*This article contains spoilers*
It’s New Year’s Eve at Elf Storage and warehouse manager Sarah (Aisling Bea) has something of a problem in Doctor Who – an executioner Dalek is determined to exterminate The Doctor, the companions and everyone else in its path.
Thus begins the latest scintillating episode of BBC One’s sci-fi icon, Eve of the Daleks, and the cast face a battle to escape their time loop and a race to survive the threat. However, Doctor Who fans were equally preoccupied with the burgeoning love story, between The Doctor (Jodie Whittaker) and Yasmin (Mandip Gill) AKA ‘Thasmin’!
The end of Eve of the Daleks served up clear signals that Yaz has significant romantic feelings for Thirteen – and a glance from The Doctor suggested the feelings may be reciprocated!
In the episode Dan (John Bishop) has twigged that their relationship is not simply platonic and challenges Yaz about it. “I don’t know what to do, Dan,” she replies tearfully. “I’ve never told anyone. Not even myself.”
Some fans felt the scene in their hearts; for one viewer it was ‘by far my favourite Yasmin Khan scene’.
This is by far my favourite Yasmin Khan scene.Absolutely stellar performance from Mandip. Felt it in my heart.#DoctorWho pic.twitter.com/NQ5yCV74vgJanuary 1, 2022
Another Whovian tweeted: “Although I'm not a fan of Thasmin, I can see why fans are shipping them. That was actually a lovely scene with Dan trying to encourage Yaz to tell The Doctor how she feels about her.”
Not everyone was convinced that the time-travelling Doctor should be displaying such terrestrial emotion.
13 what are you DOING #thasmin #DoctorWho pic.twitter.com/BmSC1gFprMJanuary 1, 2022
The feelings seem to be reciprocated by The Doctor, as many viewers underlined: “this is not the look of someone who does not return yaz’s feeling !!!!! she is in love!!!”
While other viewers pointed out the obvious flaw in the lesbian storyline – with Jodie’s imminent exit from Doctor Who, The Doctor is about to regenerate into (most likely) a male Fourteen.
Doctor Who fans were also bewitched by the return of Karl Wright (played by Jonny Dixon), last seen in Jodie’s debut episode The Woman Who Fell to Earth in 2018.
Exactly how he fits into Thirteen’s final episodes, which will air sometime in 2022, weren’t made clear, but fans were delighted to see his reappearance.
One viewer tweeted: “Jonny Dixon will be back as Karl, no? Surely too big a name to cast in a mere cameo - especially given that character has a name in the credits…”
Another wrote: “Can’t believe they brought back Karl (aka the positive affirmations guy) from The Woman Who Fell To Earth.”
It seems he has a role to play in Jodie's exit strategy. Exactly what, we'll have to wait to see when Doctor Who returns in the spring.
