Blu-ray Review | Doctor Who: “Resolution” by Chris Chibnall

It would be a colossal understatement to call 2018 Doctor Who’s greatest year of change in living memory. A new showrunner, production team, composer, aspect ratio, Sunday-evening slot and even a change of gender were on the cards for the eponymous Time Lord. Yet all these things were as nothing compared to the shock abolition of the show’s “traditional” Christmas special, which for many proved even more ruinous to their revels than the needless letterboxing of half the Beeb’s flagship shows.

Ever since the Doctor was reborn on Christmas Day to fend off “The Christmas Invasion”, a holiday date with the Time Lord has been obligatory - but it has to be said, as the years have rolled on it’s felt more like obligation than tradition. There’s only so many festive tales that you can tell; only so many times you can shoehorn a Santa hat into a tale about a superhero or a killer Christmas tree into a story about a spider and a bride. The time was right to buck the trend, and embrace what I hope will become the next decade’s Doctor Who tradition: beginning the year with a full-throttle, heavyweight spectacular on New Year’s Day.

“Resolution”, written by incumbent showrunner Chris Chibnall, is a Dalek tour de force, introducing the Doctor’s oldest and deadliest enemy to the next generation of viewers with a fusion of psychological and actual horror the likes of which we haven’t seen since Robert Shearman’s effective deconstruction of the Dalek fourteen years ago. Clearly inspired by Mr Shearman’s influential “Dalek” episode, in some ways “Resolution” goes further than even that acclaimed adventure did, focusing heavily on the Dalek creature itself rather than the more commonly relied-upon war machine housing it. Buoyed by Nicholas Briggs’ chilling voice work, Charlotte Ritchie (Call the Midwife) is absolutely phenomenal as the creature’s unwitting human host, Lin, turning from buoyant and lovestruck academic to terrified captive to cold and clinical killer effortlessly.

Ritchie is so very disturbing in her portrayal, in fact, that once the Dalek inevitably completes its casing and emerges in a form close to that we’ve all seen before, it could quite easily have felt anti-climactic. That couldn’t be further from the case, though, as the recycled Dalek makes the most explosive of entrances before going on to decimate a whole platoon of troops. Its bespoke, ramshackle casing is a triumph of design, serving as a metaphor for “Resolution” itself as well as a chilling foe. Instantly recognisable, yet grounded, raw... and unique.

Better still, the sight of a Dalek brings out the very best in Jodie Whittaker’s Doctor. Her first season saw me slowly fall in love with Thirteen, but it wasn’t until she found herself staring down the barrel of a Dalek gunstick that I saw the fire and steel of earlier incarnations finally manifest itself in her. That certainly isn’t to say that Thirteen is a brooding, raging mess in “Resolution” - with her “mad skillz” and “extended fam” she’s every bit her usual quirky and delightful self - the only difference is that here, for the first time in her new body, the Doctor really has to bring it. Well, Chris wrote it and Jodie brought it, and I am now free if any lingering doubts about the Doctor’s change of gender. She rulez. With a zed.

The extended fam fare just as well too, even with Lin and Ryan’s dad competing with them for screen time. In full police officer-mode, Yaz is given much to do, and she does it convincingly, while Graham and Ryan find themselves at the thematic heart of the story as they come to terms with the return of Ryan’s estranged dad. Unlike many of the show’s Christmas specials, “Resolution” is an adventure that has all-year-round appeal, but its principal character story is certainly one that fits beautifully with the ushering in of a new year and the turning over of new leaves.

Yet the special is not without its moments of levity. Indeed, given the tension and terror of the piece, they’re bloody vital. All the gags about the boredom of New Year’s Day and the cruelty of shutting off of the nation’s Wi-Fi at such a time are uproarious - “What a monster!” - and the joke about the recently disbanded UNIT’s financial woes successfully builds upon the political commentary of the preceding season in addition to being bold and astute.

Visually, the episode is an unrelenting feast, boasting car chases and shoot-outs which the Blu-ray presents in stunning clarity, albeit within a frustratingly letterboxed frame. Despite its supposedly wider aspect ratio, consumers should bear in mind that the width of the Whittaker era on Blu-ray remains consistent with previous HD seasons (at 1920 pixels) while the height of its picture is actually reduced to allow for letterboxing - you’re actually getting fewer pixels than before. Even if someone puts a 2:1 or 2.35:1 TV out on the market, the best resolution you can hope for from this disc is 1920 x 960 pixels as that’s the height of the active picture within the Blu-ray’s 1080p frame.

Whilst this is almost farcically unfutureproof, the contrast between the murkiness of the sewers and the brightness of Sheffield at midday is so stark that you’d be forgiven for thinking that the disc boasts HDR - something you won’t find on any commercial Blu-ray, sadly. The picture quality is so good, in fact, that when watched at a normal viewing distance on a 49” TV it’s hard to see how it could look any better. Certain shots stand out in particular - the Dalek’s showdown with the military beneath a dusk-pink sky while wind turbines mill away in the background is exquisite. The wrong shape for telly, but exquisite nonetheless.

It’s hard to point to anything more terrifying than a laughing Dalek in the whole canon, and thankfully the disc’s 5.1 soundtrack does it justice. Be it Dalek or human, the dialogue is as clear as the effects and music are arresting. Moreover, unlike many of Who’s off-season Blu-rays (The Complete Specials amongst them) and despite not being referred to on the release’s packaging or in its promotion, a two-channel audio description track is included here. As someone who often plays these (if, as is often the case, I’m fannying about doing something else as I “watch”), this is a pleasing surprise. As the episode is freely available to stream on iPlayer with audio description, and will remain as such until at least the end of the year, leaving this off the disc would have been a frustrating omission.

The disc’s bonus content is incredibly disappointing, though, barely limping past the half-four mark in all and continuing the lightweight EPK feel of The Complete Eleventh Series’ Blu-ray set. I know that I’ve been spoiled by years of incredibly thoughtful and detailed bonus content on the classic series’ DVDs, but even so, there’s no escaping the fact that the Dalek Re-formed feature is squarely aimed at kids and/or casual viewers, while the obligatory making-of featurette and pithy Closer Look companion piece reveal little of note. The recap of Series 11 / Season 37 is potentially useful, but for me only highlights the absurdity of releasing “Resolution” separate from The Complete Eleventh Series. There isn’t even a commentary track.

As is evident from the special’s very title, let alone its content, “Resolution” serves as a climax to Thirteen’s first run as much as it does a one-off holiday special. As such, it’s bitterly disappointing that my absolutely stunning Complete Eleventh Series steelbook (it’s one of the most beautiful that I own) now has a cheap and crappy Amaray case beside it on the shelf when “Resolution” should have been the crowning jewel in that very steelbook. It is possible that “Resolution” may be incongruously tacked onto the eventual Complete Twelfth Series Blu-ray, as was the practice until “Twice upon a Time” sent collectors into meltdown, but if Peter Capaldi’s swansong couldn’t find its way onto his final box set, I don’t hold out much hope. A “Resolution” steelbook might have been a decent compromise - especially given this disc’s bonkers £25.52 RRP, which is only a few quid shy of what I recently paid for the limited-edition 4K UHD steelbook edition of The Avengers: Infinity War.

And so whilst “Resolution” is the series’ strongest special since its anniversary year, I can’t recommend this overpriced interim release to anyone but the most ardent of completists, and even they might be better advised to hedge their bets and wait to see if it’s going to appear on The Complete Twelfth Series set before taking the plunge, by which time its price should have plummeted. Sticklers for quality who can’t put up with iPlayer’s 720p in the meantime would be better served purchasing the 1080p download from iTunes for a much more proportionate £3.99. iTunes actually offers more bonus material than the Blu-ray does - not that any of the additional iTunes-exclusive features make for particularly fascinating viewing, mind. Yuletide greetings and a 2019 countdown from the cast round out a lacklustre assortment of pithy, pluggy “special” features that are more in keeping with the £1.50 uplift applied to the £2.49 digital episode than they are an exorbitantly priced Blu-ray release.

“Resolution” is now available to buy on Blu-ray, with today’s cheapest retailer being Zoom, who have it listed for £17.99 with free delivery.

“Resolution” is also available to download from iTunes in 1080p HD for just £3.99. This release includes all the bonus material on the Blu-ray release and more besides. Amazon Instant Video have it listed for the same price, but I can’t speak as to what (if any) bonus material is included.

“Resolution” will also be streaming on iPlayer until 31st December 2019.