Doctor Who Series 13 - Flux Chapter Two: War Of The Sontarans (Review)

Starring: Jodie Whittaker, Mandip Gill, John Bishop & Sara Powell

Written By: Chris Chibnall

Directed By: Jamie Magnus Stone

Following a solid introduction to Flux, chapter two of this story brings us to War Of The Sontarans. For reasons I'll elaborate on a bit later, I've been looking forward to this one and I'm hoping the more streamlined premise can help pull together some of the various dangling threads from last week. At an hour long, we also have a bit more time to play with this week, so let's see what we've got...

The Doctor, Yaz and Dan awake in a mist-covered battlefield. Surrounded by the dead, the trio encounter Mary Seacole and learn that they have somehow been brought into the midst of the Crimean War. But something is very wrong here... rather than fighting the Russians, the British army are engaged in combat with a far deadlier enemy... the Sontarans. The Flux is having a profound effect on the timeline, and the TARDIS trio haven't escaped its effects. As Dan is transported back home to 21st Century Liverpool, and Yaz finds herself in an extra-terrestrial alien temple, the Doctor is left alone in the Crimea against an army of Sontarans.

Following an admittedly ill-placed introduction towards the end of the last episode, the Sontarans take front and centre stage this week. Ever since photos of their redesign leaked from filming last year, I've been eager to see them in action. I get that it's pretty arbitrary, but I personally much prefer the classic black and silver colour scheme over the blue armour. I grew a little skeptical as we got closer to this episode mind, as better quality promotional stills appeared. While I still loved the new armour, the prosthetics looked a bit off. Fortunately in the episode proper they look far better in motion, and in fact with their new armour I'd go as far as saying they're maybe the best the Sontarans have ever looked. It was nice to see Dan Starkey back again, and while I do wish we could've also had Christopher Ryan too (I honestly think he might be the best Sontaran actor we've ever had), Jonathan Watson is no slouch in taking up that mantle. His performance echoes that of Ryan's, and his native Scottish accent is just a strangely good fit for a Sontaran. As for the Sontarans' role in the story, well as with most classic foes that he's turned his hand to, Chris Chibnall seems to demonstrate a great understanding of what makes the potato-heads work. In the TV show, it's the first time since 2008's 'The Poison Sky' that the Sontarans have had a major antagonistic role, and here they feel like threatening warmongers again. While I liked Strax every now and then, I do think his frequent appearances softened the Sontarans quite a bit and made them purely a joke. Here the Sontarans are ruthless, while also being a great foil for comedy. Seriously, that line from Skaak: "And also... I wanted to ride a horse" might be the funniest gag of the Chibnall era and no, I could not tell you why.

'War Of The Sontarans' refrains from bouncing around ever corner of the universe and as a result, it feels far more coherent and focused than last week. Setting the majority of the story in the Crimean War, from a thematic standpoint feels perfect for a Sontaran story. Of the countless wars throughout history, the legacy of the Crimean War feels especially futile, wasteful and fought for little coherent reason - how perfect for the Sontarans. The characters that populate this Crimean backdrop aren't exactly the most developed, but they work well enough in the context of the story. Unlike the titular characters in 'Rosa' or 'Nikola Tesla's Night Of Terror', 'War Of The Sontarans' isn't about Mary Seacole. This isn't a celebrity historical so much as she happens to feature. Sara Powell is great in the role, and Seacole's inclusion is one that adds to the story, rather than being the story. Unlike Seacole, the general leading the British troops is a fictional creation, embodying the kind of mindset that led to the failure that was the charge of the Light Brigade. The character is absolutely the one-note arrogant military leader that you've seen in a thousand other things, but meh... he's fine enough. When it comes to the episode's technical merits, I have nothing but positive things to say about its recreation of the era. You can tell from how often those aerial shots of the battle were seen in teasers and trailers that the production team were pleased with them, and rightly so. The mist and ash-covered battlefields feel authentic and hostile, and while the battle between the British and the Sontarans is brief, it's executed so so well.

'War Of The Sontarans' pulls another smart one by splitting up our TARDIS team and sending them off on three different journeys. It gives each of them their own time and ways to advance the overarching plot. Previously some of the 13th Doctor's best moments have seen her working solo, and Jodie Whittaker gives a fantastic performance here. I loved the moody start as the team first wake up. The use of black and white and the eerie dilapidated house floating in the sky makes for a striking image that I hope we'll address at a later point. I also loved that shot of the Doctor running around the TARDIS, being shut out from it and unable to find the entrance. However, possibly the highlight of the episode comes when the Doctor first meets to talk with Skaak. It's a great stand-off, with the Doctor holding her own and remaining confident throughout, but being unable to prevent a massacre as the same people she's trying to protect betray her. 

While this is all taking place in the Crimea, Dan gets the opportunity for a solo adventure back home in Liverpool. One of my hopes for this episode after last week was for a greater focus on Dan, and I wasn't left disappointed. Who knew that Dan Lewis going around Liverpool docks armed with a wok and taking on a Sontaran army single-handed could be so much fun? We even get to meet Dan's parents this week, and I loved these two. Together with Dan, the three share some great dialogue and they have a wonderfully natural relationship with one another. I also loved the moment where Dan successfully tricks a Sontaran into exposing its probic vent and knocks them out, only to turn around and find a squad of them behind him - and he still tries the same trick on them. Taking on a Sontaran fleet is hardly an easy job however, and I did audibly cheer when Karvanista showed up again to rescue Dan. It was a great fun spectacle to watch the two of them ram the whole fleet and eject themselves to safety. It feels like Dan earned his stripes here, and I liked that the end of the episode gave him his moment to officially join the TARDIS. He may have got swept up in things last time, but it's nice to see that when given the choice to join the Doctor and Yaz, he takes it.

Speaking of Yaz, while in theory it's nice to see her get her own subplot, I can't help but feel that here she drew the short straw. The significance and mysteries behind the Temple of Atropos are pretty clearly more setup for the coming weeks, but given the episode's tighter focus and longer runtime it feels like much stronger setup this time around. That said, in his second appearance, I've still yet to see a reason to be particularly invested in Vinder. For now he's still very much a nothing character who wouldn't be noteworthy whatsoever if it weren't for the outside promotion bothering to push Jacob Anderson's presence in the series. The same applies to Joseph Williamson, who's two for two now on appearing at random points and feeling very out of place. How is this guy not a meme yet with the way he just shows up everywhere? He feels like 'Doctor Who's answer to the confused John Travolta meme by now. But if there's one thing in Yaz's section of the story that I continue to unambiguously love, it's Swarm and Azure. Both Sam Spurell and Rochenda Sandall are eating up these roles, and it feels like their characters are getting a sadistic pleasure out of everything they do. The siblings are shaping up to be one of the best things about this series, and one of Chibnall's finer creations too. I'm really looking forward to getting even more of them in the next few episodes, and are praying that we don't mess things up. Please don't let the recent speculation Swarm could be the Master be true. The show has been in need of original recurring villains like this for a while, so let's just have them be something new for once yeah? 

That about wraps up everything I have to say on 'War Of The Sontarans' - an episode I really enjoyed. A lot of bugbears I had with the premiere of Flux are either addressed or improved upon here and it makes for a thoroughly enjoyable hour of television. While we may only be a third of the way through the series, if the next few weeks hold up to a similar level of quality, I have high hopes that Flux could be something special and maybe end Jodie Whittaker's run on her strongest series. Fingers crossed and let's see where 'Once, Upon Time' will take us next...

War Of The Sontarans

8/10