Welcome back, fam! It’s time for another season of Doctor Who, and since the last time we checked in with Thirteen and the fam, a lot has changed. “Revolution of the Daleks” in January saw the departure of the grandfather and grandson team of Graham and Ryan. Six months later, word broke that Jodie Whittaker was taking her last trip in the TARDIS, along with showrunner Chris Chibnall, for one more series and some specials in 2022. Throw in the pandemic, which led to a shortened season, and needless to say, the Doctor Who world is in a bit of, ahem, flux.
But change brings opportunity, as we have a new face in the TARDIS (hello Dan!) and a threat that is going to wipe out the universe. It’s all tricks and no treats today, as we carve out the scary happenings of “The Halloween Apocalypse.” And as always: Spoilers!
1. One Story, Six Episodes
Doctor Who: Flux brings a type of storytelling that the series hasn’t seen since the 1985-1986 epic “Trial of a Time Lord” – – one story told over the course of the entire season. It’s only the third time in the show’s history that this has been done, and only the second time that the entire season has a singular story number.
One of the weaknesses of the episodic storytelling the series has used is continuity. Larger overarching stories and concepts often end up receiving less treatment in the episodic format to allow time to present the contained story. There was a lot covered in the previous season – – the Ruth Doctor, the Timeless Child, the hints of the Doctor’s true past – – that was certainly ambitious in setup, but weaker in execution – – all because it didn’t have that time to grow. With one narrative blooming over six episodes, we have time to dive deep.
And dive deep we do in this first installment, at least when it comes to setup. There isn’t much “Halloween” in this Halloween Apocalypse, outside of some trick or treaters to see the time of this installment as Halloween night. The holiday doesn’t provide any service to the story – it almost seems as though the premiere date led to the inspiration for the title. But what we lose in tricks, treats, and cute kid/pet costumes, we gain in meeting new faces, new monsters, and a whole lot of questions. And I’m okay with this – – we have time to see how this all comes together by the time of that final episode in December. I just hope that it does, and does so in a satisfying and effective way while allowing each episode some sort of legs to stand on their own.
What I do hope Flux provides is some time to pick up on those unresolved threads from last season, but with the announcement of Whittaker and Chibnall’s departure, I have a sense that this season is going to be the no-holds-barred epic-as-epic-can-get story that pulls out all the stops to leave their imprint on the series without leaving too much for their successors.
2. Girl Power
When we see the Doctor and Yaz again, the two are knee deep in some adventure that has them dangling over an acid bath, one breath away from imminent and painful death. Of course, they get out of this situation and back to the TARDIS (which itself seems out of sorts). More than the action, these moments give us time to see how the relationship between the two has evolved in that space. Yaz’s time in the TARDIS certainly helped boost her confidence, and we now see a Doctor and companion more on equal footing. It’s a relationship similar to the Seventh Doctor and Ace, and after several years of female companions leaning more into the damsel-in-distress type, this is a welcome change.
It does have me thinking about what could come next for Yaz after Whittaker leaves. Had Doctor Who not been cancelled in 1989, a future storyline would have seen Ace off to Gallifrey for Time Lord training. Perhaps that is Yaz’s future after the end of next year, and I would love to see it.
But while the two show a good working relationship and friendship, there’s still some things left unsaid . . .
Continued below3. 10 Percent Of Yourself
In Michelle Zauner’s memoir Crying in H Mart, she recalls advice her late mother would always give her to save “10 percent of herself” — to reserve some aspects of yourself that you keep close to your heart, no matter how much you love someone. The Doctor is practicing some form of that advice, though perhaps not best executed. She’s holding some secrets back from Yaz by distracting her with grand and sometimes perilous adventures – – and Yaz is not taking this secrecy very well.
While one of those secrets is her premonitions of someone named Swarm (who has met her before), and the Thanos-snap like weapon called the Flux, I have to imagine some of what she’s holding back is all that transpired in the last season, the essence of who The Doctor is, shaken to her very core. And if that is the case, it certainly makes some sense for the Doctor to spare Yaz her pain in an act of compassion.
4. Meet Dan
“The Halloween Apocalypse” isn’t just about the women in this episode. We get to meet Dan from Liverpool, who loves his hometown. Really, really, really loves Liverpool. He crashes a tour at the National Museum to show off his knowledge, much to the chagrin of the staff. (Though it’s short lived chagrin, as he ends up with a date with one of the staffers after work.) He gives back to his community through volunteering at the food bank. But for all that, his apartment is quite bare, save for some Liverpool FC gear. (No doubt a nod to actor John Bishop’s support of the club and his former semi-professional football career.) Here is a man who devotes himself to his community he’s had no time to discover himself . . . which makes him the perfect candidate for a trip in the TARDIS, similar to Donna Noble.
But before he makes it to the TARDIS, he ends up kidnapped by the Lupari, a dog-like creature who eventually reveals his (their?) intentions: protector of Earth, each assigned to a singular human being, whether they like that person or not. And they’re here to protect Earth from the Flux, which has the planet in its crosshairs.
When Bishop was announced as the new companion, I wasn’t totally keen on the idea, wanting some time to have an all-female dynamic in the TARDIS. The few moments we see Yaz and Dan together don’t tell us much, and I’m willing to give this relationship time to develop. My only hope is that the show doesn’t take the trope route, such as a romance between the two or setting Dan up to be the next Doctor.
5. The Old and the New
While the Flux, Swarm, and the Lupari are new to our stage, there’s also a classic Doctor Who villain in this episode: the Weeping Angels. They menace a woman named Claire on her way home from work in a scene that just seems out of place in the context of the main story. With the knowledge that this is the final large story arc for Chibnall and Whittaker, there’s a sense that they want to pull out all the greatest hits before they turn in the TARDIS keys. (And a preview for next week’s episode reveals another classic alien will make an appearance: the Sontarans!)
I hope that these are not cameos for the sake of them and that they make some sense to the larger story. There’s certainly enough to work with in the battle of the Flux, and adding in Weeping Angels and Sontarans alongside several other plot threads and characters that debut in this jam-packed debut (Jacob Anderson’s Vinder, the mysterious tunnels in 19th century Liverpool) will only add to the pile of questions that may not get answered in the next five weeks. In short, falling back to the shortcoming of last season of too many plot threads and nothing to tie them together.
The branding for this series shows the Doctor’s iconic striped shirt coming apart stripe by stripe, hinting that this world is one frayed and at the brink. I can only hope the scripting doesn’t go in that same direction.
We’ll see you next week for “Chapter Two: War of the Sontarans” and let us know what you thought of the episode in the comments!
