Doctor Who: Flux (Series 13) Review

Well, here we are. Series 13 has come and gone, and it's time for my overall thoughts. Has Chibnall learned ANYTHING since his first series aired back in 2018? Has this been the best series of the three we're getting in this era? Let me know your thoughts on this series as a whole in the comments below- and be civil!

#DoctorWhoFlux #Series13 #DoctorWho

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[RafelAlva]

i really wish jodie would stay for one more season under russel t davies. i really believe she could be an AMAZING doctor under a great showrunner and writer

[johnsensebe]

I was not disappointed by Flux at all, but only because the past two series have trained me not to expect much from Chibnall.

[Jedi_Spartan]

Why has Chibnall always had issues with finales in his era?
The -Battle- Of Ranskoor Av Kolos didn't have a battle in it and half heartedly focuses on a revenge narrative directly after an episode about coming to terms with loss.
The Timeless Children basically amounts to the Master showing the Doctor a PowerPoint presentation that ends with the slide "You were adopted".
And The Vanquishers doesn't both to mention basic things like how much of the universe is still intact clearly and Chibnall apparently couldn't find a coherent way to wrap up everything so just divided the Doctor so she could be in 3 places at once.

[aldoncyril]

"Doctor Who has never pretended to be hard science fiction. At best Doctor Who is a fairytale, with fairytale logic about this wonderful man in this big blue box who at the beginning of every story lands somewhere where there is a problem." Neil Gaiman

I think this quote pretty much sums the problem with today's incarnation and writing of Doctor Who. All the back story and science-fiction narrative Chris Chibnall has tried to insert into the overall narrative of the Doctor is a try-hard effort to be a science-fiction show. It's patterning itself to the likes of Star Wars, Star Trek, and all other grand fiction stories but ultimately falls flat on its face because realistically speaking, Doctor Who just can't match the budget of these movies. (Plus the fact this chosen-one/lore-revisionism narrative has prevalently been destroying old stories for the sake of just 'something' e.g. Star Wars episodes 7-9, *also now Doctor Who)

The premise of tackling a story nobody needed, is an egoistic way of moving yourself forward in the show. Chris Chibnall wanted his name to move the story forward, instead of the story moving itself forward.

There is a magic to fairytales. It hooks you up over a mysterious man, an out of this world paradise, and a premise that can never be present in our own reality.

Sadly, Chris Chibnall has shown himself incapable of making this recipe. There's hardly anything alluring to the show right now. Making Doctor Who all about the Doctor is not, and has never been Doctor Who. The show is about the Doctor's travels around the universe, finding places and instances that will tick our imaginations into hoping and wishing, that we'll find that big blue box, enter its doors, and be the companion to this great adventure.

Flux is simply speaking, the doctor landing everywhere where she is the problem.

[MultiRanman]

Chiblet - “A grand, complex, and promising story arc or plot that is resolved with the same impact of quiet flatulence.”

[RobertLeather]

11:35 I mean the reason why "The Time War" works and "The Timeless Child" is so badly regarded is that the former adds to the lore of the show, gives gravitas to loss, isolation and even a motivation for the Doctors continued journey. While "The Timeless Child" destroys lore, some would say the show, because it removed all sense of meaning to sacrifice and loss. It was a cheap parlour trick intended to hurt the fans who resisted Chibnal's feelings, the actions of a petulant child who'd been given too much power and authority and didn't know what to do with it because at the end of the day, he's pretty talentless.... look at his previous episodes in "new who" to see what I mean. And that video from when he was a kid spells it clear the kind of person he is. He's very good at criticising... not very good at doing any better.

[drewcampbell]

If you didn't know Chris Chibnall was the writer of 'Broadchurch' you'd never believe this guy could construct a story over six episodes. Or one episode, even. This was a complete mess - half-arsed plot, paper-thin characters, idiotic twists... Honestly, Chibnall's departure can't come quick enough.

[michaelt.lancaster]

My expectations was really low this season, and somehow, Chibnall managed to go lower. I gave it a chance anyway, and still came out underwhelmed. I'm reluctant to even watch the specials, since things are far off the rails.

[KingMuttley]

Goodness Grace-ious me after this series and the special, I think that RTD's first series is literally going to be either when I get to watching Dr. Who as it releases again or when I just give up on it all together

[michaelreindel]

I’ve said it before, but I’ll say it again: the *Timeless Child* is to *Doctor Who* what *Highlander 2* was to *Highlander* … 🤦🏼‍♂️

[ElizabethWilliamsBushey]

Are we simply not mentioning that Vinder knew what a TARDIS was? That he’d HEARD OF THEM? And then no one thought that was … odd?!

[ddgryphon]

I think you can lay all of what hasn't worked in this era at the feet of Chibs. He has cut the heart out of this show like an Aztec priest cutting the heart out of the sacrificial victim. All that is left for Chibs to do is toss the carcass off the side of the Temple Tardis and brandish the still-beating heart at the sky. I think Jody would have been a fine doctor if only she had had writing and production to support her. I truly hope the show can come back from this horrible run. Thanks Chibs, what are you going to ruin next. We should call him the Show Ruinner from now on.

[grantmason]

The first bit of lazy writing I spotted was that Swarm had been imprisoned but Azure was somehow living an ordinary, human life for no apparent reason. Don't recall this being explained or indeed how Swarm knew where to find her/them/it. That kind of set the bar low for me from the beginning: why would two all powerful and dangerous beings not be both held under guard, so they could never reconnect?

[Clapsy]

I may have missed it, but did they ever explain why the main Villianess( Azure?) Was hiding out as a human with a husband/boyfriend?

[jonathansim]

“Just a threat, that’s apparently been here the entire time”.
I know you were talking about The Division (correction, Division) but you equally could say the same thing about the Karvanista.
Chris seems to make a habit of creating something new that supposed to have been here all along but has no back story.

[selinamcmahon]

I don't understand how someone who brought us such a well-crafted story as Broadchurch (especially the first two series) can make such a mess of a concept as Doctor Who. It's as if he is annoyed that he didn't think of the idea in the first place so tried to "out-think" it - with the end result that he's mangled the entire thing. It has more holes in it now than a deep-sea fishing net. Short of a serious retcon (or ignoring it altogether) it's difficult to imagine a way out of this maelstrom.

Jodie, I love. Even the companions have their moments (and I share your pain at the loss of Jericho - even for that name alone). But she, like Colin Baker and Sylvester McCoy before her, has been let down by some woeful writing, inelegant plotlining, and abhorrent dialogue. Russel T. is going to have to really sharpen his pencil to get us out of this mess.

[doughorton]

Let me say right away: I stopped watching new Who after Series 11; however, I've been keeping up with the reviews. My take on the Chibnall era is that he keeps missing golden opportunities. "Arachnids In The UK" could have been a great prequel to "Planet of the Spiders" had the Doctor unknowingly brought the giant spiders to Metebelis III's past era. Instead of the Division, he could have referenced the already mentioned CIA (Celestial Intervention Agency) from "The Deadly Assassin". In which case the Division wouldn't have just come out of nowhere after 50+ years of Doctor Who lore. Then again, Chibnall doesn't really care about Doctor Who lore, does he?

[jeffwalker]

For me, it seemed like when they cut the series down from 10 to 6 episodes, they did not bother to integrate the plot points from the missing episodes into the remaining episodes to explain what was happening and the back story of Swarm/Azure and the Grand Serpent.

I also found the sound of the episode messed up - very loud 'background' music and sound effects. I ended up watching it with subtitles on, so I could follow what was happening.

[HerbertAckermans]

Chibnell knows a lot about Doctor Who, but he understands woefully little of Doctor Who

[curtismckenley]

What about the waste of Jo Martins character. She's one of the best of chibnall era and she got 2mins