Doctor Who Series 13 Airing Date Announced

Oh, I am counting the days, you best believe it. I’ve been writing, reading, and even listening to (and about) a lot of Doctor Who as of late, and it is all for a very good reason. I have a reason to like Doctor Who again, and I love it. If you haven’t heard, you must have been living at the bottom of the sea, but Russell T Davies is back in 703 days for the 60th anniversary of the show he helped re-create.

The Doctor returns for her biggest adventure yet.#DoctorWho: Flux premieres 31st October ✨ pic.twitter.com/iStI1vEmFG

— Doctor Who: Flux (@bbcdoctorwho) October 9, 2021

Right, let’s get to this, it was announced on Saturday after the @BBCDoctorWho Twitter account was removed from the platform for an as yet undescribed possible PR reason, Doctor Who will return to our TVs on Sunday the 31st of October. Subtitled Doctor Who: Flux, Series 13 will be a single story of six episodes between the 31st of October and will run until the 5th of December. Unlike the last time we got a 5-6th of December ending of Doctor Who, we at least know a weird Scottish man wearing question marks and a teenager that likes explosions won’t walk off into the sunset and not be seen for several years.

The new series has been promoted so poorly it is just under four weeks until it airs and the only thing people are speaking about is the deletion of the Twitter account. The promo images tie into very poorly. There are images of Static, an After Effects signal disruption effect, and the SMPTE standard color bars from Premiere Pro, as the Doctor warns of major threats. It is like a high-budget fan short. The trouble is, the money was spent on a crap TARDIS set and nothing else. Am I glad we’re getting the monsters from the 9th Doctor’s Big Finish return, the Ravagers? Yes, kind of, but we’re also looking at what could be/should be Chibnall’s last stab at Doctor Who, and I’m not sure this is going to wrap up the mystery of the tally from “The Power of Three,” his best solo work.

The Flux is Coming… pic.twitter.com/UmvY5rXJbW

— Doctor Who: Flux (@bbcdoctorwho) October 9, 2021

We know we’re getting the Sontarans for the first time with 13, we’re getting the ravagers and the Weeping Angels too, and there is a promise of more. On the side of production, we know Chibnall will be writing at least one episode, Maxine Alderton who wrote “The Haunting of Villa Diodati” is returning and so is Ed Hime who wrote the wonderful “It Takes You Away” and the dreadfully penned “Orphan 55.” As for directors, we’re back with Jamie Magnus Stone, who directed some of the episodes from one of the worst series of Doctor Who in 58-years. Alongside him is Azhur Saleem, who’s only worked on some shorts and is currently working on a mini-series for Amazon. I think it is fair to say, I am not excited about this one.

Jodie’s entire run has been a disservice to her as an actor, mostly let down by the direction her Doctor has been written in. That happens to be a job that a showrunner has the reigns on, but really Chibnall’s entire era of Doctor Who has been lacking in defining characters. The biggest flaw of his time with the show has probably been Yas, a woman who doesn’t know she’s a cop until it is the most convenient to bring up depression. The character that got the clearest definition was Graham because Chibnall knows how to write old white men and Bradley Walsh is perfection himself, but Ryan kept forgetting he had dyspraxia. Remember when he threw that bomb perfectly half a mile? I’m excited for more Jodie, I’m not excited for Doctor Who: Flux on the 31st of October.