Doctor Who - Resolution, on BBC One (UK) / BBC America (USA)
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This is the fourteenth festive special of the revived Doctor Who series, and the first New Year's special rather than Christmas (unless you count part 2 of The End of Time). It first aired on January 1, 2019, but I didn't see it until January 1, 2021. It takes place between series 11 and 12.

It begins with a story of a battle in the 9th century, in which a nearly unbeatable enemy was defeated. Its body was cut into three pieces, to be buried far apart. But one of the people carrying a piece was killed before he could reach his destination, and... I guess his body was just left lying around, and eventually got covered up by the effects of time. In the present, two people, Lin and Mitch, are excavating a site in the sewers under Sheffield, where they find the body... and the body piece he was carrying. Unwittingly reviving the body piece by putting it under a UV light, it calls the other two pieces to itself, and becomes whole again. It's not long before the squid-like being takes over Lin's body, to use as a vessel to get around.

Meanwhile, the Doctor has been showing her companions New Year's Day fireworks in various places in time and space. The tardis then alerts the Doctor to an alien presence on Earth, so they go to investigate, and meet Lin and Mitch (though it will be some time before they discover that the alien has attached itself to Lin to control her). But they do soon learn that the alien is a Dalek, without its metal casing. They manage to chase it down, but not before it's forced Lin to steal a Dalek laser from somewhere, and construct a new casing. Of course, they will still manage to defeat it in the end, but it takes a lot of work. Also, Ryan reconnects with his absentee father, Aaron, who is sorry for abandoning him. He ends up getting involved in the effort to defeat the Dalek, as well.

Well, I've left out countless details (like the fact that the Doctor tries to contact UNIT for help, but learns that its operations have been suspended due to funding issues). But anyway... it was a fairly decent story, just not one I was wild about. I'm not sure why; there was nothing I disliked about it. And it's probably better than most of the series 11 episodes, but I guess I just cared about the season as a whole more than any one episode, including this one. I did quite like how the constructing of the Dalek shell paralleled the Doctor's construction of her new sonic screwdriver at the start of the season. Anyway, I'm definitely happy to have seen the special, and I wish I could think of more to say about it.