Doctor Who boss confirms Flux storylines will be addressed in upcoming special

"She has to face continuously escaping Daleks in a time loop and save the lives of the two people who are there on New Year’s Eve."

In other words, the next episode picks up right where Flux left off – and that’s not the only way series 13 influences the festive special. Apparently, the reason the Daleks are hunting the Doctor is because of her actions in Flux finale The Vanquishers, where she indirectly caused the deaths of millions of Daleks.

"These are execution Daleks – they’ve got slightly different weapons and have very much come with a very clear purpose for this," Chibnall explained.

"They are not trying to destroy the world. They are trying to destroy the Doctor in payment for what has been done to the Daleks at the end of the previous series."

In case you’d forgotten, what was done to the Daleks was this: the Sontarans planned to lure them and the Cybermen to Earth, in the path of the Flux. The Sontarans would hide behind the Lupari shield, destroying all their rivals in one fell swoop. Instead, the Doctor moved the shield so the Sontarans were destroyed as well by the antimatter wave of Flux energy. No wonder the Daleks are a bit testy.

Still, despite this connection fans shouldn’t worry too much about the new special getting too bogged down in Flux storylines, as according to star Mandip Gill it’s a fairly standalone story.

"The trio have been through a lot, and they’ve been separated for quite a long time," she says of their post-Flux status. “Weirdly we sort of forget about the emotional turmoil that we’ve all been through, to some degree.

"What happens in this world is you get thrown into another challenge and adventure, you meet new people, and you dust yourself off and you’re back in it again. There’s no time to sort of reflect on everything that has gone on.

"However, we do, I’ve been on a really long journey with Dan in which he’s seen things and emotions, a side to me he probably wouldn’t have seen if we hadn’t been separated from the Doctor. He starts to question my actions, he makes me think about my actions and my feelings so we do remember to a degree what we’ve been through and what happened when we were separated so we do touch upon that, we don’t just forget about the distance and the years that we spent apart.

"At the same time, they are just thrown into a new adventure and they don’t have time to think about the gravitas of the Flux at that point."

In other words, the Flux story is gone but not forgotten. And who knows? Maybe they’ll find space to fill in a few other dangling plot threads as well, like the half-destroyed universe still reeling from the events of series 13. Stranger things have happened.

Read more about Doctor Who:

• Russell T Davies has already written new Doctor Who episodes ahead of November 2023
• Doctor Who's Jodie Whittaker talks next Doctor: "I'd choose Lydia West"
• Jodie Whittaker’s lost Doctor Who Christmas specials were a missed opportunity
• John Bishop says he’ll “always be grateful” for time on Doctor Who

Doctor Who: Eve of the Daleks airs on BBC One on New Year’s Day 2022 at 7.00pm. For more, check out our dedicated Sci-Fi page or our full TV Guide.