Doctor Who has entered its final year with Jodie Whittaker as the Doctor, and in a series of specials, we’ll see the final moments of the 13th Doctor’s life before her regeneration, and they’ve kicked off to an incredible start! In the New Year’s Day special, the Doctor, Dan (John Bishop), and Yaz (Mandip Gill) all get stuck in a time loop with the Daleks in their own version of Groundhog Day.

The Daleks have been a horrible foe to the Doctor for much of the New-Who era of the show. They bring fear with them whenever the Doctor has to square off against them, and Eve of the Daleks is no different. They’re using a time loop, created by the TARDIS, against the Doctor and forcing the Doctor, Yaz, Dan, Sarah, and Nick to all think ahead of them despite the Daleks anticipating their every move.

Eve of the Daleks also featured guest stars Aisling Bea and Adjani Salmon, and the episode was a beautiful look into the terror that the Daleks can inflict while also bringing us some of the greatest moments for Whittaker’s Doctor yet. But beyond a fun looping battle with the Daleks, the episode finally gave Yaz something to work with and brought fans what they’d been longing for throughout Whittaker’s entire run.

Yaz’s feelings

There was a “glaring” issue with Jodie Whittaker’s TARDIS, and it was that it simply lacked the Doctor/Companion flirtation and/or love story that has been featured throughout most every other modern regeneration. Nine and Ten both had Rose to lead into Ten also having Martha Jones, who loved him despite the Doctor’s inability to return her feelings. Eleven had Amy, River, and Clara respectively, which led into Twelve’s own relationship with Clara before his dynamic with Bill was the equivalent of a father and his daughter exploring time and space.

So by the time we got to Jodie Whittaker, fans were ready for the Doctor herself to be in love with River or another woman, and we were seemingly given nothing—that is, until Yaz continued to travel with the Doctor and her feelings became a bit more obvious. And now, in Eve of the Daleks, Yaz is finally called out by Dan when he thinks they’re not going to survive, and he plays match-maker and brings up Yaz’s feelings to the Doctor as well.

Now, do I think that the Doctor is going to reciprocate those feelings? That remains to be seen because, right now, the Doctor doesn’t seem to share much emotion in that regard to anyone, but also, it could easily be her defense mechanism, given all that she has lost through her past regenerations.

For Yaz, I just don’t want her to be in pain. That longing and that hope for someone to return your feelings and for you to get the love you long for? It can make you do outlandish things, like traveling through time and space with an ever-living Time Lord who may or may not be aware of your feelings.

Eve of the Daleks was a beautiful start to Whittaker’s final moments as the Doctor, and we can’t wait to see what the future holds for Thirteen, as well as Doctor Who as a whole.

(image: BBC)

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