When the universe resets, sometimes you just need a time loop and a killer robot to ring in the new year.
Short Synopsis
The Doctor, Yaz, and Dan get stuck in a time loop inside a storage facility with two unlucky humans — and some very grumpy Daleks who keep killing everyone over and over again.
Extended Storyline
We open at ELF Storage, a cheerily depressing self-storage unit where Sarah (Aisling Bea), the sarcastic owner, is dealing with her least favorite customer, Nick (Adjani Salmon). He’s that kind of awkwardly sweet guy who keeps showing up at odd hours to store “random” items (read: mementos from ex-girlfriends). Sarah’s patience is thinner than her New Year’s cheer, and it’s about to get worse, because suddenly… Daleks. With guns. On New Year’s Eve.
Enter the Doctor, Yaz, and Dan, fresh from universe-saving business. They accidentally trigger a temporal reset when the Doctor tries to repair some of the damage caused by the Flux. Instead of fireworks, the gang gets stuck in a deadly time loop that resets every time they’re exterminated. Which, to be fair, happens a lot.
The Daleks, it turns out, are running cleanup duty. They’ve decided the Doctor is responsible for the Flux (technically not wrong), so they’ve brought in Execution Squad Daleks — sleeker, deadlier, and absolutely thrilled to keep killing her again and again. For them, the time loop is like Dalek Disneyland.
What follows is a perfect blend of horror and comedy. Every time the loop resets, the characters remember what happened, adjust their strategy, and still manage to die in new and inventive ways. Sarah responds with razor-sharp sarcasm, Nick proves himself more than just a walking cringe compilation, and Dan uses his Liverpudlian banter to distract Daleks like it’s a national sport. Yaz and the Doctor work the technobabble angle, but their focus wavers just enough for Yaz’s long-simmering feelings to peek out — yep, the Thasmin arc officially takes center stage here, with Yaz crushing on the Doctor while Dan notices immediately. (Dan: professional wingman.)
The tension ramps up as the loops get shorter each time — fewer minutes to outwit the Daleks before the universe resets again. The gang eventually figures out the trick: lure the Daleks into blowing themselves up along with the facility, breaking the loop just before midnight. It’s risky, explosive, and as full of last-second “RUN!”s as you’d expect.
In the end, Sarah and Nick survive (and even spark a little romance amid the carnage), Yaz keeps her feelings bottled up but increasingly obvious, and the Doctor shrugs off the fact she’s been exterminated a dozen times in one night. Business as usual. Oh, and the Daleks? Blown to smithereens. Again. Happy New Year.