Doctor Who New Year’s Special: do filming photos support the Dalek rumour?

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According to The Mirror there will be a new, redesigned version of the Daleks in the Doctor Who New Year’s special.

And Rich Johnson of Bleeding Cool had this to say:

[Don’t] expect Doctor Who to bow out this series without the return of some old favourites – despite how Chibnall and the BBC may have played cute with the press…

How did Chris Chibnall “play cute” with the press?

During a press event at San Diego Comic Con in July, Chris Chibnall had this to say about Daleks:

“We’ve got two weeks left of shooting, and we haven’t seen them yet.”

Neither of the above news sources could name the yet unannounced title of the Doctor Who New Year’s Special nor could they give a more detailed synopsis of the events of the special.

The official synopsis:

As the New Year begins, a terrifying evil is stirring from across the centuries of Earth’s history. As the Doctor, Ryan, Graham and Yaz return home, will they be able to overcome the [alien] threat to planet Earth?


Are the Dalek rumors true? It’s possible The Mirror’s source could be conflating information gained from reports of public filming, though they did not identify the nature of their source.

This is what CultBox knows of the two weeks of filming Chris Chibnall mentioned. First, a photo of something that some said resembles a Dalek on a prop sign outside Cathays Llywodraeth Cymru offices in Cardiff.

It looks more like BB8 from Star Wars to me. If this is the alleged Dalek redesign, Disney might have something to say about that.

In any case, MDZ Research sounds intriguing enough. Here are some more photos and a video from the filming on July 29:

Some more filming took place the following day, July 30, at the smart bridge opposite the Atrium building at Cardiff University.


It’s worth noting that some or all of director Wayne Yip’s filming of the New Year’s special overlapped the last Series 11 filming block which contained the series finale. However, the scenes filmed on July 29 and 30 take place on modern-day Earth and don’t resemble publicity photos depicting the planet Ranskoor Av Kolos.

There will be a “first glimpse” of the Doctor Who New Year’s Day Special on BBC One following the series finale, The Battle of Ranskoor Ave Kolos on December 9. Perhaps the title of the special will be announced then.

The Doctor Who New Year’s Day Special airs on January 1, 7:00 p.m. on BBC One and 8:00 p.m. on BBC America.

We’ll keep you posted as soon as we find out more.