FIXING CONTINUITY GLITCHES - EMERGENCY! EMERGENCY! QUICK FIXES FOR THE TIMELESS CHILD!!!

I was toiling away at a totally different essay when I kept noticing a disturbing trend in some of the fan groups I'm involved with. I felt the need to address the issue and hastily changed gears and wrote this entry, instead. The problem has become so constant that there seems almost an urgency for something like this to be composed. Which is why, of course, I used "Emergency!" in the title...

Some people seem convinced that the Timeless Child now contradicts certain key points of continuity. In some cases, a fan is genuinely concerned that this aspect of canon no longer seems to work. In other instances, it's just a Chibnall-basher trying to say: "Look! See! He's a bad writer! He's wrecking established continuity!" Either way, these same few points keep coming up over and over even though they have fairly simple solutions to them. Fans who have worked out how the Timeless Child fits into the equation keep giving the same answers again and again. But this doesn't seem to stop these points from being brought up on a regular basis. People just don't seem to be paying attention to the fact that these issues have been addressed several times, now. 

So, here's what I am hoping: The next time someone mentions this sort of thing in a fan group, make life easier for yourself. Just steer the person with the query/objection to this essay. Send them a link. Or, at the very least, mention this site to them (surprisingly, if you google Pretentious Doctor Who Essays this is the only result you get!).  Let me accomplish this painfully repetitive task for you. 

A TIMELINE FOR THE TIMELESS CHILD - PART ONE: EARLY DAYS

To really make things clear before we get to these points of consternation, we should first try to create a timeline of some sort for the Timeless Child (and for the Doctor, for that matter!). It should be noted that we are piecing things together from snippets of dialogue or visual clues that we have been given over the course of the last few seasons. There may still be a few things that I'm missing that will get revealed in Jodie's final story. But I do think, for the most part, that we know the life of the Timeless Child, now. 

So let's see what we can cobble together...

The Timeless Child is first discovered on a distant planet from Gallifrey during one of Tecteun's many dangerous explorations of the Universe. The Child is found alone at the foot of a dimensional rift that she appears to have come through. Tecteun elects to adopt her.    

It is during a horrible accident that the Gallifreyan explorer discovers a unique gift of the Timeless Child. She has the ability to regenerate when she is badly hurt. Fascinated by this process, Tecteun devotes herself to discovering how she can accomplish this, herself. Once she finds the appropriate strain in the child's DNA (a study that seems to cause her subject to regenerate several more times), she integrates it into her own genetic code and initiates a first regeneration of her own. 

Tecteun brings her breakthrough to an elite group of city-dwelling Gallifreyans that have been mastering time travel and have given themselves the pretentious title of Time Lords. They are thrilled by what she's found and decide to bestow regeneration upon their people but to limit the number of times they can do it to twelve. Rassilon and Omega will go on to make all kinds of other important discoveries. But it seems that Tecteun is responsible for granting the Time Lords the ability to regenerate.

While Tecteun is given great recognition for her contribution, it would seem the Timeless Child is already beginning to fall into obscurity.   

A TIMELINE FOR THE TIMELESS CHILD - PART TWO: DIVISION DAYS

The Timeless Child being out of the public eye becomes something that certain Time Lords start using to their advantage. In a secret meeting, the Child is approached by a covert organisation known as the Division and recruited as an agent. 

Because of a severe Matrix redaction, we must do a bit of speculation. It's to be guessed that the Timeless Child was a loyal agent for the Division for quite some time. She went through various incarnations as she served under them. Including, of course, the ones we see in the mind-bending tournament with Morbius (sometimes known as "the Production Team Doctors"!). She probably had multiple skirmishes with Swarm and his sister Azure during this period, too. She also started working regularly with Karvanista and "Lee" (this may not be his real name, but rather, a name he assumed as he hid on Earth with "Ruth"). 

At some point, the Timeless Child seems to make a conscious choice to re-name  herself as the Doctor. She may have already looked like "Ruth" when she did this, or that incarnation may have come later. More than likely, it was around this same time that she became disenchanted with the policies of the Division and wanted out. A deal of some sort seems to get struck between her and the powers-that-be of the agency. She has one more important mission to take on and then she will be relieved of duty. This mission, of course, is the Siege of Atropos on the Planet Time. She appears to defeat the Ravagers once and for all and set the Mouri in place to properly control Time (it's possible that "Lee" is on the mission with her along with Karvanista - we can't say for sure since we don't see the true forms of, at least, two agents that are accompanying Thirteen when she's reliving the memory of it). 

It would seem that the Division, somehow, goes back on the deal they made with the Doctor and won't let her go, after all. So she takes matters into her own hands. Along with "Lee", they steal a TARDIS and flee to Earth. Knowing Division would really want to get her back, the Doctor takes the ultimate measure to conceal herself by using a Chameleon Arch to change her identity. Interestingly enough, the TARDIS she steals appears to have a faulty chameleon circuit and gets stuck as a Police Box. 

A TIMELINE FOR THE TIMELESS CHILD - PART THREE: PUNISHMENT

Eventually, of course, the Division does find the Doctor again. She disengages the Chameleon Arch and reclaims her past. She escapes their first attempt to capture her and goes back out into the Universe in her faulty old TARDIS. Sometime during this period, the Thirteenth Doctor summons her consciousness into the Matrix for a brief conversation. 

It's to be assumed that Division does, eventually, re-capture the Doctor. Still not ready to completely throw away an asset, they decide not to kill her. But something must be done to keep her under control. 

Division wipes the Doctor's memories in the harshest of ways. They don't just empty out her mind, they completely re-write her biology. In order to do this properly, they must send her through a weird interim stage where she becomes "Brendan" for an entire lifetime. Brendan is a human who is found as an infant in Ireland in the mid 20th Century. He seems to possess a similar gift to Captain Jack. It's actually impossible to kill him. 

Brendan lives out the better part of his existence and is then put through what appears to be a memory wipe of some sort by two Time Lords that were posing as pivotal people in his upbringing.  

This next bit is important for all of you who are feeling confused: 

Now that the Doctor has lived an entire life as a human, it's possible to completely alter her physiology.  All the powers and abilities that the Timeless Child possessed are washed away. He becomes a "normal" Gallifreyan (I am switching pronouns because, under this new identity, he is predominantly male). He is implanted in the womb of a Gallifreyan woman (probably unbeknownst to her - she actually just believes herself to have become pregnant). He is born and eventually enters the Academy where he studies to become a Time Lord and scrapes by on his final exam with a 51 on his second attempt. 

A TIMELINE FOR THE TIMELESS CHILD - PART FOUR: THE NEW DOCTOR 

Just in case I didn't emphasise it enough, I will re-state here: what gets done to the Doctor once Division finally catches up to her is more than just a memory wipe. To all intents and purposes, the Timeless Child is destroyed and this new being is created in her place. He grows up with absolutely no knowledge of who he once was because no trace of that person exists within his biology. He is an average Gallifreyan. Just like anyone else on his world. 

If anything, we can assume that the memory wipe, itself, was the one thing that didn't take that well. Traces of the former personality do re-emerge. This new identity also chooses to start calling himself the Doctor. He, too, decides to steal a TARDIS to escape his people. It's entirely possible that he actually picks the exact same one that he took in his previous existence (with a little nudge from Clara, of course). Which is why it becomes stuck in the form of a Police Box, once more. 

Throughout the course of the show, other memories re-surface now and again. He starts remembering that he has some sort of tie to Ancient Gallifrey during his seventh incarnation. Eight recalls being half-human on his mother's side. And so on... (There is an entry I did a while back that really explores this https://robtymec.blogspot.com/2020/05/unadulterated-boorish-opinion-silliness.html).

But, again, I will emphasise this: While there may still be the occasional mental trace of the Timeless Child, all physical attributes are gone. When the Doctor graduates the Academy, he is granted the ability to regenerate. But only twelve times. The Timeless Child's ability to seemingly regenerate infinitely is no longer within his grasp to do. 

PHEW! NOW THAT WE'RE DONE WITH THAT....

Okay, that took a while to do. But bothering to piece that timeline together will make the next part of this waayyyy easier!   

There are two major points that I've heard fans making a lot lately about how the Timeless Child damages continuity. With that long and winding backstory now in place, it's quite easy to rectify either issue. 

So, let's tackle them. 

Objection #1: The Conclusion of Time of the Doctor is Now Irrelevant

One of the best things about the story Time of the Doctor is that it faces, head-on, a problem in the show's lore that needed to be dealt with. While he is referred to as Eleven, Matt Smith's Doctor actually represents the Time Lord's final incarnation. When his body finally wears out, that's meant to be it for him. Fortunately, of course, the Time Lords grant him a whole new cycle of regenerations and the show can continue. Phew!! 

Some fans, however, seem upset because they believe that the concept of the Timeless Child nullifies all the drama at the heart of  Eleven's swansong. They feel that, because the Doctor is the Timeless Child and the Timeless Child seems to have infinite regeneration ability, that he was not in any real danger on Trenzalore. Even if the Time Lords hadn't bestowed their gift upon him, he would have just turned into Twelve, regardless. 

Now, I'm pretty sure I emphasised this enough. But, just in case I didn't: In his new life(ves), the Doctor no longer has any of the physical attributes of the Timeless Child. The whole process that Division puts him/her through as Brendan enables them to completely re-write his biology and turn him into a regular Gallifreyan. Who, of course, eventually becomes a proper Time Lord. Who will, in turn, receive the normal amount of allotted regenerations.* 

So the stakes in Time of the Doctor are quite real. Had it not been for the intervention of the Time Lords, the Doctor would have just aged to death on Trenzalore (or, more likely, gotten exterminated by Daleks only moments before aging to death!). While he might have had infinite regenerations at one point (and we actually don't know that for sure - it's one of the things we still haven't truly learnt about the Timeless Child), that blessing was taken away from him as part of his punishment by the Division. In Time of the Doctor, he really is a Time Lord facing his final end.

Objection #2: There is No Real Danger in the Doctor's Life, Anymore. He'll Just Regenerate From Any Damage He Takes. 

This particular objection almost works as an extension of the first one. Fans that go on about this believe that, not only was the Doctor not going to die at the end of thirteen incarnations, but he's not ever going to die. He'll just go on regenerating forever and ever. Even if he is fatally wounded, he'll recover from that. 

So what's the point of even caring if the Doctor is in danger? Whatever it is that could potentially harm him will have no genuinely ill effects. He'll just take damage and regenerate. Because he's actually the Timeless Child, he is impervious to all forms of attack. 

This idea actually fails on a couple of different levels. As I have pointed out, already (did I emphasise it well enough? I'm not sure...), the Doctor does not possess an infinite regeneration ability anymore. So, yes, he will regenerate after being badly wounded or just getting too old, but he can only do it so many times. So there are still consequences. Like in Time of the Doctor, he will reach the end of his cycle again, someday.**

This point also falls apart because we assume that, like actual Time Lords, it is possible for the Timeless Child to be hurt so badly that she can't actually regenerate. We've seen any number of examples of this within the show. The War Chief in The War Games. The Lord President in The Deadly Assassin. Even the Doctor, himself, fails to regenerate in an alternate reality visited by Donna during Turn Left. It's more than likely that - since they inherited the ability to regenerate from the Timeless Child - that she, too, can be wounded so badly that she won't regenerate. So, even if the Doctor still had the Timeless Child's powers, he can be killed. He's not invulnerable.  

On, at least, two levels this objection doesn't work. The Doctor is still very much in danger at any given time as we watch his adventures. Peril still has real consequence in his life. 

*FOOTNOTE #1: Can we say, for sure, that the Timeless Child had her biology completely re-written to become the Doctor we have known and loved since the beginning of the series in 1963? 

No. We can't. If someone had just spoken a piece of dialogue somewhere that states that this is what happened, we could all move on and not worry about it. But, thus far, I can only say that I'm nearly 100% sure that this is what happened. 

The biggest indicator that it was more than just a mindwipe is Brendan, himself. Why would the Time Lords turn the Timeless Child into him if it was only to erase memories? Why wouldn't they just strap "Ruth" into that big nasty machine? 

As far as I can see (and I'll be the first to admit, I may get proved wrong in Thirteen's final episode), Brendan was created to facilitate the process of changing the Timeless Child's physiology. She is a complex being that was transforming into a Gallifreyan (another fairly complex being). There needed to be an interim stage to get the physical alterations to truly work. Brendan is that stage. After living a fairly complete life, the Division can clean out his mind and complete the transformation.  

 

**FOOTNOTE #2: If we should get angry with anyone (and I'm not saying we should) about giving the Doctor potentially infinite regenerations, it should be Moffat. It's never specified in Time of the Doctor just how many new lives he's been granted. He is in a new regeneration cycle so it should be only thirteen more incarnations. But even Rassilon isn't sure of this in Hell Bent. It could be way more! If you are truly bent out of shape about the Doctor's seemingly endless existence, then you should be frothing at the mouth that Moff never specified how many more regenerations he has gotten. 

Which means this whole "I'm mad cause the Doctor could, potentially, regenerate forever!"complaint should actually be laid at the feet of Chibnall's predecessor. It's more likely that the Doctor will live forever because of the alterations Moff made to canon than anything Chris did. 

Having said all that. I still don't really think we should bother getting mad at Moff for this. At best, it's all still pretty trivial. But I am trying to make a point about how accusatory fandom likes to be with Chibnall. A "greater crime of the same nature" was perpetrated by someone else and no one actually seems to even bring it up! 

There we go. Hope that resolves these issues that keep coming up over and over. The emergency is done!

REVIEW OVERVIEW: WHICH IS THE BEST UMBRELLA SEASON IN DOCTOR WHO? - PART 5: THE FINAL WRAP-UP

At long last, we've come to the end of the road. It's time to pit the Umbrella Seasons against each other....

FINAL VERDICT: 

After a series of deep cut reviews of the various individual components of each Umbrella Season, the moment is upon us to look at things a bit more holistically. Essentially, it's time to give reviews of my overall impressions of Key to Time, Trial of a Time Lord and Flux.

Key to Time

Key to Time does have the best of intentions. There is definitely a desire to really do something epic, here. Something the show hasn't really done much of for quite some time. For most of Tom Baker's seasons, he is meandering quite purposelessly and just, sort of, falling into trouble here and there. Stories like Genesis of the Daleks or Pyramids of Mars do feel like they're operating on an epic scale. But, most of the time, things do come across as a bit homespun. Stakes often feel small. Which is not a bad thing. But it's definitely a sharp contrast to what Key to Time is trying to achieve. 

The Fourth Doctor isn't particularly good at being told what to do, either. On the rare occasions that the Time Lords do try to send him on a mission, he fights them quite viciously and can take some time to fall into line. It should even be noted that, during the Quest for the Key to Time, he is quite irresponsible, in places. This is definitely a version of the Doctor that delights in lacking any real direction with his life. To place such a character on a big season-spanning mission certainly seemed like an interesting premise. We know he'll handle the whole endeavour in the most eccentric of ways. Which is a big part of what makes the whole spectacle so entertaining. But, equally so, works to its detriment.  

Key to Time is, at least, off to a very great start. It has a strong first story. The second adventure is genuinely glorious. Even Stones of Blood maintains some good standards. Admittedly the entire first half of the season is doing quite well. I'm having a genuinely good time with it. 

But then we get to Androids of Tara. Things start going downhill quickly. They continue to deteriorate with Power of Kroll. That's now a solid eight episodes of fairly disappointing content. I am starting to have a genuinely hard time hanging in with this. I'm almost wishing it was just another normal season of self-contained stories full of aimless meanderings. 

The final story of the season needs to get back what it had during its first half or the whole core idea is going to fall flat on its face. 

In many ways, Armageddon Factor had to accomplish much of the same thing Rise of Skywalker needed to do for the abysmal Disney Star Wars trilogy. It had to, somehow, make amends for a really bad middle chapter and, at the same time, propel the saga forward to a satisfactory conclusion. It produces the same results, too. Like Rise of Skywalker, there are some things about Armageddon Factor that I found genuinely enjoyable. But there was also quite a bit that was poorly executed or made little to no sense. 

Ultimately, as Key to Time reaches its end, there's quite a bit I'm not happy with. That first half is still very good, however. So it shouldn't be forgotten. There was much fun to be had during those first 12 episodes. And there was even some pretty good stuff during the second half of the season. 

But the bad stuff can't be ignored, either. Even though some of it is connected to how the whole thing finishes off, there's still not quite enough of it to say that the effort was a complete failure. There's a lot to like about this Umbrella Season. But there's also enough poor judgement going on to say it could have been much better if they had just thought things through a bit better.

Trial of a Time Lord 

I went through a very interesting process when Trial of a Time Lord first came out. At the time it found its way to my screen, I was still a very young, impressionable lad. Basically, I was in my early teens and cared a bit more about fitting in. 

Right from my initial viewing, I enjoyed the whole season. And so did a significant amount of other fans. But there was another segment that didn't like it and were very vocal about it. Young, Naive Rob saw their angry comments in the various fanzines he was subscribed to at the time (we were nowhere near online fan groups, yet!) and thought: "Well, if so many disliked it so vehemently, there must be something wrong with it!" And, for a few years, I allowed myself to believe this. Because I felt that so many fans could not be wrong.   

By the time I hit my late teens, I'd stopped giving a rat's ass what anyone thought of me! I'd learnt that most people expressed opinions for the sheer sake of expressing them and frequently didn't think things through before opening their mouths. During that period of growth, I also kept re-watching Trial of a Time Lord on a fairly regular basis. I finally decided to start trusting my own gut and stop caring what others felt. Slowly but surely, I came to believe what I had believed right from the start: 

Trial of a Time Lord was always brilliant. 

Is it absolutely perfect? Of course not! Robert Holmes plunders a few of his own ideas from The Krotons for Mysterious Planet's plot. There's some padding issues in the third part of Mindwarp. Terror of the Vervoids does get ever-so-slightly over-contrived, in places. But the truth of the matter is: there are all kinds of brilliant creations that have slight flaws to them. But it doesn't stop them from still being brilliant. 

Unfortunately, fandom can work in these weird cycles where, suddenly, the smallest flaws can be blown out of proportion by certain people. The show can do nothing to make them happy and they are going to let everyone know about it. I've gotten quite good at shutting out those sorts of people and just letting myself enjoy something even if they swear to the ends of the Earth that it's absolutely awful!  

Trial of a Time Lord is not just a magnificent piece of television that was way ahead of its time (it would be decades before shows would start producing season-long arcs that were as tight), it helped me to learn something valuable about the weight of others' opinions. If you think something is great - stop caring about the nay-sayers and just let yourself love it!   

Flux 

Having learnt my lesson with Trial of a Time Lord, forming my own opinion on Flux outside of Popular Fan Consensus was not going to prove difficult. It helped that I'd already listened to all sorts of complaints against Series 11 and 12 that I felt were highly unmitigated. Two seasons' worth of comments that I largely didn't agree with had galvanised me to filter out whatever mud would be slung at the third and enjoy it on my own terms. 

After watching the season several times, I will be bold enough to say that it is probably the most tightly-written story the show has ever produced. Yes, I know there are many of you that believe Chibnall to be the worst writer in the history of humanity - but I'm not one of them. I don't think he's ever actually offered us up any real bad stories - just very different ones from what we've been used to. And some folks just aren't good at dealing with change and will lash out at new things (which is sad when you think about it. No show is more about re-inventing itself on a regular basis than Doctor Who!).

Flux, for me, represents Chibnall at his absolute best. He weaves together all his various plot threads masterfully. He creates two of the best episodes for recurring monsters that we could ever ask for. He also gives us some really awesome new villains with Swarm, Azure and the Grand Serpent. And he continues to unveil the mystery of the Timeless Child in a real cool way. Those are just the edited highlights of the praise I have for the season! 

Surely, like Trial of a Time Lord, there must be some problems, right? 

I can honestly say that any misfires the season had are so minute that they are barely worth mentioning. Many of the issues I have with Flux, in fact, are more about personal taste than actual bad content. I just feel that, had I been making the show, I would have made slightly different choices in some instances. 

Not even better ones. Just different. 

A RATING SYSTEM 

Those are some very basic reviews of my overall feelings about each season. Let's, now, see how they stack up against each other. We'll make this easy by establishing a rating system. This will give us a clear idea of which Umbrella Season I feel is best. 

The system, itself, will be quite simple. We'll just give it a score between One and Ten. 

Key to Time 

Creating a score for something like Key to Time is pretty straightforward. There's a very solid dip in quality during its latter half but I'm still going to say that 70% of the whole season is quite enjoyable. Which means, of course, that it gets: 

7/10 

Trial of a Time Lord 

A season that has, at best, some very minor flaws. Otherwise, it's quite brilliant. Not perfect, though. So we have to penalise it a bit. 

9/10 

Flux 

I'm going to do it. There's just not enough here that I actually dislike. So it's going to get that rating that sooo many of you will probably object to! 

10/10

FINAL RANKINGS

With a rating system in place, we can now easily see where things sit with me. Clearly, Flux is the winner of this race. But Trial of a Time Lord was hot on its heels. There is a significant point spread, however, as Key to Time comes in third. 

Key to Time is still decent, though. It was the first time the show created an Umbrella Season and it seemed to have learnt from its mistakes. As the next two efforts Doctor Who makes at this sort of story-telling are nothing short of incredible. 

And, at long last, it's done. No doubt, there will be disagreements with the judgements I've passed. But, at least, with my Criteria in place, you can see how I reached my conclusions. 

Like an Umbrella Season, itself, this was made up of many parts. Here are links to all of them: 

Intro: 

https://robtymec.blogspot.com/2022/03/review-overview-which-is-best-umbrella.html

Key to Time

Part One:

https://robtymec.blogspot.com/2022/04/review-overview-which-umbrella-season.html

Part Two: 

https://robtymec.blogspot.com/2022/04/review-overview-which-is-best-umbrella.html 

Trial of a Time Lord 

Part One: 

https://robtymec.blogspot.com/2022/04/review-overview-which-is-best-umbrella_15.html

Part Two: 

https://robtymec.blogspot.com/2022/04/review-overview-which-is-best-umbrella_19.html

Flux: 

Part One: 

https://robtymec.blogspot.com/2022/04/review-overview-which-is-best-umbrella_25.html

Part Two: 

https://robtymec.blogspot.com/2022/05/review-overview-which-is-best-umbrella.html

That's it for Umbrella Seasons! On to something new....

 

 

 

REVIEW OVERVIEW: WHICH IS THE BEST UMBRELLA SEASON IN DOCTOR WHO? - PART 4-B: FLUX

My Review of Flux continues....

5. The Actual Central Premise 

One of the biggest judgement calls I make on this particular Point of Criteria is based on a very simple question: How original is the Core Idea?

While there are all sorts of subplots running through it, the central premise of Flux is the concept of dealing with a Universe-wide disaster. In many ways, it's Part Four of Logopolis with a real budget! 

Even if it does slightly resemble something that was briefly explored one time before, most of what we see in Flux is brilliantly creative and unique. This Umbrella Season could have easily re-created what Voyage of the Damned did a few seasons previously. It could have employed all the stereotypical tropes that we've seen in disaster movies from Days Gone By. I did take the trouble to review Voyage a few years ago (Christmas Specials From Worst to Best: https://robtymec.blogspot.com/2019/11/book-of-lists-christmas-specials-from_24.html). One of the strongest remarks I make in that review is: "Disaster Movies were a pretty awful genre - why create something that pays tribute to them?!"  

What I love about Flux is that it deals more with the realistic outcomes of a disaster. We have refugees struggling to survive and the monsters that exploit them. We have greedy dictators trying to hang on to whatever is left after the disaster hits. We have the dispossessed trying to find each other. We even have the shocking discovery of what caused the whole nightmare to happen. These are things that occur all the time in disasters that shake the world. We're just seeing them displayed on a Universe-wide basis and in a sci-fi context. And it's done brilliantly. 

Easily, the cleverest of all the central themes of an Umbrella Season. Also, the most realistic. Flux was a brilliant idea from Chibnall. Hate his other two seasons all you want (and, really, it's genuinely difficult to dislike either - if we're being honest and objective!), this is a great concept for an Umbrella Season. 

6. Quality of the Stories

Halloween Apocalypse

As already stated, I love the pace of this story. I am pretty happy with the Foundations of the other two Umbrella Seasons, but this one really is amazing. Everything whips along wonderfully and keeps me on the edge of my seat for the whole ride. 

That opening was just a bit tricky. Yes, it's fun and frantic. But the whole escape sequence is, perhaps, just a little hard to believe. The Doctor and Yaz probably should have just plummeted to their dooms rather than soar along on a gravity bar with their wrists in handcuffs. Those kill discs also seem to have some pretty nasty stormtrooper aim! But I can let it go for the simple reason that it's still a wickedly enjoyable sequence to watch. And it is a great way to start the whole saga. 

It is interesting how the first installment of any Umbrella Season introduces, at least, one great recurring character. Key to Time gave us the White Guardian. Trial of a Time Lord had Glitz. For Halloween Apocalypse, it's Karvanista (technically, we meet a few other recurring characters for the first time in this episode who are all quite likeable - but the Lupari Commander is my favorite!). He's presented in such a great way in his first story. Initially, we assume he's actually an evil alien of some sort. As the story progresses, we discover he's quite the opposite. But he still retains this irascible side to him that has such great charm. I really hope that, like Glitz and the White Guardian, he will have a presence outside of the Umbrella Season he first appears in. 

Halloween Apocalypse also does a great little job of setting up the Sontarans and the Weeping Angels for the episodes that they have coming. The short teases both of them get are quite enjoyable and give us something to look forward to. 

Those last few minutes of the episode are, perhaps, the most impressive. The Flux turning its attention to the TARDIS and the attack the Doctor rigs with Vortex energy is all very suspenseful and exciting to watch. I absolutely love that the Doctor's clever twist seems to completely fail (but will have interesting consequences in future episodes). Rather than hampering the Flux and achieving escape, we're left with a really brilliant cliffhanger. 

Not just a great Foundation. But a fantastic episode, in general. 

War of the Sontarans

Let's just get this out of the way: 

War of the Sontarans is the best Sontaran story ever. 

Many fans will argue that The Time Warrior is Numero Uno. And, up until War, they may have been right. But Time Warrior did have its problems. The biggest one being that there wasn't quite enough plot for the four episodes and we did get some nasty padding in the latter half (it does have some plot holes, too. I make fun of some of them,  here: https://robtymec.blogspot.com/2020/06/complete-and-utter-silliness-few-of-my.html).  The other Classic Who stories involving this warlike species are all half-decent. But none of them shine quite as brightly Warrior. 

Up until this story, New Who tales involving the Potato Heads are a bit of an abomination. The Sontaran Stratagem/Poison Sky seems to get almost everything about Sontarans wrong. And the actual plot is nothing particularly impressive. And I do really like Strax as a character. I even get that he's probably a clone of a clone so that would make him sillier and more bumbling. But he does continue this downward spiral of making the Sontarans into a bit of a joke. 

Finally, War of the Sontarans re-dresses the balance. Their plans to change human history (resisting the perverted quote, for once!) is a sound one. The huge battle scene where the British soldiers seem largely incapable of doing any real harm to them restores their sense of power. Their cruelty as they execute human spies right in front of Dan makes them into valid monsters. When the Doctor and Commander Skaak meet for parlez, the scene is executed with the sort of finesse we expect from these confrontations. 

At long last, the Sontarans are being done right, again. 

But it's not just the fact that War of Sontarans restores them to their former glory that makes me love this episode so much. It really is a tightly-written, well-directed, excellently performed Doctor Who adventure. While even Time Warrior had a few problems - this story seems largely flawless. 

I also like that the writer realizes he can't do a total about-face and still makes the Sontarans ever-so-slightly comical, in places. Most of the time, these moments are given to Dan Starkey. Who does just the right amount of "pulling back" whenever he does have to be a bit silly. 

Once, Upon Time

I'm a bit amazed people don't go on more about how brilliant this episode is. To me, it's just about on par with Heaven Sent. 

We don't even get a minute in, and I'm already "sold". That really was a wicked cliffhanger that they created at the end of War of the Sontarans. We have no idea how Vinder and Yaz will be saved. But the great little trick the Doctor pulls was quite an excellent twist. Even though there are clearly three places available on the Mouri platforms so that Dan can be saved, too - we don't see it coming. 

The imagery of the whole episode is quite spellbinding. The Doctor hovering around in some strange version of the Time Vortex with giant Mouri looking down on her is wonderfully imposing. The way she keeps appearing - sometimes solid, sometimes ghostlike - in the timestreams of the others to let them know she's trying to help them is also a great visual. Yaz, Dan, Vinder and the Doctor all existing as characters in the others' past with only momentary flashes of the real people they were meant to be was a very cool device. Even the way the Weeping Angel is pursuing them worked great. There's just so much going on in the story that makes it a wildly engaging spectacle. 

But, of course, the moment that truly gets us foaming at the mouth is seeing the Doctor on a mission for the Division. It's absolutely gorgeous when she passes in front of the mirror and has a whole conversation with the Fugitive Doctor. It's near-impossible to not fall in love with the execution of that sequence. I adore the various ways in which the Fugitive Doctor is inserted into a story. She meets the Doctor for real in Fugitive of the Judoon. Has a more surreal encounter with her in the Matrix during The Timeless Children. And now she's a mere reflection that talks back to her. This character is being used in the most awesome of ways within the series. 

The episode is also a great vehicle for filling us in a bit more on where both Dan and Vinder come from. This kind of backstory can, usually, take quite some time to tell. Here, it's accomplished in a brief handful of flashbacks. It's also nice to get an introduction to the Grand Serpent.  Again, it's done very economically and will give us a nice pay-off later. The sideplot  that begins with Bel in this episode is another great treat. I love the argument she has with the dying Cyberman!  

The whole ending is also very smart. To just repeat what was accomplished in the Doctor's flashback was another solution sitting right under our noses that we never see until it's properly revealed. I also love the Doctor pleading with the Mouri to let her see just one more memory from her life as the Timeless Child. It actually creates some gorgeous pathos for her. Not knowing her full past is tearing her apart. It was great seeing some of that torment on display, here.  

I try really hard to find something I dislike about this story. I'll keep putting in the effort, though. If ever I come up with something - I'll let you know!   

Village of the Angels

Let's just get this out of way: 

Village of the Angels is the best Weeping Angel story ever.

To have made this claim, I'll admit, for War of the Sontarans was pretty bold. To say such a thing about Village of the Angels is probably completely outlandish. Blink was written with a timey-whimey plot so tight you could bounce quarters off of it. It's considered a Classic by many and has rightfully earned the title.  

And yet, I find Village to be just a little bit better. It does do some cool timey whimey stuff, too. The fate of the poor missing girl in the plot is extremely clever and genuinely tragic. But there's also a beautiful subversion of the formula. Claire's brief appearance in Halloween Apocalypse leads us to believe that there will be more "timey whimeyness" with her too. But it's something far different and more sinister. The sequence inside her mind with the Doctor and the Rogue Angel is wonderfully creepy. 

While Village has all the basic components of Blink, what really makes it superior is how it uses so many other traits about Weeping Angels that were established in other stories about them. Particularly, of course, the concept of "that which retains the image of an Angel can become one". The Angels' attempts to attack through Claire's sketch or manifest themselves on the polygraph are wickedly brilliant. 

On top of that, Village adds significantly to the lore of the Weeping Angels. We discover, for instance, that a double attack from an Angel is fatal. And, of course, there's the insanely diabolical way in which they can create a Quantum Extraction. The Doctor being transformed at the cliffhanger will be indelibly stamped on our memories. It's an incredible visual

I've already talked about the mad intensity that kicks in once Jericho discovers a whole brood of Weeping Angels congregating in his front yard. The near-futile battle to keep them out of the basement is thoroughly riveting. But I particularly love the moment where an Angel starts trying to break Jericho down with his own voice. We discover an incredible strength of character from the professor in that scene. I'm so glad he continues along in the season after this story. He was yet another recurring character in Flux that I fell madly in love with. 

Again, Blink is an absolute work of art. When we view it as just a great episode of Doctor Who, it is the better of the two. It will, in fact, continue to hold its place in my Top Six Episodes ranking (Oops! Another Link! https://robtymec.blogspot.com/2018/12/book-of-lists-top-six-doctor-who_14.html). Here is the weird part, though: If we look at it as just a Weeping Angel story - Village does the better job. 

Not sure if that makes any valid sense. But it's how I feel! 

Survivors of the Flux

As already covered when we analysed the Momentum of the season, Survivors of the Flux creates a gorgeous change of pace. Four solid episodes back-to-back that never seem to slow down was intensely awesome. But it's nice that Episode Five allows us just a little time to catch our breath. 

Yaz, Dan and Jericho's attempts to discover the date of the end of the world and break out of 1904 are very entertaining. The encounter with the hermit on the mountain is, of course, a highlight. But I also love the joke with Karvanista and the Wall of China. Another great subversion of a formula. Normally, such an effort is rewarded by getting the characters out of their trap. I love that it fails. Karvanista, basically, calling them stupid from the future is a gorgeous deadpan moment!

Finally getting some solid answers about the Division is the other high point of this episode. The "tease" we first get of Tecteun in Once, Upon Time makes this moment all-the-more interesting. Bringing back the Ood was also a nice touch. But the Doctor realizing who she's actually dealing with and yelling at her for making a choice that affected a life she no longer remembers was a beautifully surreal piece of drama. Some great pay-off is made here about the whole mystery of the Timeless Child. The full story still hasn't quite been told, but this is an awesome contribution to the saga.

Best of all, however, is the return of the Grand Serpent and his sinister plot to topple UNIT. Yes, the soundbyte of the Brigadier from somewhere off-camera is pure fan-service. But it's impossible not to love it. And Kate's scene kicked ridiculous amounts of ass. Had this plot thread not been included, I don't know how well this episode would have fared. But the inclusion of this storyline makes it absolutely brilliant.

It's a very different episode from the rest of Flux. But it's still great! 

The Vanquishers

The "trickiest" of all the episodes. There are lot of expectations riding on it. And, after so many excellent episodes in a row, it does almost seem doomed to fail. 

And yet, it does remarkably well  All those divergent plot threads really start weaving together nicely. There's a satisfying resolution to it all with the Doctor doing her famous trick of using her enemy's own resources against them. I also love that yet more respect is paid to the Sontarans. After almost being the butt of a joke in the rest of New Who, it's quite cool that they actually come off as the most powerful of all the recurring monsters. They take out the Daleks and Cybermen with little or no difficulty. 

The Doctor suddenly existing in three forms at once was also great fun. Particularly as two of her three versions do start working together quite nicely. In some ways, this is quite similar to what we got in the Series Four finale. But it's less contrived and doesn't have to include a horrifically-sappy love story with Rose! 

It is just a bit difficult that this episode does come across as the weakest of the season. Like Terror of the Vervoids in Trial of a Time Lord, it only gets this status because the rest of the stories are just so damned amazing. But this becomes even more complicated because this is the final episode of the season. We needed it to be the strongest. 

And yet, as I said when I analysed the Conclusion, the re-watch factor does have a significant role to play in all of this. As I view The Vanquishers over and over, I realise the exact opposite about it. It's actually the best episode of the season. It's just that there is so much to take in that you need to re-experience it a few times before its full magnificence affects you. 

Flux ends beautifully thanks to  the strength of this final episode. 

We did it! We got all these entries written in just one short month (more or less - I did actually finish writing this in April, but didn't publish it til May)! 

In the same way that the introduction was individually handled in March, we will take on the Conclusion all by itself in May. We'll give a Final Verdict on the strength of each season and then see how they rank up against each other.