreciate, but unfortunately they go on for far too long and are spliced into the action inappropriately. To the extent where I feel a large bulk of the familial conflict should have been saved for a different episode entirely. It took away from the unfolding action and rising tension. The way the scenes were interwoven together felt ham-fisted and disjointed, undermining what could have been a thriller style story.

There were other scenes in general that felt bizarrely awkward and silly too. The UNIT scene was pointless and not in service of anything. The WiFi scene was atrociously bad and really snapped me out of the story. The archaeological duo did nothing for me either. The script cynically tries to make them endearing with the romance angle, but they feel hollow and make Resolution feel even more bloated. Like a lot of Chibnall’s scripts as show runner – unfocused is the key word.

Therein lays the problem. The Dalek is intimidating and a great joy to see but it’s not in the framework of a good story. Everything surrounding the Dalek action seems safe, basic and uninspired. Not bad, but nothing impactful. There’s a lot of aimless and dull to-ing and fro-ing with arduous dialogue. All whilst telling and not showing chunks of the story. It’s laborious to watch these repetitive and non-engaging story beats.

In conclusion, Resolution doesn’t start 2019 with a bang – despite the exploding tank. There are solid performances. Fun Dalek action and good, albeit unevenly paced, character drama is present too. But it doesn’t hide the fact that it is a very average and basic story.

Resolution may have given us many amazing moments with the Dalek. But was that enough to make it a strong episode overall?

(Image credit: Doctor Who/BBC.

Image obtained from: official Doctor Who website.)

Luke Molloy – Staff Writer

Let’s time travel back to New Year’s Day 1972. It’s Day of the Daleks: Part One and the Doctor’s ultimate foe is returning after a break from the series to battle the Doctor and friends. Fast-forward 47 years and we have Resolution (of the Daleks…?), an episode that contains all the same elements. Both do a satisfactory job of providing some good bank-holiday popcorn entertainment and both stories are reasonably good.

However, Day is a confident premiere to a third series led by Jon Pertwee and Katy Manning, a Doctor and companion pairing who were universally adored just as much then as they are now. Resolution is a footpath into the abyss of a Who-less year, with a Doctor corrupted in characterization and a TARDIS team that simply fails to work.

The Dalek was fantastic…

One series without the Daleks is all it takes for everyone to cry out for their return. We may only get one here but I am pleased to report it’s one of their better appearances.

We first see the Skaro savage in its disgusting mutant form, squashed all over the wall and looking delightfully vile, before it slurps off to possess Lin and destroy the world. The initial scenes of Lin’s possession by the Dalek mutant and her murder of the police officers are delightfully wicked and Charlotte Ritchie put in a memorable performance as a normal girl totally subjected to evil Dalek control.

Over the hour long special, the tension slowly turned up as we awaited the Dalek to achieve its tank-like form. In a scene which had nice symmetry to the Doctor’s own “building the screwdriver” from The Woman Who Fell to Earth, the Dalek built itself a tank, which was both adorable and inventive at the same time. Filled with rockets and a trigger-happy gun, it’s the monster we so desperately needed in Series Eleven.

And then the army scene. WOW. One place where Series Eleven has stood above the rest is in the effects department and this was no different. The Dalek murdering the soldiers was relentless – BOOM, BOOM, one-after-the-other, BOOM! And when you think it’s over – the Dalek turns and faces the tank. There can only be one winner.

The army scene can be celebrated as a true high point for the Daleks in Who. It showed them at their best – ruthless, determined and unstoppable.

How well did the Doctor’s “fam” work in this episode?

(Image credit: Doctor Who/BBC.

Image obtained from: BBC Press.)

“Extended fam” were not so fantastic…

The Dalek scenes throughout Resolution drove the episode forward and fed the appetite to those who, like me, have felt underwhelmed by Series Eleven. You could almost hear the collective groan of those watching when we’d switch to the overlong, dull scenes between Ryan and his dad. They were an unnecessary addition that jarred with the Dalek action happening in parallel.

The Doctor, for all her quick-talking and flying about, doesn’t do anything in the first 40 minutes. This is great as it allows the Dalek to steal the show but at the same time – I wouldn’t want Jodie’s Doctor looking after me in a crisis. After 11 episodes I can see now that Chibnall and Whittaker are building her as a vulnerable Doctor, one that makes mistakes and seems to need reassurance to make decisions. However, that devoids this Doctor of anything remotely Doctor-ish.

Another side of the Doctor is that they’re funny. Well, she’s not that either. The “comedy” in Resolution, with lines such as “I think that was my best skid ever” declared with pride, induces such extreme irritation that I’m sure even Mahatma Gandhi would take a hammer to the television.

The worst line is easily when she refers to everyone in the room as “team, gang… extended fam” followed by a (now) staple Whittaker face churn. It’s a line that is so bad on script and somehow made even worse when delivered by Whittaker.

In this episode, the companions to take a back seat so that a story can happen are Graham and Yaz (surprise surprise). I’d have swapped all those scenes with Ryan’s dad for one with Graham eating a TARDIS sandwich any day. Note that Yaz seems to exist so the Doctor can talk at her/the audience.

The future

As discussed in my Battle of Ranskoor Av Kolos review, I’m simply disheartened with near enough every creative decision that recent Doctor Who has made. After being both marvelously complex in character and storytelling under Davies and Moffat, the series now seems just so basic.

The worst thing isn’t that Series Twelve is a year away, it’s that I don’t care. Because all the problems I’ve highlighted – the Doctor’s irritable character, the overcrowded TARDIS team, the lack of monsters or peril – I can pretty much guarantee nothing will change. That’s the sad truth.

Resolution is an episode full of Dalek action and worked best when the Dalek was in the spotlight. Sadly, when the Doctor and friends were centre-stage, the episode became irritating and cringe-y, like a lot of Series Eleven. And I can’t see Series Twelve changing anything for the better.

Thankfully, for fans like me, there is 54 years of Doctor Who where we can enjoy both the Doctor and the Daleks. And I’d rather watch that instead.

*Plays* Day of the Daleks: Part 2.

The mythological aspect of the episode added something just a little special to Resolution. But was it enough to make it a strong episode?

(Image credit: Doctor Who/BBC.

Image obtained from: BBC Press.)

James Aggas – Site Expert

Resolution came so close to being a great Dalek story, it really did. It had the potential to be one of their best in perhaps a decade. So what stopped it from being an instant classic?

Usually, a key weakness in Chris Chibnall’s scripts have been the monsters. He’s great at handling the drama and giving us some great character moments. But the monsters or villains in his episodes have been weak. Either they’re just over-the-top, or fail to stand out, or – in a far too common case this series – weren’t really villains, just “misunderstood”.

That didn’t happen with Resolution, though. In fact, while I was afraid that the Daleks would be badly written by Chibnall, he actually handled them really well. He might not be so great at creating his own monsters, but he knows how to handle one of Doctor Who‘s greatest, at least.

What really helped was how he made the Daleks a genuine threat again by focusing on just one of them. The Daleks are usually much more interesting when they’re forced to be cunning. When the odds are against them, and yet somehow, they’re clearly the biggest threat. Chibnall handled that really well.

A different take

We had to go through a lot of build-up first, though. Some of it was a little unnecessary, but on the whole, I actually liked it. Especially the beginning. As unlikely as a bunch of ancient warriors winning against even one Dalek is, I loved the whole mythological aspect given to the story.

Getting a different side to them with the possession angle was also an interesting move. Especially as the episode deliberately left it a mystery for some time as to what the alien creature was. Not for too long, thankfully. Just long enough to keep you guessing (even though the trailers had given it away by that point). It also gave us some great moments of visual horror.

And once it was in its shell, what a devastating monster it was! This wasn’t an alien that was “misunderstood”. This was a monster causing carnage and death everywhere it went! There’s a high body count in this one, and Chris Chibnall pulls no punches, thankfully.

So the depiction of the Dalek is, thankfully, handled brilliantly. So what stops Resolution from being a brilliant story?

While the Dalek worked well in the story, did the rest of the episode live up to it?

(Image credit: Doctor Who/BBC.

Image obtained from: BBC Press.)

An unnecessary story?

As great as the regular characters are, (especially Graham,) and as much as Chibnall tries to go for a human aspect…I’m not sure one particular aspect of the special was needed. In this case: Ryan’s dad.

I’ll be honest, I actually wanted Ryan’s relationship with his dad to be explored at some point. But I’m not sure this was the right episode for it. Especially as some scenes just dragged.

Not just with the drama, such as Ryan confronting his dad. Even the ending seems to drag out because of the Dalek suddenly possessing Aaron. Which just felt unnecessary, especially since it took over half an episode for the episode to move on from that aspect in the first place.

That’s the biggest reason why the episode isn’t as great as it should be. There are a couple of other reasons, though. UNIT being written out as a Brexit joke instantly springs to mind. I’ve written before about this, but still: it was a terrible way to get rid of such a major part of the show’s history, even temporarily.

And, as awesome as the Dalek itself was, I wasn’t too keen on the design. I know it’s only meant to be a loose recreation in the story itself, built from memory, but still. Specifically, it’s a little too skinny in some places, coming dangerously close to changing the basic Dalek shape. Like the New Dalek Paradigm that Moffat tried to give us, this Dalek still wasn’t half as good as the Russell T Davies era ones.

Oh, and as noted by Raphael: the WiFi scene, frankly, sucks.

Jodie Whittaker’s performance, and how much her Doctor takes the threat seriously, is one of the stronger elements of Resolution.

(Image credit: Doctor Who/BBC.

Image obtained from: BBC Press.)

Jodie Whittaker

But there are still a few other things to enjoy about this special, other than the Dalek itself. In fact, one of the best things was the Doctor herself, Jodie Whittaker. Personally, I think she gives one of her best performances in the role in this episode, when her Doctor is finally forced to take a threat seriously.

Whittaker really sells the fear and desperation of her Doctor well in Resolution. I wish she’s written like this more often, so that we can take her Doctor – and the alien threats – more seriously in future.

More from Winter is Coming

Overall, Resolution was an episode that gave us a great Dalek story. But it surrounded that story with some significantly weak aspects, too. Honestly, this had the potential to be one of the strongest Dalek stories we’ve had in years. Instead, like a lot of the Chris Chibnall era, it’s a little above average.

That’s a key reason why this review has taken me so long to publish. Like Luke, this whole era so far really hasn’t been for me. Honestly, it’s been much easier for me to be more excited about and report on Classic Who, Big Finish, or even Moffat Who than it has been to discuss a Chibnall era episode. I honestly hate that, as I like to enjoy and see the best in every era.

I hope that, when we get to Series Twelve, I and my fellow writers can be a lot more excited about it. For the moment, however, it’s just easier to focus on so much else in the Doctor Who universe.

TV versus audio – multi-Master stories. dark. Next

How did you feel about Resolution? Do you think it was a strong return for the Daleks? What did you enjoy about the only Doctor Who episode of 2019? What didn’t you like? Let us know in the comments below.

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