The second anniversary special will deal “very slightly” with Flux.
Former Doctor Who showrunner Chris Chibnall has reacted to the revelation that there will be a reference to his season, Flux, in one of the 60th anniversary specials.
Doctor Who: Flux marked Jodie Whittaker’s final season as the Thirteenth Doctor and saw her navigate a universe-ending anomaly called the Flux. It also marked Chibnall’s final season as showrunner.
Russell T Davies recently confirmed that Flux will be dealt with “very slightly” in the second special, Wild Blue Yonder.
Chatting exclusively to RadioTimes.com, Chibnall said: “[Russell] had told me that there was a reference to Flux.
“It’s really beautiful when things like that happen, definitely. It was one of the things we talked about, Steven [Moffat], Russell and I, when we met up, and it was a thing Steven was saying, you don’t feel like the work you’ve done on the show is Doctor Who, because that’s the work you’ve done.
“So he’s like, all of the episodes he’s written, all the episodes he’s showrun, it’s like everything else is Doctor Who and then his bit is just the thing he did, and it doesn’t feel legitimately part of Doctor Who, and it’s really weird.
“So when you do get things that crop up, that kind of reference and actually, when I would drop in references to Steven’s stories, or something Russell had done, I would get texts from them, Steven would go, ‘I was mentioned in Doctor Who! Something I thought of was mentioned in Doctor Who!’ It’s great. You know, ‘I exist!’ It’s really true.
“Russell as well, [I] would get messages going, ‘Oh, I got mentioned! The thing I wrote got mentioned!’ So it’s really lovely when that happens and I definitely felt that when we did that in The Power of the Doctor as well. It’s really powerful and how you deploy that, and when you deploy that, is really interesting because it’s that weird push and pull between being new and being part of a continuum. And that’s one of the great, great things about Doctor Who.”
Davies hasn’t revealed the nature of the Flux reference but recently told Doctor Who Magazine: “The history of the Flux and the Timeless Child is dealt with very slightly in this episode to acknowledge the brilliant work Chris did and to say that’s absolutely part of our history as well.”
Doctor Who’s 60th anniversary specials will see David Tennant return, this time as the Fourteenth Doctor, alongside Catherine Tate, reprising her role as Donna Noble.
Doctor Who’s first 60th anniversary special The Star Beast airs at 6:30pm on Saturday 25th November on BBC One and BBC iPlayer. Classic episodes are available on BritBox – you can sign up for a 7-day free trial here.
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