Who Review: Flux Chapter Four: Village of the Angels

In a small English village, a young woman named Claire Brown undergoes polygraph testing. She says that the year is 1967 and she was born in 1935, but the polygraph indicates she believes neither statement. Meanwhile, inside the TARDIS, the Doctor manages to eject the Weeping Angel who had hijacked it, but the process by which she did this means the TARDIS has to take time to reboot. Stepping outside, the TARDIS crew discover they are in a small English village. The year is 1967, and a number of the inhabitants are searching for a ten-year-old girl named Peggy who has recently gone missing. However, the question lingering on the Doctor’s mind is whether they escaped the Angel, or whether they’ve just ended up where the Angel wanted them to go all along…

SPOILER ALERT!! My comments may (and likely will) contain spoilers for those who haven’t seen the episode. If you want to stay spoiler-free, please watch the story before you continue reading!

Let me begin by saying that this is, so far, the best story of the season. And I don’t doubt that some (or most) of the credit for that goes to Maxine Alderton who co-wrote it. She wrote the best story of last season (and arguably the best story of the Chibnall era), “The Haunting of Villa Diodati.” I don’t know why, but she seems to understand how to write for Who better than showrunner and long-time Who enthusiast Chibnall! I’m just glad Chibbers had the good sense to recognize talent and use it. Shame he didn’t make more use of her.

The basic plot of the story involves the village of Medderton, whose inhabitants mysteriously disappeared on November 21, 1967 (this episode was broadcast on November 21, 2021). But this wasn’t the only time inhabitants of Medderton vanished. The same phenomenon occurred back in 1901. The TARDIS team later learns that the village has been quantum extracted, which means the Angels removed it out of time and space to isolate their target.

The Doctor and friends turn up in 1967 and eventually discover that the mystery has something to do with the Weeping Angels. When they arrive, the village is out searching for a ten-year-old girl named Peggy who has gone missing. The TARDIS crew is separated, thanks to an Angel, with Yaz and Dan zipping back to 1901 where they meet the missing girl in the deserted village.

The Doctor encounters Professor Jericho, who’s doing psychic research on a young woman named Claire in the basement of his house. The Doctor recognizes Claire, so she knows something’s not right. Then the Angels show up, trying to gain access to the Professor’s house.

With the Angels surrounding Professor Jericho’s house, the Doctor taps into Claire’s mind. It seems her body is sharing space with an Angel who claims to be a rogue Angel pursued by the other Angels. Those Angels are an extraction squad for the Division. Claire’s Angel was, and is, of the Division. It seems the Division can use anyone or anything to do their work (including Lupari, perhaps?). This Angel is particularly dangerous because it knows everything about the Division, including its history… and the memories that were taken from the Doctor. The Angel uses this to try to temp the Doctor to help it.

In the final scene of the episode, the Angel inside Claire tells the Doctor it’s made a better deal with the Division Angels: it will release Claire in exchange for the Doctor. Yes, the Doctor was their actual target. Claire was simply the bait. In the closing shot, we see the Doctor slowly being turned into an Angel…

There’s also a parallel story interspersed where Bel lands on the planet Puzano. She’s searching Flux-damaged planets for survivors, hoping to find Vinder, her “life partner” (i.e., husband). There she witnesses Azure appear, promising to rescue the inhabitants using Passenger to take them away. Bel knows better and manages to save herself and one of the inhabitants, Namaca, from becoming one of Passenger’s prisoners. Namaca isn’t very appreciative at the time, but (presumably) days after Bel leaves to continue her search (and deal with the Passenger), Vinder turns up. Namaca tells him that Bel saved his life. Vinder receives a message Bel left for him and departs hoping to catch up with her.

If some of that confuses you, I suggest you watch the previous three episodes. Or go back and read my reviews of those episodes.

While I’m not sure I like the sudden influx (in-Flux… ha ha) of returning monsters (Sontarans, Cybermen, Angels, and, it seems, next episode the Ood are back), for the most part, I liked the way they used the Angels here. They were terrifying when Moffat introduced them in Blink (New Series 3), but I think his subsequent use of them (“The Time of Angels/Flesh and Stone,” and “The Angels Take Manhattan”) devalued the brand somewhat. This story brings back some of that old menace. They did use some of the later Angel innovations, such as the Angels inhabiting humans and traveling via images of Angels, but I think they used these effectively.

Which reminds me, when Claire tells the Doctor she’s “turning into” an Angel, the Doctor says that’s impossible. She should know better since she watched it happening to Amy Pond!

For those who have forgotten what the Weeping Angels are, or didn’t know, for once Jodie’s Doctor explains something in a way that doesn’t feel like pointless exposition. She says that the Angels are quantum beings who can send you back into the distant past if they touch you, and feed off the quantum energy of your unlived life. This is a simple, to-the-point explanation that warns her friends about this threat, and informs the audience.

One indication that the writing and, for the most part, the dialog is better than usual in this episode is that John Bishop (Dan) actually gives a decent performance. Sure, he’s a bit wooden and emotionless, but this looks more like a character fault of Dan than John’s bad acting (though it could be both). Good writing always helps to elevate performances, and this story is an example of that. Jodie’s Doctor is more “on form,” though there are some awkward parts, such as when the Doctor comments on Jericho’s scientific mind being more interested in solving the problem than the looming danger around him. Sigh.

Overall, this was good Who and worth watching. I sincerely hope Alderton gets to write more Who, both in the upcoming specials next year and under Russell T. Davies.

I’m sure there are plenty of things I missed in this review, so if you have questions or want to contribute your own thoughts, please comment below!