This week on Halloween, Doctor Who returned with the first episode of the 13th season. The series will be called Doctor Who: Flux, and will be a six-part series with one story arc. The first episode of the new season, titled “Chapter One: The Halloween Apocalypse,” felt like a one-hour trailer for the series.
*General Spoiler Warnings Apply
The Halloween Apocalypse
Every episode this season will be a continuation of the last. This season will have no stand-alone episodes like in prior seasons. In modern Doctor Who (2005 and beyond), we do see 2 or 3 episodes storylines. For the most part, it has a lot of stand-alone episodes that don’t always tie into the overall narrative. Doctor Who has a history that has spanned over 57 years, and so I am sure that in the past there have been plenty of times where this approach was used. However, for new audiences, it may take a little getting used to.
This season will take the Doctor (Jodie Whittaker) and her friends (Mandip Gill, John Bishop, and Jacob Anderson) to the edge of the universe and beyond, in a battle for survival against a new evil known as The Flux. We kick all of that off with the first episode, “Chapter One: The Halloween Apocalypse.”
The trailers leading up to this season promised new villains and the return of iconic Doctor Who monsters such as the Sontarans and the Weeping Angels. Those trailers gave audiences the impression that we would be seeing these monsters throughout the six episodes. What we actually saw was all of these monsters in the very first episode. The episode felt like an hour-long trailer that was meant to hype us up for the rest of the season.
On Halloween, all across the universe, terrifying forces are stirring. We see storylines happening on Earth in the Arctic Circle, as well as in deep space, where an ancient evil is breaking free from prison. Then, in present-day Liverpool, Dan Lewis meets the Doctor while being kidnapped by Aliens that were trying to kill Yaz and The Doctor. Then, we have the Doctor meeting people out of order. It was very timey-wimey and a call back to the way Sally Sparrow met the 10th doctor in “Blink.” We even had some flashbacks to things happening in the Victorian Era. We got slapped with a lot of fast-paced action, witty banter, and probably more information than we could process all at once, with very few answers.
There was a lot to like in the episode, but overall it felt confusing and messy. It felt more like a really long trailer than a cohesive episode. We got a look at so many new characters that it was a little hard to keep track of who everyone was. My guess is that this must have been done intentionally as a way to generate excitement for what’s to come and to get fans discussing who these characters are and what they will mean for the Doctor.
The new series features a host of acclaimed British acting talent including Rochenda Sandall, Annabel Scholey, Craig Parkinson, Kevin McNally, Sam Spruell, Robert Bathurst, Steve Oram, and Thaddea Graham. We’re excited to see what becomes of this season. I will probably refrain from judging this season until the end of the six-part episodes. I have a feeling that this season will be one of those where everything seems really confusing at first but it all ties in together at the end.
We will definitely be seeing more about the Doctor’s past.
Doctor Who will stream weekly on BBC America and AMC+.
For more Doctor Who news and Coverage check out:
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