Who Review: Resolution
In the 9th century AD, the people of Britain defeated an alien invader, chopped it into three parts and sent those parts to remote corners of the world. Each part was to be guarded continually to make sure the creature never returned. However, one of those parts didn’t reach its designated destination and lay buried in the ground for centuries. Fast forward to New Year’s Day, 2019: a couple of young archaeologists in Sheffield discover a strange artifact in the soil. Under ultraviolet light the object comes alive, reconnects with its other parts, and forms the deadliest threat the universe has ever known. Now its up to the Doctor and her companions to stop an old enemy from summoning a battle fleet to finish the job it started over a millennium ago…
SPOILER ALERT!! My comments may (and likely will) contain spoilers for those who haven’t seen this episode. If you want to stay spoiler-free, please watch the story before you continue reading!
One of the distinguishing features of Season 11 has been the lack of any Classic Who monsters. No Silurians or Cybermen, Sontarans or Zygons. Not even a Dalek–until now. It was inevitable, though. Every Doctor has fought the Daleks. It’s a rite of passage. Even the Eighth Doctor had more than one audio encounter with the Daleks in his Big Finish series. The problem this presents is how to do something different with them. We’ve seen the Daleks pretend to be the servants of humanity to win their trust. They’ve tried to add human DNA to their own body chemistry so they might gain our resilience. They’ve used non-Daleks to lend creativity and out-of-the-box thinking to their scheming. And, of course, they’ve attempted their signature straight-forward “exterminate the human race” approach. What’s new?
In “Resolution,” show-runner Chris Chibnall gives us something a bit different. Some early medieval Brits manage to destroy a reconnaissance scout, one of the deadliest forms of Dalek, and cut its fleshy mutant interior into three. When this Dalek re-forms, it can attach itself to humans and use them to do its bidding. In this case, it uses a human to locate Dalek weaponry (kept in a secret archive), and construct a casing out of good ole Sheffield steel. (If it was good enough for the Doctor’s sonic screwdriver, why not?)
So I give props to Chibbers for coming up with a new twist on the Daleks. I also like that he credits sword-wielding Britons with the courage and ingenuity to be able to take down a Dalek. The idea that the Dalek could have forced a young lady with, presumably, no experience with metal work and welding, and with the body strength of the average academic (as opposed to the average ironmonger) to construct a complete Dalek armor shell including lights, swivel head, and jet-propulsion base in just a few hours is a bit far-fetched, however. The Dalek might have been able to feed her the know-how, but all the know-how in the world won’t help if the tool you’re using is the wrong one for the job.
Aside from dealing with the Dalek, the other plot thread in the story is the return of Ryan’s father. The scene in the cafe where Aaron, Ryan’s dad, tries to reconcile with his son is emotive and believable. But it seems disconnected from everything else that’s going on. Especially after the panic of the previous scenes, it’s like we’ve slammed on the brakes. A couple of thoughts ran through my head as I watched this scene. First, and perhaps the most damning: I didn’t care as much as Chibbers wanted me to. This was not like when Rose first met her father in “Father’s Day.” And I think the reason was we had spent enough time with Rose by that episode that we cared about her character. I don’t have that same kind of attachment to Ryan such that I truly felt the moment. It was well performed, and the dialog was good. But it wasn’t compelling for me.
The other thought I had was, “As much time and attention this reunion is getting, it’d better be relevant.” And, of course, it was. Chibbers is a good enough writer to know that he can’t bring Aaron into the picture and draw attention to his cooker/microwave without them both playing a key role in the bigger plot later.
In the end, everyone survives (just about). The Doctor and her friends manage to defeat the Dalek by recalling the way the ancient Britons dealt with it–again a nice touch. It would not have been unlike Doctor Who to kill off Aaron, and-or one or both of the young archaeologists at the end. Maybe that would have been too much of a downer on New Year’s Day, though it was a little out-of-character for the Dalek to spare its victims.
Chibbers threw in some culturally-relevant humor with a jab at Brexit. It seems UNIT’s operations were suspended due to a financial dispute and funding withdrawal by its major international partners. Then the Dalek takes out the country’s wi-fi and internet, creating a national panic. What’s everyone going to do now?
To sum up, I thought “Resolution” was much better than the season 11 finale, “The Battle of Ranskoor Av Kolos.” I liked the creative spin on the Dalek, the pacing, and the overall construction of the plot. Jodie Whittaker was excellent as usual. But while this was enjoyable and certainly worth watching, it wasn’t must-see. I don’t know if it’s just me, or if it’s a consequence of there being so many in the TARDIS, but I’m not at all attached to any of the Doctor’s companions. The few times the Doctor traveled with three in the Classic series, whether it was Ian, Barbara, and Susan, or Adric, Nyssa, and Tegan, there was something about them that made you care. Ian and Barbara were school teachers essentially kidnapped by the Doctor. Susan was his granddaughter, torn between devotion to her grandfather and love for her teachers. And each of Adric, Tegan, and Nyssa had history with the Doctor (E-space, Traken, and Logopolis) before they were a team. Any one of the current team leaving, or even being killed off, would not have been as important to me as it was when, say, Ian and Barbara left, or Adric was killed. For most of the story, Graham was not on the TARDIS, and Yaz didn’t seem to have much to, and no-one really noticed. Maybe it would have been better to build the TARDIS team gradually over the course of the season? I don’t know, but I think it’s time to re-think the crowded TARDIS.
Who is taking a break for the rest of 2019 but will return in 2020. It’ll be interesting to see where Chibbers takes the show next.
What do you think? Did you like “Resolution”?
Oh wow… Where to begin? The festive outing of what has been arguably the worst series of Doctor Who for as long as I have been watching. From 9th Century Britons inconceivably defeating an armed and armoured Dalek, to Ryan’s Dad who seems inclined to carry kitchen appliances around with him… you know, as you do. Not only that, but he is the one who has the notion to use it to defeat the Dalek!
Where was the Doctor?? The question I have been asking all series. The Doctor should have been the brains behind this scheme, but no. According to Chibbers, the Doctor is a guest in her own TV series, a Sunday evening tourist who has little to no effect on the events around her. This is not the Doctor I have been watching since 1982.
Very sad and very disappointed. Just like The Last Jedi all over again.
I’d say very arguably. Here we disagree quite strongly. If you came into this season expecting more of the same convoluted Moffat plots and Doctor pontifications, you were going to be disappointed. Chibbers has gone back to 60s Who, tried to make it accessible for the younger members of the family as well as the older members, but with the same production values and cultural touch-points that RTD brought. But we’re not going to agree. You’re a big fan of Moffat. I’m not. At least as far as Moffat-the-Who Show-Runner is concerned.
Ryan’s Dad had the microwave/cooker because he was trying to sell them. He had invented this new cooker and he was trying to get the cafe owner to buy it. Since he knows how the thing works, it made sense that when the Doctor explained how the Britons defeated the Dalek, Aaron saw a way to use his invention in a similar way. I don’t see a problem there.
As for “where’s the Doctor?”–I think Thirteen stepped up to the plate more often than Eleven. One of the things I disliked about Moffat’s run was the way it became about Amy and Clara. Thirteen comes up with solutions. But did you really want the companions to be sitting waiting for the Doctor to have all the answers? That certainly didn’t happen with Ian and Barbara, nor with Nyssa and Tegan!
I would argue this is closer to the Doctor Who you watched back in 1982. And a breath of fresh air from the Doctor Who we’ve been watching since 2011. But, you know, sometimes the memory cheats… 😉
If you’ve read my reviews of each episode, you’ll know I don’t think the season has been flawless. As I mentioned above, I think Chibbers introduced too many companions too quickly. And the season finale was a let-down. But I’m genuinely intrigued to see where he takes the show next.