Flux

The first full series to be made after the first waves of the COVID pandemic (and the last full series for Jodie Whittaker) was to be one multi-part story which brings to mind the last time such a task was attempted. Although, unlike in 1986, Doctor Who's future is very much assured, the fact that it is not gaining the viewing figures it used to, immediately make one think of the end of the Colin Baker era. Flux is only about 30 minutes shorter than The Trial of a Time Lord, but is closer in structure to its '60s predecessor, The Daleks' Master Plan, in that it is one narrative that has some episodes that form discrete individual stories. Those 20th Century four bears have very different reputations, so to say that Flux falls between the two in terms of quality, is not very helpful! Flux is, however, very much Chris Chibnall's final statement on how he sees Doctor Who, so here we go.

The good news is that Flux contains some of the best episodes yet of the Chibnall era. "The Halloween Apocalypse" sets up things very well, with a wealth of memorable scenes and dizzying concepts and in its follow-up, "War of the Sontarans", we have a fun little alternate history/reality distortion story, where Russia has been replaced by a Sontaran bridgehead, resulting in the Sontarans being the masters of Earth, making the Crimean war a very different conflict. A fortnight later, we were given the pinnacle of Jodie Whittaker's tenure, "Village of the Angels". This story is lesser to the Weeping Angel stories written by their creator, but only by comparison, and is a tense, scary joy from beginning to end and proof that it is possible to make a fresh and surprising base-under-siege story, a story that ends with one of the best cliffhangers in the show's history (not affected by a bizarrely placed mid-credits scene). The remaining episodes are purely part of Flux's narrative. Of these, "Once, Upon Time" is a mind-bending puzzle box but, crucially, expands on the characters with some deft writing and performances that sets up what could be an intriguing finale . However, in the final two episodes, "Survivors of the Flux" and "The Vanquishers" that is not quite what we are promised. Although Chibnall's solution isn't the cuniculus ex capellum plot contrivance that I was fearing, there is the sloppiness in plotting that has been all too common. It seems that Chibnall is sometimes lacking confidence in his own creations; the Passengers are never sold as what they feel like to the viewer – an evil version of the TARDIS, which would have made the solution far more resonant. In addition, as I said, many, many moons ago in commenting on the resolution of "Last of the Time Lords", Doctor Who should be grounded on a contemporary Earth that is relatable to the viewer. Whilst it seems we have this, there is no indication that the effects of the Flux have been reversed. We are left with a universe of only a handful of galaxies and we are explicitly shown the destruction of Jupiter – something that would have cataclysmic effects on the movement of everything orbiting the Sun.

However, something that goes a very long way to compensating for the plot problems is the best character writing Chibnall has done to date. The Doctor's allies are a very appealing cohort. Chibnall has always been keen to bring back more of the educational aspect of Sydney Newman's vision (for history that is; the less said about the science, the better!) and we have appearances by Mary Seacole and, most wonderfully, Joseph Williamson, a person of whom I had not heard, but is integrated into Doctor Who better that any historical figure to date. An outstanding performance by Steve Oram surely resulted in a spike in hits to Williamson's Wikipedia page.

Characters like Bel and Vinder would usually be ciphers in previous Chibnall stories, but they are used well in the plot and brought to life by likeable performances by Thaddea Graham and Jacob Anderson. More sketchily written is Claire, but her plot is fascinating and she is effectively played by Annabel Scholey. Unlike with the previous returnee actor from a 1984 story, it would have been a miracle if this had not been the best Doctor Who story that Kevin McNally had appeared in. Professor Jericho is a truly wonderful character that I am sorry could not have remained as a proper companion. Then there is Karvanista the Lupar. The prosthetics indicate a fun alien, like the Cats of New Earth, but Craig Els makes him so much more. The expression of fury and despair on Karvanista's face when he learns of the genocide of the Lupari is all the more impressive in that it is delivered by an actor wearing a dog mask. I really hope that Karvanista remains a permanent fixture on the programme. Speaking of which, Jemma Redgrave makes a long-overdue return as Kate Stewart and fits into this new era like a glove.

Flux is blessed with easily the most charismatic villains of the Chibnall era, in the shape of the Ravagers, Azure and Swarm. Rochenda Sandall and Sam Spruell thoroughly command the screen helped by the nightmare-inducing prosthetics that they have been given. The Sontarans are back, with a more rugged look, but still with the brilliant Dan Starkey as the lieutenant. Strax became too beloved a character for Starkey to be in command, but we have Jonathan Watson performing admirably in those roles. Hovering between tertiary and quaternary villain status is Craig Parkinson's Grand Serpent, whose louche style always makes for interesting villains.

I love the Fam, but, it must be said that Yaz really shines on her own, and Mandip Gill gives one of the all-time great companion performances. this is helped by the fact that Yaz never states verbally something that has just been shown on screen - a very annoying trait of Chibnall's in earlier episodes. As I am only really familiar with him as a comedian, I was very pleasantly surprised by how effective John Bishop was as Dan and Chibnall cannot be faulted in any way in writing his character arc; of especial notice is Dan's relationship with Di, which is totally convincing and is given a very real conclusion. As with the Fam's Sheffield-ness, the Liverpudlian aspect is really well emphasised, and is brought to a hilarious crescendo, when Dan and his parents are discussing woks, a word that doubles its syllable count in a Scouse accent. Jodie Whittaker is playing against historical figures, malevolent primordial entities, other people inhabiting her form and two different versions of herself and is thoroughly spellbinding throughout. I look forward to seeing what remains of this new TARDIS line-up.

The production has been kicked into overdrive with some spectacular imagery although some cracks show (notably where the Doctor has her astral conference with the Mouri, which is not significantly better than a 70s CSO scene). However, the scenes with the Flux itself are spectacular and directors Azhur Saleem and Jamie Magnus Stone helm a very talented cast and production team. The freeing of Swarm is a masterpiece of teatime horror and there is a refreshing 3-dimensional quality to the space shots – too many films and tv programmes forget that space is infinite in all directions.

Cryptically suffusing this new Whoniverse, is the Division. We are again given a few more scraps of the Doctor's hidden lives and Chibnall provides us with startling snapshots, and a great role for Barbara Flynn as Tecteun, but it's unclear if he will give his rewriting of the mythos the power that it needs; it has the potential to be as existentially diquieting as the theory exemplified as Liu Cixin's Dark Forest. Also intriguing is the concept of the struggle between Time and Space (which brings to mind Sapphire and Steel) but, again, i have some concerns as to whether Chibnall can pull off this conceptual turn.

Despite being considerably better in almost every respect, like Colin Baker's swansong, Flux is less than the sum of his parts. However there is simply too much good stuff to dismiss it in the same way and I keep my fingers crossed for the remainder of this era.

NEXT: "Eve of the Daleks"

"The Angels Take Manhattan"

The tale opens in a a kind of East-coast pastiche of Dashiell Hammett and Raymond Chandler- the excellent teaser has Sam Garner, the hard-boiled detective being given his assignment, his confident and florid voice-over on the soundtrack. However, his mission, though innocuous to him, will have far more significance to the viewer- Manhattan has been overrun with the most iconic monsters of the 21st century iteration of the series and Garner is walking into a trap. The Weeping Angels are as terrifying as they have ever been and Moffat explores new levels of their malevolence with the 'battery farm' they have built in Winter Quay. The baby angels are a chilling addition with their light-hearted, yet gleefully sadistic cackling. As "Blink" was the story to give us the phrase 'timey-wimey', it is fitting that Moffat manages to find new levels to take timey-wimeyness- too much of it and the effect on time travellers is like an erupting Icelandic volcano. For Moffat, as a writer, the idea of using a book to forge the timelines would have been irresistable, including a retort to the statement 'Time can be re-written'. Again, the story seems chaotic and yet it manages to work brilliantly. Of course, this is aided by the realisation of the story is first rate, with Nick Hurran again putting in outstanding work in the director's chair- his construction of the scenes with the Angels moving in for the kill are sublime and the little touches that only work on a second viewing- when Garner is approaching the house, he sees an old woman, a woman in her late thirties and a young girl looking out of the window. It becomes obvious only later, that they are the same person. The shooting in New York is refreshingly free of cliché, except for the greatest one of all, which is wickedly subverted- although the Statue of Liberty being an Angel doesn't make much sense (if there is one statue in the world that is constantly under at least one person's gaze, it's Lady Liberty) but it is such a fantastic image that I, for one, can forgive it.

Memorable as all this is, "The Angels Take Manhattan" is the Ponds' swan-song and it is this which drives the action and gives the story its heart and soul. The Doctor should not be alone. There have been many reasons given for this, all of which are valid. However, most of his companions have been human and, devoted as he is to them and vice versa, the time of parting is inevitable. There are palliatives, as River takes (literal) pains to demonstrate, but no cure. It is time, now, for the Ponds to bid farewell. We have followed the story of Rory and Amy like no other relationship in the history of the programme. Amy might have tried to seduce the Doctor, they might have been on the verge of divorce, but their love has remained nevertheless. They have had the Doctor in their lives since childhood and that has impacted them greatly- it is Rory who comes up with the solution and it is their courage and love that they share that defeats the Angels. When, in the midst of victory, Rory is cruelly snatched away, Amy knows instantly whom to choose. Rose will abandon her family for the Doctor, but Amy has always loved Rory more. Time cannot be re-written if it is read, and nothing sets the future in stone better than an epitaph. Whatever happens, Rory Williams and his wife Amelia will die in New York. The emotional ups and downs are brilliantly conveyed by Moffat, with outstanding performances by the regulars. Gillan and Darvill put in their best performances ever and Matt Smith's restrained sorrow with occasional bursts of anger and anguish is wonderful. Alex Kingston is as wonderful as ever as River, the psychopath, who, nevertheless performs yet another series of selfless acts.

As with Madame de Pompadour and Kathy Nightingale their last words are in writing, giving a bitter-sweet, yet satisfying ending to the story. The Doctor always rips out the last page as he doesn't like endings (bubbling under the emotion of the stories were thoughts of one of Tony Hancock's finest Half Hours!) but Moffat and Hurran leave us with a final memory that is a happy one- young Amelia hearing the sound she has most wanted to hear. "The Angels Take Manhattan" is wonderfully entertaining, genuinely moving and a great send-off to a pair of genuinely beloved characters.

NEXT: "The Snowmen"

"The Time of Angels"/"Flesh and Stone"

The Doctor has had a host of recurring foes in his television adventures, but most of the time he only has to defeat an enemy once. Sutekh, the Drashigs, Magnus Greel, the Malus, Scaroth and the Beast are just a few of the memorable one-night stands the Doctor has had. Until now, the Weeping Angels would have been near the top of the list- "Blink" remains one of the greatest stories the programme has produced in any era and the Angels one of the most chilling race of monsters ever seen on the small screen. It could be argued that a return appearance would ruin the impact of the Angels- but it took very little time for me to conclude that the return of the Angels was nothing short of a resounding success.

The basic plotline of "The Time of Angels"/"Flesh and Stone" is simple- the Doctor helps to locate the Angels in a crashed spaceship and get his friends out safely. This is a canvas for Moffat to paint his exquisitely shaded opus. As with his stories in the Russell T Davies era, this adventure is brimming with fantastic ideas and concepts. The squad of soldiers featured in the story are not Army, but the Church which has, as the Doctor says ‘moved on’; trees are cybernetically augmented to form oxygen factories in starliners; Moffat’s ability to build worlds is phenomenal. However, this would be for naught if the monsters did not work- the reason the Angels worked the first time was that they were based on a very strong, but idea. Betray that idea or employ excessive casuistry to circumvent its limits and the impact of the Angels is disastrously dampened. However, Moffat only builds on the ideas- that which holds the image of an angel becomes itself an angel, resulting in a very tense scene with Amy. Building on this, we find that looking into the eyes of an Angel for too long results in an image of the Angel forming in the mind, which leads to the horrifying idea of Amy having to walk through a group of Angels with her eyes shut. The Angels are given a personality for the first time, gleefully sadistic and chillingly psychopathic. As with his previous two-parters, Moffat does not merely rely on the ideas brought up in part one, he brings in more to complement them. A very familiar crack has opened, a crack which destroys time. People approaching too closely are erased from existence as if they have never existed- and even the Angels are terrified. This leads to the dénouement, where seemingly minor things raised in the story come together perfectly- the ship’s failing power, the quirks of artificial gravity- to solve the crisis in a simple way that works without insulting the viewers’ intelligence.

Moffat’s mastery is not just about plot and concepts, obviously. The dialogue is wonderful, ranging from the funny that we expect, to moments of beauty (‘What if our dreams no longer needed us?’) and real poignancy (‘I wish I had known you better’/ ‘I think, sir, that you knew me at my best’). In such a packed story there would appear to be no room for character- yet Moffat, for the first time, has succeeded doing what RTD did deceptively easily- making every character seem real, no matter how minor. This is helped by a very strong cast, including Mark Monero and Darren Morfitt (who was so memorable in Neil Marshall's Dog Soldiers). Even Mike Skinner’s cameo works well. We also have a reliably solid performance from Iain Glen as Octavian.

Directing the story is Adam Smith, who does stunning work throughout. I must draw special attention to the first 5 minutes which is one of the most awesome sequences I have ever seen on the small screen. Smith constructs each scene perfectly. Amy’s encounter with the image of the Angel on the screen is a well-realised homage to Ringu, well worth the eight minutes it takes up on screen. Amy’s walk through the forest of Angels wrings every bit of tension out of the script. The script asks for something that has the potential to be disastrous- we see the Angels move for the first time and it is testament to Smith’s skills that these scenes work magnificently- the first one in particular is a real jump moment.

The story, of course, also has the return of another memorable Moffat creation- River Song. Alex Kingston effortlessly makes her the irresistible character she was in "Silence in the Library"/"Forest of the Dead" and it is clear that there is more to her than we thought. Matt Smith and Karen Gillan continue to build their fantastic rapport with their best performances yet. The rapport builds to such an extent that we get something that we have never seen before- the Doctor fighting off the ravishes of his companion. The scene is funny and believable in terms of what we know about the character and her situation- Amy is clearly bit more forthright than Martha!

"The Time of Angels"/"Flesh and Stone" is an astounding adventure, destined to become one of the true classics of the programme.

NEXT: "The Vampires of Venice"

"Blink"

It’s time for the Doctor-lite episode and we see the highly anticipated return of Steven Moffat to Doctor Who. At its heart, "Blink" has one of the most frightening race of monsters that Doctor Who has ever presented- the Weeping Angels, who can only move when you are not looking at them. The frightening concept at the heart of "Fear Her" that was carelessly unexplored is allowed to reach its full potential here- something that shouldn’t move that does. The idea is striking because it appeals as both a fear that children can relate to and a conceptually fascinating one for adults. The Doctor and Martha have been touched by the Angels and are stuck in 1969- but the Doctor leaves a message in the form of a film that is distributed as a DVD Easter egg- a brilliant idea. However, this is only a part of the story’s effect. The Weeping Angels do not actually cause their victims physical harm, but transport them to another time. Moffatt’s script has a lot to say about the way people observe time. Cathy lives a full life, yet she is dead to Sally the moment the letter arrives, for it is a letter from a dead woman. Billy’s death is slightly different, because he actually gets to see Sally again. ‘Look at my hands; they’re old man’s hands’. Billy too, has lived a long and productive life- yet I’m sure many old people look at themselves and think ‘I was young, yesterday’. The Angels drive home the fact that death will get us in the end, no matter what we do. Moffat’s dialogue is as witty as we have come to expect, yet the emotional moments ring true- such as Sally noting that the rain that is outside Billy’s death bed is the same rain as when they met, when he was young. It is here, of course that we have the Doctor utter the best bit of technobabble ever- time is ‘a big ball of wibbly-wobbly, timey-wimey…stuff’. This is strangely reminiscent of a bit of technobabble from The Time Monster- but infinitely more effective.

Moffat’s talent for characterisation is as pronounced as ever. Sally Sparrow is wonderfully written and wonderfully played by Carey Mulligan, a typical Moffat heroine- smart, sexy and witty, but easy to relate to. She is given great support from Finlay Robertson as Larry (Laurence Nightingale? Parents can be cruel) a geeky character who does not conform to usual geeky stereotypes. Moffat makes this central relationship funny and believable. There is not one weak link in the cast. A special mention must be given to the Billys- Michael Obiora makes young Billy a supremely confident, yet still likeable young man and Louis Mahoney (making his third and best appearance in Doctor Who) makes him believable as an older version of the character, more subdued, yet still with the same spark.

Hettie MacDonald’s direction is sublime, making every appearance of the Angels chilling, helped by Murray Gold’s screeching score- the movement of the Angels with the flickering light is a real heart-stopper. Crucially, MacDonald is just as skilful at directing the more subdued scenes and is masterful at creating mood. The production values are also superb- it is hard to believe that the Angels are actually people in costume and you genuinely think that they made different statues for each pose. As with "Love & Monsters", the Doctor-lite story has a director who only made one contribution and I hope she returns.

"Blink" had to follow the unqualified triumph of "Human Nature"/"The Family of Blood". At the time, it felt that Paul Cornell’s story would be impossible to match- yet "Blink" certainly does that, equally effective in a totally different way. A triumph for all concerned.

NEXT: "Utopia"