Here We Go Again

I finally watched Jodie Whittaker's last complete season of Doctor Who.

I heard absolutely nothing good about it beforehand, so I went into it with dismally low expectations, which honestly probably worked in its favour, because I largely enjoyed it. Jodie's run as the Doctor has been crucified by awful writing, much as Peter Capaldi's run was before her - both of them were great doctors trying to drag some acting substance out of painfully terrible material. So, honestly, I expected dross and found something that had some decent moments.

It's been a very long time since Doctor Who did a season arc, and I think it was a good idea here. I still don't like some of the components that Jodie's earlier seasons dragged in (the Doctor's not from Gallifrey, all their past was a lie with giant memory gaps etc), but Flux was varied enough that I could mostly ignore that and enjoy what was good about it. I liked Dan a lot, and his tentative relationship with Diane. I really liked the fact that after everything they went through, they couldn't just pick up again where they were beforehand, because they were sweet, but that was realistic.

I liked Karvanista and the Lupari surprisingly well - those kind of silly humour concepts sometimes work well in Doctor Who and sometimes don't, and this time I enjoyed it. Partly I think that was because while the Lupari role was significant, it was also in screen time terms small enough among everything else that was going on that it didn't become too much idiocy. Partly I think it was down to how well John Bishop's Dan played off Karvanista - he did a great job of making it funny and not ridiculous.

I've always liked Yas, and continued to do so here. Separating her from the Doctor for some of the story and letting her take charge in her own right worked well for her. I liked the village with the time travel elements - it was very much in the style of traditional Doctor Who, and harked back to some of the feel of Pertwee and Tom Baker eras, which was a nice reference.

I do wish the show hadn't casually wiped out an entire race and then left the one survivor with a couple of human tag-alongs as if that would almost make up for it? But I was never bored during Flux, and never found myself raging against the godawful writing (even in parts when I wasn't a fan of the plotting), so that was a step up from the last four or five seasons.

There's a couple more specials to come with Chris Chibnall still in charge, but I'm far more looking forward to seeing where it goes from here with the return of Russell T Davies...