Consequently, what that means is that this first episode, "Chapter One: The Halloween Apocalypse" (to give the full on-screen title), is deliberately setting up lots of plot points and teasers for future installments. This is very much a "Part One" in feel; don't expect much of anything in the way of explanations or even clear connective tissue, as we get a number of scenes detached from the episode's plot (such as the digging of tunnels under 1820 Liverpool -- a real event, it should be noted), in a way that sometimes seems calculated to get the audience to come back the following week. That's presumably why we get short scenes with the TARDIS going wrong, as well as appearances unconnected from the rest of the story of a Weeping Angel, Sontarans, Game of Thrones's Jacob Anderson, and seemingly-important-but-not-yet-explained geode-skull villains. The episode's final moments (where we see each of these characters for a brief moment) just reinforce that sense of "tune in next time".
Of course, that means that it's a bit tough to judge "The Halloween Apocalypse" on its own merits, given that it's so obviously setup for things later on. Still, there are definitely some standout elements here, and one of the best is John Bishop as Liverpudlian Dan Lewis. Dan has a resilient, cheerful optimism about him, even while we get the sense that he's struggling financially, and it's hard not to get caught up in that optimism. His rapport with Diane in the museum is nice, and honestly Bishop does an excellent job of making Dan relatable and fun without becoming a caricature, as could have easily happened in the wrong hands -- this is a character that Chibnall literally has giving unpaid guided tours of the Museum of Liverpool due to his love of the city, so you can see how this could have easily tipped into parody, but Bishop skillfully walks that line. And the ways he tries to seem unfazed by things and even one-upping others ("I had a mate who had one of these," Dan comments after entering the TARDIS for the first time. "I think his was a bit bigger, actually") make for great fun, while his gentle sparring with Yaz, who dishes it out in equal amounts ("Pro tip, Dan Lewis," she tells Dan, after he mutters a disparaging comment about Sheffield, "don't diss the designated rescuer") is a promising sign of things to come. And while it would have been nice to get more interactions between just the Doctor and Yaz, given how Yaz often felt sidelined in the previous two series (and how much rapport the two of them exhibit here in the scenes they do share -- it's clear Yaz has leveled up her companion skills since we last saw her), it's clear that Dan will fit in just fine.
And while we're singling out things for praise, special mention must go to the really rather impressive makeup job on Craige Els as Karvanista, the dog-like Lupar that the Doctor's been tracking. It's really well done, with care going into making it look familiar-yet-slightly strange, with just enough motion to make it realistic. I also like how they've chosen to make Karvanista grumpy, acting as a counterpoint to the stereotype of dogs as eager and happy; Karvanista may be one of the Lupari, and thus explicitly described as "Man's best friend", but that doesn't mean he's thrilled about it. Although, it must be said, that's a little at odds with how the first half of the episode encourages us to treat Karvanista as an enemy -- but perhaps that's the point, to wrongfoot the audience by having the antagonist here ultimately be so, well, cute.
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| The Doctor, Yaz, and Dan look out at the edge of the solar system. ("The Halloween Apocalypse") ©BBC |
And as I said earlier, there are a number of other scenes designed explicitly as teasers for the future. Some of the Swarm stuff falls under that category (specifically the moments with his sister, Azure, before she realizes her true identity), along with a couple scenes involving Sontarans (who look fabulous, by the way -- but we'll discuss that in more detail next time) and an odd moment involving a woman named Claire who knows the Doctor but also seems to have some knowledge of the future -- and then gets sent away by a Weeping Angel. We'll have to wait for later to find out what's happening with some of them, but the scene that might be most relevant at the moment involves Jacob Anderson's character, Inston-Vee Vinder of Kasto-Winfer-Foxfell (or just Vinder), assigned to a remote observation outpost out in the galaxy when he observes a universe-ending event that we later learn is called the Flux. The Flux is an event that is travelling through the universe and disrupting every particle it comes into contact with ("Disobeying every law of Time and Space," the Doctor says of it), and Vinder is forced to abandon his post to escape its destructive force. But as with much of this episode, we'll have to wait and see how this pays off.
So, perhaps unsurprisingly, it's a bit difficult to judge "The Halloween Apocalypse" on its own merits, simply because it's so explicitly a setup episode. This is emphatically part 1 of 6, and so we'll have to wait to view the whole thing before we can really pass judgement. That's perhaps slightly worrying, if only because the past couple series (as well as the first two of Torchwood) have demonstrated that Chris Chibnall's skills are much better suited to smaller character pieces, while his efforts to go big and epic tend to fall flat. Still, as far as series or story openers go, we could do worse. It's got lots of energy and quick pacing, and while it might be a bit too frenetic to really sink in on first viewing, it does promise lots of exciting things for the rest of the story. Let's just hope Flux can deliver on that promise.
298 Funny how we never heard of any of these old enemies from the "before" days until after the Doctor learned she was missing part of her memory. Maybe it'll turn out this whole thing is just a ruse, a subterfuge of the Master's, and she's in fact still trapped in the Matrix.