Doctor Who showrunner Chris Chibnall reveals that the New Year's Day special will continue the Flux story. The COVID-19 pandemic forced the long-running BBC series to alter the format of season 13, and the result was a shortened 6-episode season featuring one overarching narrative. Doctor Who: Flux follows the Thirteenth Doctor (Jodie Whittaker) and her traveling companions, Yasmin Khan (Mandip Gill) and Dan Lewis (John Bishop), as they navigate a universe-ending anomaly known as the Flux, while also dealing with enemies and secrets from the Doctor's past.
Over these six episodes, the Flux story took the Doctor on a quest to uncover the mystery of the Timeless Child which coincided with the universe-ending event. The storyline also proved to be quite controversial due to it drastically retconning the history of the Time Lords, coupled with its poorly planned twists, and overall confusing plot. Towards the end of the season, the Doctor finally meets Tecteun face-to-face, the woman who raised her and secretly created the Flux.
While Doctor Who season 13 concluded earlier this month, showrunner Chris Chibnall says that the Flux storyline will continue to be addressed in the upcoming New Year's Day special titled "Eve of the Daleks" (per RadioTimes). In fact, the next episode will pick up right where Flux left off as the Doctor is forced to land the TARDIS in an inconvenient location to repair the damage that had been caused to it. Though that's not the only way Flux will impact the holiday special, as the Daleks are hunting the Doctor because of her actions during the season 13 finale, "The Vanquishers." Read what Chibnall had to say below:
"The Doctor lands the TARDIS in a place she’s not expecting to land in order to reset it from the damage done to it in the Flux in the previous series. She has to face continuously escaping Daleks in a time loop and save the lives of the two people who are there on New Year’s Eve. These are execution Daleks – they’ve got slightly different weapons and have very much come with a very clear purpose for this. They are not trying to destroy the world. They are trying to destroy the Doctor in payment for what has been done to the Daleks at the end of the previous series."
While the upcoming New Year's Day special will address the previous season in a few ways, it doesn't sound like it will be overwhelmed by Flux storylines. According to series star Mandip Gill, Flux was a fairly standalone story and the trio will be reunited and thrust into a whole new adventure without much time to reflect on the past. In fact, this will be the beginning of the end of their adventuring together, as the three upcoming special episodes will conclude Whittaker's tenure as the Doctor.
Chibnall's past two New Year's specials saw the Doctor face off against her iconic foes, the Daleks, and this year's will be no different. Although a time loop will be the precarious situation the Doctor and her companions will have to navigate themselves out of this time around. While the Flux story will be continued in some way, Doctor Who fans should be glad to hear it won't have a drastic impact on the special.
Source: RadioTimes