Resolution (TV story)

Resolution was the first New Year Special of Doctor Who since The End of Time: Part Two in 2010. It was broadcast on New Year's Day 2019 and, according to Chris Chibnall himself, was a "de facto" conclusion on series 11, despite the previous story acting as a finale.

This episode featured the return of the Daleks, who were the first returning enemies since Chibnall took over as showrunner at the start of the series. The Dalek notably underwent the first major redesign since the New Dalek Paradigm were introduced in 2010's Victory of the Daleks

Resolution is also notable for introducing a new form of Dalek weaponry. Besides the gunstick and manipulator arm (here in the form of a claw, rather than the "plunger" design), this Dalek also demonstrated possession and use of multiple short-range missiles beneath its roundels.

Behind the camera, it marked the return of director Wayne Yip, who had previously worked on Doctor Who and Class during the Steven Moffat era. He was the first returning director since Chibnall made his start.

Notably, this episode broke the tradition of yearly Christmas specials, which had aired every 25 December since 2005.

Synopsis
On Earth, New Year's Day 2019, a long-buried creature is beginning to stir. The most dangerous creature in the universe, and it will stop at nothing to claim the Earth. Conquest in 9376 rels.

The Doctor must gather all her friends and resources to prevent another invasion. And if they fail... The Daleks are coming.

Plot
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Cast

 * The Doctor - Jodie Whittaker
 * Graham O'Brien - Bradley Walsh
 * Yasmin Khan - Mandip Gill
 * Ryan Sinclair - Tosin Cole
 * Lin - Charlotte Ritchie
 * Mitch - Nikesh Patel
 * Aaron - Daniel Adegboyega
 * Police Officer Will - Darryl Clark
 * Security Guard Richard - Connor Calland
 * Farmer Dinkle - James Lewis
 * Mum - Sophie Duval
 * Teen 1 - Callum McDonald
 * Teen 2 - Harry Vallance
 * Call Centre Polly - Laura Evelyn
 * Sergeant - Michael Ballard
 * Voice of the Dalek - Nick Briggs

Crew
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TARDIS

 * When the TARDIS is locked down, the Doctor asks Graham to get some peanut butter to grease the geo-feudal locks with.
 * The TARDIS is capable of bio-tracking, as well as holo-projection.
 * It can also triangulate mobile phone signals, track CCTV cameras, monitor satellite footage, and follow GPS and number plate tracking.

Daleks

 * The Dalek buried on Earth is a reconnaissance scout.
 * Removed from their casing, Daleks can control humans, and use them as vehicles instead.

History

 * The Three Custodians were involved in the Battle of Hope Valley in the 9th century.
 * The Doctor takes Team TARDIS to 19 New Year's Eves in a row.
 * Graham's favourite was Mesopotamia, modern-day Iraq, which the Doctor says was the original.
 * Ryan's favourite was Sydney, 2000, where they watched the fireworks from the Harbour Bridge.
 * Yaz's favourite was 1801, when they discovered a dwarf planet with Giuseppe Piazzi.

Locations

 * The Three Custodians intend to bury the three pieces on Anuta Island on the South Pacific, in Siberia, Russia, and in Yorkshire, England.
 * Sheffield Town Hall is later built over the site of the third Custodian's remains. The site itself is in the sewers.
 * The Doctor wants to take her friends to Quantifer, a settlement on the edge of the known universe, for their twentieth New Year's Eve.
 * After discovering the mutant in the sewers, Team TARDIS visits Graham O'Brien's house.
 * Ryan and his father Aaron visit a café around the corner from Graham's house.

Organisations

 * The offspring of the Three Custodians become the Order of the Custodians.
 * MDZ Research is a weapons research company.
 * The Dalek accesses the Black Archive on Lin's computer.
 * Lin is chased and then stopped by a Hallamshire Police car for speeding. She was driving at 103 miles per hour.
 * The Doctor calls the UK Security Helpline with Yaz's phone, and asks to be transferred to Kate Stewart at UNIT.
 * According to Polly, UNIT operations have been suspended, pending review, following financial disputes and subsequent funding withdrawals.
 * The Dalek makes its way to the Government Communications Headquarters (GCHQ), and uses its relay dishes to contact the Dalek fleet.

People

 * Aaron Sinclair, Ryan's dad, previously pursued engineering.
 * Richard, the MDZ security guard, has a boyfriend.

Objects

 * The TARDIS lands on Graham's wooden chair when the team arrives at Graham's house.
 * Lin constructs a new Dalek casing, welding it out of remnants of its old shell, as well as metals found at Dinkle's farm.

Weapons

 * The soldiers in the Battle of Hope Valley fight with swords.
 * The third Custodian is killed by an arrow on his way to the Yorkshire burial site.
 * Lin, controlled by the Dalek, retrieves its Dalek gunstick from the MDZ Research facility.
 * The newly designed Dalek casing has short-range missiles behind its orbs.
 * The Army tries to destroy the Dalek with a tank, which it promptly blows it up with one of its missiles.

Technology

 * The Dalek commands Lin to open her laptop, which he uses to assess Earth's military capabilities.
 * Aaron is trying to sell a Matsoki combination microwave and oven. The Doctor later uses the microwave oven to attack the Dalek.
 * Ryan mentions that you can buy a microwave online.
 * The Doctor follows Mitch's mobile phone signal.
 * Lin, controlled by the Dalek, shoots out CCTV cameras with her Dalek gunstick.
 * The Army sergeant thinks the Dalek is a drone.
 * There is a wind turbine near the site where the Army engages the Dalek.
 * In order to contact the Dalek fleet, the Dalek takes control of GCHQ's relay dishes, and siphons off power from the rest of the UK to aid in the transmission.
 * In doing so, the Dalek shuts down the Wi-Fi across the UK, as well as all telephone signals.

Vehicles

 * The Dalek drives Lin's car while controlling her.
 * They proceed to steal Will and the other officer's police car.

Science

 * The Doctor takes Team TARDIS to see cosmic fireworks.
 * The TARDIS detects the Dalek mutant's attempt at a spatial shift.
 * The Dalek is brought back to life accidentally through ultraviolet light.
 * The Doctor opens the TARDIS doors to a vacuum corridor produced by a star going supernova, in order to flush the Dalek out of her ship.

Archaeology

 * The woman at the archaeology dig, Lin, laments that they aren't digging up Alfred the Great.
 * According to Mitch, they found Richard III's remains at a car park in Leicester.

Medicine

 * The Doctor gives Lin medicine which will help her recover from her time under Dalek control. She warns her not to take it will alcohol, or she'll grow an extra head.

Zoology

 * Lin thinks the Dalek mutant looks like a massive squid.

Measurements

 * The Doctor can't remember how long a rel is.

Culture

 * When the Dalek shuts down Wi-Fi across the UK, two teenagers lament that they cannot access Netflix.
 * A man in the café is reading a copy of the Sheffield Advertiser. The front page features the headline: "Local bus route may change".

Story notes

 * This is the first full Doctor Who television story to not feature a Doctor Who logo as the opening titles are omitted entirely.
 * Before Resolution was announced, the 2018 Christmas Special was rumoured to have been skipped.
 * The café which appears in this episode appears to be the same as the one in which Ryan was eating in the Series 11 teaser. Similarly, Graham was reading the same copy of the Sheffield Advertiser in the teaser as the one which appears in this episode.
 * Like The Woman Who Fell to Earth, Resolution lacks an opening credits sequence and leaves the title card for the beginning of the end credits.
 * Like The End of Time: Part One and The Big Bang before it, Resolution takes place on the day it was broadcast: 1 January 2019.

Ratings
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Filming locations
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Production errors
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Continuity

 * The Doctor has been on Earth for the start of New Year 2000 before, in her fourth, (COMIC: The Forgotten) sixth (PROSE: Millennial Rites) and eighth incarnations. (TV: Doctor Who)
 * A Dalek is found buried on Earth. Another Dalek was also found buried on Earth in 2012. (TV: Dalek)
 * The Doctor has previously encountered a Dalek mutants outside of their casing. (TV: Resurrection of the Daleks, Twice Upon a Time)
 * Ryan calls Graham "gramps". (TV: It Takes You Away, The Battle of Ranskoor Av Kolos)
 * Ryan's dad, Aaron, appears. The Doctor mentions he missed Grace's funeral. (TV: The Woman Who Fell to Earth, Arachnids in the UK)
 * The Dalek accesses the internet to research the planet's capabilities. (TV: Dalek) It accesses the Black Archive. (TV: The Day of the Doctor, et al.)
 * The Doctor calls Aaron Sinclair "Ryan's dad." Similarly, she called Najia Khan "Yaz's mum." (TV: Arachnids in the UK)
 * The Doctor mentions she has faced the Daleks before and that she learned to be like them. The Ninth and Twelfth Doctors were also compared to Daleks, albeit by other people. (TV: Dalek, Into the Dalek)
 * The Doctor mentions the TARDIS' dimensional transcendentalism. (TV: An Unearthly Child, et al.)
 * The Doctor requests for UNIT and Kate Stewart. (TV: The Invasion, The Power of Three et al.)
 * The Dalek predicts conquest in 9376 rels. Rels are a Dalek measurement of time. (AUDIO: The Genocide Machine; TV: Evolution of the Daleks, et al.)
 * The Doctor mentions that short hops in the TARDIS are difficult. (TV: State of Decay, Logopolis, The Bells of Saint John)
 * The TARDIS has shielding which can keep the Doctor and her allies in a protective bubble, safe from Dalek weaponry. (TV: The Parting of the Ways)
 * The Doctor gives a final warning to her nemesis, allowing it one last chance to back down. (TV: New Earth) She cites her kindness. (TV: The Doctor Falls, Rosa)
 * The Doctor and her companions manually steer the Dalek. (TV: Journey's End)
 * The Doctor refers to her companions as her "extended fam". (TV: The Woman Who Fell to Earth, Arachnids in the UK, The Witchfinders, The Battle of Ranskoor Av Kolos)
 * The Doctor opens the TARDIS doors with a switch on the control console.
 * In the end, Ryan forgives his father for all he put him through. (TV: The Woman Who Fell to Earth, The Tsuranga Conundrum, Arachnids in the UK)
 * Ryan mentions that he has dyspraxia. (TV: The Woman Who Fell to Earth, The Ghost Monument, Kerblam!)

DVD releases
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Blu-ray releases
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Digital releases
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