Doctor Who (2005)

Interesting. I am cautiously optimistic. Not sold by a long-shot. I'll talk a bit about what the episode did right (a lot), what it did wrong (very little), and what my expectations are going forward (at least until Russell T Davies returns to destroy the show next season).

I think the whole idea behind this season is to do one of those monster multi-part serials the old show attempted very early in its run, but never quite got back to over the years. And over the years of the relaunch both Russell T Davies and Stephen Moffat attempted story arcs of a kind. And they both botched the idea very badly. Davies' idea of a story arc was to mention a single word in every single episode and pretend it meant something at the end of the season (when it didn't). That's how the first three seasons of the relaunch worked. Moffat did a LITTLE better in the sense that he would tease out future events using a random cool sounding phrase, but he could never make the events teased as cool as the tease itself sounded. By the end, when Peter Capaldi was in the TARDIS, he stopped doing it all together.

Chibnall's record in arcs is very spotty. Unlike most of fandom, I REALLY appreciated and loved the 11th Series, and the first for Jodie Whitaker. Mostly because it was small-scale, intimate, and shockingly non-depressing. To be fair to last season, I think the Timeless Child thing is a very interesting notion that probably won't work, but I would have liked to have seen where it could have gone in the long-term. But with Davies back, it's almost certain to be retconned. My problem with last year's finale was the Master killing all the Time Lords by turning them into Cybermen. That was outright grotesque and something Davies or Moffat would do, and I realized that when push comes to shove, no matter who is in the charge, the show cannot ever stop being unpleasant.

It sort of redeemed itself in the last Christmas special by bringing back Captain Jack and giving Graham and Ryan a nice and happy goodbye instead of ridiculously killing them off in a tragic fashion. But Chibnall is still on thin ice with me.

Based on the fact that the Big Bad in this episode has a secret history with the Doctor she can't remember, it seems clear the Timeless Child conceit IS a good one. The problem is that I hope if Davies DOESN'T retcon it, something like that comes up rarely going forward. Because if it's a regular thing, it's something that should have been happening for the first Twelve Doctors too.

The Big Bad is one of the scariest villains I've seen on the show in ages. The last villains to visually freak me out so much were the water-spewing zombies in "The Waters Of Mars". Also other recent goodies were The Weeping Angels. Who make an appearance here.

Doctor Who is famous for promising big and failing to deliver. I'll tell you why I'm cautiously optimistic here. I feel like the random disparate elements that are apart all throughout the episode and touched upon again at the end suggest the entire run of episodes was written at the same time, and wasn't just made up as it went along. I hate Torchwood with a passion. But the miniseries Children Of Earth, and Miracle Day, as spotty as they sometimes, were, gave off similar vibes of the story being known and understood from the first episode to the last. Doctor Who is a better show than Torchwood (by far) so I'm hoping that using this kind of storytelling technique pays better dividends for Chibnall than it did for Davies. And in fairness to Davies, both Children Of Earth AND Miracle Day were better than every single episode from Torchwood's first two seasons. Flux being a high point for the Doctor Who relaunch is not out of the question.

I'll tell you something that concerns me a little, but not a lot. I got the distinct impression that the show's budget was cut drastically for this season. I might be wrong, but it feels like the show has gone back to being shot on videotape. The visual effects also seem of the more consistently low-budgeted CGI that the Davies era was known for. Those effects were fine for the mid-aughts. I feel like the visuals of the Flux is not as amazing as the show's effects have gotten in recent years. The budget being cut concerns me only a little however. Because if it can still do the kind of effects seen in the episode, I'll be fine with it. I just have a feeling that Doctor Who is going to be back to being the cost conscious sci-fi show it used to be. I suspect because the relaunch is no longer the sensation it was, that BBC greatly cut the budget. But I think low-budget Doctor Who is something I actually feel a lot more comfortable about. It feels very consistent with both the original series, and the early years of the relaunch (and for that matter The Sarah Jane Adventures). Doctor Who has gotten too "Big" over the years and that's probably the entire problem.

My expectation for the rest of the season (and the regeneration Christmas Special) is that I suspect Chibnall is gonna take his run ending on the series very seriously. When Davies left, he basically took a huge dump on the show and canon, and left things off in the worst possible way for Moffat to have to clean up as best he could, seemingly out of pure spite. For Moffat, he literally killed off his entire cast because he had become so bereft of ideas by the end. This whole arc makes me believe that Chibnall wants to actually end on a high note, and give a good farewell to both his tenure and the underappreciated Jodie Whitaker. And damn it, I approve of both those notions!

I could be wrong. Chibnall could be heading us toward an epic and unwelcome tragedy. That's how it's always worked out every previously damn lousy season. But I hope Chibnall makes the effort to make us miss him and Whitaker. So far, he's done the right things to do that. 4 1/2 stars.

Wow. Let's see.

I am with the Doctor in being disgusted with the General at the end. Harriet Jones pulled a similar move on Christmas once upon a time, but as unwise as that seemed, she paid the price for it. And we are perhaps led to believe from the Saxon mess that followed that the Doctor was wrong in that instance and wrong to depose her.

Say what you will about Harriet, her decision was her own. For the General here, he is such a weakling and a coward, he never would have made it if he had been strong enough to listen to the Doctor's advice to begin with. And I'll tell you why I value Chris Chibnall's tenure. He is not afraid to point out that on the historical adventures, the Doctor has far less clout than ever before simply because she's a woman. That's the only reason the General doesn't listen to her. And so I find myself sympathizing with what he did far less than I did Harriet Jones. And not to put too fine a point on it, but what the Tenth Doctor did in retribution to her, when boiled down to its essence, was nothing but pure misogyny, and turning the Earth's 21st Century sexism against her. People gave Stephen Moffat (deserved in my opinion) crap for the sexist comments that came out of both the Eleventh and Twelfth Doctors' mouths and the way he turned the female Companions into mysteries for the Doctors to solve instead of strong capable women in their own right. And yet Davies was the one who wrote the line, "Don't you think she looks tired?" By the end, I was as disgusted with Moffat as anyone. But what really bothered me about the hate he got is that everything people complained about him, Davies actually did first and much worse. My basic gripe about Moffat was that by the end, it turned out he wasn't the step up from Davies he had showed the potential to be early on. But the truth is the way he badly ended things is totally consistent with Davies, with the exception of the fact that he had enough common sense to gift Peter Capaldi a great regeneration scene. But yeah, there were legitimate reasons I felt for Harriet's Jones' position, including Ten's unbridled and disgusting sexism. The General here does have that much integrity to excuse himself. He's simply a child playing the grown-up game of war.

I like whenever we see the Sontarans, because as horrible as they are, I don't consider them evil. At all. They have a strict code they live up to, and follow as best they can. And if they falter, they are ideologically consistent enough in their beliefs to beg for punitive execution as a mercy. I find them similar to the Klingons on Star Trek, if the Klingons didn't have so many redeeming qualities. They are the belief system of the Klingons taken to the extreme, with the following the rulebook to the letter idea of the best of the Ferengi. I find them interesting, and listening to their various insane but honestly gotten to opinions is fascinating. They strike me more as the Jem'Hadar if the Jem'Hadar themselves had been powerful enough to call the shots. Which makes them scarier than the Jem'Hadar, despite their goofy appearance.

I'll tell you what moment I thought was super interesting: When the Doctor asks Dan if he'd like to come with her I thought his tentative reply of "Okay," was beyond charming and adorable. And it was also entirely outside of every other Companion's reaction to being asked. On some level, none of the major Companions of the relaunch who have been asked aboard the TARDIS have been remotely surprised by that invitation. For many (see Martha Jones) they believe it's long-overdue and something they've either earned, or at least wanted deep down. I found Dan's "Okay," so wonderful because the way he said it said he never expected the offer. It never occurred to him. As far as he was concerned, he was one of the hundreds of everyday civilians the Doctor interacts with and saves week to week and never sees again. Better yet, he's so surprised by the offer he says yes right away on an impulse. It's something he wasn't sure he wanted until the words tumbled out of his mouth.

And I'll tell you the most refreshing thing to me about Dan and how the Doctor views him: So far, he's not really done anything outstanding enough to make any of the previous Doctors remotely think he would be a good Companion. His overall demeanor and clear lack of intelligence in fact are the very things both Nine and Ten would be super snotty about. And while I have lots of issues with Ten, I have little bad to say about Nine. Except that he's a snot to people he thinks are dumb. But Thirteen? Dan's nice. He's pleasant to be around, and frankly seems surprisingly emotionally stable. I would not be surprised if Thirteen perhaps knew this particular Companion might need to lean on her a bit more during The Adventures. But I get the sense she likes him because he almost certainly will NEVER be as emotionally needy as Yaz, Ryan, or even Graham. Or Rose, Martha, Jack, Mickey, Donna, Amy, Rory, Clara, Bill, River, Sarah-Jane, and Nordol for that matter. Dan shyly says "Okay," because he lacks drama and is very low-maintenance as far as Companions go. Plus, the Doctor doesn't need to look out for him 24/7 anyways. He's got himself a doggie guardian angel.

The villains of the arc continue to be both the most visually frightening and psychologically despicable villains I've seen on the show in a long time with super scary powers. It's as if Thirteen's version of the Master looked like the Waters Of Mars Zombies but had the Weeping Angel's powers. They freak me out on every level.

I love the fact that out of all the Earth time periods the Sontarans could have invaded, the General chose the war in Crimea in the 19th Century because he always wanted to ride a horse. That specific reason is extremely endearing and relatable to me.

For the record, I thought the cliffhanger was majorly unfair and an uncool way to end the episode. The problem is that Doctor Who (at least the relaunch) is famous for unfair cliffhangers. I can roll my eyes in disgust all I want. The truth is something that annoying is totally on-brand. I wish it weren't, but I am also not a bit surprised.

I am very interested to see how this all turns out. Not excited. This is Doctor Who. There is actually a 95% chance this disappoints me as almost all the previous finales have. And the few finales that DIDN'T disappoint me (featuring the Eleventh Doctor) set up arcs that disappointed me later on. I will be as happy as anyone if Flux satisfies me and Jodie Whitaker and Chris Chibnall are permitted to go out on a high note. But I don't actually expect it. 4 stars.

Wow. Lot to unpack there.

First off, I really liked it. A LOT. But... but... I didn't understand anything that was going on. For me, that's a selling point. For the average TV viewer, I imagine they'll be mad. But unsolved mysteries are my favorite kind of television and always have been.

I like the revelation that Bel was Vinder's wife. It was unexpected, made perfect sense, and seems an utter no-brainer in hindsight. Which is how plot turns like that should work.

Whatever Doctor Ruth was, she was apparently a significant one. My guess? She was the final "Missing" Doctor, and the one who turned into the First and lost all the previous memories. There has to be a significance to running into her so often.

I'm questioning who the old woman was too. Is she a past Doctor? A future Doctor? Gulp, the Valeyard? I dunno. But she strikes me as sinister.

The good thing about this arc is that the Weeping Angels show up when you least expect them to, and at the most inconvenient times possible. They are one of the scariest villains in the franchise, and yet something about their brand of evil is entirely banal and mundane. For instance they travel through videogames and tablets. Not exactly a hellbeast out of Lovecraft. But they do such catastrophic damage because they are always so freaking unwelcome.

Let me be blunt. That was pretty great. I can't guarantee the arc will end great, Thirteen will end great, or that Chris Chibnall's tenure will end great. But I get the feeling Chris Chibnall being replaced by Russell T Davies was a network decision, not a creative one. Just based on what I just saw? This is NOT the franchise that needed to "course correct" by bringing back the single worst thing that ever happened to it. To put it mildly. Like, if "Flux" was sucking up the joint, I'd see the logic there, as much as I hate Davies. But I can't remember the show ever being on this solid a footing since the relaunch in 2005. Whenever there have been solid seasons, the finale botched it. But this is pretty much as memorable and epic as season 3, 4, and 6. I don't see any reason Davies NEEDS to come back. Unless Chibnall really botches the landing (which is not out of the question). But the show has rarely been this solid, and hasn't been since at least Series 6. This is Series 13. I think getting rid of Chibnall is a mistake.

Just my two cents. 4 1/2 stars.

That was TOO good. It was TOO amazing. I KNOW I'm just going to wind up getting my heart broken. But I don't want to. My expectations have rarely been higher and that's when the show always kicks me in the nuts. Without fail. And what frightens me and pisses me off in equal measure is the fact that this is most I've ever WANTED the show to deliver. The "Doctor Who?" bit at the end of Season 6 was a big deal to me, but so impossibly vague that I should have seen being disappointed at the cop-out coming. But the idea of the Doctor as a Weeping Angel and the connection from the Weeping Angels to Division is irresistible, because it's all plausible based on what we've already seen.

The episode is so unusual, that I'm about to compliment Russell T Davies, one of my most loathed science fiction writers of all time. But he was the dude who set up the idea that the Angels had a connection to the Time Lords in The End Of Time, with the Time Lords abstaining from Rassilon's decision to destroy the Universe, putting their hands over their eyes for eternity in penance. Davies really had no right to do that (the Angels are pretty much a purely Stephen Moffat thing) but I thought the idea was very cool at the time, even if I understand why Moffat didn't care enough about it to explore it further. Chibnall does. And I have said very bad things about Davies this season. But one thing he is relatively competent at is tying the entire canon together as a whole to make the whole thing make sense. And I was getting serious Davies vibes all throughout the episode. From the nasty adult civilians, to the haunted mansion, to the professor Jericho having a shocking amount of verve and steel, Chibnall has cribbed the best from Davies, without (so far) falling into Davies' most insufferable traps. This is Doctor Who how Davies wanted to do it, but was unable to, because he was an utterly incompetent writer.

This whole Timeless Child storyline has gotten Chibnall nothing but crap. But tying it to Division and the Weeping Angels tells me that whatever Chibnall has planned for it in his final few episodes is going to be amazing. At least it would be in any other franchise. Any other franchise would make it work. Will Doctor Who break its curse and decide NOT to break my heart, just this once? I hope to God it will.

In hindsight, tying the Weeping Angels to the Time Lords makes sense. There whole death by Time Displacement gimmick would really only occur to a Time Lord. So I'm glad we're putting two and two together there.

If Chibnall sticks the landing, I will have to think it would give Davies pause in retconning the Timeless Child thing out of the canon. Davies is a relative purist, which is kind of galling considering the horrible things he's done to the canon and the Time Lords, so I was sure this plotline was a goner. But if this whole Doctor as a Division / Weeping Angel operative is as watershed as it potentially could be, I doubt Davies would dare retcon it. That's IF Chibnall sticks the landing. No Doctor Who showrunner has EVER been able to do that since the relaunch. Will Chibnall be the first? In Season Thirteen? He wasn't in the previous two seasons. Is this finally his big break? Is he going to be the first Doctor Who showrunner I'll miss when they're gone? We'll see in three episodes. This made me nervous. It was TOO good. 5 stars.

That was shockingly solid, and again it gave me a knot in my stomach. I WANT this to be good. More than at any time since "The Stolen Earth". Russell T Davies let me down there (and multiple times after that). Will Chibnall? I have no idea. What I will say is that things are so up in the air right now it could go either way. I'm not able to predict how the next episode or the regeneration are going to go at all.

I have to say I found Thirteen's outrage over her life potentially being stolen... stupid? After all the great things the Doctor has experienced and all the people they have helped, she's resentful? I don't think this specific snit is as ugly as Ten browbeating poor Wilfred Mott. But it's the first Doctor moment since then that I've disliked for the same reason. Maybe it's the adopted kid in me calling b.s. on her fake resentments. In reality, that really isn't something the Doctor has a right to complain about.

Lots of revelations here, but not enough to sate our mystery appetites for the franchise. I will say this: Unlike the audience learning the Doctor's name, which was a pipe dream, I don't think the Doctor getting her memories back would actually kill any Golden Geese. Just because the character always keeps their past to themselves, and whatever she learned she wouldn't have to share with either her Companions or the audience. We'll see what happens next week.

Interesting thing to think about: Dan has now spent more time with and knows Yaz and Jericho better than he knows the Doctor. That's an interesting facet to give a new Companion.

I love the cheeky monk giving them the business. Fetch Your Dog is also all the advice they really need.

Sontarans, UNIT, Weeping Angels, the freaking Ood, hell, even Kate Stewart made a surprise appearance (and kicked ass while she was doing it). Chibnall is heavily leaning into stuff from all eras of the franchise. I predict if Davies wants to retcon all this (and he might. He's a total jerk) he's gonna have a hard time doing so unless we do actually switch Universes. Which by the way, is not out of the question, especially if Earth itself could potentially be saved.

Also interesting and a bit relieving to realize that the Master is NOT the deadly Time Lord threat the Doctor or the Daleks or the Time War were. He didn't actually kill ALL the Time Lords. That would be giving his evil a far bigger credibility than he deserved. We'll still see some pop up that were off-world at the time the Cybermen destroyed Gallifrey. Thirteen's version of the Master can't even kill all the Time Lords right, because deep down, he's a loser.

I really wish Chibnall weren't leaving the show. Interesting things could have happened. Now Davies is simply going to destroy everything because he's the kind of writer who believes knocking over the game-board is great drama. Him destroying the show and its long-term health is secondary to the shock value he's trying to jolt us with. It's why Davies is a crappy, unfair writer and why I know this show is going to go right back to sucking next season.

This could go either way next week. Even if next week goes properly, the regeneration could be messed up (which is the main thing I never forgave Davies for). But signs point to a good chance this arc is going to wrap up satisfactorily. We'll see first next week and then at Christmas. 4 1/2 stars.