After keeping us in suspense as to the air date of the upcoming Doctor Who holiday special, the BBC has finally announced that the episode will air on New Year’s Day. We know that the episode titled “Revolution of the Daleks” will also see the return of fan-favorite character: Captain Jack Harkness. There is also a teaser out now for the episode, with plenty of Captain Jack action.

The Revolution of The Daleks Will Air On New Year’s Day

We all know by now that Captain Jack is back for the Doctor Who holiday special. Without the Doctor around to keep an eye on Earth, that task has fallen to her companions. But when the Daleks show up in town, they will need some immortal help from Captain Jack. Alongside John Barrowman is another familiar guest star. Actor Chris Noth is reprising his role as Jack Robertson (is this the “just Jack” episode of Doctor Who?). Noth previously appeared in the season 11 episode Arachnids in the U.K. 

Image via BBC

The teaser is heavy on the Jacks, and light on the Doctor. We know that she is currently imprisoned and the hatch marks on the walls of her cell (a familiar sight and call-back to when Capaldi’s 12th Doctor was locked up for billions of years) seem to indicate that she has been there awhile. She reminds herself that people are waiting for her out there, people who need her help. But will she be able to get out in time to help her friends fight off the new Dalek invasion? Or is ‘time’ a meaningless construct for a Time Lord/Lady?

The Doctor reacts to the destruction of Gallifrey | Image via BBC

Doctor Who showrunner Chris Chibnall seems excited about the upcoming New Year’s Day special. He promises that there will be ‘lots of explosions…’ which is something?

“We’ve crammed this year’s Doctor Who festive special with an explosion of extraordinary acting talent. Where else would you get British acting royalty, a globally renowned US screen star, an (inter)national treasure of stage and screen and one of Britain’s hottest young actors — just in the guest cast! Put those together with Jodie Whittaker, Bradley Walsh, Mandip Gill and Tosin Cole (and Daleks! Did I mention Daleks!) — and you get a cast to be exterminated for. And things will explode. Promise.”

The Doctor Who holiday special: “Revolution of the Daleks” will air on the BBC on New Year’s Day. Another reason to look forward to 2021. For more genre news, be sure to follow Comic Years on Facebook and Twitter today.

Emily O'Donnell is a writer and photographer with roots in some of the earliest online fandoms. She cut her genre teeth on the Wizard of Oz books at the tender age of 6 years old, and was reading epic adult fantasy novels by the age of 10. Decades later, she still consumes genre fiction like there is no tomorrow. She is delighted to be living through the golden age of sci-fi and fantasy popularity. She is unashamed of the amount of fanfiction that still lingers online under her name.