Jodie Whittaker WILL face the Daleks in the 'Doctor Who' New Year's Day special

Jodie Whittaker will come up against the Daleks for the first time as the iconic Doctor Who villains return for the New Year’s Day special.

Showrunner Chris Chibnall had previously revealed that none of the show’s ‘old monsters’ would feature in Whittaker’s first season, focusing instead on a whole host of brand new foes.

But now The Mirror has revealed that the 13th Doctor will come face-to-face with the Daleks for the very first time in the hour-long New Year’s special.

The one-off episode, which will be the only ones that airs in 2019 as season 12 is set for release in 2020, will also see the Daleks sport a new look.

The last time we saw the iconic villains was in 2015, when Peter Capaldi squared off with them in ‘The Witch’s Familiar’. They’ve appeared in every season of the BBC show except for the current one.

At the San Diego Comic-Con back in July, Chibnall revealed that season 11 would feature 10 standalone stories with a variety of all-new enemies, admitting there’d be “less old stuff”.

“I think our job is [to ask], ‘Where does the show go next?’, so there’ll be less old stuff returning and more new treats,” he said.

But he maintained that it was always a possibility that some of the classic villains could return.

“I haven’t started to think about that yet. Maybe. There’s always things,” he said. “I mean, there’s a long list, isn’t there? I haven’t thought about it at the moment, but I would never rule it out. There’s so many great things in the back catalogue.”

Confusingly, however, he then told Radio Times in September: “I don’t know how many times I need to say it. There are no old monsters this series. OK?”

One thing’s for certain, Whittaker’s Time Lord will survive her first encounter with the Daleks, because the actress has confirmed that she’ll be returning for season.

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