DOCTOR WHO: Resolution {Roundtable}

It’s a New Year’s Special for Doctor Who, with an old foe back again. Nothing spells New Year like the very best of The Doctor’s enemies.

Picture shows: Graham (BRADLEY WALSH), The Doctor (JODIE WHITTAKER), Yaz (MANDIP GILL), Ryan (TOSIN COLE)

Let’s see what Cara and I thought of “Resolution”.

What are your thoughts on the return of the Daleks?

Picture shows: Lin (CHARLOTTE RITCHIE)

Roz:

Why are they still here? I get that they’re an amazing villain that can pretty much can’t die, but this version of them was out of left field and not in a good way. Is the only way we’re going to get them back to find more times when they wanted to take over the earth before they were thwarted in some way that can be undone?

Cara: When I heard the rumors that the Daleks might be returning in the New Years Special, I’ll admit I was wary. The Daleks are such a cool, classic baddie, but their appearances tend to be very similar. The Daleks somehow miraculously return from extinction, the Doctor informs everyone how dangerous they are, and then the Doctor somehow outsmarts the Daleks. It does get a little repetitive seeing the same foes again and again. That said, I do think there is something important to showing an enemy that continues to return, despite all efforts to eliminate it permanently. It’s a nice reminder that dark times reappear, but that we can overcome. A nice message for a new year.

Picture shows: Dalek, TARDIS

How do you feel about Aaron showing up?

Picture shows: Ryan (TOSIN COLE)

Picture shows: DANIEL ADEGBOYEGA

Roz: The introduction of Aaron took a turn I didn’t think it would at all, but he made a great little addition to the extended fam for an episode. You can tell that there’s something deep about what Aaron did when both his wife and his mother died, but I think there’s room for him to come back and for Ryan to get a few more questions answered about his dad.

Being controlled by a Dalek can’t have been fun, though.

Picture shows: Aaron Sinclair (DANIEL ADEGBOYEGA)

Cara: I think Aaron’s return was a nice counterpoint to the Daleks. Both gave us the return of an old “enemy”, but in contrast to the unrelenting evil of the Daleks, Aaron shows us that sometimes those who hurt us don’t do so because they’re evil, but rather flawed. I think it was a good way to show that we can’t treat all baddies with the same contempt. Sometimes it’s good to find a way to forgive and make peace, and sometimes it’s good to make use of a dying star.

UNIT WHY??

Roz:

This was my face when I heard that UNIT wasn’t around because of funding. Really everyone? Is this a sign that all of those old institutions that we need for the Doctor to rely on are all going to die?

Cara: I feel like this was a definite comment on various attacks on the institutions that we’ve relied on historically to provide protection globally (i.e. NATO). It’s always entertaining to see the Doctor run up against bureaucracy, and I liked the way she shrugged it off and kept going. Do you think there’s any chance Yaz could be a future head of Unit? I could definitely see her in that position.

Favorite scene/line?

Cara: 

Graham: “Family isn’t just about DNA, or a name. It’s about what you do, and you haven’t done enough.”

Roz:

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