Doctor Who: The Vanquishers Review - 4 Ups & 9 Downs

The Flux is over. This fun little format experiment has certainly had its ups and downs (we know all about those here), but how did The Vanquishers wrap up all those sprawling plot threads? Did Chibs finally learn how to write a finale, or did we just witness the biggest mess of a conclusion since Game of Thrones?

We had a lot going on at the end of last week: Swarm and Azure had just killed off Tecteun before she could achieve anything; The Sontarans were back for revenge, allying themselves with The Grand Serpent; Kate Stewart was back in the fray; our companions were trapped in the past; and we had Vinder and Bel both making unlikely alliances. That sounds like a lot to wrap up in an hour...

There’s lots to talk about this week, so we’re going to need to jump from point to point faster than Chris Chibnall frantically trying to resolve a plot. Don’t worry, you’ll be alright, we’re all used to how that feels by now…

Another episode, another cliffhanger resolved instantaneously.

Last week, we saw The Doctor facing imminent disintegration whilst her friends prepared to defend themselves against a horde of Sontarans. We knew, as per previous weeks, these cliffhangers would be swiftly dealt with, but this week there didn’t even seem to be an attempt to prolong the tension.

The Sontarans in the tunnels are dealt with by Yaz, who opens a door that leads to ‘rays of death’, which promptly zap the Sontarans. This is a fine enough resolution, which was at least seeded last week, but it happens so quickly that the threat they are under barely registers before it is dealt with.

As for The Doctor, she escapes by ducking and then running away to the other side of the room whilst Swarm and Azure lose interest. That’s literally it. Boy, Swarm and Azure sure do like telling people they’re going to kill them and then not following through, don’t they?