10 Doctor Who Stories With WORSE Endings Than Flux
It's like you lot have never been disappointed by a Doctor Who story before...
After six weeks, Doctor Who: Flux came to an end on Sunday night to the usual cacophony of angry fan commentary on social media.
Many felt cheated that we never learned more about the Doctor's hidden memories, others were irritated that various plot threads were left dangling or hastily waved away, whilst a large number of fans complained that nothing made sense or that they couldn't hear the dialogue.
Whilst some Doctor Who fans definitely need to figure out the sound settings on their television, there are some legitimate complaints in there. There are a number of loose ends - the problems with the TARDIS, the exact state of the universe post-Flux and Di's snubbing of Dan. These, alongside the Doctor's mysterious past, will hopefully form the backbone of the three specials to follow.
But come on, Who fans, are you really all that surprised that an epic six-part adventure across space and time came to an unsatisfying conclusion? Have you been watching this show for the past 58 years? Flux Chapter 6 isn't even the most unsatisfying conclusion to a Doctor Who story or series of the past five years!
Here are ten stories from the show's history that have endings that are more confusing, more fumbled and far more disappointing than anything that took place in the final hour of Flux.
10. The Trial Of A Timelord (1986)
The Doctor is on trial for his lives, his companion Peri has been brutally murdered, and he stands accused of genocide. His prosecutor is revealed to be a distillation of the Doctor's dark side and is scapegoating his sixth incarnation to cover up a vast Timelord conspiracy.
The Trial of a Timelord is infamous for it's hastily hashed together conclusion. Eric Saward, script editor and co-writer resigned and pulled his original script, requiring executive producer John Nathan-Turner to bring in Pip & Jane Baker as last minute replacements.
The The Trial of a Timelord's finale is indicative of this last minute personnel change. It stumbles towards a conclusion, eventually resorting to the blow something up approach that Doctor Who loves so much. In this case, it's the Matrix archive, which has been corrupted with falsified evidence of the Doctor's crimes. The Doctor is subsequently cleared of all charges, and even offered the Presidency! Not only that, but the shocking death of Peri is retconned as a happy ending - if being married to Brian Blessed is a happy ending - complete with a pink tinged loving two-shot.
There's a fascinating, meta idea about watching a Doctor Who story where nothing is as it seems (see also Sleep No More) but sadly, Trial of a Timelord spectacularly fumbles this concept.