Flux: The Redemption of Doctor Who?

[@HarboWholmes]

This was a massive video and it took a lot of work to put together. If you enjoy the video and want to slide a little bit of money my way to say thanks, head over to my Patreon: www.patreon.com/harbowholmes Otherwise, have fun and thanks for watching!

[@Daniel_leading_the_13_Plateans]

I might OD on this

[@evr4699]

It's so amazing that you manage to make such great videos in such a minor time span when your still small,such as releasing this 2 hour long video after your fantastic s5 reviews,Thanks for making such great content

[@StephenLeGresley]

Harbo, thank you so much for all your effort, your thoughtful and in depth analysis is currently making my X-mas eve and I can't thank you enough for that. Have a wonderful holiday and I hope you and your family are safe and full of joy. All the best mate!

[@davidturner1595]

so, your basic opinion is "It's bad, but I like it anyway?"

[@vanimapermai]

Redemption? Flux was still garbage though with only 1 okish but still bad episode.

[@kabobawsome]

The worst thing about the Chibnall run is *you can see* how good Jodie could be. She was the perfect pick for the first female doctor. And she was just. wasted. completely.

[@MrLCGO]

Hope she gets the Sixth Doctor treatment. I heard the comics are treating her real well so far

[@kabobawsome]

@@MrLCGO Ideally, she would get the Eighth Doctor treatment and go heavy into the *really* good audio dramas, but I think Jodie is unfortunately probably done with the role entirely.

[@alecbormia4523]

this is why I was hoping she'd stick around for the 60th anniversary special and a season of RTD when RTD was announced to be coming back. I really do think she can shine well when the writing isn't... what it was. And I at the very least hope she can get that chance in future episodes that bring past doctor's back..... like potentially the 60th? Even if she's not the main focus of the story? Who's to say.

[@DarrenMalin]

good god no she was awful.

[@SpockBorg5]

Only thing wasted was the goodwill of the fanbase. This was nothing but a vanity piece to fulfill the narcissistic tendencies of chibnall. Whittaker was a no talent hack whose acting wooden, didn't watch the show, didn't bother to research the lore, and didn't even listen to her own agent when he begged her to leave the show in order to salvage what was left of her mediocre career.

[@ethansomething9365]

Can we all just appreciate the fact that harbo didn’t really need to do this but still did, and then made it not only 2 hours long but still full of his usual charisma and critiques, a huge task and he still managed it, then managed to get it out in time for Christmas!?

[@Lordgrayson]

And yet when Jay Exci does the same for season 11 and 12 people say the whole video is bad cause its an in depth critical analysis that took 5 hours

[@almcdonald8676]

Yes but the only people who said that were sad inadequates who don’t understand the difference between genuine artistic achievement and fatuous political messaging. Besides most people liked it including people who disagree with Jay from both sides of the political spectrum. It was a great example of the community coming together to recognise a superb piece of the critics craft.

[@anotherrandominternetguy404]

@@Lordgrayson well, he is much more popular

[@nenmaster5218]

No? Most of his Praise can be Debunked.

[@ethansomething9365]

@@nenmaster5218 what are you on about

[@ghost91748]

hearing series 9 is harbo's favourite just gets me so excited for future reviews, series 9 and the 12th doctor have always had my heart

[@alim.9801]

Same!! Capaldi is my favorite doctor along with the 8th, and series 9 is my second favorite series after series 3!!! I loved the rock n roll Doctor hehe

[@kiaraneves8852]

Capaldi is my absolute favourite as well. Incredible all the way through IMO

[@davewaring73]

Series 9 is also my favourite (joint favourite with 6). Clara could have popped back as she liked. And Peter is my fave doctor (presently joint favourite with Sylvester)

[@hfztt]

I like series 10 more, not for the story, but the amazing doctor/companion dynamics of that season. Best combo of new Who.

[@evr4699]

Series 8 was okay but series 9 and 10 are incredible

[@Jaeden_Phoenix]

Harbo: *uploads a 2 Hour Video on Flux* JayExci: *"Pathetic"*

[@alim.9801]

I would love for them to try and one up each other with longer and longer Doctor Who analysis videos, imagine all the content we would get 😏

[@obi501]

@@alim.9801 Get less content overall

[@alim.9801]

@@obi501 ah a good point rip a fan can dream 😭

[@giphit]

@@alim.9801 i just unironically want a 24 hour video analysing the entire history of doctor who. That will never happen and even tho i want it to exist i don't want anyone to suffer through making it so i guess i'll just think about it for a while.

[@mina0653]

@@giphit the closest is cleverdickfilms making 1-2h videos for each era and doctor

[@JohnSmith0137]

the worst part about chibnalls writing is the fact that it takes the easy way out. It always has cheap resolutions for plots which could work. Take orphan 55, we were just told that oh wow, climate change bad without actually telling you how to prevent climate change. Rosa made a literal space racist for the plot? take series 3 of Doctor who, during the family of blood, you could see the doctor or “John smith” show racism towards Martha and treating her badly, making consequences with her and the doctors relationship. It even educated people about how people of colour can be strong on their own without blatantly shoving racism into your face, it shows the faults in humans. In the vanquishers billions of lupari die, billions of races and civilisations die and all the Doctor seemed to care about was the humans. It makes it seem like we’re just forgetting about all of the bad just so we can move on with the plot which was incredibly rushed and crammed into one episode

[@georgesears2666]

Completely agree. It's impossible to give invested in a Chibnall episode because theres a strong chance some "deux ex machina" will pop up or it just won't be resolved. Can withstand small plotholes but after a while you just become too aware you're watching a poorly written TV show

[@mrdr0161]

@@georgesears2666 so like RTD then? All of his finales were solved with some magic or a flick of a few switches

[@imanimr2098]

@@mrdr0161 yeah rtd’s episodes were often resolved with silly sci-fi solutions, but the stories were normally brilliant - there were imaginative, witty concepts, quite nuanced political commentary naturally integrated into fun stories, and likeable, properly developed characters with fleshed-out dynamics. Conversely, Chibnall hasn’t written a single compelling character, a single interesting relationship, a single exciting idea explored to its fullest. It’s either the most bland formulaic Doctor Who conceivable or just a stupid mess. We haven’t seen anything near the level of Human Nature or Midnight, or for that matter Vincent and the Doctor or Heaven Sent. So I just feel like Chibnall’s form laziness is far more damaging than the odd deus ex-machina ending.

[@jameswhite3043]

@@mrdr0161 except in Vanquishers, a massive chunk of the universe wasn't saved, just the bit around Earth.

[@georgesears2666]

@@mrdr0161 Fair enough, but atleast RTD writing/dialogue was smooth/realistic enough for me to suspend my disbelief for those parts

[@evanhanley6437]

Fair play for trying to give Flux a chance. You analysed and described this much better than Chris Chibnall himself did. It shows how much you care about Doctor Who. Hopefully the show improves hugely before Russell T Davies comes back and he changes everything for the better again.

[@loturzelrestaurant]

Then we may come to the point of the Show being Average! hurray!!

[@KFCGull]

comment aged well.... not

[@KatieKat223]

@@KFCGullI like the new era, even if Star Beast was.... it could have used a second script pass for the end and would've been a better miniseries long story to have it be split but still killing Donna. Maybe Rose, too. Would've been cool to have a Gender Enjoyer in the TARDIS as a companion. But I will say, even as a Silly Little Alphabet Soup Suffering Coalition Member, fucking hell that writing.

[@StephenLeGresley]

The problem with Chibnall is that he's just not suited for this type of content. And there's no shame in that. He excels at writing procedural shows like Law and Order, Broadchurch and to some extent Torchwood. But when he tries something like Doctor Who, it turns into the worst kind of superhero fanfiction. Flux was his attempt at "Doctor Who: Crisis on Infinite Earths", and I would say he did worse in his attempt then even that godawful CW mess tried. I can only hope the 60th anniversary still wipes out the Timeless Child nonsense as some kind of Division lie meant to confuse or control The Doctor. I can only hope Davies comes up with a clever way to get us out of this trainwreck. I will say that none of this criticism should be leveled at Jodie or Mandip, they are fantastic actors who did the best with what they were given, this was a writing and production failure through and through.

[@johnnyace1300]

dude awesome

[@XER606]

Exactly my feelings.... how and why was Chibnail put in charge of this show specifically, I will never truly understand

[@gaynarchist]

@@XER606 Sorry for gravedigging your comment, but I think they straight up couldnt find anyone else. The showrunner position for DW is apparently infamous and hard to get for an extended period of time and its possible Chibnall was basically their only other experienced creator who was willing to do it.

[@andrewcroft5606]

"That was an improvement, but it's not hard to improve on garbage." Captain Price.

[@xman577]

Unlucky 13. With the right female doctor and a good writer. She could’ve been epic instead we got an epic failure. I hope RTD can fix the mess that they made.

[@loturzelrestaurant]

Duh.

[@samusfan2334]

he definetly will be able to, its RTD.

[@ScorpionNova]

@Jimbob1708 yes i agree, Jodie is a great doctor when writing is good, she's suffering from bad writing like Colin Baker had. Hope she gets the 13th doctor role in big finish

[@tgiacin435]

I always figured someone like Helena Bonham Carter would make a good Doctor, especially as a more classic era bohemian kinda Doctor. Almost like Missy, but not as willing to kill someone for a laugh. Jodie could be a good Doctor, but she wasn’t given anything to work with, especially when you have Jodie and Chibnall saying it was either all script or all Jodie.

[@tgiacin435]

@theRealIK that, or build up to having more companions. And don’t make the Doctor and unlikable b**ch

[@Vidyut_Gore]

I see Thasmin as the desperation of an audience for some emotional depth and 13 and Yaz were literally the only two candidates on screen with Ryan mostly shown as rather immature and Graham as a widower for whom Grace was the real deal. But the truth of it is that the Doctor has had more chemistry with Jackie Tyler, Mickey, Rory, "PE" and countless others who are not even remotely romantic interests. Basically everyone in 13's run are so horribly lacking depth that the fans got desperate for emotion - ANY emotion and started seeing shapes in clouds. "Hey, they spoke to each other. Has to mean something, right?" "Hey, she looked disgusted when her mother suggested she was dating 13, must be denial, right?" And the showrunner foolishly ran with it instead of allowing characters with more emotional depth.

[@Whiteythereaper]

It's just queerbaiting. Jack lusting after 9&10 was done way, way better because RTD understands how to do gay & camp characters. Even Moffat did okay with Jenny & Vastra because he just let it be normal, same with the casual marine couple in A Good Man Goes To War (and he even added a little joke about their identity too). Chibnall, meanwhile, only does things to tick boxes for the BBC diversity checklist. He forced a 4 person Tardis crew because he couldn't let a female Doctor either have just a lone male or female companion because he had to push a romantic angle for The Doctor once again because he wanted to keep *The Stans* invested saying that every episode is amazing (basically every shitty American 24 episode season of any dramadey show, mostly the CW) to drown out the geniune criticism and basically weaponise a bunch of teenagers with Twitter accounts that don't understand what good media is, into fighting the criticism and covering up the bad talk & making it look like it's childish "Woke PC cancel culture" complaints rather than genuine criticism. Chibnall does things expecting a pat on the back and praise. Broadchurch really has sent the power to his head & now he thinks he's the next Vince Gilligan, when really he's just a glorified Fan fiction writer. He puts in fake representation purely to tick a box rather than actually caring to be representative, just look how quickly Ryan's Dispraxia and Graham's cancer was swept under the rug because it wasn't important to the story of episodes.

[@rainbow_lorelei]

Look, I'm a wlw myself and trust me when I say I look for wlw ships everywhere but THERE IS NOTHING THERE. Nothing. This is just such a clear example that Chibnil was making it up as he went along. He didn't write anything even approaching romantic chemistry between 13 and anyone else but he clearly saw the internet doing what the internet does and thought oh, that fits, let's shoehorn it in. 10 and Martha was an unrequited love story, 13 and Yaz are two empty characters shoved together in a room and expected to do something. Us queers get baited an awful lot, but we're still better than this.

[@JhadeSagrav]

_whispers to the person next to me_ : "What is 'wlw'?"

[@JhadeSagrav]

@@Whiteythereaper `only does things to tick boxes for the BBC diversity checklist.` OMG THIS. ^^^^ Alright everyone, let's see, do we have: a black person? ✅ white person? ✅ brown person? ✅ male? ✅ female? ✅ boomer? ✅ gen x? ✅ millennial? ✅ disabled? ... do we have a disability? {co-writers scramble} "Ah... yes! Er... RYAN now has _what is it?_ yes, it's a COORDINATION disorder!" ok, good. ✅ Let's see, ah! LGBT? {crickets} Do we have a "gay" here, people?? {papers shuffle} L. G. B. T. ? Did anyone remember to write in "the gay"? A 'Q' or, what's that new one? An 'IA' or '+' at least? I specifically made a note right here on the gay agenda! {clears throat} Er, we could have Yazmin, er, possibly crush on the Doctor, Mr. Chibnal? ... Yep! Done. CHECK THAT BOX, AND CALL IT A DAY! ✅ Did you notice when Ryan left, we got what's her name, Diane? Dan's love interest who is an amputee? CHECK. THAT. BOX. PEOPLE. ✅ Ughh... I hate that so much. I watched a modern take on 3 Musketeers that did exactly this: Black female, Asian male, Caucasian nonbinary. Mentioned it to a friend who asked if they had a Hispanic musketeer (i'm hispanic). I hadn't even noticed. He told me to write to them and say i was deeply offended at the lack of representation of "MY people." 😂 If you're going to check some boxes, then you better be checking ALL THE BOXES. 😂

[@rainbow_lorelei]

@@JhadeSagrav Stands for woman loving women, any and all: not just lesbians.

[@triplejazzmusicisall1883]

Whilst I have to acknowledge that the ratings began to drop when Capaldi was the Doctor, I do not accept that the reasons were the same as for the Chibnall era. In some ways I hope my assumption is wrong but I believe the numbers began dropping when Capaldis was the Doctor simply because he wasn't the young, dashing handsome male that bought so many female viewers on board for the first time. Also the sloppy romance was thankfully put aside. Here we had Doctor Who more similar than not to the classic series. But the modern world likes veneer and didn't want an older Doctor who they wouldn't date or do more with!. A pity because PETER CAPALDI WAS AN ABSOLUTELY BRILLINAT DOCTOR, whose acting was superb. His characterisation having enormous depth of selflessness, sacrifice and loyalty. Yes he had his fair share of dud scripts but his acting alone made even the crappier episodes watchable. Over time he will be viewed as possibly the best Doctor ever. Then we had to 'let him go' and we got a completely new team. The results, as viewed by many, was not good, after the expected opening bolt of viewers wanting to see how a female Doctor would work. But although a great actress, for many Whittaker didn't seem to fit. Although to be fair the scripts she had to work with were woeful. Everyone now knows the staple reasons for the regression in the show, even the anger and upset that viewers felt. Chibnall could not write good characterisation, but excelled at plot holes everywhere. Music was replaced with ambient bore sound moods, the Tardis crew was overcrowded, it was too preachy and worst of all it became BORING. Then when we thought it couldn't get worse along came The Empty Children. And with good reason fans were more than upset. They felt they were slapped in the face and the love for the show from previous generations no longer had any importance. This became even more ingrained with the convoluted Flux season. Last night I saw Eve of the Daleks and i actually enjoyed it. 7/10. But it took all that time to happen. I think without all those Chibnall catastrophes, Jodie's Doctor possibly may have worked. Had she not been given companions as dull and lifeless as Ryan, monsters as crappy as talking ribbons (yes remember them?) and an embarrassing overuse of the sonic screwdriver, all that dreadful exposition being told to us by the Doctor, then things may have been different. But Chibnall simply has far to many weaknesses as a writer and a stubborn refusal to address viewers concerns. I felt that this year after so much negative feedback Chibnall decided he had to address some of these issues but it had come to late. The truth behind wanting to add my thoughts was because I have felt that Capaldi has sometimes been included as part of the reasons for the decline of the show. I think this is a very unfair conclusion to be drawn and I hope my statements have justified my stance. Chibnall has done enormous damage to Who. All we can do is hope that it can be salvaged. Good luck Mr. Davies. Let's see if he can pull it off twice and resurrect the show we love. Update: The Flux had some parts but Chibnall still failed to engage and the viewing figures remained low. The Legend of the Sea Devils was dreadful, so bad that it is difficult to find a person who liked it. Still as I write this the new era is a work in progress and it looks promising. Fingers and toes crossed. Tennant and Capaldi and Tate coming back for at least a special should be a thrill for us all.

[@splatinumm]

OK I agree with what you're saying but what? You were talking about the chibnall era then you started talking about the empty child which was literally IN 2005. What the hell are you talking about

[@fazfoxy1119]

@@splatinumm based on other issues in the writing within this comment I can only presume that they miswrote timeless as empty although it is a apt description

[@splatinumm]

@@fazfoxy1119 bro this guy must have been smoking some heavy weed to mistake a great moffat episode for a shitty chibnall one

[@triplejazzmusicisall1883]

@@splatinumm Ethan I apologise sincerely. I meant to write the 'Timelesss Children'. It must have been very late in the night when I wrote that. I can see why you would get confused as 'The Empty Child' was and remains a masterpiece. I am so glad I came back to see this error. In fact it would be difficult to have come up with a more dreadful error. I have edited it to correct my meaning. Thank you for bringing this slip to my attention. I would have been even more embarrassed if what I wrote couldn't be edited. I made several mistakes actually. I will need to check and proofread my comments from now on. As I age the brain fog is increasingly taking effect. Thank goodness for the edit link. Cheers from Australia.

[@triplejazzmusicisall1883]

@@fazfoxy1119 You guessed correctly. My apologies but credit to you for working out the error.

[@gladiator652004]

"The Vanquishers" gave me a LITERAL headache. The whole thing has ALREADY aged terribly: rewatch "Survivors of the Flux" and you now know most of the strands are inconsequential. Writer not talented enough.

[@DanTheMan2150AD]

People weren’t ready for Harbo to drop a 2 hour essay on Flux, but he did it anyway.

[@AiRsTrIkExXzZ]

A surprise to be sure, but a welcome one

[@alim.9801]

Oh I was BORN READY!!!! 😤😤😤 for real tho it was unexpected and I'm super happy he put it out, Merry Christmas to us 😊

[@TheKingMgee]

I personally think that saying the serialised, weekly nature of Flux led to its downfall is arguing in bad faith. Especially for Doctor Who, which at this point, has a very small core audience, I don't think that's going to hold Flux back. As you said yourself, John who stopped watching in 2010 isn't going to come back for Flux. While it might discourage some people from watching it, I highly doubt they would stay around anyway. The problem is Flux is that is just kind of sucks. Yes, there is intrigue, but intrigue is easy. A vast majority of these have very little significance on the story as a whole (for example, you can pretty much cut all of Village of the Angels and just turn the Doctor to stone at the end of Once, Upon Time, as well as basically anything to do with the Grand Serpent), and a lot of things just aren't paid off or ends in a satisfying manner. Vinder and Bel have very little significance to the story, apart from being a tangential connection to the Grand Serpent, who is already not very important. Why did Swarm and Azure kidnap Diane? Why was Azure hidden and Swarm imprisoned? We're just going to go onto our next adventure as if most of the Universe hasn't been destroyed? I engaged in Flux in a very active way, and personally, I probably had a worse experience because I was trying to connect the threads to nowhere. Even if you did manage to sit through the first 5 episodes and wanted to engage with Flux's story, the Vanquishers pisses in your face by answering very, very little of relevance. That's not bold and new ways of story telling, that's just bad writing. Saying 'omg guys it's not that bad, you just don't get it sweaty' is ignoring the fact that Flux isn't very well written, acted, or makes much sense at all.

[@loturzelrestaurant]

Of course, even after this video here, Jay Excis Doctor Who Video remains the Nr.1.

[@kobbyquayson]

Just started the video but I want to say that Doctor Who is not just relevant in the UK. I’m a Ghanaian 🇬🇭 and Doctor Who has had a huge impact on me

[@alim.9801]

I'm really happy it has, I love Doctor Who so much and I feel the same (I'm American/Cuban). It's so lovely there are so many fans around the world 💜💜💜

[@sonofcelebrimbor7481]

I think flux can best be described as passable. It wasn’t good writing, it wasn’t driven by love, it was just less bad than the last 2 seasons. The historical figures felt more like the doctor who chapters than the doctor did, the plot was only loosely connected at best with the exception of like 3 key points. It doubled down on canon breaking points further destroying the legacy of the show, and in top of everything, it was just boring. Less bad ≠ good

[@harrybutcher3627]

There was some missed opportunities I think. You would think being trapped in the past for 3 years would change Yaz and Dan as people, but it doesn't.

[@ruairicorrigan3582]

Exactly. There's nothing about them to change, but the lack of effect it has on them reflects poorly on the writing.

[@Wolflinked]

Thank you for creating and reviewing episodes of Doctor Who, it's always refreshing to hear a new perspective on the era's that I love, dislike or even hate at times. I've always been a person to listen to other people or to have a voice up in the background when I need background noise, your videos have filled the void of many hours where I've been working or doing something creative. For that, thank you. ^^

[@TheKingMgee]

The Doctor condemns General Logan's attack on the retreating Sontarans. But we're ignoring the fact that the Doctor didn't really defeat the Sontarans (just kind of delayed them by forcing them to get more resouces), and the Doctor commited a TRIPLE Genocide at the end of the series (Sontarans, Daleks and Cybermen)? I think there's slightly better writing in Flux, but that just makes the insane contradictions even worse when they inevitably appear.

[@SImrobert2001]

Do we even care for a genocide on the cybermen, or the Daleks? The Doctor has been shown to absolutely hate them because of the way the absorb and kill other cultures.

[@TheKingMgee]

@@SImrobert2001 1 - it's another example of the 13th Doctors wildly inconsistent morality. She condemns the actions of someone with one hand while doing far worse with the other. 2 - Yes, they are evil. However, remember in Genesis of the Daleks when the 4th Doctor couldn't bring himself to destroy the Daleks, even it meant averting a huge amount of suffering in the future? Or basically anythign post-2205 with the backdrop of the Time War; perhaps the choice was justified, but it was still discussed and explored by the text of the show. Like many, many times in the 13th Doctors run, no other option is presented, the choice isn't meditated upon or reflected on, or has real consequences for casually committing 3 simultaneous genocides.

[@hotdog1214]

There are these inconsistences and as some have noticed a tendency to be all happy go lucky when companions are around but less so when they are not present. As Harbo hints at in the video, I don't think this was done on purpose but is an accidental side effect that is borne of poor writing rather than an attempt at showing two sides of the Doctor. Its a shame as I think this could have been an interesting aspect of the characterisation of Thirteen if it had been deliberately and consciously explored by Chibnall.

[@Fff99901]

There's a lot I really don't like about Flux, but one of my biggest peeves is Chibnall's sudden insistence that it's just 'Division', not 'THE Division'. It sounded jarring to me every time someone said it, and having briefly gone back and checked I'm sure it was 'the Division' in Series 12. Just seems like such an odd change and made some flimsy lines sound even flimsier. Obviously that alone doesn't make the series bad, it's definitely a nitpick, but it was kind of off putting for me.

[@ftumschk]

That transition from "The Division" to just "Division" also bugged me. It came out of nowhere, wasn't justified, explained or resolved, and ultimately left me confused. It was practically a microcosm of Chris Chibnall's slapdash writing style.

[@Doiknowyou566]

@@ftumschk I haven’t watched it, but “Division” or “The Division” always sounded like a pathetic reference to how divided the fan base is to me.

[@ftumschk]

@@Doiknowyou566 Interesting idea, but "division" is a commonly used term for organisational units of various types, for example "The SAS is a special _division_- of the Army", so it probably just means a division in that sense.

[@Doiknowyou566]

@@ftumschk I do realise that, it's just with the timing of that plotline combined with his 'writing' style I wouldn't put it past him to use it with that meaning. It all lines up perfectly lol.

[@lordbuss]

​@@Doiknowyou566 It doesn't. Chibnall is not that meta (unlike Moffat).

[@Matthew_Raymond]

The problem with the whole Division/Timeless Child arc in the last season is that it really should have been three series arcs: Arc I - The Doctor discovers a covert attack on the planet Earth across multiple points in time by several races working together. While working to stop the attack, she learns about the “Division”, and in the series finale we’d learn that the Division was created by the Time Lords. Arc II - A time assassin is sent to kill the Doctor, setting various traps to kill her. The Doctor survives each attempt, manages to trap the assassin, and interrogates her, only to discover that the assassin is her younger self and that she has a past she doesn’t remember. The younger Doctor feels betrayed by the Division when she learns she was sent to kill her future self and tries to leave the Division with the current Doctor’s help, but the Division comes after both of them, and the younger Doctor must sacrifice herself and return to the Division to protect her future self. The Division decides she’s no longer useful as an asset and extracts all memory of them. Arc III - The Doctor decides she’d rather be the hunter than the hunted and attempts to expose them. During her pursuit, she learns about something called the “Timeless Child”, which becomes the focus of her investigation. In the finale, she discovers that she is, in fact the Timeless Child, and she’s forced to choose between restoring her memories and stopping the Division, eventually deciding that her memories don’t define her. This makes her memories something she wants, but something she’s willing to sacrifice in favor of what she really cares about.

[@heavyartillery641]

I completely agree. This would have been so much better and more fun to watch

[@matthewlacey4198]

That's brilliantly thought out, brilliantly plays off character motivations of "wants vs needs"

[@VelociraptorsOfSkyrim]

I would have been more receptive of the idea in the first place if it was structured like this. A silly idea I had (Just thinking of how I would rewrite the Timeless child arc, without massively changing anything) is that the Doctor is _literally_ a child of time. Like I said, it's a silly idea that I personally felt could have been better.

[@Matthew_Raymond]

@@VelociraptorsOfSkyrim Technically speaking, we still don’t know she isn’t the child of Time, seeing as we don’t know where she came from.

[@redcr33perproductions]

that actually would’ve been good unless they make the timeless child another villain and not the doctor

[@darynvoss7883]

I love that you started with the Jay Exci joke...

[@harigowre]

When we were told all the Lupari I genuinely didn’t believe it (not like in astonishment as in I thought the sontarans were lying) until the credits rolled because the reactions from the other characters didn’t make it believable. I wish more time could have been spend exploring this, with the doctor and carvanista conversing over survivors guilt but obviously the plot was already stuffed.

[@creed8712]

You saw how she reacted to her people being slaughtered for real this time.

[@mahfuzurchowdhury2765]

The fact that this series gave dates within a few episodes, that lined up with when those respective episodes aired, literally meant the BBC knew when Series 13 would air on the 31st of October way in advance, while they were shooting, a whole year before, possibly even longer. And they chose to give the release date to fans, 3 weeks before.

[@Jiub_SN]

Probably not true, tv shows of today, especially those that use this many effects tend to take a long time in post. It's likely something had been going on that made its airing on the 31st questionable. They may have intended it to air far earlier in the year as Who likes to make its modern day a bit into the future to make kids think it could happen, but due to something it was delayed. That's my best guess based on my experiences lmao

[@haveaknifeday]

Thanks!

[@baconwithmoreeggs7938]

If I’m gonna watch a 5 hour video essay about Doctor who. Imma definitely watch a 2 hour one by Harbo

[@drcox012]

"HMMMM I wonder why people keep mentioning a 5 hour video let me go see....*clackclackclack* ....Oh."

[@jacklawrence2212]

Fantastic overview and deep cut analysis, a superb piece of work - some nice jokes, too. Seriously well done. And you're right about Dan, a character who largely works so well because of Bishop's warmth, his everyman likeability, comic timing and appeal.

[@FinalSeraphLeo]

As a person who hates waiting months for shows/movies and hates how trailers spoil so much. Only getting info less than three weeks before airing, I like it.

[@meedabuhuh3084]

I remember watching this season and just yelling at the TV, sighing, crying. It was sort of better than the last two but that's really all I can say.

[@zachh6868]

Unlike most of Chibnal's Era, The Flux certainly felt like I was watching and enjoying Doctor Who. I didn't watch it for a long time because I didn't expect it to be better than the previous seasons, but it was

[@TheRauzKindred]

This is a well thought out overview, and honestly I actually like Jodie as the doctor... when she is allowed to be the doctor. I had a similar complaint that cropped up with Capaldi although not as often, he was darker and edgier which I had mixed feelings about, but when he was handled properly he felt like the doctor going back to his cynical attitude from some of the classic era especially the 1st doctor.

[@cowboynoodles472]

14:13 I do *not* understand how Utopia is the first part of a three parter but Extremis isn’t. I’d argue that Extremis-TPatEotW-TLotL is more connected than Utopia-TSoD-LotTL

[@omargod236]

Been waiting to hear harbo talk about flux, glad to be part of the patreon!

[@RoyalKingOliver]

I uh… This is a freaking documentary!!! KZbin Algorithm better work it’s butt to show this to everyone because holy Jesus Harbo you deserve lots of attention DX

[@Sollace]

56:34 That was a cinematographic effect use to create tension in the scene. I don't think anyone actually believed he somehow gained the ability to move in slow motion.

[@MarkMichalowski]

Great stuff and a perfect summation - although I think you're kinder to it than I would have been ;-) Chibnall's like a child with ADHD who can't decide which of his toys to play with - and ends up with them all scattered across the floor. And when they're called for their tea, "tidying up" involves just sweeping them all under the sofa and forgetting them. And talking about forgetting - everyone seems to have forgotten that the remaining Daleks at the end of "Revolution of the Daleks" were all sucked out of existence by the Doctor's "spare" TARDIS (which the Doctor then sent to its death without a second thought) in exactly the same way that the remaining Flux is sucked out of existence by the Passenger. The Doctor should keep a couple of Passengers handy for mopping up future baddies when there's only five minutes to go before the titles roll.

[@johndelye3402]

Lol Swarm are Azure designs are compared to Power Rangers level designs. True but most REAL Japanese tokusatsu creature designs are more memorable and imaginative.

[@toothfairy10133]

as someone with adhd, i can confirm that chibnall's plots and my bedroom are the exact same levels of messy. i cannot get to my wardrobe.

[@prayonkreutz2398]

Dan had more of a character arch in 6 episodes than Yaz did in 3 seasons. Chibnal tried in the last season to give Yaz a personality & purpose- but, it was to little to late

[@afropro5294]

Now THIS is a Christmas present, thanks so much for all your hard work harbo have a great holiday man you deserve it 👏👏

[@SImrobert2001]

I love how a weekly release is met with shock, and needs t be explained, while just two, three decades ago, it was the only way to watch a show.

[@johndelye3402]

Oh lest I forget,the Doctor proves to be a hypocrite in the series finale with obliterating the musters of 3 different alien species. Four episodes after giving a human general a right hiding for blowing the Sontarans ships up as they are leaving. She gets mad at him for doing a common sense act like trying to prevent them from returning? They weren't retreating Earth but strategically withdrawing to re-up supplies. They were returning and....what was under her sleeve to deal with this eventuality? Nothing that the audience can suss out. None elaborated on by her. But blowing the tits off of three different armies is OK in the finale. Which would be OK if it turned out one of her dupes did that and she chided said dupe for such an action. Nope. I could be missing a loophole set up somewhere but as of me writing this it comes off as hypocritical. Hopefully with Russell returning there might be some narrative and character consistency returning,regardless of the gender of the next regeneration. I was secretly hoping my doubts on the gender change would be disproven as deftly as Michelle Gomez had done with the Master's gender swap but unfortunately no joy.

[@mrdr0161]

Because RTD's doctors were so innocent, weren't they? It's not like the 9th Doctor killed the slitheen by putting Rose, Harriet Jones and everyone in Downing Street in the firing line. Or the 10th Doctor killing the only werewolf in existence. Or blowing up the Krillitane. Or killing all the clockwork droids. Or blowing up the cybermen. Or entrapping the cybermen and the daleks to arguably a fate worse than death. He didn't kill the last of the Racnoss and her newly born children. Or stop the Carrionates from returning and entrapped the only living carrionates in a glass ball for all eternity. Or wiping the toclafane from existence. Or create a weapon to destroy all the sontarans. Along with more multiple disgusting acts. Need I talk about Moffats doctors?

[@creed8712]

@@mrdr0161 except when they did that it was seen as their darkness coming out. 13 has never been presented as having a darker side and all her decisions were morally correct and anyone who disagreed with her was evil.

[@lntxp01]

@@mrdr0161 A lot of those events explore the doctor's morality, with the doctor usually comtemplating on his actions. It is shown that he is conflicted when he has to make these very hard decisions, and the show frequently explores how these choices have a great burden on the character. Especially in the T Davies era, these themes and events extend from the arc that resulted from his actions in the time war. Also, some of those examples make no sense, like the clockwork droids, even though they aren't alive and are simple robots. In some of those examples, like the carrionite one, he doesn't even kill any of them. A lot of those examples you have mentioned, shows the doctor's sorrow at his actions, like blowing up the cybermen, downing street, the racnoss. One thing to bring up, is that the ending to the flux is basically stolen from the journey's end story; chibnall has really been trying to make Jodie's doctor parallel the events of Tennant's. In both stories, genocies are committed, except in journey's end, it is the metacrisis doctor that kills the daleks, which fits his bloodthirsty, war doctor like personality. The real doctor is furious with this decision and condemns his actions, yet still wants to help him, as he can see his own past self reflected in the metacrisis doctor. He then asks Rose to help him become a better person, like she once did with himself, so Rose and the metacrisis doctor can spend their lives together in the way the doctor couldn't (I know the Rose stuff isn't relevant, but I thought it was a great way to end their story, and I suppose it shows the depth and compassion and love that Tennant's doctor shows, which Jodie's does not). With Jodie's doctor, she herself commits the genocides, even though she is always shown as the benevolent doctor. A lazy solution would have been to copy the original journey's end story and get one of the other doctors to do it; it's certaintly not as well thought out as journey's end, but it still potentially stops this moral inconsistency. Even when she does kill all the daleks and cybermen and sontarans, she doesn't show any reluctance or anything. I just thought of this as well, but the doctor sending the daleks and cybermen to the void and enjoying it a little can be justified by the doctor trying to distract and bury his feelings about letting rose go to save her and be with her family, which is in character of the post time war doctor. Even though she returns against his will, he knows that he is putting her in danger and keeping her away from her family, which is why he feels anger towards her. He nearly lost her in the void, which was stopped by Pete, and even though she is safe in the parallel universe, he still feels a great sense of loss and grief for Rose, as he, and the rest of the world, basically consider Rose dead. At least this story has a great sense of consequence, unlike flux.

[@idle_speculation]

@@lntxp01 I think the hypocrisy reaches its peak when she uses the Master's skin color to force him into the nazi death camps...

[@hb4080]

​​​@@lntxp01 you make several good points! (Although I'm not sure whether I agree with the "bloodthirsty war doctor" because in the 50th anniversary, he definitely was more desperate than bloodthirsty, but that's just a side note). I actually like, that 13 is a hypocrite. It would have added so much to the story, if it had been intentional. Like he said in the video, the contrast is 13 being bubbly and socially awkward in conversations vs committing atrocities with actions. A good writer would have adressed that. That's basically, why the doctor needs a companion, to give him hell, when he ignores compassion. That's what was fumbled. I don't mind the hypocrisy. I mind, that it went unchecked. There were companions, who actually left the doctor, because he was cruel at times. Who shouted at him and begged him for compassion. And him feeling guilty afterwards and dealing with that guilt. That was needed. Not what we got, so basically I kinda agree with you lol

[@hadinasrallah8928]

One of my favorite youtubers right now

[@ftumschk]

Brilliant video, and I'm on pretty much the same page as you about Flux. Just an observation about Audience Appreciation Index (AI). It's worth remembering that AI tries to measure how the general public enjoyed a story, not all of whom are dedicated fans. Now, Heaven Sent is one of my all-time favourite bits of television ever, not just Doctor Who. However, to the casual viewer it's nearly an hour watching a man eating soup, drying his clothes, walking around a gloomy tower and repeatedly punching a wall. Seen like that, no wonder eps like Love & Monsters got a better AI score ;)

[@carltongibson6319]

I wasn’t expecting to watch all of this at once but honestly it was very pleasant

[@mrzakyboy3453]

When's the Torchwood: Children of Earth review gonna come out?

[@mtaimry]

I enjoyed the video, watched it over a few days. Merry belated Christmas Harbo! And to all of you watching at home!

[@mikaylaeager7942]

Always love a positive Doctor Who video! Over two hours off one... What a gift!! Flux was a mess but it was ridiculous and enjoyable enough to look past its flaws as I was watching and that's all I ask from doctor who!

[@theanarchistocelot1620]

Glad to see I’m not the only one concerned about the ood

[@VeryUsMumblings]

I see what you've done here. Instead of doing a review for each episode, you've reviewed the entire season in one big swirl. However, that doesn't change anything. This season of Doctor Who has been a convoluted mess that basically doesn't make sense. So, although i like your review, I hated the most recent season. Now if you'll excuse me, I have to go eat some Christmas chocolate and plan my next invasion, I mean... vacation.

[@ninetheninth]

43:27 Finally, someone mentioned Swarm's design change, the first one was so much better!

[@pun-inator6075]

I have mixed feelings about Flux but it did teach me one important lesson. You can't judge Jodie by Chib's writing. Jodie had some amazing moments and episodes in this series, including the best Sontaran story of NuWhu and the best Angel's episode since Blink. While all my issues with the story came from the Division and that is solely pointed towards the showrunner. Going back with this mindset to watch seasons 11 & 12, and I noticed how much I really liked Jodie's doctor. She's the snarkiest and seemed to embody Ten's doctor with the emphasis on connections to the companion but with overcompensation by having more than actually needed. This view also helped me realise that whether intentional or not, the lack of things for each companion to do from week to week. This certainly made her feel the most alien, which is a character trait often overlooked in incarnations. I still might feel like having a companion just be there is an issue, it doesn't hurt me like it did on first viewing. This doesn't mean Jodie will take the spot of my doctor or seasons 11 - 13 will be my favourites of NuWhu but I have a new appreciation for them and they aren't quite bottom of my favourites either.

[@oliviapanzica8833]

I completely agree. I love Jodie’s doctor! I agree she’s a lot like 10, and not just in the companion connections. We also see it is how bubbly she was at the start which was contrasted by her dark moments in series 12 and 13. I love her bubblyness but I was also so interested to see what she was like when her cheery self was challenged by not being able to save the day or facing her own trauma. If Chibnall was only a better writer and was able to go deeper into her character. Having too many companions in series 11 and 12 definitely plays a huge role in us not getting to see the true scope of what 13 can do. While most of her episodes don’t stand out as anything too fantastic, Jodie’s Doctor does for sure!

[@DrakeOola]

The angel episode was the only one that even felt like actual Dr. Who to me which sucks because of the god awful ending on that side plot. They went and captured the doctor, the doctor literally lost after being cornered for an entire hour. They manage to build up all that suspense and mystery with the doom and gloom of the doctor being turned into an angel and all for what exactly? Turns out the angels only captured her to serve as a glorified taxi to transport her to the next plot because how else was she supposed to get out of there? Like wtf, How you gonna use that entire weeping angel episode just to move her from one scene to the next??? They just set her free after that, turned her back into a human and left and there was virtually no guards on the division ships to the point she just conveniently slips out 2 seconds after being released. Everything else was equally as pointless like the mysterious door guy, his only purpose was to bring the crew back to the present otherwise he was useless and only added more bloat to an already bloated story, just no room to breath on anything. That entire journey in the past was just flat out useless, the weird serpent assassin did nothing for the story, kate stewart did nothing beyond bringing the tardis to the doctor, the tardis she just conveniently recaptured OFF SCREEN since the serpent dude had it locked up in unit. Why was everything happening off screen??? No room for any character to react to anything really, everything they did was to move the plot around so no time for human reactions... 7 billion lupari soldiers dying OFF SCREEN and what do we get? The doctor just tells him "ohh no, I'm so sorry, anyway...", Like he literally just became like you, the last of his species, his entire race just got genocide'd and that's all you have to say to someone who was apparently your previous companion??? This doctor was self-righteous af too, this is the same lady who had no problem telling ryan off for picking up a gun he was going to use on robots, literal lifeless robots, but then goes on to commit the biggest mass genocide we've ever seen on the show and she doesn't even bat a single eyelid? How many billions of cybermen, daleks, and sontarans did she wipe out letting the flux eat them all? How many times did she even react to the literal destruction of the entire universe or how many times did anyone react to it for that matter? Nothing even really felt real or like anything was at stake at all, nobody on earth reacting to the sontaran invasion, nobody reacting to the lupari blocking out the entire sun or the billions of cybermen and daleks orbiting the planet, no reaction to the mass genocide of billions, nada...The only thing they did good was coming up with some interesting sci-fi plot ideas but then they overdid it and threw multiple seasons worth of ideas into a mere 6 episodes and the only way they could fit it all was to just do all the important stuff off screen then tell the audience it happened. Like, why even focus on the lupari so much in the beginning if you were just going to kill all seven billion off screen, why did they focus so much on the sontarans boarding their ships and attacking? Why did they even get wiped out if the doctor just remote piloted all 7 billion unoccupied ships? So much time wasted on plots that go nowhere and on things that don't matter and not enough time spent on character development to make the cast feel real...

[@blankbitofpaper]

Had a realisation a few days ago. Make a list of your favourite New Who episodes and see how long until you start considering an episode of Jodies run. For me it was 31.

[@joshuabell5580]

Flux was so memorable I can't remember most of it. I do however remember wondering if the BBC were trying to get it cancelled for another decade or two.

[@person-hq2xq]

1:42:52 I didn’t expect the goes wrong show, but I am so glad that this was the example to show checkov’s gun

[@akaiendo7312]

Flux for me isn't an upgrade over s11 and 12 it's a sidegrade. s11 is particularly bland, s12 things happened more terribles than not and Flux is just a mess. Even caught myself taking breaks in episodes middle because I just couldn't finish those in one go, episodes 5 and 6 were particularly dreadful to finish but that's probably due to all the stuff being piling up.

[@alim.9801]

Sidegrade, I like that

[@omnipotentfaces1514]

Agreed I felt the same boredom. And not just because it’s serialised, you can go back and binge GoT or ST even though they came out weekly, your serial should still be able to binge when rewatching.

[@iamliberator1101]

I'm having to pause watching as it's fascinating andI wantto start again and commentat points that makes me want to engage. very good wood

[@johannvongenerico9487]

I can't believe you had to remind us of that godawful family WiFi scene from Resolution, why would you do that to us? :P

[@kavanpuranik98]

I loved flux. I hate the run of the 13th doctor coz all the stories left me disappointed, but with flux, I was invested again. The visuals were stunning, there was a universe ending threat, the frequent shifting perspectives in the 1st epi gave me no problems and actually reminded me of early game of thrones/infinity war. To me, flux truly felt like the Avengers: Endgame of Doctor who. I thoroughly enjoyed it. If this story had Moffat or Davies' name attached to it, people would go nuts and hail this as one of the best doctor who stories ever. I personality am not a fan of any of Chibnall's episodes, but this has got to be his best story and in my opinion, it's one of the best doctor who stories out there. The 13th doctor started to feel like the doctor all of a sudden and everything that needed to go right did. I'm sad that the earlier two seasons were disappointing in many ways. Makes me wonder where chibnall was hiding this talent?

[@anmarfrank]

Proving your first point: this is the first time ever I hear about Flux’s existence 😢

[@brookepatton]

Hey Harbo I just wanted to let you know how much I love your content and your viewpoint on doctor who, it really makes my day when I see you’ve uploaded. You are definitely a comfort youtube of mine I watch all your vids dozens of times. I hope one day you can get some kind of editor position within doctor who cause I know your input would make it an immaculate series.

[@WiloPolis03]

It's weird seeing this kind of video format from this fanbase be handled with actual nuance and not just one-note sarcastic rage

[@Fdzns]

Thanks for keeping me entertained in what’s been a weird year. Can’t wait to see what you do next.

[@greghawkins59]

Ok but I loved mole man appearing and getting annoyed, it didn't even end up mattering 😂

[@blootooth00]

"Disney has nailed this" in regards to Streaming dated this video😂 I immediately checked the timestamp lol But great video, super thorough but not rambling. I just found this channel about a week ago and I'm thoroughly enjoying it

[@Road_to_Dawn]

I know this video is from over two years ago, but I’ve just gotta say, I disagree with your complaints about the Williamson Tunnels. I think they work specifically *because* of the reasons you listed. They’re slowly built up and teased throughout the whole story, even opening the very first episode with Williamson, so from the outset you’re teased that something weird is going on with them. Each episode Williamson shows up in a place and/or time that he shouldn’t be able to access, building the question of how he’s doing it. And in the finale, we finally see the big picture on them: that it’s a massive network of tunnels filled with doors that link different parts of space and time, and he’s been mapping it all out. And these tunnels aren’t just there for the cool factor, but serve multiple purposes, such as (like you said) getting Yaz, Dan, and Jericho to the present day, as well as giving Vinder a way to exile the Grand Serpent. Additionally, with Dan being a local history buff, he’s a big fan of the Williamson tunnels and is already aware of them, which is how his party get the idea to travel to them to get back home.

[@scix8794]

Flux didnt disappoint, By that I mean it was exactly as I thought it would be. Some interesting ideas and characters setup, with 1 great episode in the middle; but overall a very average season of tv. Normally i would write a massive essay on each of its components, but honestly i dont even have the energy to do that. All i am waiting for is RTD2 so we can be done with this era of the show. Ep1:-I thought this was pretty good. I liked Dan and all the setup was decently done. Also the Lupari are probably the best thing to come out of the chibnall era. 6.5/10 Ep 2:-This was a genuinely good episode. I liked the Sontarans and Mary Seacole. The battle was a amazing thing to see in doctor who. 7.5/10 Ep 3:- Here is my controversial opinion of this season, this is the best who episode since twice upon a time. I love the concept and it was executed really well. Sure there were some negatives(mainly Yaz's sisters dialogue). 8.5/10 Ep 4:-This was a mixed bag. On the first watch i LOVED the siege of thw angels, everything else i found pretty good. But after thinking about it, the angels were very nerfed. Still it definitely has more good than bad 6.5/10 Ep 5:- This was the episode that just left me dry. I was so dissapointed eith pretty much everything. This was a bad episode. 3/10 Ep 6:-A slight improvement over the previous one. The only reason i think of this as an improvement is because I was expecting another timeless children. The doctor killing all the sontarans made me furious. It was nice to see Kate but she didnt do anything. Thw Serpent wasted, the swarm wasted,etc 3.5/10 So 2 words, Wasted Potential. Sidenote am I the only one mad about the fact that the special is call 'Eve of the Daleks'. Couldn't they find a word starting with 'Re' and ending with 'tion'? Well atleast its over now. Hope RTD2 beings us some great doctor who.

[@adamryan2215]

...repetition of the daleks?

[@_skirdybirdy1788]

Respiration of daleks

[@_skirdybirdy1788]

Relegation of daleks

[@johndelye3402]

Redundancy of the Daleks? I hear Skaro has a lucrative rendundancy scheme.

[@johndelye3402]

Pulls word/words out of hat or bodily orifice of the Daleks.

[@jakusthekingpakus1]

I don't think the Audience Interface is meant to show that one episode is objectively better than another one, it's just purely to show how the casual fans enjoyed it. Episodes that try something a bit different like Midnight and Heaven Sent will often be more divisive to the casual audience. And tbh the casuals matter more to TV execs than mega fans or critics.

[@PathsUnwritten]

I had no idea what "Flux" was as it was coming up, and certainly not that it was a television series. I figured it might be a one-time special or something multimedia like Time Lord Victorious.

[@Yardnoc3103]

I thought it was a Doctor Who video game The trailers made it seem that way

[@VideoHostSite]

I was a huge Dr. Who fan, and this is the first I've heard of Flux.

[@ianwoodall4523]

I agree about Vinder. Yes he has a decent arc. But its so obscured by other stuff it takes an archaeologist to uncover it.

[@johnphamlore8073]

This is the first well done balanced review on Flux I have seen. Well done, and thank you.

[@oldoldmeme]

This was the first series of the show I didn't watch a single episode of, why should I give Chibnall anymore chances when he wasn't able to accomplish in two series what Russell T Davies accomplished in one episode?

[@nathanielfarkas4431]

Okay cya then

[@connor_bell]

I just watched it out of boredom after having the same opinion as you, it was totally worth it

[@madmattman5675]

Thanks for this! Something calming to listen to during some last minute Xmas shopping 😉

[@CashelOConnolly]

I truly believe the BBC are doing to Nu-Who what they did to classic Who and that’s to kill it off with a thousand cuts! Sc-Fi is expensive and the BBC doesn’t like expensive. After all each episode of season (serial)13 is estimated to have cost 5 and 1/2 million pounds to make,yet each episode averaged below 5 million viewers compare that with Eastenders which costs two hundred and 50 thousand pounds to make each episode and gets an average viewing figure of 9-10 million per episode. As a business which one would you get rid of?! 🤔 Great video,thank you for your hard work,it’s appreciated. Now I want to erase the confusing’Flux’ series from my mind.

[@janoschw2895]

I watched the series and the official youtube plot breakdown by chibnall. Your explanation of the plot was better than either.

[@AriaEnoshima]

... I didn't even know this flux was released until I accidentally clicked on this video, lmao.

[@DriverHenryWho3245]

LOL

[@harroldinab]

😂 Tells you everything you need to know about how poorly marketed it was.

[@loturzelrestaurant]

Of course, even after this video here, Jay Excis Doctor Who Video remains the Nr.1.

[@Samantha_76]

Remembering this after watching Eve of the Daleks. I wonder why people keep ignoring that Yaz has feelings for the Doctor and that the ship isn't just in our heads. Does no one remember the scene two seasons ago lamenting about loving someone who doesn't know she's there?

[@creed8712]

It’s easy to ignore when we know how it ends and that one character has no character and the other is a cruel lunatic

[@autolosss]

I haven't watched Flux but I thought the hints for something romantic between Yaz and the Doctor were valid between Series 11 and 12, sparse as they may be, which gave me the impression Series 13 would have that be explored further. In a way from this review it seems like they didn't, and at the very least I think that was a good decision - regardless of the Doctor's gender, it feels tiring if the Doctor was given a romantic relationship angle with yet another woman living in a modern period on Earth again, and switching the tropes up would be a fresh angle instead (alebit to be frank, I don't think the Doctor herself should have any romantic relationship stories period anymore and just focus on better written adventures, it's something I feel should just stay on the early Davies' era and Moffat's). If any future writers want to insist on a romantic relationship, it'd be better to have that for a character with a different species entirely - or at the very least from another time period way back in the past or future that can switch up the dynamics on how they react to the TARDIS. I'm reminded of the missed opportunities Moffat put himself on Series 7: given there's so many Claras in existence, the fact that the Doctor just mostly stays with modern day Clara and doesn't get to interact with other versions of her from the timestream (save for Dalek Oswin and Victorian Clara), was a missed opportunity and could've honestly put the romantic angle they were going for on a new light.

[@SImrobert2001]

Honestly? Not really. Its two seasons ago. That is forever in TV time when there is no character interaction other than being a exposition device.

[@capricorn878]

Honestly, to me Chibinal only remember Yaz sexuality when it's profitable. He never even developed her character, take Jack was an example or Bill, their sexuality was part of them, they show, not tell. Chinibal just make a empty character, and use her to get agenda, and positive etc..etc and as a lgbt myself, just feels dumb and ridiculous what he is doing.

[@tylerhill5365]

Just finished the entire thing, good video!

[@danielhenze8182]

Still annoys me that he describes the angels communication in Time of the Angels as them directly talking to the doctor when that just isn't true. They only talked through Angel Bob. Instead of saying for example, "we want to kill you", Bob says "The angels told me they want to kill you". So much better then I feel Harbo gives it credit for

[@endgame6782]

It was a dumb idea; just a contrived method of exposition that ruins the mysterious allure of the angels

[@danielhenze8182]

@@endgame6782 I could see it as just a method of exposition but I disagree. It could have definitely been worse. Like at least they didn't directly talk like in season 13.

[@craycray8098]

@@danielhenze8182 They were manipulating the audio from the Television even after it was broken. There's a scene that zooms in on the broken TV as the Angels start talking.

[@silbertmcg]

2:48 that a Jay Exci reference I hear?

[@thetalkinghead7030]

I’m sorry, but flux is not the ‘Redemption of Doctor Who’ it’s barely a step up from the usual garbage Chibnall has been shovelling out onto our screens since series 11

[@danielhenze8182]

Couldn't have said it better

[@endgame6782]

Thanks for the video, Harbo and I hope you have a great Christmas!

[@sKryly1]

The first time I've seen the words "Doctor who flux" I thought that flux was something like Netflix, but the only show available is Doctor Who.

[@sabinajoh]

I liked that there were questions and they were allowed to stay questions. Chibnall seems to love telling you everything and explain every possible question

[@Bailey-dj6hz]

Was that "I don't have any photos of me in a dalek" a reference to Jay exci?

[@HarboWholmes]

It was!

[@Bailey-dj6hz]

@@HarboWholmes love that it's nice to see creators just casually referencing each other the doctor who community really is quite lovely and wholesome at heart 🥰🥰

[@marcuswalters8093]

"I grew up with Doctor Who. Rose-" Thanks for making me feel old.

[@olivesalad]

I saw the title and I was like I refuse to believe this guy thinks that.

[@johndelye3402]

Another RLM reference! In the same week a new BOTW was uploaded,bless!

[@frazzlesreviews5379]

The Grand Serpent was apparently only supposed to be in Once, Upon Time but Chibnall loved the character so much that he brought him back in the last two episodes. You can absolutely tell this is what happened because the finale was probably already plotted out and had to be awkwardly altered to accommodate his character. Jericho was also meant to only be in one episode but they did a considerably better job including him into the latter two episodes. I do adore The Grand Serpent and Craig Parkinson’s performance but if Chibnall was THAT desperate to bring the character back then it means something else has to go, preferably the Sontarans. I love those potato boys but I don’t think they are a remotely finale level threat. I honestly think the only reason they were brought back was just so Chibnall can continue his weird trend of a villain appearing in the first episode and returning in the finale for the twist. Not a bad idea for a twist but he has done it four times now. John Hart in Torchwood series 2, Tim Shaw in series 11, the Master in series 12 and now the Sontarans in Flux.

[@danielcurtis9875]

I love the Jay Exci reference, thank you

[@lazulenoc6863]

Please take time off this Christmas, Harbo. You deserve it after the year we have had, as a Dr. Who fan and as someone in the world as a whole. Edit and hot take: Dan is in fact imperfect, he is yet to be the villain. He might feel that the Doctor is overshadowing Yaz/ taking up too much of her time and start plotting to betray the Doctor because of this.

[@fromthethirdplanet]

I would love to see Evil Dan because _he is good at this_

[@pinkpink-kb6dl]

Merry Christmas to me! 2 whole hours... I'm loving it. I've noticed as I'm listening though sometimes you don't always enunciate all your words and I have to listen again to understand what you're saying. But then again maybe I'm just not used to hearing British accents anymore since I stopped watching Doctor who 4 seasons ago 😂

[@HerHollyness]

Back in the day when interest in the show was at its peak (when RTD and David Tennant were leaving and for a while into Matt Smith’s era), there was a need for secrecy because the storylines were good, characters were being brought back or killed off left, right and centre, and there were twists galore. Any small bit of information was pounced on and shared around and dissected to death. Nowadays, interest in the show has waned. People don’t really care that much and there aren’t as many rabid fans dissecting every tiny set photo and piece of information. Plus the storylines are considerably worse. So the need for secrecy is much reduced, but the BBC don’t seem to have understood that. They’ve taken the secrecy surrounding Doctor Who to the extreme. Either that, or they hadn’t actually finished editing the episodes by the time they were supposed to send out screeners.

[@gwarner99b]

On "show, don't tell", that is good advice to beginners. It is even a useful reminder for experienced writers. But it is a bad rule when applied uncritically by amateur critics. The best example is one of the greatest instance of water cooler TV on UK TV.; "Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy". Characters in that talked, and talked and talked, described, questioned and answered. And it was rivetting. The quality of the talk, the way it let the viewer piece together a complex and meaningful story, with profound emotional meaning, often conveyed in quiet, unemphatic tones. People telling became a superb example of showing.

[@pwaaoolhtims4344]

I really appreciate how you lay out the positives and the negatives of Flux; because, most people only focus on one, whilst forgetting the other exists.

[@christophersheets5452]

Great video! A perfect compliment to Jay’s essay

[@TheNuclearGeek]

At best, it's "meh" overall. It pretty much defines Chibby as a showrunner. This is the best he can do when it's his last, his swan song, when he has nothing to lose. He just does much better with someone else to adjust him and he's focused on writing. That should be what he sticks to.

[@julianbowles3979]

I love the idea of the grand serpent coming in at series 11 and that it would focus on regaining the Tardis, genuinely awesome

[@TheBlueSunil]

Once again, you've managed to perfectly nail what I overall felt with Flux. Really fun but full of missed opportunities and poor story decisions. Also lots of exposition. But I did have a lot more enjoyment with it over Series 11 and 12, and definitely made me excited to see the show again somewhat. Of the six chapters War of the Sontarans was imo the absolute stand out best one. Chibnall actually wrote something mostly good for once. And I agree that the weakest chapter was Survivors of the Flux. But I'm so glad you gave us this review and dedicated time to doing it. Hope you have a good holidays man!