Jodie Whittaker, Mandip Gill, John Bishop and Jacob Anderson star in an epic six-part adventure that takes the Doctor and her friends to the edge of the universe and beyond, in a battle for survival.
From Liverpool to the depths of space, via the Crimean war and a planet named Atropos, which shouldn’t even exist, fighting old foes and new creatures from beyond our dimension, the Doctor and company face a race against (and through!) time to uncover a universe-spanning mystery: what is the Flux?
CHRIS CHIBNALL - BBC PRESS INTERVIEW
What was your vision for the series?
My vision for the series was (to create) a massive story - bigger than we’ve ever told with Jodie’s Doctor. And to start with an episode that feels like a finale and carry on from there and play out the rest of the story. I wanted it to be really epic, to be fun with lots of cliffhangers, to be surprising, and to really do things we hadn’t yet done with the Thirteenth Doctor.
What can people expect from the series?
People can expect a rollercoaster of a ride, very different episodes, six very specific chapters, lots of different places in time and space, lots of returning monsters, some really brilliant guest stars, some brand-new monsters and some of my favourite cliffhangers we’ve done!
How do you write new characters/monsters?
I think you’re always thinking 'who is interesting for the Doctor to come up against? Who is going to reveal new things about the Doctor?'. But with villains and monsters, generally, you’re looking for an interesting visual, an interesting idea, something that will be scary or fun or a mix of both and an underlying character that will be great for an actor to play or great for the Doctor, Dan or Yaz to be going up against.
Who are the Ravagers?
They are a couple of characters who we meet, who are creatures of another dimension who have a history with the Doctor – but I even think with this I am giving too much away!
Why is it important to bring back monsters from the past like Sontarans and Weeping Angels?
First of all, it’s a joy. I think it’s always lovely to connect back into the history of the show as the history is so rich and varied. Bringing back the Sontarans was a story I really wanted to do... I felt like there hadn’t been a big Sontaran story for quite a long time.
They have a great mix of threat and humour, they’re very identifiable, they’re great characters as well – a brilliant creation by Robert Holmes. They’re great because they have range. They’re dangerous, they’re violent, they’re also funny and that’s a great mix for Doctor Who.
With the Weeping Angels, I really wanted Jodie to come up against them and we’d been thinking about a story for her for a long time, testing out ideas. They are genuinely scary and a brilliant creation by Steven Moffatt and they haven’t been in a main Doctor Who story for nine years, so they were due to come back as well. There’s lots of ideas you can explore around Weeping Angels so we’ve had a lot of fun with them.
Can you tease us about what the Flux is?
The title of the serial is Flux, it’s divided into six chapters, and the Flux is a mysterious event that is going to have an effect on all the characters in the story.
Doctor Who: Flux begin Sunday 31st October at 6:25pm on BBC One and iPlayer.