Doctor Who boss says New Year’s special is an “intimate, standalone, time-loop romantic comedy"

“The episode is basically a romantic comedy where the obstacle to the romance is not only the characters themselves, but the threat of Daleks,” he told the most recent issue of Doctor Who Magazine.

“But there’s still a big, fun, sci-fi concept at the heart of it. It’s got the range of tones, the range of scares, the range of humour, and the range of mystery that you’d want on New Year’s Day.”

Chibnall added that although there have been multiple Christmas-set episodes of the show, this is only the second time Doctor Who has had a story set on New Year's Eve – following the 1996 movie starring Paul McGann.

“Everybody wants New Year’s Eve to be the greatest night of the year, but it rarely is," he continued. "We all feel that pressure about what you’re going to do. Will you go out? Will you meet someone?"

The special has been described by the BBC as an “action-packed spectacular”, with regular cast members Whittaker, Mandip Gill and Josh Bishop joined for the episode by guest stars Aisling Bea and Adjani Salmon.

The official synopsis for the episode reads: "Sarah (Aisling Bea) owns and runs ELF storage, and Nick (Adjani Salmon) is a customer who visits his unit every year on New Year’s Eve. This year, however, their night turns out to be a little different than planned as they find themselves joining forces with the Doctor, Dan and Yaz in a fight against the Daleks."

Meanwhile, Gill has teased that it could be rather a confusing instalment of the show, explaining, "We did a lot of running, and it got quite confusing at times – Being trapped in a time loop, repeating the same scenes as it gets closer and closer to midnight."

The 2022 special will mark the third consecutive year that the Daleks have played a significant role in a New Year’s Day episode, following 2020’s Resolution and 2021’s Revolution of the Daleks – although this time out, we’re being introduced to some brand new Executioner Daleks.

Read more about Doctor Who:

• Doctor Who finale hints at Jodie Whittaker regeneration
• Doctor Who teases Sacha Dhawan Master return
• Jacob Anderson wants Vinder to return after Doctor Who: Flux
• Doctor Who: The Vanquishers’ 16 biggest questions
• Doctor Who’s Craige Els has hopes for a Karvanista spin-off

Doctor Who returns to BBC One on 1st January. Visit our Sci-fi hub for more news and features, or find something to watch with our TV Guide.