REVIEW: Doctor Who: Series Thirteen (Flux)

This review contains spoilers. Read at your own risk.

This is the best of Chibnall’s era, and it still doesn’t hold a candle next to the rest of modern Doctor Who.

Series 13, or Flux, was a new take on modern Doctor Who. Serialized for the first time since the classic era ended in 1989, this six-part series was very new experience for non-classic Who watchers unlike myself. However, I did enjoy the experience more than any other Thirteenth Doctor series before.

Flux kicked off with a bang with The Halloween Apocalypse. Watching this was the first time I’d felt hope for the show since 2017. Then, War of the Sontarans continued the excitement, and was an overall fun episode. The series staggered slightly with Once, Upon Time, but quickly refound its footing and rose to greatness with the amazing Village of the Angels.

And then came the crash.

Flux’s final two episodes, Survivors of the Flux and The Vanquishers, were a disappointment following the near-perfect four former episodes. They were very slow and boring (Survivors of the Flux), confusing and unnecessary (The Vanquishers).

But when are you going to talk about the plot? you ask. To which I say, what plot? Oh, you mean the plot that never existed in the first place because everything that was changed throughout the entire series all added up to nothing. A complete erasure of the plot. Sigh.

If one good thing came out of this series, it was the return of Kate Lethbridge-Stewart, everyone’s favorite daughter of Brigadier Lethbridge-Stewart. This was a much more welcome return compared to the return of Jack Harkness in Series 12. Along with Kate, I really enjoyed the side characters for once. Karvanista was hilarious, Claire Brown was such and intriguing character, and Peggy Hayward’s story was absolutely insane.

Not to move the spotlight away from the main cast though. Jodie Whittaker shone brighter than ever this series, and I wish we’d had this in earlier series. Yaz has been here for three series and I have yet to notice any development in her character. Dan, the new companion, got more development in one shorter series than Yaz did in three. Just goes to show where Chibnall’s aim is truly going.

Earlier this year, it was announced that Chris Chibnall would be departing from Doctor Who, likely due to the frequent negative reviews about his writing. Honestly, I’m glad he’s saying goodbye… but pretty disappointed that Jodie Whittaker will be leaving as well.

As much as I disliked this era, I loved Jodie’s Doctor post-Series 11 and I’m sad to see her go. I can’t say the same for Mandip Gill’s Yaz, as I wasn’t a fan, and I’m pretty indifferent on the departure of newbie John Bishop’s Dan. However, we still have three specials awaiting us, the first on New Years Day. Hopefully, we can get some closure on the wibbly-wobbly timey-wimey plot holes created by Chibnall’s era.

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