Resolution

A bit of a shame this one. It wasn't as spectacular as a special needs to be, it needs to be big and bombastic, or at least I want it to be.
Spoilers from here.
The stuff with Ryan's dad was dull and really hit the pace and the microwave solution was silly.
I did however like the new dalek stuff. The controlling was pretty freaky which was good and I did quite like the rustic look (though it didn't appear to have the time to do anything like that complicated). And the dalek taking out the troops was terrifying and spectacular, the new extermination effect is superb. I do not even have a problem with the scout being taken out by the 9th century army, if there were enough of them and they had the right plan it could work though there would be a lot of sacrifice which the story implied but maybe not heavily enough. My only problem with the dalek was its stormtrooper aim, you cant have it take down soldiers them miss the Doctor because plot. Some may not have noticed but I did I'm afraid.
So overall it was OK but quite dull. Not what a special needs to be.

I want to like this story. I really do. There are a lot of good ideas here. A genetically unique Dalek scout that has abilities different from the standard pepper pot is pretty cool, maybe even the best development for the tired old for that we've seen in the new series. A Dalek that can hijack a human is reasonably within their powers, not a far stretch from their Robomen. A Dalek without a shell that has to rebuild it's armor in the field is also refreshing and makes for a great plot. Unfortunately, the execution falls short in almost every way. The Dalek's backstory of being divided and guarded for generations is laughably implausible. Having the peices teleport together upon one slice being subjected to UV light would have been laughable in the 60's and absolutely doesn't hold water today. The Dalek breaking into an alien weapon stronghold for parts is far too convenient and a missed opportunity to have it craft it's armor from Sheffield steel as a direct call back to the Doctor rebuilding her sonic screwdriver. Once rebuilt the junkyard Dalek seems far too top of the line in its capabilities as well. I could pick apart a lot of the dialogue and plot but will suffice it to say that I wasn't a fan of most of the writing and the side characters were shallow. And the "resolution" of the threat? Underwhelming is the only word that comes to mind. It's a silly romp and not objectively terrible by any means but it's more missed potential than anything else.

Now I didn't particularly like the finale for Series 11 so I may have gone into Resolution (of the Daleks) hoping for something to fulfill the itch the finale didn't scratch. The episode actually got very close to doing that: the Dalek itself while not the best design (yeah I know it is a one-off, but it just looks cheap and almost computer generated) was probably the best appearance of a Dalek since at the very least Into the Dalek. It felt amazing to have a Dalek being crafty and manipulative a la The Power of the Daleks and The Evil of the Daleks as well as just plain killing people without a chance because Daleks are superior. Chris Chibnall did an excellent job writing a Dalek story, but there's a big problem with the episode which makes me give it a 5/10 instead of the probably 8/10 or 9/10 it would get: Ryan's dad. While the story arc around Ryan's father leaving and essentially not being there was built up for the story, this episode attempts to cover the lengthy process of patching up a broken relationship as such. The episode ends with Ryan and his father in a loving relationship again because he said he was sorry and Ryan saved him at the end. It only gets worse when you realize how much tension is broken throughout the episode when we cut back to Ryan and his father, instead of the more interesting Doctor Who style story of the Dalek invading Earth.

Still the main cast as always has been great with Whittaker and Walsh being stand outs (though can we stop with the damn goofy fam stuff please? It doesn't feel like the Doctor) and the direction is great. It also may be just me but it seems Briggs has gotten a new lease of life with these Daleks so that's a plus.

Before Resolution aired, I was considering writing a fun review, similar to a screenplay on a fictional Chibnall coming up with the series and the new Daleks.
But the time for that has past.
What a terrible, terrible, terrible story.
Oh my actual god, I HATED IT!

So basically, we start with no titles. That really disappointed me. And then we have this info-dump about some war between Daleks and people of different nationalities with some really bad font. So basically, even after the Doctor has said that one Dalek is capable of destroying entire planets, the Dalek is destroyed by knights with axes. And then, instead of being burned, it is broken up into three pieces and split across the globe. I should mention here that none of the other pieces became relevant to the story. Even though we get that scene where the other Dalek pieces come to life, it is literally ignored.
Okay, so now we come to the underground Sheffield area. We get the two archaeologists who are literally the most boring characters. All they want is to be romantically involved with each other. So they dig up a Dalek mutant, which is still alive. We see it crawling on the wall. But then we get the scenes with the Dalek mutant controlling the woman. So Chibnall has now given the Daleks magic superpowers! Oooooh! And now they can talk!
We also get bogged down in this story about Ryan's Dad coming back. I don't mind the fact that Ryan is mad, he has a right. But the Doctor and Graham go COMPLETELY OUT OF CHARACTER and literally say that Aaron is a worthless human being who should die in a hole. My Doctor does not do that. They believe in redemption and hope. I understand that she may care about Ryan and disagree with what his Dad did, but it is not her battle to fight. So for the whole story, we get this half-bovvered tale about Ryan's poor Dad, who isn't even that much of a good character anyway.
Also, UNIT is dissolved due to monetary problems. Thanks Chibnall. We get a somewhat comedic scene that bashes the digital age and kids who were born in it. Thanks Chibnall.
The acting is no good anyway. No one (maybe except Bradley Walsh) was believable. Even Jodie. I was watching this with a friend who had not seen the 13th Doctor before, and she said that she didn't like Jodie, not because of her gender, but her acting, and I must say, this is her weakest acting in Doctor Who so far.
Aaaanyway, we then get the new redesigned Dalek and did I absolutely scream at the screen. That's not a Dalek. It looks like something that appears in a really low-budget fanfilm. It looked like a really skinny woman. I was so excited to see a new redesign of Dalek, but this one just looks dreadful! I'd rather have the 2005 ones back! Or even the 1960s ones! I just laughed after a while. It's what I should have expected.
We also get a really pointless scene with the Dalek fighting the army. There's literally no story reason why that should occur. No one called the authorities. No one saw the Dalek. So why should the army suddenly appear and fight it? Oh Chibnall!!!!!
And now, Daleks can be destroyed with microwaves! Yay!
The scene with the Dalek on Aarons's back and him almost getting sucked out of the TARDIS could have been a really nice character moment for Ryan. He could have sacrificed his life for his Dad. Or even better, the Dalek could have been on Ryan's back, and Aaron could have sacrificed himself to save Ryan. That would have been so good. But no. No.
The last potentially saving grace for this story would have been if Ryan or Yaz had left the TARDIS (not Graham!) I don't mind Ryan, even though he is written inconsistently, but I absolutely HATE Yaz. After rewatching a lot of Series 11, she really grated on me for being really bland and being written like a cardboard box.
I'd probably give this story a 1/10. I am still really tempted to go lower, but I'll be nice. That's saying something.
So, no Doctor Who until 2020. To be honest, I'm glad. This Series has given us some really terrible stuff, and Resolution is included in that. Oh well, I've recently gotten into the EDAs. That'll be my Doctor Who this year.


Appendix: For those sad that there'll be no Doctor Who this year, I should mention that I have a website on which I upload fanfiction with the Eighth Doctor + original companions. This year I will put up Series 5-7. So check out that if you want to.
theneweighthdoctoradventures.weebly.com