Doctor Who reveals special title for series 13

Series 13 of Doctor Who finally has an airdate, with Jodie Whittaker’s new collection of adventures confirmed to be kicking off on Sunday 31st October after weeks (if not months) of fan confusion about when the sci-fi drama would return.

However, the announcement (and teaser trail on BBC One) about series 13’s release date also revealed some other surprising information. Unusually, this series of Doctor Who has a subtitle, nodding to the fact that for the first time since the 2005 revival this will be one interconnected story playing out over six weeks.

That new designation? Doctor Who: Flux, which like the title of 2009’s Torchwood: Children of Earth (a miniseries of the popular Who spin-off) marks this shorter series out as something different from the norm.

Currently, it’s unknown whether each episode will have their own titles alongside the “Flux” subtitles, or whether fans should expect them to be designated Part One, Part Two and so on, closer to the style of the serials in Doctor Who’s original “classic” period. But either way it’s an intriguing change for the series, which raises some questions about its mysterious storyline.

Namely, what does “Flux” refer to? Based on the teaser it seems like it could be some sort of entity facing off with the Doctor and her friends, an organisation, or some kind of natural catastrophe they have to prevent.

“The Flux is coming,” Whittaker says in the footage. “It’s bringing with it the Sontarans, Weeping Angels, creatures known as The Ravages and enemies from across the universe. This is the fight of our lives.”

And in another way Flux could be more abstract, merely referring to the fact that the action of this series will be “in flux” – unstable and changeable as the TARDIS team have to zip around preventing some sort of terrible crisis?

Whatever the full meaning, Whovians won’t have too long to wait before they discover it, with just over three weeks until the first instalment of series 13 is released, and we all finally get a look at the state of Flux.

Doctor Who returns to BBC One on Sunday 31st October. For more, check out our dedicated Sci-Fi page or our full TV Guide.