*SPOILERS* With implications of The Flux still reverberating around the still much-reduced universe of DOCTOR WHO, all eyes turned to the first episode of 2022: EVE OF THE DALEKS. Of course, the Chibinista who had been assuring anyone who would listen that this year’s festive special would somehow retrospectively redeem the lacklustre RESOLUTION and REVOLUTION OF THE DALEKS by bringing them all…

*SPOILERS* And so, with THE VANQUISHERS, THE FLUX ends as it was always likely to – with a whimper, not with a bang. Chibnall’s proclivity for starting things he can’t finish returns in full force as he doesn’t so much stick the landing as throws everything at a wall and sees what sticks. There’s spectacle, of course, and a few satisfying beats but much of it feels haphazard and – perhaps…

*SPOILERS* Like an unwelcome Gandalf The White, many of Chibnall’s follies return to us now, at the turning of the tide in SURVIVORS OF THE FLUX, an episode title which feels more like a writer’s note placeholder than something which can stand shoulder to shoulder with the likes of THE HALLOWEEN APOCALYPSE, WAR OF THE SONTARANS or VILLAGE OF THE ANGELS. It is, in many ways, the counterpart to…

*SPOILERS* VILLAGE OF THE ANGELS is, notably, the only episode of DOCTOR WHO: FLUX where the writing credits are shared, so it’s perhaps not surprising that it’s also the first episode of the season where the central story of the episode and the overarching series arc seems to be tripping each other up, rather than marching in lockstep. Rebooting the TARDIS to force out the Weeping Angel –…

*SPOILERS* Where WAR OF THE SONTARANS saw Chibnall in more or less traditional DOCTOR WHO story-telling mode, ONCE, UPON TIME sees him throw the storytelling rulebook out the window for a crazy-paving time-fractured romp through the rewriting of Whovian lore. While I’m no fan of the Timeless Child arc so far (I’m stuck on the Fugitive Doctor’s possession of a TARDIS in the form of a Police Box),…

*SPOILERS* Is Chibnall the Thane of Cawdor? Because nothing becomes his life as showrunner than the leaving of it, apparently. WAR OF THE SONTARANS brings us possibly his most complete and satisfying standalone DOCTOR WHO story yet, combining historical fact with science fiction, while still pursuing the ongoing series arc forward in workmanlike, if somewhat inelegant fashion. Bounced by the…

*SPOILERS* It’s hard to say where expectations are for THE HALLOWEEN APOCALYPSE, the first episode of Whittaker’s third and apparently final, season of DOCTOR WHO. With the announcement of her, and indeed showrunner Chris Chibnall’s departure, the scene should be set for a celebratory romp to the finish line, as is par for the course during the lame-duck period of a showrunner’s tenure. Of…

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There’s no denying it’s a classy and confident opening to this archly hyped ‘game-changing’ two-part season finale, even if it does evoke David Lynch’s “Dune” just a little. Falling through the floating cyberman eye into the credits is a lovely move although I have to admit as the titles faded, I thought I’d fallen through a time warp myself or at least nodded off and woken up in the…

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Finally, the thirteenth Doctor’s era gets a true masterpiece, an episode which not only contains a fantastic Whovian story in its own right but one that involves a historical figure and prepares the way for a high stakes season finale. While the past few episodes have struggled to juggle the number of characters and locations into a cohesive and satisfying narrative, this one  –…

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The series aggravating inconsistency with format continues although this latest flip-flop is a welcome one as the cold open returns for the first time since “Spyfall” and it’s a corker too, utterly Doctor-free but set it an atmospheric historic location and featuring some fearsome new monsters. The opening credits reveal that this is yet another episode where Chibnall has taken a…

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An out of control spaceship attempting re-entry, a shoplifter being arrested and a pair of Peruvian hitchhikers find that they’ve paved paradise and put up a garbage dump. What’s the connection? None of them will provide answers to the questions you have after last week’s barnstorming episode.

Opening with an unnecessary monologue – as if co-writer Chris Chibnall feels the need to…

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Time to dial up a confession of my own – when the writing credits for this week’s episode resolved and Chibnall’s name was there alongside Vinay Patel (writer of last year’s ‘Demons Of The Punjab’) I feared that he’d decided to meddle in what might have had the chance of being a decent script. And at first, my fears were confirmed as the episode opened with the blandest, most tedious…

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Despite the wincingly bad title of “Nikola Tesla’s Night Of Terror” – bed enough to rival “Let’s Kill Hitler” and nearly enough to make me long for one of Chibnall’s dad-joke puns, this is a welcome return to the series’ core values of edutainment: a breezy historical romp which offers just enough information about real-life figures to whet the appetite for further independent study…

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There’s a distinct air of déjà vu around this week’s episode, the first this season not written by showrunner Chris Chibnall, or at least not directly credited to him. First of all, in an echo of the previous season, there’s no cold open (despite the script clearly being written to accommodate one) but at least we still get opening credits so be thankful for small mercies. It also…

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There’s something quite reassuring about how the cliff-hanger is resolved, especially for Ryan, Yaz and Graham as it taps into one of the strongest themes of previous seasons of the show: the Doctor always assumes she’ll win, so of course she’ll already have taken care of the plummeting aeroplane quite nicely, thank you. There’s even something of an echo of ‘Blink’ in the…

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They say time flies when you’re having fun and it would explain why this fast-paced, action-packed first hour of Doctor Who’s went by so very quickly. It’s a bold – very bold return for the venerable sci-fi. Also making a welcome return are the cold open and the opening credits, hopefully to stay this time. We’re presented with a classic Doctorless teaser where it would appear that…

The dawn of a New Year can be a time for sober, objective deliberation. A contemplation of the year just passed; its triumphs – and its follies – and, most importantly, the chance to reflect, reconsider and refresh both yourself and your work. Not that you would glean this from the current Doctor Who production team’s faltering festive offering.

More than a millennium ago, the people of the world…