Doctor Who Flux: The Halloween Apocalypse Review - 6 Ups & 3 Downs
Downs
3. Something About Yaz Still Feels Lacking
From the very beginning, the companions in the Chibnall era have been underutilised and underdeveloped. Though Bradley Walsh's Graham was a delight, neither he, Ryan, or Yaz ever got a standout, shining moment, and for the most part, they just stood around asking questions or spouting exposition.
With Graham and Ryan departing in Revolution Of The Daleks then, surely now is the time for Yaz to flourish! Well... scratch that idea.
It's obviously too early in the series to make a final judgement, but based on this first episode, Yaz is still the same old boring Yaz: she stands around looking confused while the Doctor talks, asks a few questions, then says something really obvious that the audience already knows. Rinse, repeat.
Apologies if this sounds a little harsh, but it's just frustrating that Chibnall still has a "Yaz problem" in his third series with her. Third! Did we even get an explanation for what happened to her police officer job? And shouldn't her profession make her a more authoritative, bold person? Because right now, she's a bit of a wet blanket. Please Chibnall, give her some of that Amy/Donna oomph. Give her something.
Yaz was actually better in this episode when she was separated from the Doctor, so hopefully there's more of that in the rest of the series.