The Doctor Who special IS set on New Year’s Day – and it’s a “popcorn, blockbuster version” of the series
Chris Chibnall and his team have dropped new hints about what to expect from Resolution
After a little bit of confusion, Doctor Who showrunner Chris Chibnall has confirmed that New Year’s special Resolution WILL be set on New Year’s Day, aka the day it’s actually broadcasting on – and the team behind the episode have also dropped a lot of tantalising new hints about what to expect from the hour-long adventure.
“The episode is set on New Year’s Day,” Chibnall told Doctor Who Magazine. “There’s no better way to start a new year than with Doctor Who.”
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“You want the Special to feel like an event. It always performs a slightly different function to the rest of the series – you want it to be like an opener and a finale all rolled into one.
“You want it to be accessible to those who’ve missed the series, but you also want to reward the audiences and fans who’ve been there for the whole ride.
“Most of all, you want it to feel like a treat: a big, thrilling, explosive, moving, cheeky, surprising treat,” he concluded.
“Basically, you want the Special to be epic. And I promise, it’s going to be epic.”
That’s a LOT of exciting adjectives to throw around – though as it turns out, Chibnall still missed a few out, with episode guest star Nikesh Patel revealing that we could also expect some seriously scary parts in the festive story.
“The script read like a really tense thriller, with elements of horror,” Patel said.
“I had an awareness that Doctor Who was a show where episodes can be tonally very different to each other. This felt like a psychological thriller in some ways, and that was on the page when we got into it. Then obviously it lightens up with all the wit that the four regulars bring to it.”
“What I hope is that everyone enjoys the Special for what it is because it’s incredibly fun,” added episode director Wayne Yip.
“And I hope that new fans have a great time because it’s such a popcorn, blockbuster version of Doctor Who.”
So that’s an episode that’s epic, blockbuster-y, explosive, tense, cheeky, surprising, big and moving – and probably has some Daleks in it.
If it does have to be our last Who adventure for at least a year, it sounds like at least it’s going out with a bang…
Doctor Who: Resolution airs on BBC1 on New Year’s Day (Tuesday 1st January) at 7.00pm
Authors
Huw Fullerton is a Commissioning Editor for Radio Times magazine, covering Entertainment, Comedy and Specialist Drama.
