"Doctor Who Flux" and "Around the World in 80 Days"

Catching up on some BBC content.

The latest series of "Doctor Who" was handled a little differently than the norm.  "Doctor Who: Flux" is essentially a miniseries about a universe-wide crisis called "the Flux."  Showrunner Chris Chibnall wrote all six episodes, where the Doctor and Yasmin are joined by a new companion, Dan Lewis (John Bishop), as they search for the cause of a mysterious, destructive phenomenon.  They encounter Sontarans, Weeping Angels, a big dog-like alien named Karnavista (Craig Els), and the sinister Swarm (Sam Spruell), but the big story about the Flux carries through each episode.  This is probably the best season of the Chibnall/Jodie Whittaker era to date, coming after a few rougher ones. 

Frankly, I still don't think that Yasmin or the Doctor are written very well, but at least now with a reduced number of companions, they have more screen time to work with.  Dan is a good addition, a loveable Liverpool chap who is great for comic relief.  His mixup of "temporal" and "tempura" was the highlight of the season for me.  It was also nice to see some of the older "Doctor Who" villains again - Chibnall finally has the mix of campiness and sci-fi excitement just about right.  However, he really struggles when it comes to the minor characters.  I wish he'd cut down some of the roles, because I was constantly getting the one-off characters mixed up.  

The production looks great this year.  The designs of the new aliens are very well done, especially the Swarm, with his creepy, skull mask-like face.  We also get more alien worlds, more spaceships, and more jaunts into the past.  It turns out that Time is a planet, a web, and maybe a religion requiring priests and guardians and technicians to keep everything in order.  We're treated to some interesting sights we've never seen before.  I like that the Doctor also seems more vulnerable this year, frequently a few steps behind the villains, and more unsure of herself.  However, the ongoing subplot about her secret origins still strikes me as strangely uncompelling.  It's not that I don't like the change-up, but it's just not as interesting as Chibnall seems to think it is.         

Now on to "Around the World in 80 Days," to see what an ex-Doctor Who has been up to.  The first thing you'll notice about the eight-episode series is that it's a co-production of several different countries, as announced by a complicated pre-title card listing out all the production companies.  And it's a pretty splashy affair, following Phileas Fogg (David Tennant), his valet John Passepartout (Ibrahim Koma), and intrepid reporter Abigail Fix (Leonie Benesch) as they try to circumnavigate the globe in eighty days to win a big wager.  Unlike all the other adaptations of this story that I've seen, the new version plays the story straight, not as a comedy or action-adventure picture.  In fact, pains are taken by showrunners Ashley Pharoah and Caleb Ranson to update the story, making Passepartout and Fix co-equals with Fogg.

This is all well and good, but the writing is frankly not as good as I'd hoped.  Every episode brings our intrepid trio to a new part of the globe, where they have some kind of time-wasting adventure with the locals, win the day, and move on.  To keep things interesting, we start out with Fogg, Passepartout, and Fix being fairly hostile to each other, and gradually becoming a chummy team by the end.  The best episode is the one that breaks from formula a bit, and just strands the three of them on a desert island for a while to sort out tensions.  The trouble is that it takes far too long to get there - the show drags us through repetitive episodes set in France, Italy, Syria, and Hong Kong, with a glum Fogg and a melancholy Passepartout forever voicing endless doubts about the journey.  Tennant and Koma are wonderfully charming performers, and the show makes far too little use of that.

At least "80 Days" looks suitably fantastic, passing off parts of South Africa and Romania for various spots around the globe.  There's the requisite balloon aeronautics, trips on trains and ships and stagecoaches, and a rousing score with a main theme reminiscent of ticking clocks.  And at one point, they let David Tennant play funny drunk, which is almost worth the entire misadventure in India.  I also appreciate that not a lot of time is taken up with guest stars, though our heroes do meet a few interesting figures like Jane Digby and Bass Reeves.  It's not a bad show at all - good enough to keep my interest - but not quite what I was hoping for.        

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