The Flux: Story Breakdown | Behind the Scenes | Doctor Who: Flux

[@a_cats]

I was joking when I said the end result of Chibnall's "tell, not show" storytelling style would be him sitting down and explaining the plot of a doctor who story

[@tonystark106422]

The Master gave a PowerPoint presentation about the Timeless Child last season. Now Chris is just sitting us down and telling us what was supposed to be understood and what we were supposed to care about. Amazing.

[@GyitMulhaneski-GloriousYears]

😅

[@teddysterriertales]

@@glowing571 LOL

[@DfiftyMusic]

I still don’t care, like the timeless children it was a bunch ‘o bollox

[@tennenyt5311]

Helpful for me, means I don't have to watch it on my first go through lol

[@PoZu72]

The fact that this video breaks it down more than the show told us says it all

[@jackphd8788]

The fact they need to do this video at all is a problem

[@vasp99]

I was able to gather all this from watching the show . Maybe your attention deficit needs medical attention honey .

[@TheCNYMike]

It's basically a commentary, shot when they shot the eps, months ago.

[@flamboyantfreak]

@@vasp99 still using neurodivergance as an insult here are we? Greeeat. Perhaps you should have stopped at how intelligent you are, because the second sentence appeared to have proven the first otherwise.

[@dancygr]

@@vasp99 being able to understand it and thinking it was good storytelling are two completely different things

[@JayExci]

And so my work begins.

[@internetuserheart]

and so her work begins

[@teab0244]

Lol, I’m excited to see what you have to say.

[@zitagirl1]

Looking for that with much excitement!

[@Irrev77]

can’t wait to see it in 2023!

[@SpencerCJ]

Jay please, the internet cant take another video longer than 30 minutes, they can't handle it

[@Blubatt]

WE DON'T NEED A BREAKDOWN, CHRIS. WE NEED A COHESIVE STORY. WHAT ARE YOU TRYING TO CONVEY?

[@leipherd8118]

Any explanation for why Tecteun destroys the Universe because the Doctor exists in it, and ALSO invited the Doctor to move into the new one? It really is a shambles. Episode 3 Tecteun says "don't come looking for us" and then immediately episode 4 is about capturing her to bring her to Tecteun! The fact this video exists shows the episodes themselves failed to explain coherently what was going on and contradictions such as above show that there is no explanation to fit all the "facts"

[@MichaelO2000]

She says “don’t come looking for us” in episode 3, but then in episode 4 the deal with the rouge angel is changed and they decide to take the doctor instead. Tecteun then tries to appeal to the doctor to try to stop her from saving the universe by giving her the old memories and having the “old” doctor that Tecteun knew back.

[@leipherd8118]

@@MichaelO2000 except that the dialogue at the end of Village doesn't make sense either. The Doctor "negotiates" with the Angels to put Yaz, Dan and Jericho back into the real time and space and to remove the Angel from Clare (What she has to bargain with is another matter). Tha Angels ominously say "no" (but do both of those things anyway). Then the Doctor realises that the Rogue Angel was never their target and this had been a trap intended to capture the Doctor all along. So set up in Halloween Apocalypse, BEFORE Tecteun says "don't come looking for me". Even if we could square all that (you possibly could if you assume some of the dialogue is fake outs on the part of whoever is speaking), it still makes no sense to destroy a Universe because of one person, who you then invite to be just about the only thing that survives that universe! It the Doctor is a "virus", Tecteun is removing it from the infected body, which she then dissolves in acid before transplanting the virus into another body.

[@BestBFam]

She didn't invite the Doctor there. The Doctor forced her way in and Tecteun clearly explains why she is destroying the universe in that episode.

[@leipherd8118]

@@BestBFam The Angels (working for Division, which Tecteun says she is in charge of) literally kidnap her and take her there against her will, - "You are recalled"! And Tecteun clearly explains why she is destroying in the same way my answer to my favourite colour is "altitude". It's an answer, yes..... Destroying it because the Doctor ruined it. And also inviting the Doctor to the new Universe!

[@BestBFam]

@@leipherd8118 What I mean is that the Doctor was supposed to die in the first wave of the Flux. But she obsorbed it with the Tardis. After that Tecteun devised a new plan. Tecteun explains it in the episode.

[@IrZ_Kuma]

Can someone explain how the majority of the universe isn't just destroyed still by the flux? How did that get reversed or repaired? I honestly have no idea what happened that could have fixed that and not left everything gone

[@kosh2001]

me too, lol.

[@davidfraser6083]

There isn’t. It’s in ruins and it will probably be forgotten. How does the Doctor travel to krop tor in the 42nd century, or the Midnight planet in the future or the Orient Express… if everything post 2021 is ruined then there is nothing to travel to but clearly he has travelled everywhere… this era is best left forgotten from canon. If RTD doesn’t retcon, then the show did end in 2017 and what we have now is just fan fiction

[@TheCNYMike]

The universe is so big that even with all the destruction you still would have millions of galaxies. That's a lot of real estate.

[@matheusflores619]

From what Chibnall said in the video, the Doctor prevented the Flux by using the passenger, and later on Jodie says the Doctor has essentially put an end to the destruction the Flux caused. I for one believe that while it was not properly said in the episode, the Universe has been restored, because once the Flux is removed from it, its effects also cease to exist, because like the Doctor said to Williamson, the Flux affects both past, present and future. So it never actually happened in the End, just like Big Bang Two or that plotline in Series 6. Only those in the eye of the Flux hurricane remember it, and those are the people that were in the TARDIS at that moment.

[@davidfraser6083]

@@TheCNYMike but in 58 years no mention of any destruction in the future as opposed to pre 2021. It’s a complex show to just throw that in 58 years later without any consideration of that in the past, so in other words don’t make it an occurrence now

[@Raven-Woods]

I'm confused how a writer of Chibnall's caliber can time and time again mistake plot exposition for character development, growth, and personal character arcs. I figured out all the plot stuff described in the video yesterday, but I guarantee that it was so jumbled in its execution that it took quite a while thinking about it to figure out how it all came together (definitely not made easier by Tecteun's contradicting statements) - and I for sure hadn't seen it being talked about on twitter before this video came out. it shouldn't be that hard for the audience to figure out the main plot. nor should it take a video to explain it to the audience after the show airs. and even left unsaid in this video is the equation of the embodiment of Time equalling Death, and the Universe, and all its life, is Space - but the Doctor is literally the embodiment of Space because she can't die, only regenerate. her moniker of "the timeless child" is literally saying she's without Death. I find that all an extremely compelling idea for a story! it should have had the sole focus of this series and the last, instead of trying to put in so many secondary plots - with characters we never fully explore, or who are there just to service the plot - within a shortened series. where are the script editors? was Chibnall getting notes from them to trim down how much plot was getting shoved in this shortened series and he was just ignoring them? and leaving any sort of personal character moments until a couple of scenes in the last episode really does the characters - and the actors - a disservice. honestly, the stuff between 13 and Yaz in the final episode was THE MOST we've ever gotten for interpersonal development over all 3 series, and also THE BEST part of the episode. just imagine what could have been if we had those interpersonal relationships explored over 30 episodes instead of like 2 episodes! I found the series was generally enjoyable to watch, and had a good time with all of the fast-paced action, but man, the downside to that is that the story never has room to grow and deepen, let alone the characters getting the kind of focus they deserve.

[@davidlowe8597]

I found the ending of this series to be very lazy writing

[@StealthyGamerGirl2020]

Nit talked about in twitter before this video?! You obviously weren't looking u. The right places. It was all over the place lol

[@Raven-Woods]

@@anon5263 now this is a curious reply. How would you explain Broadchurch, then? It’s not my cup of tea, as I don’t like police procedurals, but it has decent and consistent characterization and storytelling, even if a lot of the resolution is left for the final episodes of each series. And are you implying that Chris Chibnall was a scab during a union strike? If so, please provide details as I have never seen that mentioned, and it looks like what he was working on in 2008-9 was all in the UK, not the US where the WGA strike was happening. Did I miss something and the WGGB went out in sympathy?

[@AlexanderSonnet]

Chris Chibnall could not write a shopping list let alone a doctor who script

[@Raven-Woods]

@@anon5263 see, and that makes me curious about what the difference is between his work on Broadchurch and on Doctor Who, because it’s a pretty dramatic change over a relatively short period of time, and with back to back projects. Was it that there were different script editors (though Sam Hoyle came along from Broadchurch to DW for series 11)? Was there more compressed time in which to plan and execute the script writing and editing portions of the process before it went into filming? Were there directives from above his level as to how the show’s story should be structured? Did he just decide to focus so much more on plot than character for some reason? That’s the sort of questions I have about this whole thing. He’s obviously capable of writing characters and coherent stories, so what made the difference here?

[@smallpixl]

I think it could have been slightly better written, especially the last story

[@TheValeyard92]

Eey! 😄

[@adamfreddo5703]

See what you did there.

[@TheScarletKing01]

I find it funny how he had the nerve to criticize Trial of a timelord when it was way better than anything he has ever or could ever produce lmao

[@ThePsycoDolphin]

"Slightly!" XD XD In the same way Japan could have "slightly" planned their war strategy better pre Pearl Harbour.

[@the5thdoctor]

Time flight was better than this crap.

[@theginganaut9254]

This series was the equivalent of my father taking an age to tell a simple story, getting side tracked by other things and then only at the last moment wrap it all up. 🤣 Having said that still better than the last few series before, glad Jodie is getting a chance to actually be the Doctor! ♥️

[@gilgameshkingofheroes1319]

I can’t wait till she gone and is no longer the doctor so we can all forget about the 13th and pretend like it didn’t happen

[@braddsfx8921]

@@gilgameshkingofheroes1319 I loved flux and the 13th doctor, she will forever be the doctor and the timeless child act will go on through out the rest of this shows life cycle, there’s no forgetting it.

[@connorchisholm4418]

Ok I think that's a little harsh not incorrect but still I enjoyed it and yea just a little harsh

[@gilgameshkingofheroes1319]

@@connorchisholm4418 trust me that was me being nice

[@gilgameshkingofheroes1319]

@@connorchisholm4418 you would not like to see what happens when I’m not nice

[@ux92]

It could've been a lot better. It could've been slightly better written, specially the last episode. Not only that but it was also very cliché, very routine running up and down corridors from silly monsters.

[@mattyp72]

😆

[@billyballew7884]

Best comment in all of time and space.

[@TravellerDalek]

I agreed with you until you said it was cliche... it really wasn't how you describe it there. I mean, you did actually see it didn't you? the whole thing was a total headfuck, so far away from doctor who cliches that I would have preferred them to use a few of the old chesnuts just to reign it in a bit!

[@mattyp72]

@@TravellerDalek I'm just going to leave this here... kzbin.info/www/bejne/sITYqXmBa62brNk Chris Chibnall speaking about Doctor Who in 1986

[@ThePsycoDolphin]

I nearly ripped my spleen laughing from this

[@WaitWhatWho]

"the emotional fallout from discovering what had happened to her" but Chris, WE STILL DON'T KNOW WHAT HAPPENED TO HER. throughout the whole season did she actually learn ANYTHING about herself or The Division? What, that the dog guy was her companion? That's it?! Edit: also, if The Flux was created to erase The Doctor, why does Tecteun want to re-recruit The Doctor to Division and bring her to the next universe? Edit 2: "Swarm and Azure I think were sworn enemies of the doctor" wait so even YOU don't know?!

[@michaelmansfield3728]

Lmfaooooooooo I know right, he KEEPS repeating that yet only HE knows what is supposed to have had happened to her, how the hell are we supposed to relate at all if we have no idea what he's talking about.

[@lefoudegaming1233]

Chris mean "she re-became a child", i think...

[@Thomas_of_the_forest]

Yeah, the ending of her throwing away the watch could have been great if we even got a glimpse of her bad memories. So far, nothing that has been shown from the Division era has been shown to be so bad for her. Only what Karvinista has said. If we'd seen a bit of what happened with Karvinista, it could have really been effective. There's no motivation really, as is.

[@MisterRadio-zy1sj]

I like how Chibnall tries to explain the Doctor’s decision to not open the watch as being the end of her arc throughout this series. The decision that it doesn’t matter who she was but rather it’s more important to be happy with who she is now was the conclusion she already came to at the end of series 12. What exactly was the arc in series 13?

[@theodorestevens7927]

"Identity and Adoption and stuff"

[@RyuuRush]

"Woman doctor go brrrrr"

[@KadeSmash]

I think it's very clear. It doesn't matter who you used to be. Where you come from, whether you know where or not, doesnt always matter. It's who you make yourself into that matters.

[@BestBFam]

I think that realizing how hurt Karvanista was was a real eye opener for her. Imagine getting that many memories back at once and knowing all the people you may have let down. All the dark things she might have done for Tecteun. I imagine she decided it was better not to know at that point. Plus I think Chris was leaving it as a little gift for future show runners to play with if they want to.

[@aprildawnsunshine4326]

Given how short this series was, I think the doctor, and really many of the characters, didn't have the big story arc and personal growth we've gotten used to. Flux is just one chapter and in this one she dealt with the effects of what had been done to her as a child, what her "mother" did. Went through not only meeting Tecteun face to face but lost her before any reckoning was possible, and in the end decided she's not ready yet to know what happened before, and who she'd been, but knowing she'd have to face it eventually entrusted it to her most trusted and consistent loved one, asking her to keep it until the time comes it's needed. It's not as involved as previous stories but it's still a story.

[@TheJaviferrol]

Episodes 1-5 "I WANT TO KNOW WHO I WAS" Episode 6: AAAAAAH, I´M TEESING YOU!!!!!!

[@MatthewVlossak]

The editing and pacing has been a constant problem with this era. This continues into the season finale which felt like 2 episodes smashed into one.

[@JEEEVANJOHN]

If it weren’t for covid, this series may have been more fluid in my opinion.

[@joelsytairo6338]

It felt like 3 episodes smashed in one. The doctor literally split up into three. Chibnal missed the chance to have One of the three 13s die and regenerate into the fugitive. Doubt the fugitive will ever be explained

[@williamjohnson928]

​@@JEEEVANJOHN I feel like blaming covid is not good. If you don't have the time to tell the story, start editing. JMS had to cram 2 seasons worth of story into one and he did it rather well. That was wrapping up 4 seasons worth of plot lines and stories. Here, Mr. Chibnall hurt himself through his adding stuff that seems useless and never wrapping it up. He knew that he had only 6 episodes, so edit the story, focus on the most important parts and leave out extraneous characters. Did we need Diane? Heck did we truly need Dan? Did we need two villains, could just one have been as successful, or could they have been stuck together and gotten out some other way? Could we have had the Grand Serpent release them perhaps? I'm not a writer, but those are just a couple of things that could have reduced wasted time. The Guru on the mountain... funny lines... was it necessary or was it padding. Did Dan really need to be told to fetch his dog? Ha ha funny.

[@ReversedPolarity]

For the hardcore Who fan, I think the pacing won't be a big issue. I criticized it, but we need to take into account that there were severe edit cuts this season, so having a season was better than none all things considered since we were supposed to get a full season. But for newcomers, series 11 will be mid-ground, with S12 being a bit like S7 in terms of scale and back lore - it's heavy but for those who don't know the Doctor, I think it's a well-measured journey. S13 has generally exceeded my expectations in practically everything, but it's very heavy for newcomers, as it could require lots of attention to detail and an open mindset. Even the most casual fans will have a tough time get all the pieces. But also take series like 4, 5 and 9 into account, that's when Doctor Who is not afraid to get really crazy and eccentric and tries to spew every single thing at the same time. Fans don't shy away of this kind of format, but give it to newcomers and casual viewers and some of them will be tired and confused from it quite quickly, especially if the human connection isn't there. Some of them may even find it cheesy by regular tv standards. But when pacing gets too mushy, it can be difficult for some to keep up (which Doctor Who is also known for when it's doing complex timey wimey stuff, but that's Doctor Who for you).

[@jimjiggles1474]

Flux was a good concept that was executed poorly. At least it was better than the last 2 series, but that was not exactly difficult.

[@TheJaviferrol]

The Flux was its own story arc; the problem is when the show had theyre shortest series to date, they got 3 series story arcs at the same time; Vinder-Grand Serpent-Sontarans, Swarm and Azure plus Tecteun releasing the Flux. All that at the same time in 6 episodes. All very messy

[@danieltrihard]

Bad concept that executed the show*

[@HappyLarry.]

who said it was a good concept?

[@HighFlyer96]

It's a good concept for it's own show. Chris should have created his own miniseries instead of dragging Doctor Who into that shitshow.

[@prydonianprofessor6257]

Its good to know Chibnall had clear reasons for her dropping the watch but little to none of that really came through in the dialogue which is what really counts.

[@BestBFam]

The look on her face after talking to Karvanista said it all for me. I think she realized that the Division/Tecteun serving Doctor might not be someone she wants to remember.

[@BestBFam]

Prydonian, Swarm and Azure's dialog with the Doctor also talks about how painful and destructive recovering so many memories might be.

[@kuntrapposto]

@@BestBFam yeah I got the vibe that she wants to know but doesn't want the memories

[@bjmorley]

I still want to know how many doctors were there before, and how the TARDIS was a police box.

[@sab1tus]

@@BestBFam the Doctor has already had such a problem with the Time War, and he successfuly got rid of it. Is it degradation back to "the man who forgets"?

[@QuackTeamJames]

It feels like this series either needed more episodes, or to not touch some of the plot threads. The doctor has the major victory over the Sontarans, and this doesn't leave much room to move when it comes to Swarm and Azure. If the Sontarans hadn't used the Grand Serpant to invade UNIT throughout history so Kate Stewart could reappear, introduced to the cast via Joseph Williamson's underground tunnels, perhaps the conclusion with Swarm and Azure would've been given more time and feel more satisfying. They were so good! I'm sad they've just been tricked and immediately destroyed without any more drama. Azure trying to explain her position and them torturing the doctor earlier in the episode work well. There's so many great ideas but I'm sad that one in particular didn't have a satisfying resolution.

[@sallyatticum]

Unfortunately, the pandemic got in the way. We are probably lucky we got a series at all. I, too, wish there were more Azure and Swarm. I wanted to know their backstory and exactly why they were imprisoned to begin with.

[@QuackTeamJames]

@@sallyatticum Yup, I'm certainly happy with what we got, especially seeing the angles done brilliantly!

[@QuackTeamJames]

@@TravellerDalek I'm not nearly as invested in those franchies unfortunatly, but it's true and prior doctor who finales like 'the end of the world' attempt to solve everything but fall flat in places (like torchwood having nothing much to do). That showrunner thing was weird though, but I more got the impression it was going to leak and they had to preempt that by releasing a press release rather than BBC heads responding to any form of backlash. Definitely not a whiner though, we got some pretty smashing moments in the season too~

[@StealthyGamerGirl2020]

As I remember there meant to be something like 8. They'd even been written. But lockdowns and the pandemic out paid to that and things had to be changed.

[@erubin100]

They were wasted just like the lone cyberman last season. Why des Chibnall create such neat villains only to immediately kill them off???

[@masterkyoogway3565]

Love how we got more info from this video than the actual show

[@Iionsong]

maybe don't blame the show for your inability to understand what happened???? a rewatch would've helped btw, there's been a lot of foreshadowing and teases

[@swirleybird]

@@Iionsong the show was a confusing mess that did very little to explain what was going on. It’s a completely fair criticism to blame the show for the majority of people not understanding what happened

[@Qarth56]

@@Iionsong You shouldn't have to watch something twice to understand what was going on.

[@MammothChats]

Thicc Oil I agree

[@Iionsong]

@@Qarth56 And I didn't lol because I actually paid attention? People are too used to the standalone episode style of DW. Flux was like literally any other show ever, I don't understand why people have complained every week saying "I don't understand". You're not exactly supposed to yet? Even now after Flux is over, 13's story isn't yet. Give it some time and then we'll talk about whether it made sense or not

[@railwaysparrow]

Chibnall knew Flux was such a confusing mess he would need to make a whole video explaining stuff that should have been obvious if he had down it right.

[@sallyatticum]

Sure, because he is the only writer or show runner in history to have done this.

[@sallyatticum]

@@LukasOfTheLight That's a matter of opinion. I stopped watching midway through Matt Smith's era until I decided I needed to watch just in cases it was important for the 50th.

[@LukasOfTheLight]

@Tom Meehan If they're bad, then Flux is practically a war crime. S9 is a masterpiece, quite possibly the most deep, consistently-themed, and beautifully-written run that Doctor Who has ever had, with it's two best lead actors, it's best director, it's best composer, and even containing it's best-ever episode and three-part finale. S6 and S3 are also strong. S2 and S7 are the mis-steps of their relative show-runners but they still bring a hell of a lot more to the table than this confused amateur fanfiction.

[@LukasOfTheLight]

@@sallyatticum Okay, you didn't watch the most-watched version of the show ever created, that's fine. The characterisation, theme, direction, score, editing, and most importantly writing and acting were all of a much higher level than this jumble of poor ideas. There's more concept, theme, uniqueness, and strong writing in The God Complex alone than there was in the entirety of this series, which managed to simultaneously mean nothing and also literally make no sense.

[@sallyatticum]

@@LukasOfTheLight Again, your opinion. If you didn't understand, that's your problem. I agree about the score, and to an extent, the acting. Other than that, I disagree. And I didn't say I didn't watch. I stopped watching but went back and caught up because of the upcoming 50th. I am not the only one that disliked that era. Again, opinions. And the editing and directing in this series was terrific, considering the limitations placed on them due to the pandemic.

[@Ellerz03]

The funniest thing is, you don’t find anything out about the doctors feelings on the flux until Wild Blue Yonder. An episode that came out 2 years later

[@Pinario]

An episode that came out 2 years later and by a different writer/showrunner 😅

[@JuiceMyRandomness]

I loved this era. It was so stylized, cinematic, beautifully acted and this (my fav Doctor) brought warmth and light to a pretty jaded character ❤

[@cunningsmile4166]

"Doctor. The word for healer and Wiseman throughout the universe. We get that word from you, you know." - River Song

[@WhiteWolf496]

Chibnall directly telling people what its about is more coherent than the actual show 🥲

[@SamUnreel]

Exactly. This arc was anticlimactic.

[@Phantom19913]

Actually it’s pretty coherent. If you actually watch it, it lays out that the flux is an universe ending threat the ravagers are dangerous. The whole cracks in the universe storyline from series 5 gave you even less to go with.

[@GOONER.1886]

@@Phantom19913 yea and you understood it at the end. This spent the entire series trying to explain it. Key word trying

[@Gxbbzee]

@@Phantom19913 The cracks were meant to be incredibly vague, whereas these were the main villains that nobody (even now) really knows their deal. The Flux was also incredibly inconsistent. Everything ended in a way that still leaves way more questions than it should.

[@Phantom19913]

@@Gxbbzee but the ravagers weren’t the main enemy. It wouldn’t be the first time television hyped up an antagonist only to be like oh it was someone else all along. How was the Flux inconsistent btw. They never actually explained in the cracks in the universe how the silence managed to actually hack the tardis. Or how they could keep the doctor out of the universe. Plus the main villain was the division they engineered the flux because the doctor had disrupted their control.

[@possiblyme2393]

I think it would be better to have more of the Division in S11 and S12, to actually see the big impact of The Division on the universe and how The Doctor actually disturb the work of it. For example: S11 The Ghost Monument - episode, where we find about something called 'The Division' and where we would learn that the planet was devastated bcs The Division needed a big Petri dish. It Takes You Away - episode, where we can see somebody from The Division helping to The Doctor to ''close'' the antizone. S12 Praxeus - episode, where The Division created the the praxeus to destroy the beloved planet of The Doctor. Also the episode, where we find out that the headmaster of The Division wants to destroy The Doctor. Can You Hear Me? - episode, where we find out that Zellin and Rakaya were locked by The Division for some reason we don't know.

[@Im_Evie_Now]

You know it’s bad when KZbin comments suggest things way better than what we actually got

[@klop4228]

In only Division had been concieved of by Season 11 lol

[@Im_Evie_Now]

@@provisionalhypothesis and it’s even easier when the guy who wrote it is a hack who should’ve never gotten the job.

[@CobraShadowz]

Definitely needed at least 8 episodes to wrap it up especially when Chibnall added loads of extra story threads like Bel and Vinder, and the Grand Serpent which ended up being completely pointless

[@Izanami037]

Unfortunately those extra episodes had to be cut due to Covid

[@chickentoast2655]

@@Izanami037 No, they already knew they weren't gonna be able to make a full-length series, so they made a 6 episode story. It's not like there was originally more that were all cut

[@ThePsycoDolphin]

@@Izanami037 then he should have cancelled the show for this year, or come up with a plot more manageable for a story this short. He's a creative idiot who fails in everything he does. He's the writing equivalent of diphtheria.

[@Izanami037]

@@ThePsycoDolphin That’s not how that works. BBC decides those things.

[@WalrusisintheMatrix]

Remember when people said Moffat era stories were convoluted

[@joelsytairo6338]

Lol those were the days

[@EthOS0706IsVeryGoodAtGD]

The argument "you should've paid more attention" really doesn't work, because if the show made me invested enough, I would be.

[@WalrusisintheMatrix]

"The Doctor kinda forgot about restoring the universe"

[@SceneSurgeSnippets]

I understood that Dumb and Dumber reference :D

[@tonystark106422]

Can't wait for Jodie's stories to start at Big Finish (someday, God willing).

[@troar2172]

Yeah, I think she could be great with good writers, which Big Finish has.

[@TheWillHadcroft]

Tecteun is "The ultimate scientist with no regard for the moral context of what she's doing." Fascinating. That was the exact definition of The Rani (Kate O'Mara), by her creators, the writers Pip & Jane Baker in the mid-1980s. I wonder if Mr Chibnall has subconsciously recalled that and reimagined it. Or ... was Tecteun the Rani? Hmm ...

[@einezcrespo2107]

Nah, he just made his own Rani. The real Rani doesn't give a crap about people. In The Mark of The Rani, she smugly tells The Doctor trees live longer than humans after Luke stepped on her booby trap and was transformed into a tree.

[@aloysiuswhiteboat2934]

I'm glad I'm not the only one who thought this. Bro, you're describing the Rani, a villain from the period of the show you famously hate. It's so funny how much his era fails in the same places that 80s Who did. His words must taste good, because he seems to love eating them.

[@rileymartin2202]

The cgi in this was actually really good with the flux tearing apart the planets and it all looked really beautiful to see broken galaxies

[@MammothChats]

Agreed!

[@NotAgnor]

@@LukasOfTheLight overall it’s exceptional

[@NotAgnor]

@@LukasOfTheLight the angels were the best part about the CGI, Once, Upon Time looked repulsive but other than that a masterpiece. Particularly the Flux shots and turning into an angel

[@NotAgnor]

@@LukasOfTheLight idk wym but it’s gone down as one of the best CGI moments in Doctor Who, rewatch the ep 4 cliffhanger and the flux shots in the first ep

[@NotAgnor]

@@LukasOfTheLight exactly

[@michaelmansfield3728]

And not sure why Jodie is talking about Swarm and Azure meeting what to them is the ultimate humiliation because Azure seemed pretty excited to die :') I swear she had a big cheesy smile and raised her arms pleased to 'ascend' or whatever lmao. Honestly Azure and Swarm were the only redeeming qualities of this entire season and they just literally got Thanos'd lol.

[@Croftice1]

Azure seemed to welcome death, but Swwarm with his "NO!" less so. And Time (disguised as Swarm) just told them, that they failed big time. I mean that's pretty discouraging, coupled with the shortly followed demise.

[@not_enough_space]

Hearing Chibnall talk about the Doctor's emotional journey this series is strange... Because he's telling us that it's the same as her emotional journey in the previous series. The exact same arc with the exact same points. The same decisions over the same issues. The whole thing seemed pointless. Now it doesn't just _seem_ pointless, it's official.

[@GyitMulhaneski-GloriousYears]

One thing you can say about the BBC foisting this on us for years is at least it's invented a new dimension to the viewing experience, which is basically like that of GALLOWS HUMOUR, certainly having read some Comments here and seen the Reviews. It's a new experience as a seasoned viewer. 2017+ WHO is more like turning up to watch a football team dropping down the leagues, staffed entirely by 12 year olds and the Elderly. Only worse

[@unfriendlyreminder5980]

The doctor has no emotional journey, but whenever one of her extremely boring companions tried opening up to her she showed that she had as much emotional depth as a low-functioning autistic recluse. I remember when Graham opened up to her about his fear of getting cancer again, and she just said something like "I'm supposed to say something reassuring, aren't I? I'm going to go over to the controls now and think about what I should have said hehhehhh" IT WAS SO AWKWARD! God, I hate Chibnall's awful writing so much!

[@jonathansim7148]

“It’s really important I think in any era of Doctor Who for the Doctor to have an emotional journey, to have an arc and to start one place and go on a voyage of discovery through their time on the show and I always knew this was going to be the arc for Jodi’s Doctor and that the third series would be about exploring the fallout from the information she got at the end of the Timeless Children.” - Chris Chibnall Is that why the Doctor seemed so flat and two dimensional in the previous two series; because she didn’t have a planned arc and wasn’t on an emotional journey or voyage of discovery? Having an arc shows a character growing over a series. Squeezing almost all of that arc into one series of six episodes (at the expense of the previous two series) smacks of poor planning, direction, and continuity.

[@GoblinSing]

"We know the presentation of this series isn't going to be good, so lets make it *as messy as possible* so that people can't even see what's going on! We can just follow it up with a video where I personally explain the plot in a way that makes it sound more coherent than how it was actually presented in the show, and people will think it was expertly crafted." Yeah. Right. *I see you.*

[@enigmabodylanguage]

100%

[@profblack]

Honestly I still don’t really understand what the villain’s motivation was. It seems to just boil down to the fact that they wanted revenge for the Doctor defeating them in the past and the motivation for them doing things in the past is just because they’re evil.

[@LexiPopuli]

isn't that the motivation for a lot of the monster of the week?

[@profblack]

@@LexiPopuli In a lot of cases sure but these aren’t monsters of the week. They were the main antagonists in a six part series and their origins and mystery was dragged out and hinted at all throughout. Just to turn out to be pretty one dimensional.

[@benwilson5031]

I'm sorry, not trying to be rude, but did you miss the whole thing about Time being trapped and controlled by the Mauri and them trying to release Time because they worshipped it as a god figure?

[@LexiPopuli]

@@benwilson5031 Yes - I was being force fed CG- eye-candy!

[@benwilson5031]

@@LexiPopuli haha, fair

[@daniledrake4137]

My friend Bill once said complicated doesn't automatically mean well written and then you make a 15min and 47sec video file to then explain it sort tells you something you can't admit to.

[@GyitMulhaneski-GloriousYears]

Remember the garbage explanations and self jusrifications he used to give the audience about his scripts for Torchwood on BBC3? 15 years he's been getting away with this.🙇

[@daniledrake4137]

Oh how the tides have changed, in 1989 the BBC was intent of killing off Doctor Who and it was the fans trying anything to keep it alive, original adventure books and audio plays fitting into the cannon and not destroying it. Now we are in a new century where the fans have all but destroyed Doctor Who and its the BBC who are trying to save it.

[@GyitMulhaneski-GloriousYears]

@@daniledrake4137 That point is actually even more poignant than you might think. If you remember, Andrew Cartmel heavily politicised the scripts at the time (with what people saw as 'Left Wing' [(sic) actually the same moral dimension as normal mostly, but with 1980s rhetoric introduced with s nod and a wink] polemic and in-jokes, and the BBC got very scared at the time and this pretty much hastened their decision on the show apart from not wanting to make it in-house with their own money at TVC anymore). Now we have the program - this delicate, previously well crafted program - being misused as an ideological battering ram (which of course it's not capable of being) by a small cabal of the Plastic Left like Piers Wenger (grifters in other words) and now the show is having to be taken out of BBC Studios hands potentially by Russell T and money from Sony. Reminds me of what Terry Dicks used to joke about history repeating itself - never in such a perverted and ironic way as this!

[@MarkMichalowski]

A perfect example of Chibs' "Tell - don't show!" ethos: a video in which we are TOLD all the things that we should have been SHOWN.

[@padparadscha9921]

Ok but what about the entire universe… everything except earth was completely destroyed by the final flux event so what happens now. There was no mention of the universe resetting after swarm and azure were beaten so to our knowledge there is nothing else but apparently the dalek are back next episode so what’s going on?

[@sallyatticum]

We still have some specials to go...

[@jvictor001]

I'm pretty sure the doctor will try to fix this during the specials If Chibnall forgot about it,damn,that will be the last nail on the coffin for me lmao

[@SOLmeMAYBE]

Based on the “map” thing on Division, there were still some galaxies left in this universe, but what about those which were devoured by the Flux? What happened to them? Older series finales have tried to reverse what happened in the universe, and it was even hypothesised by the Doctor to the Ood (saying something along the lines of everything that was compressed can be decompressed). I doubt the Doctor wouldn’t have tried to reverse the effects of the Flux before feeding it to the Passenger. Loved the series and Thirteen, but there were quite some threads which weren’t tied up at all!

[@klop4228]

Honestly, this is the kind of thing that could be incredible to see the consequences of in future (and should have been acknowledged in the finale), but we'll see if Chibnall decides to in the specials next year. If not, maybe RTD will try and use it for his own plot at some point.

[@boilderrik893]

9:10 "The doctor is being tortured". Funny how in the show that mostly gets shown as Jodie looking like she needs a nap. I think she's a very capable actress, so it seems like the failure here lies with the writing and direction. Go figure.

[@HappyAppart]

I always took for granted how giddy and excited both RTD and Moffat get when talking about all things Doctor Who! I can't get past one minute of this.

[@bmvthemoviefanatic7282]

Flux was definitely Jodie's best series. Honestly, I think the Division storyline had/has a lot of potentials, but PERSONALLY the Timeless Childness of it all I'm not the biggest fan of. The Doc, in the past, being a part of black-ops organizations of Time Lords: Awesome! The Doc not even being Gallifreyan, is the source of regeneration and has had BILLIONS of lives: Not as awesome.

[@arthurheuer]

Understandable. I felt that sinking feeling when I saw the episode that revealed the Doctor's had more regenerations than they could remember. On the bright side, it does put the Doctor in the spotlight and give them canonical justification for being the most "important" character in the whoniverse. It also opens the door to the Doctor finding out which universe they came from and why they were sent through the wormhole.

[@StJimmy89]

The Doctor really didnt need to be put on even more of a pedestal.

[@JonS]

@@StJimmy89 yes. It was enough that she was a time traveling alien. What next? “You gave her billions of regenerations. Well I trump your billions with trillions!” “Oh, yeah! Well you have trillions of regenerations. I’ll write a script where it’s revealed that The Doctor is God!”

[@Kibouo]

5:22 is like a conversation between a narcissistic abusive parent and her daughter

[@adamstewart9052]

I'm pretty sure that's what's supposed to be depicted since Tecteun did force her to regenerate several times as her child to unlock the secret of regeneration.

[@enigmabodylanguage]

So many plot holes with no real coherent or interesting story. Really hope this is retconned when Davies returns. The Doctor was never supposed to be the center of a Hollywood Blockbuster story.

[@samvodopianov9399]

Exactly. Just a person with a time machine not some immortal superhero. An immortal doctor removes any real conflict.

[@ShamrockParticle]

it's not like his era didn't have plot holes or stories lacking coherence too. His era has lots of blockbuster moments too with the Doctor.

[@samvodopianov9399]

@@ShamrockParticle The dialogue wasnt boring. The audience wasnt spoon fed the plot.

[@SOLmeMAYBE]

I just wished they’d given what Chibnall said near the end about identity to Thirteen as a proper speech for Flux. We only got to really extrapolate the reason for the action regarding the fob, but it would have been a great speech for Jodie (because I don’t think she has a defining Doctor speech yet?) because she’s great. Loved it nonetheless!

[@RyanJZacher]

What about her speech on Love in Demons of the Punjab? As someone who has yet to feel a connection with anyone on that level, to be so unconditionally loved that vows are spoken to galvanise it for all time, it certainly inspires hope (in this mind, at the very least) that no-one is beyond, or undeserving of, such a special bond.

[@ghostlypresence5362]

Timeless Child concept needs retconning out of existence

[@bowlerorfezfilmreviews2995]

This is utterly hilarious. I've never seen anyone so bored with explaining his own plot. I zoned in and out of this massively confused and dull "explanation" of the Flux travesty. The perfect cure for insomnia. Well done, BBC.

[@GyitMulhaneski-GloriousYears]

New slogan on BBC License Fee - YOU WILL WATCH NOTHING AND BE HAPPY.

[@Inklers]

I couldn't stomach season 11. I'm just now after all these years getting to season 12. All I want is people who have an actual personality in the show again. People who grow with the show as it progresses.

[@Chiggins_]

@@provisionalhypothesis "after all this years" it only came out last year

[@Inklers]

@@Chiggins_ Long story short I haven't watched in a long time. I stopped with the old guy and his refusal. I loved the show, but with her as the doctor she's been immensly missing something that makes her "THE doctor". I believe its bad companions that make everything feel more garbage. Like having one at a time or two there was some banter and it made the characters enjoyable, but this? It's lacking in so many ways. There is no more dona noble or the fire redhead and her sometimes probably manfriend who's scared and looks like he should be. The characters are drab which make her drab and its unfair to her she has so many people around. Suggesting what the REAL doctor would have already known and she'd have been at least 20 steps ahead. The doctor I know uses companions to not end the race of things. She acts like she's a fresh born child and says others have good ideas when in dangerous situations? It's just not THE DOCTOR anymore its those people who act fully like humans. Even her.

[@SceneSurgeSnippets]

@@Inklers You're not wrong. Doctor Who is utter garbage right now. Thankfully RTD is coming back as showrunner if you haven't heard already

[@Inklers]

@@SceneSurgeSnippets Oh. Then I'm stoked about every single season after this. You are the news bringer of the heavens man. I hope and assume this means the things that feel like they're missing will get resolved. You're the first person here to make me feel sane my guy. Much love.

[@SceneSurgeSnippets]

@@Inklers It's important to remember that this is the comments section of a Doctor Who video so it's likely the comments here will overwhelmingly be from fans of the current era, so it can feel like our general opinions that are shared my the majority of people who used to watch Doctor Who but don't any more are being drowned out here. Chibnall is an awful writer. His era is utterly boring and a hot steaming pile of garbage. Nothing is coherently written, all the characters feel like they're just reading lines, they don't feel like real people and the acting for the most part is subpar. That being said, we're getting 3 specials from Jodie and Chibnall in 2022 where she'll regenerate in the last of those specials, and Russell T Davies will be taking over the show for the 60th anniversary special in 2023 and series beyond

[@robert.wigley]

All that needs to be said can be summed up in one short sentence. Thank goodness RTD is returning!

[@narendrajade5086]

Yes man that's true

[@lexecomplexe4083]

Him forcing Chibnall to make 13 regenerate into David Tennant AGAIN shows just how awful his second era is going to be. RTD ran out of ideas over a decade ago. His second era isn't going to be any better than Chibnal's, possibly even worse

[@vasp99]

The Rani : ' My icy cold amoral nature and vast scientific knowledge make me the supreme evil . " Tecteune : " Hold my beer ."

[@frowningtap]

So it takes 15 minutes to explain a 6 part series, good work Chibs

[@hallyhop]

Wow. Really quite unbelievable that this behind-the-scenes makes more sense than the actual storyline. I mean, don't get me wrong this is the best series Chibnal has had in dw in my opinion. But still, there's so much confusion and lack of coherency in the arc that he explains in this bts. Like if he understands the story so well why didn't he help the audience to while we were watching it? I'm very confused that he can see his vision so well but so poorly piece it together. I enjoyed flux, but it still left me wanting at the end. There's so much unexplained and way too much jam-packed in. It just doesn't get a satisfying resolution. There's no seamless logic in it, just more questions. Just my opinion, obviously, but wow.

[@Capn-EXE]

Watching this is reminding me of the behind the scenes videos from Season 8 of Game of Thrones.

[@Drp_br_]

You know Chibnall can’t get the breakdown of the flux himself by writing that he had to talk about it himself

[@GyitMulhaneski-GloriousYears]

He's Fluxed it up completely (everybody else has punned this title and I've been holding on for weeks aaaaahhhhhh).

[@Tharries]

Don't you think he looks tired?

[@Irrev77]

An extremely bold story with astonishing visuals that sadly fell flat by the end. After rewatching, it starts out extremely good and slowly becomes more complex while not entirely explaining every aspect of the plot. I imagine some threads will come back in the specials but it’s slightly disappointing that characters like Grand Serpent or Vinder and Bell ended up being completely pointless to the story by the finale.

[@BrandonJuhl]

Here are some issues that this video did not address that I would like the BBC and Chris Chibnall to addess: if Lupari are species-bonded to humans and show up to protect their humans from imminent extinction, why haven't they ever shown up before 2021 to protect humankind when it was in danger of extinction (as it has been in many previous episodes)? Also, if their ships completely surrounded Earth to protect it from the Flux, why was there daylight anywhere on Earth at that time? Their ships would have blocked out all sunlight, including the light reflected off the moon, and blocked out all starlight, so it would have been a pitch-black night everywhere on Earth for as long as their ships surrounded Earth, and there were clearly scenes taking place in full daylight while the Lupari ships were still enclosing the Earth's atmosphere. Also, even if the Lupari protected Earth itself, the Flux would have destroyed all the other planets and moons in our solar system and it would have destroyed our sun, so our entire solar system would have been destroyed anyway; without an intact sun to orbit, Earth would still be doomed. It would have made much more sense for the Lupari to have created a solid wall with their ships (like they eventually did in episode 6 of "Flux") at the edge of our solar system in order to protect all of the humans on Earth. Also, how did the Sontaran interference in the Crimean War get undone, resetting the history back to what it was originally? These are just a few of the apparent plot holes and inconsistencies in "Flux" that this video does not address.

[@Koutouhara]

Buy why does the Doctor need emotional arcs..? Remember when the Doctor would just show up in an era, do some silly but really cool stuff to save people, maybe show the companions some history, then leave for the next adventure? Its too complicated for its own good if it can't clearly be followed..

[@SeanS102]

this series of Doctor Who does not have anything resembling a kind of cohesive emotional arc.

[@ReversedPolarity]

I love how Jodie and Chris explain the nuances to the series so clearly and eloquently. That fob watch is really a "be careful what you wish for" kind of thing. A very interesting conclusion as it makes you so tempted to look into it because it's so accessible now. It's right at our fingertips and opens up so many countless possibilities at the same time. It's spine tingling but in a very good way.

[@ReversedPolarity]

@@anon5263 Except that's the sole purpose of a breakdown, they already wrote it and acted it. A breakdown is an extra to break down elements that made the development, in this case it's writing but they usually throw in other aspects of production. Very common in movies, but did you know it's not the first time in Doctor Who either? Surprising right? We've been getting similar stuff since 2005 and it's the only time you actually see the team speaking about this stuff in action and their thoughts.

[@ReversedPolarity]

@@anon5263 Me? Condescending? Oh, I wouldn't know anything about that. I'm neither a "con" nor "descending", so I find it a bit hard to be both at the same time. Do you mean the entire point of the breakdown is they didn't act and write well? I don't see where you got that in the breakdown. The only thing I saw is that they explained the story with their personal thoughts, which is the point of a breakdown.

[@ReversedPolarity]

@@anon5263 Nope, I just thought the line was a bit daft and cheap. I like to keep the best ones in stock, you know (and no, I'm still not a con for doing it, I just didn't see a reason to go full deluxe... seems a bit too intimate). I'm not talking about the breakdown or a double sized bed for sale btw. Besides, it would be very presumptuous of me to compare that with the work of a professional who actually works in the writing field. I didn't know you had his work in such high regard. Don't get me wrong, I agree with you, the script had some really good twists and cliffhangers. The Brigadier scene has some typos, but nothing really big to worry about tbh.

[@hgwells1899]

Yes, it's actually a smart move to put the entire Timeless shenanigans into a single object - one we already associate with both time and Tme Lord identity - and to have that physically be the mystery box which the Doctor and future showrunners can choose to either pick up or ignore

[@ReversedPolarity]

​@@anon5263 To be honest with you, I didn't know if I was reiterating your adoration of Chibnall's scripts a bit too much. I just didn't know you found them that clever. I'm glad we found consensus after all. And you're welcome, I'm no professional writer, but I think even the cheapest and most daft of my lines are quite good. The low end is a bit rough around the edges but gets the job done. Don't worry, I made you a nice deal, it's not deluxe nor first-hand but I got you a good discount.

[@jvictor001]

Guys,stop throwing salt in the wound please. Chibnall,you had 5 years,3 seasons and you did way less than you said in this video. Your ideas are probably nice but the execution is terrible. We have just 3 episodes left,let's just move on. This kind of stuff only makes Jodie and the show look bad,c'mon. Don't explain it now,you had/have 9 episodes to do it,and you didn't. I've been supportive of this era but enough is enough.

[@potterpenguin7285]

I don't get it tho. People always complain about Chibnall being too descriptive and explaining with his dialogue and stories. But if for once, you are asked to think for yourself and draw the connections, you criticise exactly that. So they upload a video explaining it and now you even complain about that. What do you actually want? Just asking, I don't mean to offend anyone.

[@jvictor001]

@@potterpenguin7285 the problem isn't even that I have to draw conclusions,I did that. I get it,the doctor didn't want to open the fob watch,but I also get the "why have we gone through all of this then?" crowd. And then for Chibnall to come here and explain all this stuff,it's embarrassing for the show and for him as a writer. Idk...besides,this kind of stuff only draws more hate for this era,and we already have enough of negativity. Like,yeah,Flux is over,we can watch,have our opinions and interpretations and just move on. We only have 3 episodes left with Chibs as the showrunner.

[@potterpenguin7285]

@@jvictor001 I stil don't get how a writer describing his thought process is embarrassing. It's what literally every other showrunner has done before. That is kinda the whole point of a behind-the-scenes. Anyways, have a nice day

[@alyssagorski7538]

They don’t mention it in this video but I’m so glad that the Doctor and Yaz were able to have a touching reunion. Those kinds of moments are what solidify the show overall- how these kinds of things affect the Doctor on a deeper level and how that in turn affects their companions. That’s always been what Doctor Who is about for me.

[@BestBFam]

Yes! ❤❤

[@aprildawnsunshine4326]

My favorite thing about the whole timeless child, division, Tecteun storyline is that we discover the doctors rescuer/savior/mother is a horrible person who seems to lack any empathy at all. She's the type of mother we pretend doesn't exist, torturing her child and choosing to try to destroy her rather than allow her to be herself. Even the fob watch, the lost memories you're not sure you want back, that's every survivor of childhood trauma. As a child of that type of mother I really appreciate this. Especially given how many of us children of broken mothers end up feeling like we have to save everyone else. We want the bad actors to change and be better, because we want our mothers to do so. We're willing to forgive and constantly giving second chances, but we'll do anything to prevent harm. We are the Doctor, and it's so wonderful to see she's us as well 💖

[@alicethetransdalek7333]

I wish this series had lasted at least 4 more episodes so that it could have time to actually deal with all of its plot threads in a satisfying way

[@rlacksgh9673]

@@anon5263 It's essentially a paradox. On the one hand you want the stories better explained, characters fleshed out, and plotholes fixed, which could be solved with more episodes. But Chibnall is more likely to add more confusing plotlines and unneccessary details leading to even more convoluted finale.

[@davidfraser6083]

@@anon5263 hahaha

[@davidfraser6083]

To make the plot threads more dealt with… remove sontarans and their episode despite being good for ep 2 and have more swarm and azure stuff and travelling the universe seeing it wrecked to find the stolen Yaz and Dan… have no vinder, bel, grand serpent, rewriting units history, Kate Stewart’s fanfare appearance. Then most of ep 2, 5 and 6 could focus on the flux swarm azure and time and the doctors memories, some character development for the 3 years spent apart and Jericho dying… the tunnels led to division and the characters all help to defeat the main threat… but we ask too much of chibnall

[@Jedi_Spartan]

Given how it was in part referenced as a conflict between space and time (at least through Swarm), couldn't the Flux just cause the entire timeline playout on locations hit by it like Wedding of River Song? Also since it's made up of Anti Matter, couldn't Omega have been involved?

[@ScoobyandShaggy5554]

Maybe centenary

[@ReversedPolarity]

It's possible, but very unlikely. The Wedding of River Song was a closed ripple event in Utah created by a fixed point that eventually was undone by the circumstances that created it: the destruction of the Doctor Teselecta. While the Flux didn't affect the Earth in space, it affected in time (at least in fragments of it), so some circumstances would've repeated themselves, or a more likely scenario, the events would've changed altogether. Here's a cool thing though: It could be made into multi-Doctor specials and spin-offs because Doctors and companions were technically intertwined with those events in time, even explaining how other Doctors averted similar events like the Sontarans, the Weeping Angels and others. That's probably a story for the expanded media. As for the Antimatter, we thought alike but Antimatter can be used by anyone (even humans), but since it was Division that controlled the Flux and Division was created on Gallifrey since before Omega discovered time travel, it's quite probable that Omega worked on the Flux before he was betrayed and imprisoned in an Antimatter universe. It has all the signs of Omega, but lets not forget he wasn't the only scientist on Gallifrey and he was mostly known for time travel and dimensions.

[@nessielou459]

Did the BBC not learn anything from Game of Thrones? If you have to provide “explainers” like this for your series, then you’ve probably done a terrible job. We should not need this! It should be clear from the product they made. Surely the point of writing a story is to tell a story, not to write a barely coherent and poorly structured jumble of events and plots with a 15 minute explainer posted cowardly to the publisher’s KZbin channel? I’ve always loved this show. I watched with mild anxiety to see how Chibs and Whittaker would continue the story. I watched every week as this show was not just poorly written, but actively ruined by arrogance and hubris. I can only continue hoping that it will ~eventually~ get better.

[@Left4Bread2]

This feels more like the pitch meeting over the series rather than what was shown on screen

[@TimothyCollins]

You know... you had 6 episodes to tel; a story. 6 hours. And you didn't tell the whole story. You left a lot of stuff hanging and didn't even finish the big story for the Dr. I mean, here's an example : Did the universe get fixed or is most of it still in ruins or destroyed? Pretty big deal, dontcha think? And as far as I can see... that wasn't answered. Another example - if the story was about the Doctor then great - FINISH that story. But you didn't. I get you have 3 more episodes and you probably plan on wrapping things up. But if that is the case then why was this a 6 episode story and not a 9 episode one?

[@RB-km4om]

I feel like this finale was character based. We got all the bad guys from Flux (Swarm, Azure, Grand Serpent and Sontarans) dealt with. Not the weeping angels, but I don't think they really can be defeated at all. All seperated characters met each other again and are now either dead or in a somewhat safe place. The Doctors whole journey was that she wants to know what happened in her past. She felt like she needed to know about it to understand who she is. She has the knowledge about that at arms length now, they are no longer hidden far away and out of reach. They are safe. But she has also learned that she doesn't have much time left as herself and decides to prioritize time with her friends for now, be more open. Perhaps she has learned that whatever is in that watch doesn't change who she is as a person. After all, the person Tekteun described the Doctor was sounded like the Doctor we know. The Doctor knows that what the Master said was true, she knows why her memories were taken away. She knows who took them away. I feel like we might revisit this topic in at least one of the specials. But for know it's like a deep breath after all that happened and a decision to let the past rest.

[@TimothyCollins]

@@RB-km4om The thing is... all of that is well and good and to an extent I agree. But when we finish a 6 hour story with questions like "Does the rest of the universe still exist?" I chalk it up to a story that has... let's call them "Flaws". One of the problems, as i see it anyway, is that the story felt rushed. It felt like the story needed to have 10 things happened at the same time. Which is an okay thing to do - especially in a series that gets an hour to tell a full story with setup and payoff. But... it had 6 episodes. It ought to have had time enough to breath to make it's story beats land. Yet Chibnall packed things so that nothing had a chance to land. it's a flaw I've seen throughout his time on the show - the ideas are exciting and I actually like them but he packs so many in at the same time not any single one lands well enough for me to care about it. Slow down. Let a story unfold. We are all smart enough to be able to handle a story that let's us... you know... "Care" one iota about the story.

[@RB-km4om]

@@TimothyCollins I can see where you are coming from. There were a lot of plotlines ;) I still liked Flux, but I guess it's just an agree to disagree thing :)

[@TimothyCollins]

@@RB-km4om Honestly I give it a 6.5-7 out of 10. So I didn't hate it. The problem is that this is supposed to be Chibnalls absolute forte - a highly serialized story with a lot of characters and moving parts. It should have been a 8.5-9 out of 10. And therein lies the problem - my score of 7 is damning it with faint praise.

[@momosworkshop]

This stripped down story doesn't sound so bad and could have worked for a 6-episode run. So WHY did they have to add all the other plot threads: Sontaran invasion, Bel + Vinder, The grand serpent, the weeping Angels, The Williamson the tunnels, and UNIT/Kate???? Chibnall has no restraint with writing, he just throws things in and doesn't seem to care about cohesion or efficient storytelling.

[@strumdynasty3050]

If Ryan George were to do a Pitch Meeting for Flux, he would be 65 years old by the time he finished writing the script.

[@lexecomplexe4083]

Id pay to see that. ...in 30 years when its done

[@mcope4902]

Chibnall: “….and issues around the fact I can’t write a good story…”

[@Robinx1985]

I mean The Doctor will probably open that fob watch in the final special which may in fact cause whatever personality the 14th Doctor will have.

[@CaralisTrevorum]

When the head writer makes such a total mess of the story that they need a quarter hour video trying to explain it and even the lead is trying to make sense of it (clearly having no clue what she's on about), you know you've failed. Bring on 2023 and RTD saving the show.

[@Westyorkshire526]

I used to work for a security company which installed all the temporary CCTV systems on the sets. So I was lucky enough to walk around all these sets when filming was not going on and nobody was there! All I can say it was brilliant and interesting to look at a good number of it was filmed in a old print works in a industrial estate in Cardiff that’s all I can say😅

[@MichaelO2000]

I think what people, mainly really hardcore fans who are more hateful over the new series, is that Chris Chibnall is not this evil master mind they think he is. He doesn’t hate doctor who. He’s not trying to destroy your favorite franchise. He’s a fan. He has passion. He has knowledge of the show and I think that’s shown through the fact he made an entire plot point out of an obscure scene in Brain of Morbius. But being a fan or having passion doesn’t make one a good writer. Is Chibnall a good writer regardless? That’s subjective imo I think my problem with Chibnall’s writing is that he cares about having the show focus on the doctor’s arc and not writing a lot of depth for the companions. I think it’s fine to have the show focus on the doctor and have an arc for the doctor, but then just have the doctor be the lone main character without any companions(especially not an entire group of them like in Series 11)

[@nironagendram9501]

You say that but the the timeless child thing had no interesting character moments for the doctor until she met tecteun. If you completely rewrite a chracter, it should rlly lead to more than one conversation

[@nironagendram9501]

@Tom Meehan I mean like them destroying gallifrey and the time war created so many great character moments. Sure it pissed off someone, but it was worth it

[@Oddf0x]

Its super cool to actually hear the thought processes. Helps me to enjoy where who is going by really sort of validating what and who we saw in flux. I enjoyed the series but can acknowledge the flaws and this commentary helps look past editing issues and really just enjoy the story for what it is. Might not be for everyone but definitely pleased me.

[@charliewarner787]

So hard to criticise so harshly cos he’s such a nice guy but man the quality of writing on show was very poor this series

[@GyitMulhaneski-GloriousYears]

He's nice when he's not destroying everybody's childhoods and national institutions....

[@mreboric8406]

What i have gotten from the female doctor episode's Visually and graphically the show has improved spectacularly...... that's it

[@andrewgrant6516]

You shouldn't have to watch a KZbin video to work out what you've just spent six weeks watching. That's just bad writing. Everything and the kitchen sink, convoluted, indecipherable nonsense, and not in an entertaining way.

[@xectilus5530]

There was a story?

[@emircan457]

It built up good but ended up worse than "meh".

[@themonado5030]

Your a baby

[@emircan457]

@@themonado5030 Learn grammar first.

[@joelsytairo6338]

That’s a sign of bad writing. It’s so easy to create mysteries and problems and make it SEEM like there’s a lot going on and that it’s all gonna pay off eventually. A child can do that. It takes skill to end the series satisfyingly and tie up/answer all the mysteries and questions you created.

[@mcyeddi]

I don't mind the timeless child stuff. I really don't. Its fine. Not something I'm exactly ecstatic about, but its not such a terrible thing that it ruins the show for me. However. It falls flat in one regard. The Fugitive Doctor. Very clearly she is supposed to be a life from before William Hartnell's Doctor. Which is when the tardis is stolen and takes the form of the police box after being stuck because of the broken chameleon circuit. So you're saying The Doctor was The Doctor before Hartnell's Doctor with the same tardis which was stuck as a Police Box before going to the time in which it would get stuck as a Police Box. Unless its not the same tardis in which case how is it in the shape of a police box? Just a coincidence? Don't like that. But if it IS the same tardis, and we know that the tardis and all tardis' have sentience as noted several times and even blatantly shown during 11s run, then why wouldn't the tardis ever show the doctor her past selves at any point in the regenerations since The Timeless Child would get that tardis? You could say "Well maybe because 'Division' somehow made it not be able to tell The Doctor" to which I say: That was never stated at all during these recent series and that means that they either just forgot to factor that in or just forgot that the tardis is a sentient being. Which they did before when they had The Doctor force a tardis to implode on itself to destroy Daleks... To quote someone very relevant to this all "It could have been a little better written."

[@dreamfaller6372]

We don't really know anything yet about how the doctor escaped from the division, how she ended up with Lee in Gloucester. Who knows, maybe she wiped all of the information from the Tardis' databank or something before becoming human. There is a fundamental issue with the timeline here bc the Ruth doctor meets 13 and clearly still remembers everything. So whatever happened that caused her to loose her memories, that's still in her future. It happened after she ran away from division. Did she voluntarily give up her memories? Did division capture her again and forcefully took them from her? Who knows. I find all of this quite exciting actually.😊

[@mcyeddi]

@@dreamfaller6372 Doesn't really explain the tardis being a police box before it would have gotten stuck as a police box in 1963. And like I said, yeah the explanation could be "They removed the memories from the tardis too" but they never say that. Which leads me to believe they completely forgot the tardis is a sentient being.

[@niebo3179]

Add to that the fact that Clara jumped to the Doctor's past lifes and the only face she didn't recognize was War Doctor. She didn't jump to the Doctor's memories, but to his previous life. So why the hell she didn't see Ruth and the other encarnations? Let me answer that: because Chibnall is an awful writer.

[@mcyeddi]

@@niebo3179 I mean, be fair here. Chibnal had no control when that was being done. That was while Steven Moffat was still showrunner and he would have no clue at the time that this is what Chibnal would want to do. While still a plot hole, it's not one born out of Chibnal's direct fault I'd say. But from the stand point of continuity, yes it is a mark against the timeless child stuff.

[@niebo3179]

@@mcyeddi Chibnall has to build his new stuff without contradicting the previous eras. So yes, it's his fault. You can't create the Timeless Child concept ignoring what other showrunners did before. That's bad writing.

[@adamfreddo5703]

Why do I get the feeling the Master is gonna take those memories.

[@Aria_Dragonneel]

Anyone else get a little lost halfway? Thats when i realized how much was going on and here i am, lost.

[@petrgraf5923]

Yup... this season needed breakdown. Since the actual episodes cleared and explained fairly little :D such a joke

[@friendlyotaku9525]

it's probably a good idea to pay attention. It's all about the details in the show. And I noticed some people tend to miss some key details.

[@GOONER.1886]

@@friendlyotaku9525 no you didn’t. It was poorly explained

[@friendlyotaku9525]

@@petrgraf5923 but all of this are very important. If you paid attention you would know that.

[@friendlyotaku9525]

@@GOONER.1886 no. you just have to pay attention. I paid attention and it very much explained a lot to me which makes it more satisfying!

[@GOONER.1886]

@@friendlyotaku9525 trust me pal I paid attention. I though about the episode the entire week and only some parts made sense. It’s not my inability to comprehend a show it’s the writing. And trying got explain it in a quantum physics timey wimey thing that resulted in time being a sentient being which the doctor apparently knew but has never been mention once in the previous series. And im not talking like pre Jodie. I mean not mentioned in the Jodie series

[@simonalane5358]

And so, in the present we have a Doctor as a godlike individual with godlike enemies created for the destruction of the universe with no thought, imagination, or respect for those in the past who wrote, directed and produced the show and valued it's continuity. Chibnall's indifference to 50 years of "Doctor Who" (the mysterious title of which seems to have been overlooked) has damaged it's past. Even Moffat drew back from calling it "The Greatest Doctor in the Universe" The Doctor was always a mystery confidently travelling through time and space.

[@MajestikMelville]

I’m kind of more annoyed by this video, this sounds like it could of been great, but it wasn’t executed very well. Half of this was not clear watching the series. “Doctor Who : Clusterflux “

[@stephan188]

Do you remember when Doctor Who was still a great show? No matter how cheesy some of the classic Who or even Russel T. Davis' episodes were... no matter how overcomplicated some of Steven Moffat's show felt... I still watched every single one and liked even the weaker stories. Chris Chibnall''s writing has become worse and worse and Flux is for me the low point of "New Who". It's a shame... I think that Jodie Whittaker is a brilliant actress and deserved much better than this!

[@Warmishcookies]

You enjoyed Kill the Moon? That was such a bad episode. This era has mainly just been bland to confusing. Only the spider episode comes close to the depths of 'Kill the Moon'...as far as I can remember.

[@narendrajade5086]

Yes Stephan I think noone has any problem with Jodie's doctor or if its a female doctor but the writting doesn't match the standards set by Davies or Moffat.

[@ScoobyandShaggy5554]

This needed to be release before that excuse for a finale aired

[@010timeboy27]

This channel should feel fortunate that KZbin has removed the dislikes counter. Can't hide from the shows viewing numbers though ...

[@PainCausingSamurai]

I liked 13 when she was involved in a good story. It's a shame she didn't get to work with Davis or Moffat.

[@filmable_fun]

The division was created to stop the Doctor right... wasn't that the whole River Song Arc and the Demons Run arc of series 6? Don't get me wrong, I liked flux and found it really fun and was Chibbers best series, but I can't shed the feeling that this is another example of Chibby coping the other show runners again.

[@93Chowo]

I wouldn´t say the Divison sole purpose was to stop the Doctor. Tecteun said their goal is to keep the universe safe by doing what is necessary and therefore use several people and species for it. The Doctor was part of it but it seems that at one point the Doctor wanted to leave the Divison for whatever reason and because no one is allowed to know about Divison they kept her memories about it. The moment the Doctor was searching information about Divison was when they became active and created the Flux to stop the Doctor before she finds out the thruth and maybe try to destroy the Division. The arcs you mentioned where about the Doctor being stopped but I think it was for another reason then the Divison has.

[@hgwells1899]

Even despite what Chibs says here, my take is that Tecteun unleashed the Flux for no other reason than because she could, because she invented it. I suppose she might see the entire universe as a product of her own experiment with the Timeless Child, the Doctor and more specifically the race of Time Lords which she created having had such an impact across all space and time. Basically, she chose to kick down all the sand castles because she wants to start again on another beach and blaming the Doctor personally is just the last act of a spiteful and deluded spoilt child, who literally believes everything revolves around her. Nice TARDIS-like console room she had, though

[@93Chowo]

@@hgwells1899 Sounds about right. Tecteun even called the Doctor "The Virus which got into the experiment".

[@melissasumer]

There is a thing that I don't understand in the last episode. Time lords have 2 hearts and they know where is a someone with 2 hearts is a time lord. If the doctor was lost and she is not from Gallifrey first how do they have all 2 hearts? Because when the doctor listened the Master's hearts he realized the master was in front of him. I don't have a clue in this part. So if you understand it could you explain it to me?

[@troar2172]

Probably a coincidence. Or bad writing. Probably bad writing.

[@kemhug2623]

Which Tardis is the fob watch in?

[@adamstewart9052]

RTD said there will be evidence in a future episode that it's the same TARDIS.

[@SuperDouginator]

The more I watch this explanation I think that flux is probably one of the best ideas and concepts doctor who has seen. Just a shame it was executed in the worst way possible

[@alexturlais8558]

It was already executed much better at the end of season 4, when RTD did this exact plot before.

[@lexecomplexe4083]

If it had just one or two plotlines, it COULD HAVE been great, yes. But instead it has like 11 plot lines over 6 episodes most of which go nowhere. Everything interesting in Series 12 is rendered pointless in Series 13

[@Deathlygunn]

"I feel like they put Azure into this memory wipe like witness protection scheme on Earth" - Yeah that really didn't come through in the script, also what do you mean "I feel", you invented the character and her story, you should know what her background is.

[@MichaelO2000]

Nah I did think that was a pretty clear. She says “who put this thought in my head?” It was obvious to me that it was a chameleon arch style illusion where she didn’t know who she really was. It was her prison. But yeah it is weird that Chibnall says he “feels” it rather than knows it.

[@Deathlygunn]

@@MichaelO2000 That's fair, I can't remember the line, and I feel a few reviews I've watched have also been confused by Azure appearing as human, so maybe it got lost in the audio mix for some :)

[@BestBFam]

Actually I got that right away.

[@jonmills5097]

I can’t wait for someone to come along and undo all this damage to the show

[@adamfreddo5703]

2023 can't come soon enough.

[@bmvthemoviefanatic7282]

14:54 This, to me, is why we shouldn't have started messing with the Doctor's past in the first place. It's never mattered who the Doctor is before they found the TARDIS, what's important is what they chose to do after. If Chibnall knows this, then...WHAT?!

[@douglasstangler]

Since the show didn't make sense from the very first episode. Never explained his granddaughter relationship, who were her parents, and why was he hanging around a dump yard and why was she in a 1960's Earth school?

[@rob-890]

Had the timeless child been the master I could have accepted it, that would have been clever and would not have ruined the known canon. But well done Chibbs you killed it!

[@jzanimates2352]

In this video, Chibnall acts like he’s done a good job and that he deserves a pat on the back, Does he not know how disliked the “timeless child” reveal is?