#27 (13.6): The Vanquishers.

Azure and Swarm torment the Doctor.  Well, one of the Doctors...

1 episode. Running Time: Approx. 60 minutes. Written by: Chris Chibnall. Directed by: Azhur Saleem. Produced by: Pete Levy.


THE PLOT:

The Doctor's escape from Swarm (Sam Spruell) and Azure (Rochenda Sandall) is successful... partially. Swarm touches her just as she transports back to her universe, and the combination of the Ravager's destructive power with the transport has the effect of splitting her in three. One Doctor ends up on Karvanista's ship just as the Sontarans assault the Lupari blockade. Another Doctor reunites with Yaz, Dan, and Jericho in the Williamson Tunnels beneath Liverpool.

A third Doctor, however, remains on the station outside the universe. As her other fragments of work to unravel the plans of the Sontarans and their ally, The Grand Serpent (Craig Parkinson), Swarm and Azure bask in the opportunity to torment their old enemy, taunting her:

"This is better than we could ever have hoped. We have everything we need. Division... The power to destroy your universe... And you!"


CHARACTERS:

The Doctor: Split into three personas, which she admits is confusing, exhausting, and frightening. That doesn't stop her from using it to her advantage - as when she deliberately sets herself up to be captured and interrogated, all so that she can be rescued after she's gathered needed information - rescued by another version of herself. Much like Amy in Steven Moffat's Space/Time sketch, she seems to fancy herself; she mentions having "a crush" on herself and, even when her form is adopted by a sinister entity, she pauses to note how good she looks in that variant's dark jacket (the dark jacket does suit her, by the way - Maybe we can get a wardrobe change for the specials?).

Yaz: The episode opens with her still emulating the Doctor, as when she thinks fast to open a particularly dangerous door to deal with a squad of Sontarans. Is overjoyed at the Doctor's return... until the Doctor begins rattling off technical terms with no explanation, leaving Yaz complaining, "normal service resumed." When the Doctor apologizes for shutting her out earlier in the season, saying she should have confided in her, Yaz doesn't fully let her off the hook; "Yeah, you should have," she says flatly, but makes clear that she's still willing to listen if the Doctor wants to start including her.

Dan: John Bishop continues to make the most of every small moment Dan gets... Which is fortunate, as for most of the season, small moments are all he does get. He's particularly sidelined here, with releasing a prisoner being the most significant moment he receives. There's a lot going on, so it's understandable that some characters end up underserved. Still, I'm left to wonder why he was even introduced if the season wasn't going to do anything with him.

Professor Jericho: At the opposite extreme... in a mere three episodes, Kevin McNally's Jericho has come to feel like an integral part of the series. He's emerged as my favorite character of the season: a mild-mannered, somewhat fussy academic with a core of steel. He gets some strong scenes here, thinking nothing of putting himself in danger to save his friends. I love his confrontation with a Sontaran who sneers that he's a "nameless human," to which he proudly declares himself to be "Professor Eustacius Jericho, scourge of scoundrels" - only to immediately regret not having written his autobiography, as that would have been such a good title.

The Grand Serpent: Has allied himself with the Sontarans as part of a long-range plan to install himself as Earth's ruler. He is unruffled when the Doctor points out that the Sontarans will inevitably betray him; he's already anticipated as much and plans to beat them to it. He is thrown, however, by how unbothered the Doctor is by his interrogation. When he realizes that she's actually getting information from him rather than the other way around, he tries to just kill her - but it turns out he's picked the wrong day to use his favorite parlor trick...

Swarm: Delights in inflicting pain, both psychological and physical. He teases the Doctor with her hidden memories, using his abilities to obliterate those memories - which manifests as physical agony. He literally disassembles the Doctor, only to rewind her to whole so that he can do it all over again. He and Azure boast that they'll do the same to the universe, rewinding the Flux until everything is intact and then unleashing it again, all to revel in the destruction. Not a smart boast, in this case, as this very plan provides the solution (although that solution is not very clearly communicated by the episode itself).

Azure: Every bit as sadistic as Swarm, as she dangles the Doctor's fobwatch in front of her. But she also has an inquisitive side, glimpsed in an excellent scene in which she asks the Doctor to explain why her valuing of life is better than the Ravagers' appetite for destruction. She doesn't seem to be sneering at the Doctor in that moment.  She is genuinely curious - and when she returns to taunting and tormenting her afterward, there's a sense that she's angry at how unsatisfactory she found the Doctor's answer to be. Rochenda Sandrall has been good all season, and I'm glad this episode allows her this one moment in the spotlight.

The Sontarans: Chris Chibnall again proves how good he is at writing the classic villains. He repeats the balancing act of War of the Sontarans. On the one hand, they are funny and even occasionally ridiculous, as when one Sontaran takes delight in raiding a convenience store's supplies of chocolate. At the same time, they have never been more ruthless. At one point, one gloats to Karvanista about ejecting Lupari out of airlocks to die in space, then mocks his prisoner's fury. Also, the Sontarans' plot to use their enemies to gain dominance over the Flux is genuinely clever, and it might well have succeeded.

Kate Lethbridge-Stewart: The Grand Serpent ends up fixating on Kate, who announces herself as the head of the resistance against the Sontaran Occupation. I can't help but wonder if something was left on the cutting room floor, however, because Kate ends up doing very little - certainly nothing that should draw the Serpent's personal attention. At least Jemma Redgrave remains a welcome presence, making the most of her confrontation scene with the Serpent. I just wish she was a bit more central to the episode, and that she had more scenes opposite Jodie Whittaker's Doctor.

Karvanista/Bel/Vinder: Speaking of underserved characters... It's appropriate that these three end up forming a sort of group of their own; after all the setup earlier this season, none of them gets enough of a payoff. Karvanista at least gets a good scene opposite the Doctor, bemoaning that there was a time that he would have done anything for her, and that she rewarded his loyalty by leaving him. Bel and Vinder don't even get that much. On the one hand, their story doesn't go to the obvious ending I had anticipated (once the unborn baby was revealed, I fully expected them to end up being the Doctor's parents); on the other hand, it doesn't particularly go anywhere else. In the end, this season would have been much the same had they not been present at all.


THOUGHTS:

Appropriately enough for a finale, The Vanquishers not only concludes the Flux arc, it also more or less represents it in miniature. All the season's strengths are evident. The episode is fast-paced and well-acted, with a genuine sense of urgency. All three villains are effective: The Sontarans, the Serpent, and the Ravagers all work well, and each group has its own separate agenda. The Doctor is central and proactive, getting at least one good scene opposite each of the villains.

However, the finale's multiple underserved elements make clear that the season tried to do too much. Look at the characters that this episode failed to use. The Bel/Vinder plot comes to nothing particularly interesting; had it been excised from the season, the main thing we'd have lost would have been the Grand Serpent's introduction, which could have been fixed with a slight alteration to Survivors of the Flux. Maybe then, more could have been done to develop the antipathy between the Serpent and Kate Lethbridge-Stewart, who is so little-used here that I'm not sure why they bothered. Even Dan, one of the season's regulars, has spent half a season being eclipsed by the more interesting Professor Jericho; why not introduce Jericho in Episode One and make him the male companion for the season, given that unlike Dan he actually does things to advance the story?

I like both season and episode as they stand. Across all six episodes, I've remained engaged and sometimes quite gripped.  Jodie Whittaker is in full command of the role at this point, and every episode has offered at least a couple of very strong dramatic scenes.

The Vanquishers is ultimately a decent finale to an overall pretty good season. I just can't help but feel that, had the redundant threads been removed, the arc might have been tighter and more focused - and the resolution (which I didn't fully catch until my second viewing) might have been a lot clearer.


Overall Rating: 7/10.

Previous Story: Survivors of the Flux
Next Story: Eve of the Daleks

Review Index

To receive new review updates, follow me:

On BlueSky:

Follow @RandomMusings09 on BlueSky

On Threads:

Follow@randommusings09 on Threads

#23 (13.2): War of the Sontarans.

Parlay on a battlefield: The Doctor and the Sontaran commander, Skaak (Jonathan Watson).

1 episode. Running Time: Approx. 59 minutes. Written by: Chris Chibnall. Directed by: Jamie Magnus Stone. Produced by: Nikki Wilson.


THE PLOT:

The TARDIS crew survive the Flux... somehow. Thrown clear of the TARDIS, they are on Earth. Specifically, they are Sevastapol during the Crimean War. They are found by Jamaican nurse Mary Seacole (Sara Powell), who takes them back to her "British Hotel." On the way, they have to hide to evade the enemy. Not the Russians, as the Doctor naturally assumes, but a very different foe - The Sontarans!

Under the command of Skaak (Jonathan Watson), the Sontarans have used the time instability caused by the Flux to claim the Earth. From the perspective of Seacole and the British general, Logan (Gerald Kyd), the Sontarans aren't alien invaders. They have always been here, within the borders of "Sontar" - an Empire that occupies the territory that should belong to Russia and China. The Doctor realizes that time itself has gone very wrong.

She has barely gotten a grasp on the situation before Dan and Yaz are snatched away, each taken to a different part of time and space. Dan finds himself back in present day Liverpool, which is also overrun by Sontarans. Meanwhile, Yaz appears in The Temple of Atropos - a mysterious structure on a planet called Time...


CHARACTERS:

The Doctor: When Dan and Yaz are snatched out of time, she runs straight for the TARDIS, for a scene that's the exact opposite of the one that ended The Ghost Monument. There, she greeted the TARDIS like a lost lover, all but weeping in gratitude and relief at being reunited. Here, she's frantic and horrified when she is unable to gain entry, barred not only from rescuing her friends but from the only home she's ever known. Jodie Whittaker is particularly good in this scene, and in her confrontation with Skaak, sneering at him for his attack on Earth amounting to little more than a cowardly sneak attack. She strives to find a way to end the attack without bloodshed, and is enraged when Skaak and the human general, Logan, continue to thwart her attempts.

Dan: Shades of Jamie from the Troughton Era. Dan is obviously confused by all the strangeness surrounding him, but he remains game for whatever might be thrown at him. Whisked back to his present only to find it under Sontaran domination, he resolves to fight back. Thanks to a timely intervention by his parents (Sue Jenkins and Paul Broughton, both wonderful), he is armed with critical information and a weapon: a steel Wok. John Bishop's comedy background shows in his interactions with his parents and his attempts to bluff the Sontarans, but he stays just the right side of serious for us to also feel a sense of danger.

Yaz: Draws the "spare" card this week, transported to The Temple of Setting Up the Next Episode. We see more evidence of her hero worship of the Doctor, in the form of some letters she's inked into her hand: WWTDD. She glances at this reminder to herself - "What Would the Doctor Do?" - and then acts on it, confidently telling a mysterious probe that she's here to "repair" and letting it escort her to fellow time refugee Vinder (Jacob Anderson), an astronaut we saw fleeing from The Flux in the previous episode.

Mary Seacole: The Historical Celebrity of the Week.  The script downplays some of Seacole's more colorful attributes, though it does nod to at least two things: Her strained relationship with Florence Nightingale, whom she dismisses as being unwilling to actually come near the front lines, and her willingness to use her position to turn a profit, as she freely admits that sales of alcohol in her "hotel" help to pay for medical supplies. Like the real Seacole, she does not restrict her treatment to only the British... though instead of a wounded Russian, she is seen tending to an injured and apoplectic Sontaran.

Sontarans: Chris Chibnall's script nods to The Time Warrior as Skaak insists that his race has a right to Earth because of the claim Linx placed way back in that classic serial. It's an appropriate reference, given that this is almost certainly the best Sontaran story since then. The potato-headed clone warriors remain comical, notably when Skaak declares that he chose the Crimean War as his point of assault for a very important reason: "I wanted to ride a horse." At the same time, the aliens are a force to be reckoned with. When they engage a large force of disciplined English soldiers, they defeat them with ease. Seacole later observes with horror that all of the casualties on the field were English, with not a single fallen Sontaran among them.

Swarm, Azure, and Passenger: The season villains are only briefly seen, but they remain effective. Azure (Rochenda Sandall) is Swarm's sister, and she might just be scarier than he is. She seems to take pleasure in killing, with Swarm almost having to hold her back. Passenger (Jonny Mathers) is the third of this group, and the one we know we know nothing about right now, as he seems to be a silent onlooker. In this episode, we learn that not only does Swarm know the Doctor - He also knows who Yaz is, and knows what she has written on her hand. He is amused at her shock, dismissing her as limited in her perception of time.


THOUGHTS:

In my review of The Halloween Apocalypse, I wondered if that episode couldn't have done with an extra ten minutes to better unify its many moving parts. War of the Sontarans makes me even more certain of this; it runs almost exactly that extra ten minutes, falling just short of an even hour, and manages the same sense of momentum without ever threatening to lose control of its narrative. I was just as caught up in events as in the previous episode, but I never the lost the sense that all the characters and strands were connected.

It opens with mysteries: Why are the Sontarans effectively taking the place of the Russians in the Crimean War? What happened to Dan and Yaz? What is happening to the TARDIS? All of these questions are addressed as the episode progresses. We get a firm answer to the first, linking the Sontarans' invasion in this episode to the events that concluded the last one. We also follow Dan and Yaz through their threads, so we know where/when they went, even if we don't yet know why. The question of the TARDIS is the least addressed, though its damage and ongoing odd behavior receives a prominent mention in the scene with Swarm that closes the episode.

The episode looks terrific. One area in which the Chibnall Era has improved upon its predecessors is in production values, and War of the Sontarans is particularly cinematic. The Doctor parlays with Skaak on a mist-covered field, the two looking like miniature soldiers as they face each other in wide shots. Dan discovers the Sontaran fleet, docked in Liverpool, and the camera rises to really showcase the power of the alien ships. British and Sontaran armies face each other in battle, in spectacular (if definitely CGI) large-scale shots. If there were ever a big budget Doctor Who movie, this is about what it would look like. If we were lucky.

A few things keep me from awarding full marks. The Yaz/Flux scenes, though well-presented and effectively intercut with the Sontaran story, are the weakest in the episode. General Logan, commander of the British forces, makes MASH's Frank Burns look reasonable and thoughtful by comparison. An effort is made to draw a parallel between him and Skaak... but it doesn't go anywhere interesting, and the final exchange between him and the Doctor recalls the very worst moments of the Tennant era.

That aside, this is a terrific hour of television. The regulars are in good form, with Whittaker particularly strong and John Bishop continuing to prove himself an excellent addition to the show. The show has never looked better visually. It's well-paced, with energy and humor. As for the Sontarans themselves? Well, after a very long time of being relegated to silly comedy relief, this represents a major return to form.


Overall Rating: 9/10.

Previous Story: The Halloween Apocalypse
Next Story: Once, Upon Time

Review Index

To receive new review updates, follow me:

On BlueSky:

Follow @RandomMusings09 on BlueSky

On Threads:

Follow@randommusings09 on Threads

#22 (13.1): The Halloween Apocalypse.

The Doctor has a mental link with the evil Swarm (Sam Spruell).

1 episode. Running Time: Approx. 50 minutes. Written by: Chris Chibnall. Directed by: Jamie Magnus Stone. Produced by: Nikki Wilson.


THE PLOT:

The Doctor's attempt to get information from Karvanista (Craige Els), of the dog-like Lupari species, goes predictably awry, leading to Karvanista escaping. The Doctor pursues, tracking him to present-day Liverpool... but arrives too late to stop him from kidnapping Dan Lewis (John Bishop), a seemingly ordinary human.

The Doctor and Yaz continue their pursuit, unaware that the universe itself is unraveling. Swarm (Sam Spruell), a being who has been imprisoned by The Division since the beginning of time, has escaped, and The Flux has begun...


CHARACTERS:

The Doctor: Continues to be secretive about her motives. She refuses to tell Yaz exactly why she's so intent on confronting Karvanista. When they infiltrate his ship, she sends Yaz to rescue Dan... in part to rescue the kidnapped man, but I think primarily so that she can talk to her quarry alone. When Yaz calls her on her behavior, the Doctor becomes instantly defensive, and I suspect a part of her is almost relieved when a crisis stops their argument before she has to actually share her goals.

Yaz: When Yaz meets Dan, she introduces herself as former police. To invoke Amy and Rory, she has now made the choice between "real life" and "Doctor life" - and she chose the Doctor. Which likely makes it all the more frustrating that the Doctor is still keeping secrets, something Yaz already lost patience with back in Series 12. With the TARDIS newly un-crowded, the dynamic between her and the Doctor feels much fresher and livelier, and Mandip Gill's performance here is wonderfully energetic.

Dan: Comedian John Bishop makes a strong first impression as the newest member of the TARDIS team. Introductory scenes arguably oversell the character: He's a proud Scouser who gives impromptu tours at the Museum of Liverpool despite not actually working there, who has an endearing flirtation with museum worker Diane (Nadia Albina), and who volunteers in a soup kitchen. What, no rescuing a kitten from a tree? For all this, Bishop is authentic and likable, and the scene in which he mistakes Kavanista's alien appearance for a Halloween costume is quite funny (and unlike some comedy scenes, knows to drop the gag before it wears out its welcome).

Returning Enemies: This episode briefly features both The Weeping Angels and the Sontarans. Neither enemy interacts with the Doctor, and it's obvious that they are being established for future episodes. The Weeping Angel is the centerpiece of the episode's most effective scene, as a lone angel stalks the mysterious Claire (Annabel Scholey) as she tries to make it to safety before it can catch up with her. The Sontarans receive two scenes, principally comic in tone - as has been the New Series' general treatment of them - as they relish the thought of the destruction heading their way.

Swarm: Set up as the main enemy of the season. He is introduced as a Hannibal Lecter-like character, taunting and psychologically manipulating his jailers even as he is confined. He has a history with the Doctor, presumably from when she worked for the Division, and uses a thus-far unexplained psychic link to taunt her with a past that he remembers and she does not. "There is not a tiny corner of you that remembers," he exults. "I remember every battle - which gives me the advantage." Sam Spruell does wonders with his limited screen time, his voice and bearing exuding presence. It helps that the makeup job is terrific, with him just alien enough to be unsettling without tipping over into silliness.


THOUGHTS:

The Flux begins! ...And I have only the vaguest notion of what might be going on, but at least so far it's fun to watch.

The Halloween Apocalypse is light on explanation, succeeding largely through sheer momentum. This has not traditionally been a strength of writer/showrunner Chris Chibnall's. Too often in this era, the action has screeched to a grinding halt to deliver character or plot exposition, leaving the stories to have to restart the pace instead of letting it build.

Well, that doesn't happen here. There are still good character moments, but they arise naturally during the action rather than feeling crowbarred in. Yaz confronts the Doctor about her secretiveness while they work on their pursuit of Karvanista, and they talk only for a couple minutes before being interrupted by more plot. The action is near constant, with the episode offering up no less than five different set pieces across its brisk 50-minute running time.

I wonder if it shouldn't have been a little longer. The main thread of the Doctor and Yaz pursuing Karvanista and rescuing Dan is a bit thin, and it is sometimes overwhelmed by all the "stuff" happening around it. The Division! Sontarans! Claire, who meets the Doctor out of sequence before fleeing from a Weeping Angel! And at least two other threads I'm not mentioning simply because I have no clue what's actually going on in them. The Halloween Apocalypse is the "busiest" episode of the series since the departure of Steven Moffatt, and I think an extra ten minutes might have done wonders to help all these individual bits feel like they're genuinely connected.

That said, not since Fugitive of the Judoon has a new Doctor Who episode passed so quickly for me. When the episode ended, I was actively surprised that a full 50 minutes had already elapsed. I may currently be confused about how (or whether) the pieces will end up fitting... but I wasn't bored for a second, and I'm at least cautiously optimistic that Flux might manage to deliver on its potential.


Overall Rating: 7/10.

Previous Story: Revolution of the Daleks
Next Story: War of the Sontarans

Review Index

To receive new review updates, follow me:

On BlueSky:

Follow @RandomMusings09 on BlueSky

On Threads:

Follow@randommusings09 on Threads