Chris Chibnall’s first outing of Doctor Who established two important rules that it would use to differentiate itself from the previous runs. First off, there’d be no season-long arc or mystery running throughout. And secondly, each episode would feature an original monster, which meant no Daleks, Cybermen, etc.
But now that the season is done and behind us, we can throw that rulebook out, right? Well, it certainly seems like it, as it’s now been confirmed that the upcoming New Year’s Day special will be all about those iconic villains the Daleks. Granted, the BBC hasn’t actually said as much, but they did release a new promo today which you can see up above, and it tells us all we need to know.
Though incredibly brief, the big giveaway comes when we hear that chilling cry of “EXTERMINATE!” As true Whovians will know, that can only mean one thing: the Daleks are on the way!
Of course, this could be a clever bit of misdirection on the BBC’s part and perhaps that cry’s coming from somewhere or something else. But it certainly seems like the network’s finally decided to give the fans what they’ve been waiting all season to see, and that’ll likely ease the blow of the special being moved from Christmas Day to New Year’s.
How exactly the Daleks will factor into things remains unclear, of course, but for more on what to expect, here’s the official synopsis:
As the New Year begins, a terrifying evil is stirring from across the centuries of Earth’s history. As the Doctor, Ryan, Graham and Yaz return home, will they be able to overcome the threat to planet Earth?
Sounds intriguing, and with that “terrifying evil” that the synopsis mentions likely being the Daleks, it should make for a terrific Doctor Who episode as Jodie Whittaker comes face to face with the iconic enemy.
