Survivors of the Flux (TV story)

Survivors of the Flux
Doctor:	Thirteenth Doctor
Companion(s):	Yaz, Dan
Featuring:	Vinder, Bel, Azure, Swarm, Karvanista, Jericho, Kate, Williamson, Diane
Main enemy:	Awsok, the Grand Serpent
Main setting:	Division ship outpost, outside of N-Space and 1904 on Earth
Key crew
Writer:	Chris Chibnall
Director:	Azhur Saleem
Producer:	Pete Levy
Release details
Story number:	297e
Premiere broadcast:	28 November 2021
Premiere network:	BBC One
Format:	1x50 minute episode
Official trailer
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Doctor Who television stories
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Survivors of the Flux, prefixed in the title sequence with Chapter Five and in other sources with Flux, was the fifth episode of series 13 of Doctor Who. It formed the fifth chapter of the six-part serial Doctor Who: Flux.

The episode established Awsok as another incarnation of the Shobogan Time Lord Tecteun, whilst revealing the space station she was found on to be the remains of the Division with an Ood as her servant.

It further revealed the space station to be a Multiversal "Division" point in the Void between what she labelled Universe One and Universe Two, revealing that with the Flux destroying "One", all that is left is moving into "Two".

Synopsis

As the forces of evil mass, the Doctor, Yaz and Dan face perilous journeys and seemingly insurmountable obstacles in their quest for survival.

Plot

to be added

Cast

• The Doctor - Jodie Whittaker
• Yasmin Khan - Mandip Gill
• Dan Lewis - John Bishop
• Professor Jericho - Kevin McNally
• Tecteun - Barbara Flynn
• Prentis/Grand Serpent - Craig Parkinson
• Farquhar - Robert Bathurst
• Karvanista - Craige Els
• Bel - Thaddea Graham
• Vinder - Jacob Anderson
• Swarm - Sam Spruell
• Azure - Rochenda Sandall
• Diane - Nadia Albina
• Millington - Nicholas Blane
• Williamson - Steve Oram
• Kate Stewart - Jemma Redgrave
• Sontaran Commander Stenck - Jonathan Watson
• Weeping Angels - Barbara Fadden, Isla Moody, Lowri Brown
• Ood - Simon Carew
• Voice of Ood - Silas Carson
• Waiter - Guy List
• Passenger - Jonny Mathers
• Alastair Lethbridge-Stewart - Nicholas Courtney
• Kumar - Kammy Darweish
• Alfie - George Caple

Crew

to be added

References

UNIT

• UNIT is established at some point between 1958, when Farquhar and Prentis discuss it, and 1966, when WOTAN attacked London with the War Machines.
• Alistair Gordon Lethbridge-Stewart is a newly-recruited corporal in 1967.
• Kate attempts to contact Osgood.

Story notes

• This is the first story in series 13 not to have a cold opening; all that came before the title sequence is the "Previously" sequence.
• This story references the real world release date of the subsequent episode, mirroring how The Halloween Apocolypse also referenced and was released on Halloween.
• Nicholas Courtney's audio clip was taken from the Third Doctor serial Terror of the Autons.
  • This is his first credit on televised Doctor Who since the 1989 story Battlefield. He had since appeared in the The Sarah Jane Adventures story Enemy of the Bane in 2008.
• In this story Alistair Gordon Lethbridge-Stewart is referenced to in dialogue to be a corporal in 1967 in his earliest days in UNIT.
  • This seem to be in contradiction to all previous established Doctor Who lore, which would put him as a colonel already by a time before he joins the organisation, as seen in his first appearance in 1968 Second Doctor story The Web of Fear with him already promoted to brigadier in same-era story The Invasion.

Ratings

• Overnight: 3.82 million
• Consolidated: to be added

Filming locations

to be added

Production errors

If you'd like to talk about narrative problems with this story — like plot holes and things that seem to contradict other stories — please go to this episode's discontinuity discussion.

• In a close-up shot in the first pyramid scene, Yaz is looking at the Professor whilst talking to him; however, in the next shot, she is seen looking away from him, her head and eyes in a different position.

Continuity

• Yaz, Dan and Jericho have been in the 1900s for three years. (TV: Village of the Angels)
• UNIT has been in the works since 1958 and are embarrassed to have missed the invasion of the War Machines. (TV: The War Machines)
  • Whilst various spin-off media has delved into UNIT's history, this is the first televised story to give an origin for the group, who first appear in The Invasion as an already existing "independent intelligence group".
• UNIT found the Doctor's TARDIS in Medderton after the residents all disappeared. (TV: Village of the Angels)
• In her pre-recorded message to Yaz, the Doctor mentions they just left the planet Time and hears Yaz calling her from the TARDIS control room. (TV: Once, Upon Time)
• The Doctor asks Tecteun if what the Spy Master told her was true, which Tecteun confirms. (TV: The Timeless Children)
• Tecteun reveals she and members within Division caused the Flux to occur and notes that the Doctor launching her TARDIS and its heart into the event is what prevented it destroying the entire universe. (TV: The Halloween Apocalypse)
• Tecteun shows the Doctor that she has captured the Weeping Angel whom possessed Clare, (TV: Village of the Angels) and has also retrieved the Doctor's memories from her Division incarnation contained within it. (TV: The Timeless Children, Once, Upon Time)
• The Doctor's lost memories are contained within a biodata module shaped like a fob watch. (TV: Human Nature) When near it, the voices of her lost incarnations are heard calling towards her. (TV: The Family of Blood, Utopia) It is also revealed this fob watch is what causes the Doctor to experience visions of a desolate house. (TV: The Halloween Apocalypse)
• Tecteun recalls how she found the Doctor as a child underneath a wormhole and how she experimented on her to discover regeneration. (TV: The Timeless Children) She also dismisses the Doctor's efforts to scold her, noting that taking the Doctor and leaving her when her usefulness ran out is similar to how the Doctor treats her companions. Davros and the Dream Lord made similar comments to the Tenth and Eleventh Doctors respectively. (TV: Journey's End, Amy's Choice)
• Division use a ship to exist within the Void. The Cult of Skaro previously did similar. (TV: Army of Ghosts/Doomsday)
• UNIT's funding is cut in the 2010s. (TV: Resolution)
• Yaz and Dan recall their previous brief encounters with Williamson. (TV: War of the Sontarans, Once, Upon Time)
• Kate Stewart mentions being the head of UNIT. (TV: The Power of Three, The Day of the Doctor)
• Karvanista and the Lupari are still protecting Earth from the Flux event. (TV: The Halloween Apocalypse)
• Bel is still using a stolen Lupari ship. (TV: Once, Upon Time)
• Diane is still trapped within a Passenger. (TV: Once, Upon Time)
• The Sontarans return to once again invade Earth, seeking revenge for their loss in an alternate timeline. (TV: War of the Sontarans)

Home video releases

DVD releases

to be added

Blu-ray releases

to be added

Digital releases

to be added

External links

• Official Survivors of the Flux page on the Doctor Who website