Doctor Who: Flux – The Vanquishers

After investing so much time in this series of Doctor Who, I wanted to be able to say that The Vanquishers was a rewarding conclusion to the Flux story arc. But I can’t. This final episode in the series cleared up very little.

This episode was messy. When I step back it feels like weaving the flux through all the other moving parts was a sleight of hand to make the stakes seem higher so that we would be relieved when it was all over and not bother to question the minutiae of the different plots.

As relieved as I am that it’s all over, I just want to say a few things. The series could have worked without Vinder, Bel and Di storylines. Their stories were weaved through the series taking away time from the main plot just so they could join the Doctor and her companions in the final stand against the Sontarans.

Although the Grand Serpent’s story arc was linked to Vinder’s it could have easily existed without Vinder’s plot. It served two main functions: to explain how UNIT was disbanded and show that without them earth was defenceless against the Sontarans.

The Sontaran storyline was the only one that made sense from start to finish. In a bid to take out their opposition, the Sontarans promised the Daleks and Cybermen safety from the Flux and then used the Lupari shields and the flux to wipe them out. Or something like that. 

Oh. And the Joseph Williamson story arc was finally closed out and the good man was sent back to his time. The tunnels proved quite useful in getting people to where they needed to be. I imagine Liverpool will see a rise in tourism thanks to this storyline. Good for them!

Azure, Swarm and Tecteun gave me a headache and as the Doctor’s memories have been thrown down a hole in the Tardis, I’m just going to forget that any of that happened. Just like the Doctor. What I will say though is that although the Sontarans were defeated, I don’t consider this a win for the Doctor as a huge portion of the universe was destroyed by the flux and the Lupari were wiped out. Karvanista is the only one left of his race. All he got was a “sorry you’re the last of your kind.”

Anyway, enough with the nit-picking. The stakes were clearly not that high as we see that the Daleks will be returning for the special.

If you couldn’t get enough of the flux series, you can watch Chris Chibanll and Jodie Whitaker break it down.