Two archaeologists unearth a find beneath Sheffield City Hall on New Years’ Day, 2019, including human remains and something else, which is promptly placed under UV light for sterilization…and then promptly comes to life. The TARDIS arrives just as one of the archaeologists discovers a large, squid-like creature clinging to a wall, but before the Doctor can get a look at it, it’s gone missing again. The TARDIS followed the signature of a spatial shift to the dig site, technology that has no place on Earth in 2019. The Doctor collects a sample of the creature’s slimy trail from the dig site and has the TARDIS analyze its DNA…a process which reveals that the trail of slime was left by an unarmored Dalek. It’s now obvious that the archaeologist who spotted the creature on the wall has been taken over by it, and is doing its bidding, including breaking into a top secret facility to steal a Dalek weapon. The Dalek intends to build itself a new casing and signal its location to the Dalek fleet so the conquest of Earth can begin. The Doctor intends to stop it. And with an unexpected knock at the door, Ryan’s father intends to abruptly walk back into his son’s life, unaware that his son now travels through time and space…and unaware that he’s just walked into the most dangerous situation he could possibly imagine, one that could take Ryan’s father away from him forever.
written by Chris Chibnall
directed by Wayne Yip
music by Segun Akinola
Cast: Jodie Whittaker (The Doctor), Bradley Walsh (Graham O’Brien), Tosin Cole (Ryan Sinclair), Mandip Gill (Yasmin Khan), Charlotte Ritchie (Lin), Nikesh Patel (Mitch), Daniel Adegboyega (Aaron), Darryl Clark (Police Officer Will), Connor Calland (Security Guard Richard), James Lewis (Farmer Dinkle), Sophie Duval (Mum), Callum McDonald (Teen 1), Harry Vallance (Teen 2), Laura Evelyn (Call Centre Polly), Michael Ballard (Sargeant), Nick Briggs (Dalek voices)
Notes: The Doctor attempts to call UNIT, but it is strongly implied that UNIT has been forced to stand down due to Brexit-related funding issues. The idea that recon Daleks are more advanced than the average Dalek creates a handy loophole for the significantly more mobile and destructive capabilities of the lone Dalek encountered in 2005’s Dalek. If the supernova to which the Doctor delivers the Dalek is in the same position as the now-extinct Dalek fleet, this may be be the destruction of Skaro’s sun engineered by the seventh Doctor with the Hand of Omega in Remembrance Of The Daleks (1988).
LogBook entry by Earl Green