After the massive, plot-heavy 6-part series that was Doctor Who: Flux, it was time for a more low-key, simpler story... sort of. The Doctor and her friends find themselves in a storage facility on New Year's Eve, minutes before the new year begins while being hunted down by a squad of executioner Daleks. Can Team TARDIS make it out alive before the end of the countdown?

Well yes... and no. The episode has a unique twist to it. Every character, including the Daleks, are in a time loop. So, when everyone is killed by the Daleks, everything reverts to a few minutes before they were killed while remembering what happened in the previous loop. On top of that, after a loop resets, everyone comes back a minute later, effectively making the loop smaller.

Joining the Doctor (Jodie Whitaker), Yaz (Mandip Gill) and Dan (John Bishop) are comedians Aisling Bea and Adjani Salmon playing Sarah and Nick respectively. Sarah is the owner of the storage facility while Nick is a visitor and are both thrown into events unexpectedly.

Let’s start off with the main cast, the Doctor and her companions. This is Jodie Whitaker’s third Dalek episode at the end of her third season and Jodie is on top form as always. She is such a fun character to watch. During the last season, she discovered life changing revelations which has led to her keeping it hidden and closing herself off from others, especially towards her companions, in particular with Yaz which I will get to later on.

It’s practically common knowledge at this point is that for the past 59 years of the show, the Daleks have been the biggest enemy for the Doctor and vice versa. So, the Doctor takes no nonsense from these Daleks and even mocks them at some points.

One of my favourite moments was when the Doctor, Yaz and Dan first encounter a Dalek in this episode and the Doctor thinks she’s stopped the Dalek’s weapon with her sonic screwdriver, saying how she’s done it before. But the Dalek slowly turns around to reveal a new gun in the form of a machine gun. The Doctor realises they’re done for and she softly says, “Not like this.” In the next second, the three of them are killed by the Dalek with their skeletons glowing as they’re shot. And that’s just the pre-titles! This moment gives me chills every time.

Another great moment is from Dan. The characters discover that a second Dalek is in the building, so Dan volunteers to distract the Dalek while the Doctor and Yaz go and find Sarah and Nick who are elsewhere and to discover how to get out of this. Dan pretends he wants to store something and thinks the Dalek is “automated staff” and just taunts it, “I'd get a friendlier voice, though. This one's a little bit grating. What kind of a welcome is that, eh? I'll report you to your manager!”. Once the Dalek figures out that Dan is a friend of the Doctor, it starts shooting at him, but Dan just moves around the Dalek as it rotates trying it’s best to kill him which was hilarious to watch.

Another highlight that particularly resonated with fans was when we discover that Yaz has romantic feelings for the Doctor. There were hints every now and then during the past three seasons but its finally confirmed and it’s Dan that sees it and talks to her about it in a very touching scene which is of course interrupted by the Daleks who end up killing them. It was a great part of development for Yaz because she hasn’t told anyone about her sexuality or even admitted it to herself yet, “I didn't. I mean, it were just that it... She's just... I don't know what to do, Dan. I've never told anyone. Not even myself.”

In the next loop, Dan talks to the Doctor about Yaz’s feelings towards her and asks her to stop pretending she doesn’t understand. The Doctor just lightly dismisses it but when Dan leaves the scene, her face drops.

The Doctor has been romantically involved with their companions but it’s never ended well. For example, David Tennant’s Doctor was in love his companion Rose, played by Billie Piper. But that ended with the two of them being forced apart in different universes.

Another example is the Doctor’s wife, River Song. These two have a complicated relationship because the first time the Doctor met River is when River dies and already have a long history with him. So, when the Doctor carries on getting to know River, he already has this knowledge of her death which is heart-breaking.

So perhaps, the Doctor is worried to have a romantic relationship with Yaz after what happened to past companions. Or maybe because at the end of last season, the Doctor was warned that her current life is coming to an end so the Doctor is purposely trying to push Yaz away, to try not to break her heart when she does regenerate. It’s also worthy to note at this point, we have no idea if the Doctor feels the same way so we’ll have to see how this plays out in Whitaker’s last two episodes.

The other two characters, Sarah and Nick are great additions to the cast. The episode is basically a love story between the two. Nick is Sarah’s only customer and always turns up on New Year’s Eve so the two are already aquatinted by the beginning of the episode. I found Aisling Bea’s character to be a lot more interesting and funnier to Adjani Salmon’s Nick. Aisling’s delivery to pretty much every line was brilliant and made me laugh.

The reason Nick visits the warehouse every year is to store items belonging to his ex-girlfriends which myself watching and the other characters point out is very odd and weird. Nick isn’t the most exciting character to watch on screen but he did warm to me towards the end. One moment I liked from him is when he got over his girlfriends by getting a Dalek to destroy all of the items he stored. Nick thanked the Dalek for the “therapy” and just before being killed, his final words were, “Ex... terminated.”

Overall, I think this is one of the best standalone episodes in the Jodie Whitaker era. A fun, exciting and thrilling ride from start to finish. Never gets boring when rewatching.

Up next for the TARDIS team is only two more episodes this year. Early in this year will see the return of classic villains, the Sea Devils, who were last seen on the show in 1984. Now they’re in this year's episode, Legend of the Sea Devils.

The last episode is the centenary special which would celebrate 100 years of the BBC. Nothing much is known of this episode yet, just that it would be Whittaker’s last episode as the Doctor.