Doctor Who 12x00 Edited

A really good episode. This was broadcast just a couple of weeks after the series finished so yeah it does seem more like a finale. Ironically, I usually watch along with i player however my internet is down at the moment so I'm having to watch it on DVD.

I love how the Dalek building its own casing calls back to the first episode of the season when the Doctor built her own sonic. I also really like the music in this one. It's like a rock album in places! The way the Dalek theme/motif is elaborated and reworked with different voicings and tonalities is really engaging.

I really liked how they introduced the dalek, almost like how the Doctor regenerates this was kind of like a dalek regeneration, the squid creature doing much more, the actual machine being more badass, it took out a whole army! And yeah really enjoyed how it was portrayed throughout, much differently to previous eras and I liked that. An excellent episode for sure in many ways but I think the scene in the cafe is so good as well, really adds an emotional element alongside the dalek fun! I was like you as well I assumed they were going to kill his dad too lol Like hasn't Ryan been through enough already!! But happy he's still alive at least!

It's interesting that you say that it felt like season finale, as I tend to treat lot of these Christmas specials (or New Year, in this case) as an addition to the previous season (and some have been more directly so). You'll have noticed the lack of any familiar returning characters last season as they wanted to make it a fresh start accessible to new viewers so it was nice that they fixed that with a Dalek story. While there is a lot I criticise about Chibnall's writing (including how even some of his good stories borrow heavily from earlier ones), one major positive I can give him credit for is how he's really good at finding new ways to make old villains threatening again (and they don't get much older than the Daleks), in this case having a recon Dalek that operates without a casing to control people. I guess a lot of viewers are so used to seeing one in it's casing that it's easy to forget about the mutant inside and that being what a Dalek actually is.

Graham the GOAT again 😂. Up there with Donna as a really relatable companion