Doctor Who: Eve Of The Daleks Review - 9 Ups & 4 Downs

Is this list entry cheating a little bit? It’s not strictly part of the episode, but it needs talking about, so think of this as a bonus ‘up’.

We’re treated, as per usual, to a next time trailer at the end of this episode. We don’t know when it will air yet, beyond the vague label of ‘Spring’ but we’re hyped, big time.

This may be a little personal bias slipping through courtesy of your scribe, but the next episode combines three things that he’s had on his Doctor Who wish list for many years: A visit to historic China (19th century, to be exact); actual pirates (not the campy ‘yo ho ho’ kind from Curse of the Black Spot - they don’t count); and most importantly, the long-awaited return of the Sea Devils. Christmas has come very, very early.

Considering Chibnall’s excellent form with recurring villains, it’s surprising he hasn’t tried his hand at pulling in a villain from the classic series that hasn’t appeared in NuWho yet. Russell bought back the Autons, Daleks, Cybermen, Sontarans and The Master, and Moff resurrected the Silurians, Zygons and Ice Warriors - let’s see what Chibs does with these long requested classic series favourites. For context, we’ve not seen a monster revival episode since the Zygons in the 50th anniversary, and we’re nearly at the 60th!

This is long, long overdue. Bring on The Legend of the Sea Devils…