Apparently I’ve Been Watching “Doctor Who” For Too Long

So recently, the regular-season programming* for Jodie Whittaker’s final run as The Doctor aired on the AMC+ streaming service**. My understanding is that she will appear in a few more specials, but otherwise, this is the end for the first female Doctor, and she went out with a bang with a series called “Flux”, a six-part story about (you guessed it!) the potential destruction of the universe. Another day, another apocalypse.

Now, I had kind of been hoping for a throwback to the multi-part epics of Doctor Who past, such as “The Seeds of Doom”:

Or maybe “Genesis of the Daleks”:

But what we got was six kind of loosely-connected stories which, while they did have a common thread and supporting cast, didn’t really cohere into a solid arc. On the other hand, it did include what’s easily the best episode of Jodie Whittaker’s run as the Doctor—that would be “Village of the Angels”, which is also easily the best Weeping Angels episode since they were introduced way back in “Blink”.

Make Weeping Angels Scary Again

So that was all right.

Anyway, this post isn’t a review of “Flux”, or a recap, or anything like that. However, it does have a few of these ahead:

So towards the end of “Flux”, things have gotten to the point where a pretty sizable chunk of the universe has been obliterated, and even the biggest big baddies of the Doctor Who universe—the Cybermen and the Daleks—are on the run. At this point the Sontarans, who had previously gotten hold of some shield technology*** that could theoretically withstand the destructive effects of the Flux, issue a broadcast offering protection to those species that haven’t been completely wiped out yet. And this is where the whole “Apparently I’ve been watching Doctor Who for too long” thing comes in. To wit:

Me: “They can’t possibly be including the Rutans in this.”

Me: “Well there you go.”

Me: “Pffft! The Daleks aren’t going to work with you! Even my wife knows that! Hey, Kelly.”
Wife (not really paying attention): “What?”
Me: “Are the Daleks gonna work with these guys?”
Wife (still not really paying attention): “They don’t work with anybody.”

Shockingly enough, however, both the Daleks and the Cybermen take the Sontarans up on their offer of protection. Of course, the whole thing is a big double-cross by the Sontarans, but still, it’s evidence of just how serious the situation has gotten when the Daleks are desperate enough to accept “help”.

Maybe they should’ve asked the Rutans.

* Insofar as BBC programs have a “regular” season
** Which, of course, we have been subscribing to in order to watch Mad Men. And also zombies.
*** Using typically violent means, of course.