As of last night’s “Village of the Angels,” Doctor Who: FluxSeason 13 is now more than half-way done. Only two episodes remain in Season 13 and there are many more questions to be answered. Hopefully next week’s “Survivors of the Flux”The final chapter will shed light on some of these mysteries. “The Vanquishers,” doesn’t have to do all the heavy lifting, but longtime Doctor Who fans can also look forward to the return of a character who hasn’t graced the series in six years. Jemma Redgrave’s Kate Stewart is back, and while it’ll be good to see her after all this time, how exactly does she fit into the Flux picture?
Any newer version Doctor WhoThis article is for fans and those older than this. Kate Stewart was the original star of the direct-to video specials. Downtime Dæmos RisingJemma Redgrave was the first character to debut in an episode of the Eleventh Doctor era. “The Power of Three,”She was named the UNIT (Unified Intelligence Taskforce) leader. She followed in the footsteps of her father, Nicholas Courtney’s Brigadier Lethbridge Stewart, who was one of the most integral recurring characters during the program’s classic years.
The 50th anniversary special, a.k.a. the “Kate Stewart Special” by Jemma Regrave, featured Jemma Redgrave as Kate Stewart. “The Day of the Doctor”) and four episodes during the Twelfth Doctor era, and now she’s back for 13’s era, although going off the below promo, it’s unclear if she and Jodie Whittaker’s version of the Time Lord will cross paths.
Last time we saw Kate Stewart Doctor WhoIn the 2015 two-parter “The Zygon Invasion”/“The Zygon Inversion,”This saw the Twelfth and Twelfth Doctors clash with a splinter group title shapeshifters. Kate was still in charge at UNIT at that time. However, the Thirteenth Doctor tried to call it in four years later. “Resolution,”She learned that the company’s operations had been stopped. One year later, it was reopened. “Spyfall, Part 1,”It was confirmed that UNIT had been shut down along with Torchwood. That alone is bad news for Earth since aside from The Doctor, Earth basically doesn’t have any worthwhile protection against alien invaders, but that’s a subject for another time.
This brings us to “Survivors of the Flux,”Kate Stewart will be a part of the proceedings. Jemma is the second Doctor Who actor from before the Thirteenth Doctor’s era to reprise her role during Jodie Whittaker’s run as the title character, following John Barrowman’s Captain Jack Harkness. It is likely that there will be at most a few lines more dialogue. Doctor Who fans in on Kate’s importance, and hopefully they include sharing what Kate’s been up to since UNIT’s collapse.
Our only clue about Kate Stewart’s specific role in “Survivors of the Flux” is that it looks like she’s speaking with Craig Parkinson’s Grand Serpent, who was introduced in “Once, Upon Time” as the former supervisor to Jacob Anderson’s Vinder. During our look at Vinder’s memories, we learned that Vinder exposing Serpent’s acts of corruption resulted in him being sent to the remote outpost where we found him when Flux began. Evidently Serpent managed to make his way to Earth, one of the few planets left in the universe, and judging by the below sinister-sounding statement, it sounds like he’s still pretty detestable:
I don’t know how you plan to protect this pitiful race.
Warning! “Village of the Angels”You are in the future!
Grand Serpent appears to be saying this to Kate Stewart, though even if that’s the case, we’ll have to wait to learn about the circumstances of how they met. If you look closely, you’ll also notice that Serpent appears to be standing in front of the TARDIS, which might initially be enough evidence to indicate that Kate will reunite with The Doctor. However, “Village of the Angels”The end result was that 13 was made into a Weeping Angel, and was recalled to the Division. If she’s now being kept prisoner, and with Yasmin Khan and Dan Lewis still being stuck in the early 20th century, the TARDIS could simply have been abandoned until it came into either Kate or Serpent’s possession. I imagine it’s the former since Kate is quite familiar with the TARIS and its power, but you never know.
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