Doctor Who's 'Groundhog Day' deja vu ep. You'd think they filmed this in one spot cos they were locked down: minimal contact. Which they were. Lots of running around and hiding in shadows only to be exterminated by the Daleks over and over. Time being on a loop and resetting. The Doctor (Jodie Whittaker) resets the TARDIS and they have to leave in order for this to happen. Ending up not on the tropical beach she promised Yaz (Mandip Gill) and Dan (John Bishop) but in a storage unit. The same storage unit where Sarah (Aisling Bea) and Nick (Adjani Salmon) meet up every New Year's. Well they don't really meet up, Nick turns up just to see her, the owner. He stores away items belonging to his exes just incase they turn up to get them. This time round it's a Monopoly. The storage unit isn't updated but boy did those containers have bags of room! Elf Storage hiding a myriad of items akin to Santa's grotto. All to come in handy for the Doctor.
A Dalek shows up and exterminates both Sarah and Nick. As the Doctor finds them dead they meet the same Dalek too and the Doctor can't zap it with her Sonic. The Sonic can be controlled by the Dalek. The Dalek appears to be one step ahead of them as they are exterminated too. As they return they have a sense of deja vu as the Doctor realizes time has reset and each time they come back a minute has moved on. With additional Dalek's turning up until we get three, the Doctor finally plans to be one step ahead of them by using one of the loops as a decoy to fool the Daleks into thinking that's what they're planning. The Dalek also reveals that they're here to destroy her. Due to the Flux that she instigated thereby destroying millions of Daleks. She explains it was the Sontaran plan which she then hijacked.
The Doctor says the only way they can survive this is if they are outside when the clock strikes midnight. Sarah also gets calls from her mother before midnight as she thinks the lines will be busy then. As Nick destroys two of the Daleks saving himself and finally tells her he comes here cos he knows she'll be here and he has an "embarrassing crush" on her. Same can be said of Yaz and the Doctor as Dan encourages her to tell the Doctor how she feels. Also letting slip that Yaz has feelings for her and the Doctor knows exactly what that means. Ahh Rose! Dan found out too late his feelings for Di and he doesn't want Yaz going through the same. Though it was obvious Yaz was infatuated by the Doctor from the outset. Their relationship has evolved when they spent all the time without the Doctor and as Yaz tells Sarah, she's the only one who can diss on her mate Dan.
So finally the Doctor gets the idea the fireworks Jeff has been hoarding in the storage facility, as well as living there; will be their escape from the Daleks. The fireworks will go off when Sarah's mother calls her 10 seconds before midnight. The Dalek being fooled into thinking it's a human signature by the phone. As they finally get out and the Dalek explodes with the fireworks, we see Karl watching the fireworks alone from a distance.
The Daleks were particularly calculating in this ep as they predict exactly what the Doctor will do even before she does when they return in the time loop. Still bearing grudges and everytime Time was mentioned felt like Time from the Flux was being referred to. The Daleks being sent by Time to rid the universe from the Doctor. Of course the gimmick was that the Doctor didn't regenerate each time they were exterminated. The TARDIS reset is the cause of the time loop apparently and nothing as sinister as I just mentioned here, but it was a nice thought, even if I do say so myself. An enjoyable romp where you didn't need to follow the plot too closely or pay much attention to it.
Two more specials to go with Doctor Thirteen, one in spring and one in Autumn!
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