After five weeks of excitement and build-up,
Doctor Who: Flux wraps up one of the show's biggest stories in a convoluted mess of a finale that, if nothing else, reminded me of how much I enjoyed the middle three instalments. Chapters One and Five seemed primarily interested in moving the pieces around to set up key plot points for later on, while Chapter Six:
The Vanquishers is forced to wrap everything up in a satisfying manner within an hour. With so many characters and storylines, it's hard to keep track of exactly what's going on, who's where and what the endgame is. In fact, the plot is so all over the place that the Doctor is split into three selves in order to save the day.
The Vanquishers is not without its highlights: most of the scenes and plot points work well on their own, although are all in need of more screen time to really expand on them. The Lupari are murdered off-screen (and apparently not killed in battle, but chucked out of an airlock by Sontarans - which is a little out-of-character), while the Sontaran invasion of Earth is not the same one that happened off-screen between Chapters One and Two but a new invasion force intent on revenge who have somehow in-between agreed an alliance with the Grand Serpent, who is here because...um...who didn't like Craig Parkinson in Line of Duty?
I'd be fascinated to read the shooting script for
The Vanquishers, as it feels as though a lot of work was done in post-production to re-work, restructure and try to salvage it into a vaguely comprehensible narrative within the restrictions of an hour-long slot. There's frequent bits of awkward ADR, scenes seem to start mid-way through and the episode never manages to capture a particular sense of mood or atmosphere. It's
Orphan 55 syndrome, but not quite as bewildering.
On a surface level, The Vanquishers is an entertaining hour of television, filled with some nice visual moments and enough call-backs to make the entire six-week run feel like it was worth the journey. There's a clear attempt to wrap things up in a satisfying way, but the episode falters on three levels: the plot is incomprehensible, the characters' journeys constantly feel pushed to the side and the ending fails to establish what the new status quo is for the universe. Presumably the TARDIS is still in a state, but that's pretty much ignored across the running time. Yaz's fraught relationship with the Doctor gets a brief moment of resolution, Dan doesn't seem to have had any through-line at all (he's not even the one to save Diane), Vinder and Bel get a happy ending a little else, while the Doctor's lost memories are locked away - either for good, or to set-up the Centenary Special next year.
It's easy to dismiss this finale as a lacklustre ending, as it does provide a sense of conclusion to the various storylines, but doesn't quite work as a truly satisfying pay-off.
The Vanquishers is the sort of messy series finale one has to come to expect from
Doctor Who, dialled up to eleven thanks to the complexity of
Flux's storylines needing to be concluded. All things considered, at least the ride was fun over the past several weeks. I wouldn't be too surprised if the issues presented by the pandemic hurt this instalment from being the best it could be; either not having enough time to write something truly satisfying, or filming restrictions causing issues with the storytelling. In hindsight, it's easy to say what could have been streamlined or cut-out entirely from
Flux, yet given the circumstances of its production, getting that sense of perspective may well have been impossible. If nothing else, it's a tremendous achievement that the
Doctor Who production team managed to pull this off.
And if this episode didn't do much for you, the New Year's Day special Eve of the Daleks looks to be a fun timey-wimey romp!
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