Doctor Who Series 13 - Flux Chapter One: The Halloween Apocalypse (Review)

Starring: Jodie Whittaker, Mandip Gill, John Bishop & Craige Els

Written By: Chris Chibnall

Directed By: Jamie Magnus Stone

Well hello again. It's been a long time since I've talked on here about 'Doctor Who', or anything else for that matter. I wish I could say it was because I was doing something amazing, but truthfully it's just been hard to find the time or enthusiasm, what with work and university... all the depression and anxiety... Let's just say I've been going through some stuff. But anyway, given that my social media has been a flurry of people getting very heated over everything from episode titles to viewing figures, 'Doctor Who' is back once again. It's fair to say that this series especially has been fighting an uphill battle. Already facing a truncated run thanks to Covid, it's also been overshadowed by two rather big bits of news. First, the sad departure of Jodie Whittaker next year, and the return of Russell T Davies in 2023. Making these announcements ahead of the series premiere was never going to do it any favours. Heck, as much as I've generally enjoyed Whittaker's time on the show, even I find myself more giddy at the news of RTD returning than Series 13. Worse still, the promotional campaign for this series has been... awful. I already found it lacking for Series 12, but here it's ridiculous with a commitment to absolute secrecy ahead of drumming up any kind of interest. However, even with all that working against it, I am still interested to see whether the more serialized approach to Chris Chibnall's third outing will have much of an effect on its overall quality. If things like 'Broadchurch' are anything to go by, Chibnall's strength does seem to lie with more serialized storytelling, so let's see how this pans out...

Whilst tracking down the fearsome warrior Karvanista, the Doctor experiences a disturbing psychic vision from across the universe. The deadly, mysterious Swarm has escaped captivity and appears to know exactly who the Doctor is. Meanwhile in present-day Liverpool, the life of Dan Lewis is about to change forever when Karvanista tracks down and abducts him. It's up to the Doctor and Yaz to figure out what an intergalactic warrior like Karvanista wants with an apparently random man from Liverpool, and to work out what exactly is the flux...

'The Halloween Apocalypse' is hardly short of content, with a whole raft of new characters, locations and concepts to introduce to us. With so much going on, I feel it might be best to start with the new addition that bizarrely feels rather overshadowed. It's weird to think that this episode is the introduction for a new companion, because unlike previous debuts this one doesn't feel too interested in its new cast member. Dan is rapidly swept up and swamped by the rest of the plot, but from what we do get to see here, I do really like him. He shows a lot of promise as a friendly, loveable character played with real charm and warmth by John Bishop. There's something endearing about him giving tours in a museum despite him not even working there, and his volunteering in a food bank is a lovely bit of representation. Most of what I like about Dan is coming through via the sheer strength of Bishop's performance mind, and less so on the writing front. I could forgive anyone's pre-broadcast cynicism that Bishop might have ended up being just the replacement for Bradley Walsh as Graham, what with both characters having more of a comedic slant to them, but I feel like there's plenty that could be developed with Dan. So first impressions are good, but I am definitely going to need to see more from Dan in the coming weeks.

Another great character I hope we'll be seeing more from is Karvanista. Again boosted by a strong performance from Craige Els, there's a lot I simply enjoyed about him. I love how this fearsome warrior with a gruff personality also unavoidably looks just like a cute anthropomorphic dog. There's some neat little details that flesh him out further too, such as the way that he sniffs at his technology to identify any faults with it or his protectiveness of his mother. The later understanding that Karvanista is more friend than foe was smartly done, and despite its silliness and dubious practicality, there is something I like about the idea of there being an anthropomorphic dog species out there who are bound to humanity. It's daft sure, but the Doctor sums it up pretty neatly with the "man's best friend" proverb, and in this case it's about all the explanation required.

But let's not dodge the elephant in the room any longer. Almost every discussion surrounding this opener seems to repeat the same criticism - that there is far too much going on here in the space of fifty minutes. It's certainly the most common complaint I've seen, and I can only wholeheartedly agree. 'The Halloween Apocalypse' is FAR, FAR, FAR too busy for its own good. Now the equally common defence against this criticism has been to say that this is only Part 1 of a 6-part story and that this is a set-up episode, which is of course true. But do we really need to squeeze everything in here? Why are we devoting time to the scenes with Joseph Williamson in the 1820s here? Why are we introducing Vinder now? Why are we introducing the Sontarans now? These disparate elements will all eventually play a key part in the overall story I've no doubt - but given how disconnected they are so far from the main plot, it just feels like poor structuring to cram it all in here. At a push, the further scenes set in the Arctic Circle and that section with Claire and the Weeping Angel might in retrospect work out well being placed here, but the rest seems less defensible. The result of introducing all these characters in very separate locations is an episode that becomes needlessly more difficult to follow, and limits our ability to properly engage with anything when it's all being thrown at us. Surely introducing Dan and Karvanista, the mysteries of the flux, whatever's happening to the TARDIS and who Swarm really is are enough to grapple with in your series opener? It feels almost as though we haven't learnt from the problems of Series 12 and are again trying too much at once in too little time. Hopefully with Series 13 being more serialized, I'm wrong on that one. Let's just pace ourselves and save some of the plot for later shall we...

On a brighter note (literally in some cases), I can at least say that this episode looks gorgeous. Jamie Magnus Stone returns to direct after helming some of the biggest episodes of the last series, and his work here is impressive once again. Without the foreknowledge, you wouldn't think that this was filmed under such meticulous restrictions at the height of a pandemic. The costumes and prosthetics all look fab, especially when it comes to Karvanista. The VFX team did a stunning job too, with some great dissolving effects as everything from planets to people are reduced to dust. Although the flux essentially seems to be a big CGI cloud, the way it moves and consumes everything is given a tangible sense of threat and devastation. Three series in, and I also think we've found the best way of lighting the TARDIS set. In Series 11, the design felt restricted because of the rather dingy lighting. Series 12 injected a lot more colour into the TARDIS, and now it seems we've kept that colour but also lit the set in a way that brightens up its darker corners. While it still isn't my favourite TARDIS interior, and it doesn't seem too popular with other fans either, the lighting and colour grading has certainly come a long way.

Elsewhere, I was glad to see that we haven't abandoned the repercussions of the Doctor learning she is the Timeless Child. With how controversial this turned out to be, I would absolutely understand if Chibnall and the creative team would want to distance themselves from this story arc. But they don't and I have a lot more respect for them for sticking to their guns. I am genuinely intrigued to learn more about what Karvanista knows about the Division, and who exactly Swarm is and how he knows the Doctor. Speaking of Swarm, both he and Azure make two of the most intimidating villains of this era. They're a far cry away from the likes of Tim Shaw and I'm hoping that these two will shape up to be Chibnall's best original baddies. As for the Doctor and Yaz, while I think it's a shame that we haven't got to see what a series carried by just the two of them might've looked like, Jodie Whittaker and Mandip Gill still have great chemistry with one another. There's one heated scene in the TARDIS where the Doctor is being deliberately secretive, much to Yaz's understandable annoyance. It's a shame it's such a brief moment, as this is an angle of their relationship that I'd really like to see further explored. But hey, if there's one thing I have few complaints about, it's that great cliffhanger. It feels both old-school and incredibly tense, as while the flux may remain a mystery, its rampant chasing of the TARDIS and the way it takes pure vortex energy in its stride has the stakes raised incredibly high. It feels truly apocalyptic, with Segun Akinola's appropriately grandiose score reflecting that. 

And that's about everything I have to say on this opener. Funnily enough, after watching this episode on its original broadcast, my dad seemed to sum it up perfectly: "That was pretty good, now if someone could explain what just happened." 'The Halloween Apocalypse' could've really benefitted from being more focused and refraining from bouncing across every other corner of the universe. But that said, I did still have fun with it and I'd probably take it over last series' 'Spyfall' two-parter. It holds up surprisingly well on repeat viewings and I'm keen to see where we're heading, with next week's shift towards the Crimean War and a whole lot of Sontarans...

The Halloween Apocalypse

7/10