"Boom"

The new Russell T Davies era promises to be different from the first and it has very much fulfilled this promise. He has stamped his authorial authority on this season as he has never done before; except for one slot which he has reserved for his successor. The Steven Moffat episodes were always a highlight in the first RDT era so the first story the former showrunner has written in nearly 7 years is certainly an event.

There are some hallmarks of his style – the ridiculous, yet profound aphorisms ("Everywhere is a beach eventually") the hyper-compressed world-building, tying into the feeling that Moffat is building an enclave Whoniverse of his own (the church militant, Villengard and the holograms of the deceased, which recall the Data Ghosts from the Doctor's adventures in The Library). There is commentary on war, on those that profit by it and the pros and cons of faith. Yet this is anchored by a plot that is simplicity itself – the Doctor is standing on a landmine and has to deactivate it.

Moffat has his own views on who the Doctor is and here we are shown that in the most basic form – the Doctor can solve a crisis standing on one leg. The lines that Moffat writes could have been said by any Doctor, yet Gatwa takes it to another level, showing compassion, fire, authority and humour, with a touch of Kigali patois gilding the Hibernian lily. Millie Gibson complements this powerhouse performance perfectly. The guest cast is small, but impressive, nontheless. Joe Anderson's character is fractured, as of necessity, but the charisma of the character links it all together. However, Oswinning our hearts is the very wonderful début of Varada Sethu and it's good that we shall be seeing more of her. Director Julie Anne Robinson makes this bottle episode a wide-screen visual feast, without losing sight of the eyeball-to-eyeball tension.

Perhaps the only real criticism is that the twist is a bit obvious. But, like Robert Holmes before him, Moffat has crafted a tale that has the quality of his past stories, without seeming like a throwback. Like "Kerblam!" before it, it seems that onomatopoeic explosive titles might be a winner...

NEXT: "73 Yards"

"The Devil's Chord"

After the relatively easy beginning, we are taken way out there with "The Devil’s Chord" a sidestep into the more fantastical story suggested by the Fifteenth Doctor's first story. We are geared up for a pseudo-historical, in which the Doctor meets the Beatles. However, these Four are far from Fab. There are hints of the recent film Yesterday, in which we are shown a world that the Beatles never existed. Here, they do exist, but in a world that has lost the need for music. It is still produced, but with no aim beyond being a background noise, little better than Aeolian tones. Davies paints a world without the love of music as being a world with a part of its soul missing, which makes humanity even more bellicose than ever. As Davies referenced The Ark in Space last time, here we are given a scene reminiscent of Pyramids of Mars, as the Doctor shows what will happen if he does not intervene.

There are several Doctor Who stories where sound is important, but here sound in general and music in particular has never been more critical. The incidental music is muted, only really starting when the Beatles are on screen. The more smart-alec viewers will think that, perhaps, no soundtrack would have been better – until we realise that all of the soundtrack is diagetic. The powerful scene where Ruby plays her piece on the roof of Abbey Road Studios, awakening feelings that people had forgotten that they had.

But this is an offence to the villain of the piece, the diabolical Maestro, child of the Toymaker. I am not a watcher of RuPaul's Drag Race, so Jinkx Monsoon was a complete unknown to me. Her performance is barnstorming – flamboyant, loud and, at times, genuinely scary. She is perfect for the role. We have been told that once the Toymaker and his kith are involved, reality bends to their rules. The Maestro turns every setting into their stage at will and staves and rogue crotchets erupt from the Maestro's baton, attacking like tentacles. Maestro is a vindictive God and a party-pooper in one – when Ruby's piece inspires one person to play Clair de lune by Debussy, Maestro stops her before those peerless arpeggios are played.

With such a colourful supporting character, there is little room for others, yet each is nicely played. However, the opening scene introduces us to the hapless Mr Tim Drake, who calls the Maestro to Earth with his unappreciated genius. The name could refer to the person responsible for the compiling the music on the Voyager disc or, wonderfully, RDT could be a closet Cardiacs fan. The casting is inspired, as he is played by musician and comedian Jeremy Limb, who has a very personal connection to Doctor Who's music, although not as much as a fleeting cameo, later on. As Mr Drake summoned Maestro through his unsung genius, it will take the first ever Lennon-McCartney collaboration to banish them, in a truly cathartic moment. As said, the Beatles are supporting players in this tale, yet both John and Paul get significant scenes with the Doctor and Ruby. Despite looking only superficially like the greatest song writing team in history, Chris Mason and George Caple give nice, unshowy performances as the brains behind Northern Songs. Only the Beatles could have the mythopoeic heft to make this story work, even though they never used the tritone - mind you a story based around "Purple Haze" or Black Sabbath's eponymous song would have been amusing!

The regulars are on top form, with Ruby doing some challenging work. Gatwa is in control throughout, even when the Doctor feels that he isn't. Ben Chessell helms all of this brilliantly, especially in the unforgettable "Twist at the End", where Doctor Who goes full musical with those irresistible 60s shimmy dances. This has all the unreality of any musical sequence, but it seems that Maestro's influence lingers, as their father's did.

"The Devil’s Chord" is a little gem that rewards multiple viewings. It shows how Davies is differing his second run from his first; his attitude has taken into account how Doctor Who has changed since he left and there are clear hints of his successor's attitude, in the concepts...

NEXT: "Boom"

"Space Babies"

If there was any type of story that would be made in the event of  a stereotypical Disney takeover of Doctor Who, it would be one about space babies. What better way to make a family show more kid-friendly than by having the vast majority of the guest cast be talking babies? It does appear that this opening story is a bit too cutesy for its own good which, combined with certain plot points – the constitution of the monster of the week, the propulsion of the space station – seems to indicate that Doctor Who is heading into a more juvenile direction.

However, beneath the juvenile veneer there is some very clever use of the concepts. Digs are made at the recent backsliding in reproductive rights in America, the ethics of commercial interests in healthcare. The production is incredibly detailed, with expansive sets, moody lighting and little details such as the baby scribbles on the walls. The Bogeyman has a perfect blend of the Slitheen's ridiculousness, combined with sinister touches of the Alien and Shin Godzilla. It has to be said, however, that putting CGI lip movements on real babies has never been convincing. With so many of the supporting cast being unable to read their own lines, it is left to the incredibly versatile Golda Rosheuvel to give a great little performance as the nanny. Millie Gibson continues to delight as Ruby, but it is our leading man who transfixes us. It hits the viewer immediately that dialogue about genocide packs an extra punch when delivered by someone with Gatwa's background and the deftness of the writing and the skilfulness of the performance sell this 100%. Director Julie Anne Robinson keeps the sense of fun, whilst maintaining an aura of unease, a very tricky balance that is in line with the tightrope walk of a story that is teetering on the edge of bathos.

RTD has often said that The Ark in Space is his favourite Doctor Who story and, only a few months on from "Wild Blue Yonder", he does another take on it. Yet such is his skill in using the same frame to paint a different picture, that this is all but forgotten. Silly and lightweight on the surface, "Space Babies" has a good deal more to offer. Whilst it is a tale of talking babies, snot-monsters and farting space stations it is a very well-told tale of talking babies, snot-monsters and farting space stations!

NEXT: "The Devil's Chord"

"The Church on Ruby Road"

 The fourth iteration of 21st Century Doctor Who gets going with many similarities to the first, Russell T Davies is back at the helm, and we are brought into the chaotic family life of someone who seems ordinary from the outside, but whose actual experience is anything but, to them. Contrivance and coincidence is what makes a plot work, but here it is vital to the story. Although RTD's stories have a feel of their own, if any other writer could have written this story, it would be the late, great Terry Pratchett, who would have had a blast creating the goblin ship with its rope and knot-based technology (techknotogy?) We're told that it's a different type of science, but this tale of babies, goblin kings, Davina McCall, with a musical number thrown in, goes further into the realm of fantasy than the programme has done for a long time. It is the type of magic that is perfect for Christmas, which is now, thankfully, a Doctor Who tradition, again!

One returnee from the Chibnall era is Mark Tonderai and he is a perfect match for this heady brew, selling everything from the show stopping Goblin Baby song, to the subdued timeline without Ruby in it. The guest cast is superb, but a very special mention must be made of Michelle Greenidge as Ruby's adopted mother Carla, who effortlessly makes the loving mother and uncaring foster mother from different timelines into recognisably the same person.

What RDT had over his successors was his absolute mastery of making every single character seem wholly real and Ruby Sunday is wholly believable in whatever the story throws at us, which is a good thing. Millie Gibson makes an immediate impact as Ruby – unlike Billie Piper, nearly two decades ago, she actually is nineteen, but she has a charisma that makes it hard to believe that she has only a few years acting experience in her short life. However, bounding, spinning and climbing into view is the force of nature that is Ncuti Gatwa, who dominates the screen. His statement to the friendly policeman is one that could have easily have been made by David Tennant's Doctor(s). And yet, Ncuti makes those words his own. It's a blinding performance that promises a great deal more to come.

Davies is back with a bang, yet he has not ignored the past. All may not be what it seems with Ruby, as it was with Steven Moffat's companions. I eagerly await what's ahead of us...

NEXT: "Space Babies"

"The Giggle"

Chris Chibnall's swansong for the programme was made to celebrate the BBC's centenary, and, at the close of Doctor Who's 60th Anniversary trilogy, we are taken to the birth of television itself, two years after the founding of the Corporation. John Logie Baird was an inventor that seems too wacky to be anything but fictional – and yet, look him up! Baird's natural eccentricity is a perfect fit for this story, as is Stooky Bill. As a puppet became the first face on television, we learn that there was more than one puppet master. Russell T Davies has tried to capture the zeitgeist several times before, but nowhere has he succeeded more than in this story. A century after Stooky Bill's debut, humanity is tearing itself apart because everyone is convinced that they are 100% right, heeding only the echo chambers that mass media has provided. Our imagination has to do very little work to see a world where people demonise those who hold views opposed to their own, where the notion of a left-winger and a right winger being friends seems like something from a bygone fantasy age. Even Trinity Wells seems to have made the leap from MSNBC to Fox News!

The nods to the past are not as crowd-pleasing as in past celebrations, but we have the return of an awesome adversary almost from the dawn of the programme itself. The Toymaker is reborn in the incredibly charismatic form of Neil Patrick Harris, whose playful prestidigitation, juggling and dancing can be undercut with a chilling glower. We are left in no doubt that he is omnipotent within his domain and he has overcome the Guardians and even perhaps God in his gameplay.

The very talented Chanya Button brings all of this magnificently to life, whether it be the Hollywood blockbuster level UNIT base to the jaw-dropping "Spice Up Your Life" section. Catherine Tate's performance is incredibly skilful – selling the unease of the Stooky Sue sequence, before the sharpest tongue in Chiswick counter-attacks. Kate is back and such is the instant rapport, that we forget that she has never shared a scene with that particular Doctor. Also returning is Mel. Aeons ago, I said that Bonnie Langford didn't agree with me, due to irritation, rather than incompetence. It's strange what a few decades can do. Mel is still buzzing with energy and facts, but it is so much more easy to take from Bonnie in her 50s and it is truly joyful having her back. The regulars are having a ball running the show and David Tennant rules the roost – until something rather unexpected happens. The Toymaker insists that each game has to be played by a different Doctor; First, Fourteenth – and Fifteenth. As the fantastic rules of the Toymaker's realm still apply, we have the first ever bi-generation and the coming of the new Doctor without the death of the old one. Ncuti Gatwa is born to play the role and commands the screen from the moment his head pops out. If the final test being a game of catch loses something of the challenge, the concept of the Toymaker being beaten in the most primal game is very satisfying as a concept – before the games got more complicated, now they become simpler.

We are, therefore left with two Doctors permanently, it seems, but with a purpose. The Doctor has earned a rest, but must always move on. Now, he can do both and, whilst a beloved face sits down to relax with his family, a new one launches itself, smiling at the cosmos...

NEXT: "The Church on Ruby Road

"Wild Blue Yonder"

 The second special is free of the burden of the fanfare and finale, which leaves it with the purpose of telling a good story. We are eased into this by a light-hearted opening, where the TARDIS lands with a newfound violence that seems par for the course, together with the tendency to set the control to "famous". Here we have Isaac Newton and the apocryphal discovery of the weakest fundamental interaction that desperately needs a gegorable nage. We are, of course, used to these romps around creation with the DoctorDonna, but, on only his second outing in his second term RTD is determined to give us something truly memorable, in a deceptively simple tale of the Doctor and his companion alone in a mystery situation. The story elements are nothing particularly new, with immediate similarities being evident to The Ark in Space and "Midnight". Coincidentally, I was reading a Stanisław Lem book at the time (the hilarious Cyberiad) so my mind was also drawn to Solaris. Despite this, we have a story subtly different to anything else previously broadcast with a script by Russell T Davies that continues to impress with fresh nuances after new viewings. The scenes between the Doctor and Donna flow so naturally that it's easy to forget the skill in creating the dialogue. In this story, set at the boundary of creation, character is key and character is used to astonishing effect. 'A man is the sum of his memories' someone once said, but this story proves that there is more. The metathoughts are where the soul is, beautifully brought to life by the Donnas different ways of telling of their Southampton origins.

The very talented Tom Kingsley makes a strong début for the programme, dynamically using confined and extended spaces with precision. There was no need for the sets to be much more spacious that those for The Ark in Space yet the extra scale is very welcome. Moreover, the clinical white of the interior contrasts with the blackness of space, very reminiscent of 2001 (incidentally, the alarm sound from the Discovery pod makes an appearance again, as it did in "The Waters of Mars". The practical and digital effects give the NotDoctorDonna's attempts to correct their shape the requisite elements of ridiculousness and unease. This would all, however, come to nothing the without four astonishing performances by the two leads. Tennant and Tate could do this type of interaction in their sleep, but the fact that they go the extra mile is gives us astonishing results. Their performances are the meat of the story, but there is one other actor who must be mentioned. I was not expecting to see Wilf ever again, and the final performance of one of our most beloved actors was a joy to behold.

"The Star Beast" was a Davies romp that proved to be as good as the best Chibnall era stories, but here, we have an episode that effortlessly outclasses any Doctor Who story broadcast between 2018 and 2022. Funny, scary, tightly shot and impeccably acted – what more could you wish for?

NEXT: "The Giggle"

"The Star Beast"

The brief era of the new Doctor with an old face begins with a surprisingly low-key romp, despite it being the first special to celebrate the 60th Anniversary of the programme.. However, low-key doesn't mean low-stakes. This story looks back to the past in adapting a 43 year-old comic strip from Doctor Who Magazine. I have never been a regular buyer of the magazine, but Beep the Meep is one of those characters that is popular enough to transcend these origins. However, it is not just the story, but the storyteller that is key in this episode and we have a seismic change in that department. Although it contained some very good episodes, it was clear that the programme had lost something in the Chris Chibnall area. I have written again and again that he is nowhere near the writer that his predecessors are. Now, one of those predecessors has returned and the thought occurs – am I blinded by nostalgia, and willing to forgive faults that I would hold against Chibnall? After watching "The Star Beast", the answer is a clear and resounding "no". The strip is adapted with a deft hand, with the polished dialogue that has become very rare in the past 5 years, with musings about a gigantic sausage roll having more emotional impact that many weightier dialogue scenes scripted by Chibnall. The something that was missing was in the nuts-and-bolts writing, consistency and vibrancy of characterisation and incorporation of themes successfully into the plot.

I raved about how excellent David Tennant was at the time and, although I believe that Peter Capaldi is definitely at least his equal, I would not argue with anyone who still calls Tennant the best. He slips back effortlessly into the role, so much so that is futile to compare the Fourteenth Doctor with the Tenth – it's the same Time Lord after all. It is a true joy to see him climbing on the sets and dashing at speed around the TARDIS again, like it hadn't been 18 years since he first did so. Returning to great success is one of the all-time great companions, challenged since only by the wonderful Ms Potts. The temp from Chiswick is older, with more responsibilities, but is still the same, brilliantly shown by the DoctorDonna being more Donna than ever. Bernard Cribbins is much missed, but Jacqueline King is back with a vengeance. The key new character is Rose, brilliantly brought to life by Yasmin Finney. The theme of gender suffuses the episode and the first trans character played by a trans actor is addressed full on. It is laid on a bit thick at times, but the fact that, in recent times, the most marginalised group in the LGBTQ+ community has been under attack from all areas, means that perhaps it needs to be laid on thick.

We have a new UNIT scientific adviser in Ruth Madeley's sparky Shirley Bingham and in the alien camp, the (understandably) cartoon-like Wrarth are very vibrantly bought to life. The titular beast is voiced by the legendary Miriam Margolyes who gives the cutest psychopath in the Whoniverse real bite. Despite the return of his predecessor as showrunner, it is Steven Moffat stalwart Rachel Talalay who helms this colourful and spectacular story. It's no secret that the involvement of Disney has meant a cash-injection the like of which Doctor who has never seen. Before this, Doctor Who managed miracles on its budget, and it's only occasionally that the increased budget shows - that is, until we see the new TARDIS set, which makes its 21st Century predecessors look like their 20th Century four bears.

There were always differences in quality regarding stories, when it came to their sequencing."Partners in Crime", good though it is, is necessarily lesser than "Turn Left". However, there are very very few stories in the past few years that are of the same quality as this utterly joyous opener. Mr T Davies, I welcome you back with open arms!

NEXT: "Wild Blue Yonder"

"The Power of the Doctor"

"The Power of the Doctor" is one of the longest individual episodes of Doctor Who ever made. As the story was made in the year that the BBC celebrated its centenary the story has one eye on the past, with more callbacks to the programme's 59 year history, than in the previous 17 years combined. This is also an ending, with the final regular appearance of Jodie Whittaker and Chris Chibnall's swansong as showrunner. It is designed to be a spectacular, a brief that it certainly fulfils, with memorable sequences aplenty to feast the eyes on. The problem is, it appears that Chibnall appears to have written arresting sequences – The Master as Rasputin, the raid on the space train, the child/Qurunx, the volcano plot – and then contrived a plot to connect them together. As the Master's Dalek Plan is to blow up the Earth with volcanoes, everything else is really only window dressing. Some sequences are cribbed from better stories produced under the aegides of his predecessors and with less effect.

As a nostalgic look back, the story is somewhat more successful. The return of Tegan and Ace are very welcome – as someone whose memories of the original run are from the 80s, they were my Jo and Sarah Jane. Both Janet Fielding and Sophie Aldred put their all into their roles and it is truly wonderful to see them together for the first time. Then there are the returning Doctors. Colin Baker's role is rather small but Paul McGann again puts more Doctorliness into his performance in a few minutes than he did in his début. The interaction between Davison, McCoy and their old companions is something special. The scene with the companions' support group is sublime and it is a true joy to see so many familiar faces, with Ian being a particularly wonderful surprise. Kate is back, hopefully to be as constant a presence as her father.

The current roster are not to be forgotten. Dan has a more considered version of Tegan's leaving scene and we have a great performance from our other leading lady. Mandeep Gill has taken Yas way beyond the way she was written and the indescribable contradictory feelings stirred up by the shot of Yas and the Doctor eating ice creams sitting on the TARDIS, is a moment to treasure. Sacha Dhawan has an absolute blast as the Master, bonkers plan or not.

The production is startlingly good, masking the haphazard jigsaw of the plot. Jamie Magnus Stone is probably the stalwart director of this era, so it is fitting that he closes it. Rehashed though some of the concepts are, Stone and the production team make them work.

The Chibnall era was not the utter disaster that I was fearing and yet it can't be denied that the programme is not a patch on what it was from 2005-2017. There were some very good stories, but no real classics which, in hindsight, makes one appreciate all the more that in the RTD and Moffat eras, there were at least two stories per series that were amongst the best examples of television produced in that year. This curate's egg of a story is watchable, but doesn't stand up to repeated viewings, which is typical of Chibnall. Plotting is not his strongest asset as a writer, neither in resolving them or keeping an eye on the subplots. His strength was in quieter character moments and, in his choice of lead, he was helped immeasurably. Jodie Whittaker's charisma and talent papered over many cracks and, in her final moments, Chibnall's writing and her performance harmonise to perfection. After a sequence of potential portentous last words, her parting shot is a flippant quip and the gorgeous visuals of that regeneration give the viewer the ASMR it deserves.

However, I look forward to the return of one of the finest writers in the world to the helm, as he steers Doctor Who into uncharted waters with the casting of the utterly unique Ncuti Gatwa – after he goes into very familiar territory with Whittaker's immediate successor!

NEXT: "The Star Beast"/"Wild Blue Yonder"/"The Giggle"

"Legend of the Sea Devils"

The sight of the Sea Devils in the trailer for this story made me incredibly happy. I have loved the aquatic saurians (and their land-based allies) since I was a child. The setting for this adventure, the last century of the Qing dynasty, is a fascinating one and, again, we meet a notable figure from that period, Madam Ching. Yet, with these ingredients, the blend is uneasy, due to a script that barely deserves to be called a first draft. This is not the first time in the programme's history that a script has been filmed before it has been properly fine-tuned, but the way in which the plot fails to properly hang together, how the two main journeys – Madam Ching's quest to regain her crew and the Sea Devils' plan to flood the Earth – fail to resonate with each other are a serious problem. Worst of all, we have short-cuts made for the convenience of the writer – Dan scythes through a squad of Sea Devils, like he's suddenly the TARDIS weapons expert. Chibnall co-writes with Ella Road, a promising playwright (although I am unfamiliar with her work) but neither should be proud of what they have written.

The guest cast is good. Amongst the humans, Crystal Yu brings effortless charisma to her portrayal of Madam Ching and with the reptiles, we have the return of Craig Els, but this time as the Sea Devil leader. The regulars do their good work, although their roles in the main plot are very functional. However, in the more emotional scenes, the strengths of the regulars is put to good use. The relationship between Yas and the Doctor is very well written and beautifully acted by Jodie Whittaker and Mandeep Gill. John Bishop's charisma goes a long way to compensating for the very poor character writing for him.

The triumph of the story is in its design. The look is magnificent, redolent of the vivid colours of wuxia graphic novels, with the beautiful blue sky and the green ocean. We have the wonder of the TARDIS on the sea bed and the sight of the Sea Devil ship flying over the sea. the titular saurians themselves instantly impress. Unlike the Silurians, there are only slight tweaks to the look of the Pertwee originals and I love the way in which their moving lips do not seem to be intoning English. However, whilst Haolu Wang makes it look fantastic, there are problems once the shot-length reduces and parts of the fight scenes flow very poorly as if, they too, have suffered under time constraints, as there are some shocking editing failures.

The production of modern Doctor Who makes it impossible for a story to fail in the same way as, to pick a random example, Warriors of the Deep. The script we have is less polished than the one for the Sea Devils' last appearance, although it's refreshing that Chibnall has not applied his palaeontological expertise to the Sea Devils' back story. however, as a whole, the script shows every sign of carelessness and even indifference to its eventual effectiveness. I really enjoyed "Eve of the Daleks" and I find it sad that, in the penultimate story of his era, Chibnall exhibits most of his worst tendencies.

NEXT: "The Power of the Doctor"

"Eve of the Daleks"

The Daleks return to herald the new year for the third time. The previous year had seen a rather soulless Chris Chibnall script saved by a very confident production. This time, we have the Daleks and a closing time loop. It's a simple story but one that has, possibly the best script that Chibnall has written to date. There is little fat in the story and the dialogue has a lightness and humour that feel like the effortless sparkle of the Davies and Moffat eras - “Good hearted weirdos are actually the keepers!” is a line truly definitive of Doctor Who itself and one of the finest lines of the era. The Daleks themselves are merciless and constantly adapting and the constant “Daleks do not...” lines go through repetitive to being funny. The events of Flux are dealt with quickly, so we can truly enjoy this episode alone.

There is a very small guest cast, but it is one of the most effective that the programme has ever seen. On paper, Nick seems too bizarre a character to work – a man who hoards his exes' detritus and has an unrequited love could be off-putting, to say the least. Yet Adjani Salmon projects a really likeable sense of naivety that truly defines the good hearted weirdo. However, the main guest role of Sarah is filled by Aisling Bea, one of the funniest, most charismatic and likeable comedians in the world. Bea seems real, sympathetic and hilarious in every second of her screen time. She is so good, that you can imagine a version of the story without the Doctor and her companions, with just Bea and Salmon. 

I loved Graham and Ryan, but the blossoming of Yas has been truly wonderful to behold and the duo of Yas and Dan has succeeded as in a far shorter time than the Fam.  We have a companion in love with the Doctor again, but it's in a more realistic way than ever before – for the first time, Chibnall has handled something better than his predecessors. Dan is the loveable, yet resourceful scamp that he always is. Perhaps necessarily, the Doctor is written rather thinly, but Jodie fills in the gaps magnificently.

The limited locations mean that there is no need for the widescreen vistas and extravagant special effects of past weeks. Yet the production is tight as a drum and even something as mundane as a storage centre is built, lit and shot with care, with Annetta Laufer making something that is, by its nature, repetitive seem constantly fresh. Personally, without being disparaging, 'Beef N' Beans' is one of Chibnall's best gifts to the Whoniverse!

"Eve of the Daleks" was transmitted exactly 50 years after the first episode "Day of the Daleks" and it does its illustrious predecessors proud, a pride that Chibnall has earned the right to feel for himself. I sincerely hope that he won't let us down in the final act of his era.

NEXT: "Legend of the Sea Devils"

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"

There was not an unusually lengthy wait for the next Doctor Who episode following "The Timeless Children". However, what came in between those episodes in the real world, made it seem like the longest wait of all, in a time where many thought that the threads that hold civilisation together would snap. Yet, thankfully, Doctor Who was not stopped by the ravages of COVID and the first day of 2021 brought us a brand new episode and, for Chris Chibnall, that means the return of the Doctor’s deadliest foes.

Again, Chibnall decides to crib freely from the past with The Power of the Daleks (via "Victory of the Daleks") being the main source. The Daleks are used as RoboCops to quell civil unrest and there is another internecine Dalek conflict. As a plot, this is perhaps the least inventive script in well over a decade. It hangs together, but there is virtually nothing that cannot be anticipated by the viewer. There is a prologue which adds nothing to the story and, in fact, removes the surprise of the Daleks’ appearance.

Where the script is far better is in the characters. Yas, as befits what the future will be like, is very much the lead companion and her obsession with not only finding the Doctor, but continuing her work, is very much the heart of the story, and we have a wonderful performance from Mandip Gill. We have the last appearance of Ryan and Graham as regulars and Tosin Cole and Bradley Walsh make us truly regret the splitting up of the fam. John Barrowman returns and his chemistry with his oldest friend is instant. Our leading lady is masterful throughout and Jodie Whittaker somehow makes the decades that separated the Doctor from her fam seem evident in her performance alone.

The secondary villains are the legendary Dame Harriet Walter as the ruthless Prime Minister and Christ Noth returning as Jack Robertson. Whilst it is great to see him, he appears to be in a different story to the rest of the cast (a special mention must me made of the great supporting turn by the hugely versatile Nathan Stewart-Jarrett as Leo) which is a rare fault in the otherwise very impressive helming by Lee Haven Jones. We have seen Dalek saucers flying over London before, but Jones makes it seem fresh and exciting. The scenes in the Dalek factory in Osaka are masterfully shot and, again, the scenes with the Dalek out of its case are very eerie. The RoboCop Daleks are a great design, but it’s great to see the bronze ones return.

"Revolution of the Daleks" is great fun, but, again, it is because a rather anaemic script by Chibnall is given an invigorating transfusion by every other aspect of the production. For the sake of the programme, it is to be hoped that the rest of his tenure will show some improvement.

NEXT: Flux

"Ascension of the Cybermen"/"The Timeless Children"

For the past two years I have repeatedly made one observation about the current lead writer for Doctor Who. He is following in the footsteps of two of the finest writers in the world and the fact remains that he is not only not in the same league, but has another league in between his league and their league. This will inevitably affect the direction and quality of the programme. The lack of sheer poetry in Chibnall's dialogue, when compared with his predecessors is evident, but not, in the end, too damaging. Critically, however, Chibnall still exhibits a lack of care when it comes to resolving plots, something that was of particular concern when before watching "Ascension of the Cybermen"/"The Timeless Children", because it builds on the revelations of "Fugitive of the Judoon" to form the greatest reformatting of Doctor Who's mythology since The Deadly Assassin, if not "An Unearthly Child" itself.

The driving force is the reintroduction of the Cybermen – bold, considering that the two previous Cyberman stories were the best ones ever made, in my opinion. We see the return of the memorable Ashad, the tortured half-convert from the previous story, who is now the leader. Again, as with the two Moffat Cyber-stories, we have the Master thrown into the mix as well. We are also given the concept of a fugitive remnant of humans fighting extinction. These form a strong framework to hang the story on, which is a good thing, as there is some of the lack of attention to detail that has cropped up before. The characterisation of the remnant humans are sketchy, the Death Particle is a pound shop version of the Daleks' Reality Bomb that is dropped into the plot a bit too conveniently. Critically, we are never sure what the actual Ascension of the Cybermen is – the aspect that seems to point the way to it, the image of the awakened Cybermen made to scream by Ashad's lieutenants is memorable, but unexplained. Most critically, we have the portrayal of our leading lady. The characterisation raises some big issues, most notably the fact that the Doctor is willing to cut a moral Gordian Knot by allowing someone else to sacrifice himself.

And yet , while there are issues with how Chibnall writes the character, he also sets out to rewrite the Doctor's history and that of the Time Lords; and the ideas and de- and remythologisation work well. The new origin story for the Time Lords manages to be memorable, disturbing, and, crucially (and in the best possible way) raises more questions than answers. In revealing more about the Doctor's past, we are left with a figure as mysterious as the one in the junkyard in Totters' Lane. As one of the many people who know what the final revelations of the Cartmel Masterplan were, Chris Chibnall's bombshell is a considerable improvement over what would have been revealed in Sylvester McCoy's fourth season. The, at first, entirely disconnected story of Brendan the Irish policemen shows Chibnall reaching for a Moffat level of conceptual ingenuity – and succeeding to a very welcome degree!

The story is realised with epic flourish, with flotillas of attacking cyberdrones and warping battle cruisers materialising on an immaculately shot battlefield location. The supporting actors make their hastily written characters really work – Julie Graham's character Ravio, realising that she is on the planet where her race originated on is a surprisingly powerful scene. The fam are as utterly delightful as ever, with Ryan finally making the shot that he missed and a wonderful scene between Graham and Yas, showing the difference between Cockney and Yorkshire 'sharing'. The more proactive role that Yas has been taking of late, is wonderful, improving the fam's chemistry, no end. Patrick O'Kane spits venom again as Ashad and his ultimate destruction is unexpectedly sudden. At this point we must address one thing – the Cybermasters. The design is ridiculous, bordering on the New Paradigm Daleks, especially when compared with the other Cyberman designs in the story. It would have helped no end for the Doctor to have pointed out how silly they look.

Sacha Dhawan effectively shows the pain and fury of his new-found relationship between the Master and his best Enemy. The enemy in question, the Timeless Child is a huge task for Jodie Whittaker as an actress and she is more than up to the challenge. After a memorable pep-talk from her unknown former-self, we are treated to the magnificent sequence where the Doctor blows the matrix with her memories, realised magnificently as a drop beat to the Doctor Who theme music. The Doctor is still with us, bigger and more magnificent than ever before.

Chibnall, as I've said before is a lesser writer than his predecessors. Yet, despite its faults, "Ascension of the Cybermen"/"The Timeless Children" show him increasing his reach by striving to be better than anyone thought he could be. He fails, of course, but what we are left with is a very good story, although not the classic that the Chibnall era has been lacking, so far. I look forward to what's coming next.

NEXT: "Revolution of the Daleks"