Written by Brian T. McNamara
Doctor Who returns to our television sets at probably one of the weirdest times it could. After a strong season with big revelations to start off the year in 2020, the combination of COVID and production delays meant we’ve only had one New Year’s episode in nearly the two years since the last season began. Now, the show returns on a truncated schedule – six episodes – and with announcements preceding the season that Jodie Whittaker and showrunner Chris Chibnall would exit in 2022. It makes for a curious headspace as we enter this new season, itself only formally announced to air a few weeks ago. And it’s hard to objectively keep all this out of mind as you watch the episode.
‘The Halloween Apocalypse’ is a swirling romp, moving at a frenetic pace from the start. The Doctor and Yaz (Mandip Gill) are in over their heads, literally, suspended from a flying bar over an acid ocean. We get treated to some fun banter between them before the Doctor attempts to free them to… mixed results. They escape this death trap only to find themselves embroiled in a galaxy-wide cataclysm that the Doctor knows nothing about. Intermittently she receives calls from a skull-faced villain, the Swarm, announcing his escape from eons of imprisonment and revenge for a heretofore unknown set of past encounters with the Doctor. In the midst of this, we are introduced to Daniel Lewis (John Bishop), a proud Liverpudlian rendering aid in his hometown. Daniel very quickly gets wrapped up in cosmic events as a Spanish Conquistador by way of the Japanese Shogunate Dog Alien captures him, thrusting him into the world of the Doctor as a new companion. Meanwhile, the Flux, a world destroying ribbon of matter makes its way to Earth.
Making sense of the plot to this episode is probably going to take quite a bit of time for some viewers. There’s a lot going on here, and there are a lot of unclear motivations that, once revealed, don’t make much sense. The Doctor and Yaz are captured and put into a death trap by Karvanista (Craig Els), our dogged Lupine alien. They chase him to Earth, where he captures Dan. He then blows up a house by shrinking it. Then it is revealed Karvanista isn’t a villain, but in fact on a mission of mercy to save every single human by pairing each one up with a Lupine. So… he’s a good guy? But he just had our leads in a death trap because they were going to ask him something? I was a little perplexed by this motivation change and the episode’s framing doesn’t make it any clearer.
There are a lot of elements at work, too. We have a cutaway to the Sontarans poised for war, Vinder (Jacon Anderson) is shown blasting away from the flux, the Weeping Angels capture a woman named Claire (Annabel Scholey) who just moments ago said she (maybe) knew the Doctor in the past. The Swarm comes to Earth and finds his sister in a very confusing sequence. It’s very many ingredients in a stew that begins in media res. To be honest, it’s overwhelming. This season is being touted as a single, serial story over 6 episodes. And clearly there’s a lot of setup, but I don’t know how well the episode handles that setup. No single element gets to come out on top and everything feels short changed. Indeed, the Doctor only knows about the Swarm because they choose to contact the Doctor and very literally tell them what they’re doing! It’s sloppy, and being tasked with having to introduce a new companion to the mix doesn’t help. Dan probably should have been the focus of a one-off special before now. Instead, juggling six storylines in just an hour, all of which are meant to be serial, means everything feels short-changed by the time the episode finished.
Whittaker is at once in character as the Doctor. The hectic pace of the episode plays into her strengths, giving us moments of frustration, confusion and discovery that allow her to shine. Chibnall has a tendency to place the Doctor on her back foot much of the time, out of depth and not being the omniscient outsider. This works well for her in this outing, but with all the mysteries presented in the story, one wonders if the Doctor not knowing more works against the audience. Yaz is given somewhat more to do, but feels very much like a classic companion along for the ride and still hasn’t quite gotten the spotlight she deserves. The brief patter between her and the Doctor in the cold open is really good. John Bishop seems poised to be a fun addition to the crew, but you may wonder why they felt the need to add a companion into a 6 episode run or even why they would replace Graham, who Daniel doesn’t feel so far off from. Hopefully both companions will have their place over the course of the season, but more time for them would be good.
‘The Halloween Apocalypse’ is awash in mystery. And there are hints of what we’ll learn. The Swarm appears to be related to the mystery of the Doctor’s origin from ‘The Timeless Child’ as well as the Ruth Doctor, a major revelation from last season. Again, this feels like a tall order for six episodes. The episode also features a lot of references. From the cloister bell to an off-hand reference to nitro-9 and the Doctor’s two Scottish accents, there are small little moments for long time fans. Returning villains stand alongside new aliens in a way that feels unique and interesting. But again, it feels like there are too many ingredients in the stew.
Something feels like it’s holding the ‘The Halloween Apocalypse’ back. It doesn’t feel as polished, as well structured as it could be. At once Karvanista is impressive but there are times where the mouth of the dog mask doesn’t work. The CGI looks really good in some of the space shots; in some elements of the opening sequence it’s very flat. It holds to the filmic visual style since Jodie became the Doctor, but the few alien sets very much look like sets. Even the visual elements feel somewhat chaotic.
In the end, ‘The Halloween Apocalypse’ reminded me a lot of ‘Trial of a Time Lord’-era of the Show. Then Colin Baker, the Sixth Doctor, was featured in a season of interconnected episodes where the character was presented with mysteries about why he was in the situation. That story, too, is full of conflicting motivations and odd reveals. It also happened at a time when Baker was not viewed favorably and led to his departure from the series. That we know our lead will change and that this will be close to her last outing, rounds out a feeling of a daring story structure but one that already has a set ending and one that maybe doesn’t come with as much excitement baked in.
Hopefully, Flux – our season long story – will bring us something close to last season, daring and pushing the boundaries, but right now it feels a little rudderless and messy, despite the best efforts of everyone involved.
