Flux: Chapter Two - War of the Sontarans
- Episode aired Nov 7, 2021
- TV-14
- 1h
IMDb RATING
7.1/10
3.8K
YOUR RATING
During the Crimean War, the Doctor discovers the British army fighting a brutal alien army of Sontarans, as Yaz and Dan are thrown deeper into a battle for survival. What is the Temple of At... Read allDuring the Crimean War, the Doctor discovers the British army fighting a brutal alien army of Sontarans, as Yaz and Dan are thrown deeper into a battle for survival. What is the Temple of Atropos? Who are the Mouri?During the Crimean War, the Doctor discovers the British army fighting a brutal alien army of Sontarans, as Yaz and Dan are thrown deeper into a battle for survival. What is the Temple of Atropos? Who are the Mouri?
Nigel Lambert
- Priest Triangle
- (voice)
- (as Nigel Richard Lambert)
David Cromarty
- Dead Soldier
- (uncredited)
Lex Lamprey
- Artilleryman
- (uncredited)
- Director
- Writers
- All cast & crew
- Production, box office & more at IMDbPro
Storyline
Did you know
- TriviaSkaaak mentions Linx as the Sontaran who claimed Earth. Linx was the Sontaran in the Third Doctor serial The Time Warrior: Part One (1973), who claimed Earth for the Sontaran Empire.
- GoofsWhen the bad guy grabs Yaz by the face, his hand positions change drastically in the different camera angles.
- Quotes
Svild: May death rain down on you both.
The Doctor: Well, it's nice to meet you, too.
Featured review
Pleasant surprise.
For once, I'm glad to report that I actually got an impressively strong sense of direction in tonight's episode, "War of The Sontarans". Massive increase in quality.
Unlike last week's messy outing, here, the story seemed to be visibly going somewhere & all the loose, inconsequential strands (which previously had no clear relevance to one another) featured randomly throughout "The Halloween Apocalypse" finally began to connect cohesively, heading towards an eventual conclusion - airing in a month's time. That added context & interaction between these plot threads is precisely the thing sorely missing in the last installment & I'm glad to see the problem's been rectified immediately, upon revisitation.
Honestly, I can't begin to describe just how refreshing it is - to see a well paced, coherent narrative with a perceptible feeling of organic development which stems / evolves from the lead character's individualistic choices as they play an active role in deciding their own future (because these things are fairly basic & they should be more or less guaranteed, yet they've been lacking from the Chibnall era) but I'm glad "Flux" is improving as it naturally progresses, possibly setting it on the right path by its 2nd chapter - & let's hope that upward trend continues.
I'm also assuming in his audacious attempt to lay the groundwork for what was to come shortly after, the reason for the opening's failure is this: the showrunner bit off far more than he could've ever hoped to have chewed in just 50 minutes & thus, the foundations constructed were done so in haste & haphazardly, formed from the half masticated mouthful of interesting ideas he had brewing within his mind, spat out on to the page before they'd had chance to be broken down in to something clear or digestible. Either that or he was unable to invest a sufficient amount of time needed to fully realise the potential within his screenplay - most likely due to the fact that his attention was equally diverted to the other 4 scripts solely written by him in S13. A questionable executive decision, I'd argue.
Either way, though certainly not perfect, it's reassuring that the hard part's (fingers crossed) over with & to additionally have an effective & threatening Sontaran tale which really "got" them as villains today, doing them justice as classic nemeses, depicting them as they should be (imperialistic war mongers) as opposed to reducing them to short, silly, comedic potato men? That's rare (a portrayal Steven Moffat never considered adopting during his long tenure) & hence, makes this the best, most accurate utilisation of their original concept since S4's "The Sontaran Stratagem" / "Poison Sky" in 2008. Quite the accomplishment, I must concede.
The only major complaint? Quite a niché remark but the costume design for "Azure" & "Swarm"; I'd love to understand what the intentions were when designing their outfits but on screen, the garments they wear are ridiculously distracting; with such beautifully surrealistic & ALIEN prosthetics on the actor & actress' faces, it's inexcusable for their clothes from the neck down to look so cheap & unremarkable by comparison. Almost as if behind the scenes, they'd blatantly blown the budget on the prosthetics, failed to factor in the creature's attire & then in order to desperately finish the look off with SOMETHING - literally ANYTHING - they'd raided the BBC wardrobe for "Strictly Come Dancing"... Resulting in this. None of it works & neither the face nor the costume matches. There's a clash of two looks & rather than complimenting one another, they both conflict horrendously.
Unlike last week's messy outing, here, the story seemed to be visibly going somewhere & all the loose, inconsequential strands (which previously had no clear relevance to one another) featured randomly throughout "The Halloween Apocalypse" finally began to connect cohesively, heading towards an eventual conclusion - airing in a month's time. That added context & interaction between these plot threads is precisely the thing sorely missing in the last installment & I'm glad to see the problem's been rectified immediately, upon revisitation.
Honestly, I can't begin to describe just how refreshing it is - to see a well paced, coherent narrative with a perceptible feeling of organic development which stems / evolves from the lead character's individualistic choices as they play an active role in deciding their own future (because these things are fairly basic & they should be more or less guaranteed, yet they've been lacking from the Chibnall era) but I'm glad "Flux" is improving as it naturally progresses, possibly setting it on the right path by its 2nd chapter - & let's hope that upward trend continues.
I'm also assuming in his audacious attempt to lay the groundwork for what was to come shortly after, the reason for the opening's failure is this: the showrunner bit off far more than he could've ever hoped to have chewed in just 50 minutes & thus, the foundations constructed were done so in haste & haphazardly, formed from the half masticated mouthful of interesting ideas he had brewing within his mind, spat out on to the page before they'd had chance to be broken down in to something clear or digestible. Either that or he was unable to invest a sufficient amount of time needed to fully realise the potential within his screenplay - most likely due to the fact that his attention was equally diverted to the other 4 scripts solely written by him in S13. A questionable executive decision, I'd argue.
Either way, though certainly not perfect, it's reassuring that the hard part's (fingers crossed) over with & to additionally have an effective & threatening Sontaran tale which really "got" them as villains today, doing them justice as classic nemeses, depicting them as they should be (imperialistic war mongers) as opposed to reducing them to short, silly, comedic potato men? That's rare (a portrayal Steven Moffat never considered adopting during his long tenure) & hence, makes this the best, most accurate utilisation of their original concept since S4's "The Sontaran Stratagem" / "Poison Sky" in 2008. Quite the accomplishment, I must concede.
The only major complaint? Quite a niché remark but the costume design for "Azure" & "Swarm"; I'd love to understand what the intentions were when designing their outfits but on screen, the garments they wear are ridiculously distracting; with such beautifully surrealistic & ALIEN prosthetics on the actor & actress' faces, it's inexcusable for their clothes from the neck down to look so cheap & unremarkable by comparison. Almost as if behind the scenes, they'd blatantly blown the budget on the prosthetics, failed to factor in the creature's attire & then in order to desperately finish the look off with SOMETHING - literally ANYTHING - they'd raided the BBC wardrobe for "Strictly Come Dancing"... Resulting in this. None of it works & neither the face nor the costume matches. There's a clash of two looks & rather than complimenting one another, they both conflict horrendously.
helpful•86
- W011y4m5
- Nov 7, 2021
Details
- Release date
- Country of origin
- Official sites
- Language
- Filming locations
- Alleyway south of The Parade, Cardiff, Wales, UK(Dan and his parents hide in their car)
- See more company credits at IMDbPro
- Runtime1 hour
- Color
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What is the French language plot outline for Flux: Chapter Two - War of the Sontarans (2021)?
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