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Jodie Whittaker
Eve of the Daleks
Thirteenth Doctor Logo


Synopsis


Dalek Executioners
Dalek Executioners
 New Year’s Eve. Sarah is working - again.

 Nick is her only customer - again.

 Same old same old. Except this year, their countdown to midnight will be the strangest and deadliest they have ever known.

 Why is an executioner Dalek targeting these two people, in this place, on this night?

 Why are they having to live through the same moments again?

 Can The Doctor, Yaz and Dan save them and survive into the New Year?

Source: BBC Website


General Information

Season: Thirty Nine (New Series 13)
Production Code: 13-2
Story Number: 298 (New Series: 142)
Episode Number:869 (New Series: 173)
Number of Episodes: 1
Percentage of Episodes Held:100%
Production Dates:
Broadcast Date: 01 January 2022
Colour Status: HD Colour
Studio: BBC Wales (Roath Lock Studios, Cardiff)
Location:
Writer:Chris Chibnall
Director:Annetta Laufer
Producer:Sheena Bucktowonsing
Executive Producers:Chris Chibnall and Matt Strevens
Co-Executive Producer:Nikki Wilson
Executive Producer for the BBC:Ben Irving
Associate Producer:Sheena Bucktowonsing
Assistant Directors:Jac Lewis, Laura Thompson and Tom May
Script Supervisor:Kriss Landin
Script Editors:Caroline Buckley and Rebecca Roughan
Editors:Erline O'Donovan-Clarke, Brooke Taylor Michael (Assistant), Joseph Keirle (Assistant), Alastair Gray (Assistant VFX) and Emily Lawrence (VFX)
Colourist:Gareth Spensley
Head of Production:Charlotte Bloxham
Production Executive:Tracie Simpson
Production Manager:Delmi Thomas
Post Production Producer:Ceres Doyle
Post Production Supervisor:Liv Duffin
Location Manager:Gareth Roberts
Supervising Location Manager:Iwan Roberts
Production Designer:Dafydd Shurmer
Director of Photography:Robin Whenary
Casting Director:Andy Pryor CDG
Line Producer:Steffan Morris
Costume Designer:Ray Holman
Make-Up Designer:Emma Cowen
Cameramen:Evangeline Davies (Assistant), Nic Yates (Assistant), Mark McQuoid (Operator), Adam Clewes (Trainee) and Olga Walus (Trainee)
Visual Effects:DNEG
Additional VFX:Ben Pickles, Martyn Western, Rory Williams, The 2D Workshop and Zodiak VFX
Special Effects:Real SFX
Special Creature Effects:Robert Allsopp & Associates
Creature Designer:Ray Holman
Stunt Co-ordinators:Belinda McGinley and Crispin Layfield
Stunt Performer:Leon Gabbidon
Incidental Music:Segun Akinola
Sound Designer:Harry Barnes
Sound Recordist:Deian Llyr Humphreys
Dubbing Mixers:Howard Bargroff and Natasha Haycocks
Music Orchestrated By:Alec Roberts
Additional Orchestrations By:Huw White
Music Conducted By:Alastair King
Music Recorded By:Olga Fitzroy
Music Mixed By:Goetz Botzenhardt
Title Sequence:Ben Pickles
Title Music:Ron Grainer and the BBC Radiophonic Workshop. Arranged by Segun Akinola
Daleks Originally Created By: Terry Nation
Number of Doctors: 1
The Doctor: Jodie Whittaker (The Thirteenth Doctor)
Number of Companions: 2The Companions: Mandip Gill (Yasmin Khan) and John Bishop (Dan Lewis) Additional Cast: Aisling Bea (Sarah), Adjani Salmon (Nick), Barnaby Edwards (Dalek Operator 1), Nicholas Pegg (Dalek Operator 2), Jon Davey (Additional Dalek Operator), Nicholas Briggs (Voice of the Daleks), Pauline McLynn (Mary), Jonny Dixon (Karl)Setting: ELF Storage, Manchester (31st December 2021 and 1st January 2022) Villain: Daleks

The Episodes

No. Episodes Broadcast
(UK)
Duration Viewers
(Millions)
In Archive
869Eve of the Daleks01 January 202258'16"4.4Yes

Total Duration 58 Minutes


Audience Appreciation

Average Viewers (Millions) 4.4
Doctor Who Magazine Poll (2023) Position = 7 out of 24


Archives


 This story exists and is held in the BBC's Film and Videotape Library.



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Notes


This story is the 2022 New Year Special. It continues on from the end of the previous story (the six-parter "Flux"), which saw The Doctor's TARDIS damaged from the Flux. In "Eve of the Daleks" the Thirteenth Doctor, while attempting to reboot the TARDIS, accidentally traps ELF Storage and everyone inside it within a time loop. It also dealt with the consequences of The Doctor allowing the Dalek War Fleet to be destroyed in the final Flux event, with Dalek Executioners being sent to exterminate The Doctor in revenge.

It was written by Chris Chibnall and directed by Annetta Laufer. Jodie Whittaker stars, as the Thirteenth Doctor, alongside Mandip Gill and John Bishop as her travelling companions, Yasmin Khan and Dan Lewis, respectively. It features guest stars Aisling Bea, Adjani Salmon and Pauline McLynn. Jonny Dixon, who last appeared in the 2018 story "The Woman Who Fell to Earth", returned to portray Karl. He is seen briefly - witnessing the destruction of the storage facility at the end of this story.

For the first time since, the 1996 Eighth Doctor film "Doctor Who: The Movie", a story’s events are specific to a New Year’s Eve. ‘There have been Christmas episodes, but I think this is only the second time the series has done New Year’s Eve’, writer Chris Chibnall has stated. ‘Everybody wants New Year’s Eve to be the greatest night of the year, but it rarely is. We all feel that pressure about what you’re going to do. Will you go out? Will you meet someone? Are you going to spend it with the love of your life? For our final New Year’s Eve episode we’ve gone full New Year’s Eve, with all those yearnings and frustrations. And Daleks’.

This is the first of three specials for 2022 - and, along with the second special, was filmed in the same production run as all six episodes of "Flux". Filming for these two specials concluded in August 2021.

It has been reported that when Jodie Whittaker first read the script for this story and, saw that The Doctor gets exterminated in the opening minutes, she genuinely believed that she had been written out of the show earlier than she thought she was going to be.

This story is notable for the first to explicitly establish Yasmin Khan's feelings toward The Doctor as being romantically inclined. This occurs when Dan notices Yasmin’s reactions when in The Doctor presence. Yasmin claims that she did not realise that it was so obvious. The Doctor though is aware but pretends she isn't (see also the 2018 story "Arachnids in the UK").

Yasmin accuses The Doctor of ‘leaving us all the time’. The Thirteenth Doctor has ended up separated from Yasmin and other companions several times, including midway through "Spyfall", before "Revolution of the Daleks", and during a three year gap in the fifth part of "Flux".

This story is the third New Year special in a row involving the Daleks.

It introduces a new version of the Daleks referred to as ‘Executioner Daleks’ and uses the format of a time loop.

The Executioner Daleks! are previously unseen versions of The Doctor’s oldest foes and have upgraded, and so more powerful, gunsticks.

Regarding the Daleks seen in this special story Chris Chibnall has stated: ‘I think it’s always good to delineate and make specific the Daleks we meet at any point. These are the bronze Daleks, which we’ve only really glimpsed in recent years. But in this episode we have an execution squad, armed with rapid-fire, multi-blast weapons that make them even deadlier than standard Daleks. This is the ultimate New Year’s countdown - while you’re stuck somewhere, with Daleks coming for you’.

The Daleks in this story accuse The Doctor of using the Flux to destroy a Dalek War Fleet - which she counters was a Sontaran plan that she had only hijacked (see the final episode of the previous story "Flux").

Daleks have previously pursued The Doctor with the intent of executing the Time Lord (see "The Chase").

Before she is first killed by the Daleks, The Doctor fearfully mutters, ‘Not like this’. She had only recently been warned by the embodiment of Time that her time was heading to its end (see the final episode of the previous story "Flux").

One of the Daleks is heard to say ‘I am NOT Nick!’. One of the characters is called Nick but the man providing the voice for the Daleks is Nick Briggs.

The Fourth Doctor previously used his sonic screwdriver to interfere with Daleks on Proxima Major, causing more than just weapon interference. This included interference in their speech circuits and motor circuits (see the Big Finish Productions Fourth Doctor audio stories "The Dalek Contract" and "The Final Phase"). Similarly, the Thirteenth Doctor previously used her sonic screwdriver successfully to interfere with the Reconnaissance Dalek's weaponry in the 2019 story "Resolution").

The TARDIS' Cloister Bell is again heard – this time when The Doctor initiates the self-reset.

Dan is heard comparing the time loop to a Groundhog Day.

Nick's self-storage unit is filled with items that belonged to his ex-girlfriends, which he has kept in case they asked for them back. It is revealed that Nick has had a lot of ex-girlfriends, including Simona, Lucy, and Nicole. The sheer number of them, coupled with Nick's apparent obsessiveness over their possessions, prompts a worried Yasmin to ask him if they are all still alive.

Prohibited items for storage included stolen or illegal goods, humans, animals, tyres, cash, plants, food, cars, guns, ammunition, toxic, hazardous, and radioactive materials.

The Doctor mentions not having seen so much gunpowder since 1605 - alluding to Guy Fawkes' attempted destruction of parliament, which was witnessed by The Doctor, (see the computer game "The Gunpowder Plot") and also Yasmin (see the short story "Black Powder", that was published in the Doctor Who Magazine issues 568 and 569).

The Doctor states her sonic screwdriver is unable to resonate concrete. The Ninth Doctor learned this fact when he was unable to use it to escape from the Empty Child with Rose Tyler in the 2005 story "The Empty Child/The Doctor Dances").

Sarah is heard to utter ‘Oh, my giddy aunt!’ while on the run from the Daleks. This phrase was often used by the Second Doctor.

This story has, to date, the longest running part of the storyline before the opening titles - running just over nine minutes, ten seconds. The previous story to hold this accolade was the 2016 Twelfth Doctor story "The Return of Doctor Mysterio".

This story is partially set on the same day that it was broadcast, the 1st January 2022. This makes it one of only nine episodes in the revived series to do so, after "Rose" on the 5th March 2005, the first part of "The End of Time" on the 25th December 2009, the second episode of "The Pandorica Opens/The Big Bang" on the 26th June 2010, the first episode of "The Impossible Astronaut/Day of the Moon" on the 22nd April 2011, "Resolution" on the 1st January 2019, "Revolution of the Daleks" on the 1st January 2021, the first part of "Flux" on the 31st October 2021, and the final part of "Flux" (the directly preceding episode) on the 5th December 2021.



First and Last

The Firsts:

 The first story, since the 1996 Eighth Doctor film "Doctor Who: The Movie", where the events are specific to a New Year’s Eve.

 This story is the first of three specials for 2022.

 This story introduces a new version of Daleks that are referred to as ‘Executioner Daleks’ which have upgraded and more powerful gunsticks.

 This story is notable for the first to explicitly establish Yasmin Khan's feelings toward The Doctor as being romantically inclined.


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Story Images

Show Text
Fixing the TARDIS
Fixing the TARDIS
TARDIS Repairing Itself
TARDIS Repairing Itself
Dalek Executioner
Dalek Executioner
Yasmin, The Doctor and Dan
Yasmin, The Doctor and Dan
 
Nick and Sarah
Nick and Sarah
The First Victim
The First Victim
Dan Torments a Dalek
Dan Torments a Dalek
A Dalek
A Dalek
 
Daleks Attack
Daleks Attack
Formualating a Plan
Formualating a Plan
Waiting to be Exterminated
Waiting to be Exterminated
Dangerous Goods
Dangerous Goods




Quote of the Story


 'Congratulations. The most evil creature in the universe has successfully vanquished an old door.'

The Doctor



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Release Information

FormatTitleRelease Date (UK)Code NumberCover ArtRemarks
Video
DVD
Eve of the Daleks & Legend of the Sea DevilsMay 2022BBCDVD 4506Photo-montageDouble DVD release. Released along with "Legend of the Sea Devils"
Video
Blu-Ray
Eve of the Daleks & Legend of the Sea DevilsMay 2022BBCBD 0556Photo-montageDouble Blu-Ray release. Released along with "Legend of the Sea Devils"
Video
Blu-Ray
The Complete Thirteenth Series Specials Box Set (Limited Edition Steelbook)November 2022BBCBD 0557Photo-montageLimited Edition Blu-Ray Steelbook boxed set containing the 3 special stories from New Series 13
Audio
CD
Original Television Soundtrack - Series 13: The SpecialsJanuary 2023Photo-montageMusic by Segun Akinola (includes music from "Eve of the Daleks", "Legend of the Sea Devils" and "The Power of The Doctor")


In Print

No Book Release
Doctor Who Magazine - ReviewIssue 573 (Released: February 2022)

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Photo Gallery


The Doctor and Companions

 
Jodie Whittaker
The Thirteenth Doctor

   

Mandip Gill
Yasmin Khan
 
John Bishop
Dan Lewis
   




On Release

DVD Cover
DVD Cover

BBC
VIDEO
Blu-Ray Cover
Blu-Ray Cover

BBC
VIDEO
Blu-Ray Limited Edition Steelbook
Blu-Ray Limited Edition Steelbook

BBC
VIDEO
Original Television Soundtrack Cover
Original Television Soundtrack Cover

BBC
AUDIO
   



Magazines

 
Doctor Who Magazine - Review: Issue 573
Doctor Who Magazine - Review: Issue 573

Marvel Comics
 
   

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