Flux: The Halloween Apocalypse

"Trick or treat, Doctor!"

Writer: Chris Chibnall

Format: TV

Broadcast: 31 October 2021

Series: 13.01

Featuring: Thirteenth Doctor, Yaz, Dan

Synopsis

On Halloween, all across the universe, terrifying forces are stirring. From the Arctic Circle to deep space, an ancient evil is breaking free. And in present-day Liverpool, the life of Dan Lewis is about to change forever. Why is the Doctor on the trail of the fearsome Karvanista? And what is the Flux?

Verdict

The Halloween Apocalypse was a great start to the brand new thirteenth series of Doctor Who! I'm very excited to see what Flux brings and I thought this was a very solid start. There were so many moving parts, probably a few too many if I'm being brutally honest, but there is so much set up here for the remaining five episodes to come that I'm looking forward to seeing how it all ties back. This was a superb introduction for Dan Lewis as the new companion and I must admit that I initially had caution about John Bishop playing a Doctor Who companion, but I thought he was magnificent. The Liverpool-centric episode was so much fun and as a Liverpool football supporter, seeing the TARDIS materialise with Anfield in the background was quite wonderful. Two of my favourite things in one! It's so good to know that Dan is a Liverpool fan, something I'm sure Bishop himself pushed. The continuity with the Division and the Doctor on the hunt to discover her lost past was brilliant and I didn't expect Karvanista to be the last living operative of that Time Lord mystery. I'm certainly intrigued to see where things move there. The Doctor not letting Yaz in on her mission is a little surprising given how close they are and it's clear that they've been on plenty of adventures between Series 12 and 13, and I love that we got to read one in Black Powder! The image of the pair on the bed led Gemma to a humorous comment about their potential relationship, and honestly that's something I think I'd enjoy. But the Doctor has more pressing matters. The TARDIS malfunctioning is really intriguing and having to deal with it potentially dying is rather frightening as a concept! I think that puts the Doctor in so much danger though and it's something I'm well on board with. The way the entrance didn't match with the console and surrounding areas after being twisted was a startling image. Dan's arrival onto the TARDIS was humorous and his claim of having a mate who had one bigger was really amusing. It was a solid debut as companion. The genetic pact of the Lupari was a brilliant concept and Karvanista rescuing Dan from what was to come was not a revelation I expected. I thought the cinematography in this episode was perhaps the best it's ever been with the image of the Doctor, Yaz and Dan in the TARDIS doorway in space being mesmerising, along with the Flux itself which looked really cool. I always maintain that natural threats are the most dangerous in Doctor Who and having the Doctor try to tackle something on that scale that defies the laws of physics is very exciting. And it seems to be bringing a lot of friends, old and new, to town. The glimpse of Claire and her involvement with the Weeping Angels was an outstanding hint at what's to come, and the Sontarans revelling in the destruction the Flux is bringing was magnificent. This redesign is absolutely outstanding and I'm just so happy they are back in all their glory. They look incredible. How they will tie in with the Liverpool tunnel building of 1820 really interests me. The Swarm escaping from imprisonment and seemingly rejuvenating was great stuff and the two Division operatives peaked my interest. The Swarm claiming of doing battle with the Doctor before but she having no memory is excellent and fascinating because we know now that there are many lives the Doctor doesn't know she has led. I'm sure we'll be seeing the Fugitive Doctor once again before the Thirteenth Doctor says goodbye. As a whole, this was a very strong opener and set up a lot of moving parts whilst being thoroughly entertaining. The Doctor's line about synchronising watches when she didn't have one was just hilarious. Overall, a great episode!

Rating: 8/10