Classic villain to return for Doctor Who New Year special

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https://twitter.com/bbcdoctorwho/status/1077539963481276416

"Exterminate!"

Yes, that final snarled electronic word confirms the rumour, and the long held hope, that the Daleks (or at least a Dalek) will be returning for festive special Resolution, meaning that Doctor Who – which is not due to return for a new series until 2020 – will at least go out with a bang.

Showrunner Chris Chibnall made much of the fact that his first series in charge would be all about new villains and monsters, and when questioned about a possible return for the Daleks, told RadioTimes.com in no uncertain terms that they would not feature... in that series...

“There are no [Daleks]!” he said. “I don’t know how many times I need to say it. There are no old monsters this series. OK?"

Back in July, Chibnall was equally coy on the subject, telling an audience at Comic-Con “We’ve got two weeks left of shooting, and we haven’t seen them yet,” adding “it’s a lot of new stuff this year”.

Clearly, the key phrases were "this series" and "this year" – and since the New Year's Day episode airs on the first day of 2019 and, as a special, is not officially part of the 2018 series, it technically falls into neither of those categories.

We kind of like this sneaky, cheeky side of the new showrunner – hopefully it means plenty more surprises to come during his tenure on Doctor Who. Even if a secret extra series next year is probably not one of them...

The Doctor Who New Year's Day special, Resolution, is on BBC1 at 7pm on Tuesday 1st January 2019