Doctor Who: Flux

I quite liked it. Set up a great mystery and the dog's best friend reveal was neat. Also, special guest appearance of a weeping angel.

Agree with your comment about the SFX in the first scene but subsequent scenes were pretty decent and almost on par with what you'd see in a Marvel pic.

Marvel and DC are borrowing generously from DW these days, as well they should.

so is that the satan character from tennent days?

Wow, Doctor Who's new season really blows up the internet, doesn't it? Three episodes in, and just four responses. There is another thread with just as many responses. I can't keep up with all the new replies.

I've really been enjoying the new season, and I thought episode 3 was probably the most compelling episode of the entire Chibnall era.

No offense, but Datalounge isn't really someplace I think about to talk about Doctor Who. It isn't like there are a ton of threads about it here. Also, I love Doctor Who, and Datalounge has a tendency to shit all over everything, and sometimes I just want to enjoy something without the pointless bitchery.

Nonetheless Chibnall era ratings in the UK crashed. If the Brits say he failed the Americans can't bail him out. Jodie has made Sylvester McCoy look good in comparison.

I tried watching some of it for old times' sake but it's written like brain damage.

Whittaker had dreadful companions. I think the push all these years for a female Doctor was because people thought 'just' being a companion was a relegation for women - not at all, they've always been well written characters as far as I can see. They were integral to grounding the zaniness of the Doctor.

Whittaker STILL doesn't have that so she comes off as manic, manic, manic ... something I noticed is that she seems to barely ever look her companions in the eye.

I remember watching her when she first started, and the three companions were all having emotional character-building conversations with each other, but never with the Doctor. Disaster.

Chibnall uses a great deal of established DW material in terms of villains this season (which wasn't the case in his first season). The next episode will be Weeping Angels centric, apparently. Wouldn't be surprised if the Master himself is behind the Flux.

[quote] Chibnall uses a great deal of established DW material in terms of villains this season (which wasn't the case in his first season).

Originally he sneered at the thought of the tired old characters and villains returning. Apparently the Lords of the BBC ordered him to back down on this.

it was better than the regular series with her.

I've realised why I don't respond to the Chibnall companions- they are so worthy and good to begin with - a cancer survivor, a boy with a disability, an earnest policewoman and now a food-bank manager(!). In the past there were aimless Rose, loser Mickey, shifty Captain Jack, annoying Donna, selfish Amy and wimpy Rory - even Martha was beset by a dysfunctional family - they all grew, developed, became heroes and had lots of fun along the way.

As astute observation r12

they must have a "special" person on every Brit show now.

r14 makes me wonder how long they will be allowed to call it the Tardis. The Special Needs Blue Box doesn't quote roll off the tongue.

paint it yellow!

The absolute best part of Flux is that since Graham and Ryan left, the Doctor doesn't call her companions Fam anymore. I hate that. It was nauseatingly twee.

[quote] selfish Amy and wimpy Rory

Sorry, I love those guys, but they had hardly any character development. Amy was the girl who waited and that was her whole gimmick. She was angry that the Doctor didn't pick her up as a child as he promised and her whole character devolpment was to get over that. And Rory was just in love with Amy and that was it. All he did was to stay close to Amy even if that meant to put up with the Doctor.

Have not watch any of the new season to date but will try and binge watch this weekend. I really miss Peter Capaldi.

i loved amy. you knew she would do bigger things as an actress.

I'd like to have seen them explore Amy's time as a prostitute before the Doctor returned to her.

Village of the Angels is a pretty great episode. End credits feature an extra scene, btw.

Just watched Village of the Angels, and I agree, it was a great episode, with a wild cliff-hanger. Thanks for the tip on the extra scene. I generally don't watch the closing credits as the trailers tend to be extremely spoiler heavy.

I'm really happy with this season so far. It's a shame Chibnal spent two seasons floundering, but he is really hitting it out of the park with Flux.

Agree that Village of the Angels was great and the best of the season so far. But really hoping Chibnall can tie everything together at the end.

Is Ms Doctor still painfully woke or did they run away from that ?

[quote] I've realised why I don't respond to the Chibnall companions- they are so worthy and good to begin with - a cancer survivor, a boy with a disability, an earnest policewoman and now a food-bank manager(!).

And isn’t the new companion’s girlfriend missing an arm…or did I dream that?

Yes, R26 - pretty much lurching into self-parody.

And they are all anti Brexit

I thought this week's episode was great! The weeping angels are such a good villain, so it's hard to make a bad episode with them. I loved the cliffhanger, too.

I actually think Jodie has been a great Doctor. Most of the criticism comes from Daily Mail readers who can't tolerate a woman being the Doctor.

This last episode #5 was even better yet. It's still not must-see-TV for me, but the plot finally starts to make sense.

With all the improvements made, there is a major shortcoming imho. The character description is still too light. You get to learn more about the Doctor's background, but not about this incarnation. She is not driven herself; the plot is hasting her from place to place, and she is reacting at every corner. But she never shows an agenda that guides all her action. The companions, who are actually anything but this season, are as bland as can be. Dan? Could be played by anyone over 14. He has no trait whatsoever that would require any specific casting. I have a hard time caring for any of the characters. The only one I seem to be rooting for is the CSO of UNIT. I also found the 'mother' interesting. I thought she would be the big villain. Eh... doesn't look like it. Huge missed opportunity.

Let's just flush and erase the whole of Chibnall's shitshow.

I quite enjoy this season. Love the reveal of what Division is and who runs it. Also the Grand Serpent being some shadowy figure running things behind the scenes could make any conspiracy tin hat theorist cream in his pants.

Barbara Flynn acting Jodie totally off the screen couldn't be allowed to go on too long.

Not true r29. Whittaker can’t seem even now to decide on how to act the doctor. She’s all over the place borrowing heavily from Tennant who was good in the role.

I like the idea of Division, too. And 'mother' was promising as a new foil. Too bad she was so unceremoniously removed. The whole new backstory is OK with me anyway. If only it was/is executed nicely. But if they go that route, they need to make sure that the Ruth doesn't just remain a stand-in for all prior incarnations. Right now it sounds like she was the only one before One because she is the only one with an actual life.

Soooo... any opinion on Flux, now that the mini-season is over?

Overall I think it was a convoluted mess. I'd say I didn't understand 50% of what happened. Could be just me. Maybe I have to sit down with a twelve year old who can walk me through the plot. It was a let down for me that the Doctor's secret was merely tucked away. To me it was the highest motivator to watch this season. I still don't understand how the Sontaans got into all this or who the Great Serpent was and what his motivation was.

I gotta say though, visually the show was nice. Those two siblings-baddies looked stunning, make up and costumes.

The two time-eating demons' faces look like Skeletor Christmas ornaments.

Swarm calls the Doctor the first Timelord. Wonder if that means something?

Finally watched it. I loved it. The whole season was engaging and exciting.

I'm looking forward to the Festive Special on New Year's Day.

Oh....I thought it was strange someone started a thread about the Dr. Who version of the card game Fluxx.

The problem with Doctor #13 isn't because they cast a woman as the Doctor....it's because they created a retarded version of the Doctor who just so happens to now be a woman.

You can have a female Time Lord; nothing wrong with that idea....after all, we've had River Song bopping around for many years and she's hugely popular largely due to the way they created the character and because Alex Kingston is amazing.

But, Chibnall was determined or under orders to make Dr. Who super woke and ended up making it super stupid and boring. Whittaker is a talented actress but she's not likable or interesting as the Doctor. She's just manic and cloying.

Now, where's the thread on discussing the casting for the new Doctor?

You just know they're going to do the first Doctor of Color....but, will it be a brown lady Doctor or a brown dude Doctor?

This approximates my expectations of the next Doctor

[quote] You just know they're going to do the first Doctor of Color....but, will it be a brown lady Doctor or a brown dude Doctor?

If so, please let it be the dreamy Jacob Anderson - the guy who played Vinder and was in GOT. I think it's going to be T'Nia Miller, and she'll be perfect, but I'd be very happy seeing Anderson in the role.

[quote] You just know they're going to do the first Doctor of Color

Well, I think we have her already with Jo Martin. And the audience seems to have responded quite favorably about her. I certainly liked her. She was written so much better in the few scenes she had than 13 in three years. If RTD is going to do what everybody seems to expect him to do, he is looking for spin-off opportunities. She may get first dibs. Theoretically, all versions of the Doctor exist in the same universe at the same time, right?