Doctor Who Flux episode 4 just changed the Weeping Angels forever

Doctor Who: Flux episode 4 spoilers follow.

Whether the Flux experiment has left you weeping for joy or sobbing with disappointment, Doctor Who is far from boring right now, and that's thanks primarily to all the timey-wimey mysteries threaded throughout this longer story. But however you might feel, it's safe to say that even the most cynical fans must be thrilled to see The Weeping Angels return, complete with a few more mysteries of their own.

But first, some context. After a "rogue" Weeping Angel broke into the TARDIS last week, our good Doctor manages to throw it out by quite literally getting her wires crossed. The team then venture into a quiet village called Medderton where a 10-year-old girl named Peggy has just gone missing. Oh, and it's 1967.

jodie whittaker, doctor who season 13, episode 3

Ben Blackall//BBC

Not much time passes before Yaz and Dan are thrown even further back in time to 1901 where they soon find a displaced Peggy, who was also sent there by the Angels. Meanwhile, the Doctor has caught up with Claire Brown, the woman who was attacked by another Angel all the way back in episode one.

Here, in 1967, Annabel Scholey's character is undergoing psychic testing for her visions. But it's not just the future she's seeing. In her reflection, Claire is shocked to gaze upon angel wings protruding from her back. While that might have just been a hallucination, the stony dust coming out of her eye is definitely cause for concern...

Along with Professor Eustacius Jericho, Claire and the Doctor suddenly find themselves besieged by an entire flock of Weeping Angels who break into the house and chase them down into the basement. When Claire reveals that she is now physically turning into an Angel, the Doctor enters her mind and finds one living inside of her thanks to a vision she once had of these creatures.

The Doctor is understandably outraged, so she doesn't listen at first when this Angel, the same one who broke her TARDIS, asks for help. After it's told to leave, this "Rogue Angel" reveals that Claire's mind is a sanctuary for the Angel, a place where it can hide from others of its kind.

For the most part, the Weeping Angels have always acted as one, so this revelation takes the Doctor by surprise. But that's not all. It also turns out that the Angels attacking right now are actually an extraction squad working for The Division, of all people.

"I was Division," says the Rogue Angel. "As were you. But like you, I ran."

BBC

This last part we already knew. Back when Jo Martin's incarnation was introduced last year, we discovered that her Doctor was actually hiding from the Division, a Time Lord Black Ops unit.

But what we didn't know was that other beings like the Weeping Angels were also caught up in their schemes. In the past, they've always been motivated by their desire to feed on time energy. There was no overarching scheme on their part, not like the Daleks or other Doctor Who foes.

And now, it's not just them caught up with The Division either. "The Division uses everything and everyone, every species, every world, every moment. They are everywhere... Unstoppable."

Ominous words from the Rogue Angel indeed. And what's worse is that the Angel doubts even the Doctor can stop them. "I fear this may prove too much, even for you."

That gets the Doctor thinking. "What makes you so dangerous that they would need so many? What do you have that they’re so sacred of?"

"Knowledge," says the Angel. "Of everything. The Division. All of its history. Including you."

Ever since we discovered that the Doctor has had memories of previous incarnations erased, this has been the driving force in Chris Chibnall's Doctor Who era. But who would have ever thought that one renegade Weeping Angel could hold the key to unlocking the truth? Even the idea of one working against the rest seemed unfathomable, until now, that is.

BBC

Using these secrets to get what it wants, the Rogue Angel promises to give our Doctor the answers that she seeks. But only if she protects it from the other Angels first.

Eventually, the group reach what the locals believe to be a burial site. But in fact, it's something far older. The little girl who had a chinwag with the Angels earlier even suggests that this artefact of sorts could explain how the Angels first arrived on Earth.

The history of the Weeping Angels has not been revealed in full before, although a Big Finish audio story suggested that when asteroids formed together to create our Earth, three Weeping Angels were trapped inside. Could this obscure moment from Fallen Angels be the inspiration for what's going on here at the end of this episode? Quite possibly, because that would explain why so many Angels are trapped in the walls here underground.

But whatever the case might be, our good Doctor has more pressing concerns right now, because at the end, the Rogue Angel lives up to their name with a rogue deal, one that trades their own safety for the Doctor's life. It turns out that the only thing the Division wants more than this Rogue Angel is the Doctor herself.

And with that, the Weeping Angels who work for the Division all start glowing as they transform the Doctor into one of them. Yep, our beloved "Time Lord" has been trapped in stone, and we doubt that even a fancy sonic screwdriver could get her out of this one.

Don't cry tears of frustration just yet though. Sure, the Doctor doesn't reappear in the mid-credits scene, and the preview for the next episode mostly avoids showing her too. But now that the Division finally has our Doctor in their grasp, we can at least finally expect some more answers about her missing memories and how they relate to this absolute cluster-flux we find ourselves in.

Doctor Who: Flux (aka series 13) airs weekly every Sunday night on BBC One in the UK. In the US, the show airs on BBC America, with series 1-12 available on HBO Max.

For more information on Doctor Who: Time Fracture, head this way – tickets are also available via retailers including LOVEtheatre, London Theatre Direct, Fever and Ticketmaster.

Credit: Kaleidoscope Film Distribution

Watch Classic Doctor Who with britbox on Prime Video Channels

Shop at Amazon

Credit: BBC/britbox

'Galaxy 4' limited-edition Blu-ray steelbook

£43 at Amazon

Doctor Who - Complete Series 12 [DVD] [2020]

£22 at Amazon

Doctor Who - The Collection - Season 23 [Blu-ray] [2021]

£38 at Amazon

The Ruby's Curse (A River Song / Melody Malone Mystery) by Alex Kingston

£48 at Amazon

Credit: BBC Books

Doctor Who The Complete Series 10 [DVD] [2017]

£22 at Amazon

Credit: BBC

Doctor Who - The Complete Series 7 Steelbook [Blu-ray] [2020]

£80 at Amazon

Doctor Who - Complete Specials (The Next Doctor/ Planet of the Dead/ Waters of Mars & Winter Specials) [DVD]

£37 at Amazon

Credit: BBC

Doctor Who: The Day of the Doctor by Steven Moffat (Target Collection)

£10 at Amazon

Credit: BBC Books/Target

Doctor Who: TARDIS Type 40 Instruction Manual by Richard Atkinson, Mike Tucker and Gavin Rymill

Now 11% Off

£17 at Amazon

Credit: BBC Books

Doctor Who: Rose by Russell T Davies (Target Collection)

Now 29% Off

£8 at Amazon

Credit: BBC Books/Target

David Opie

After teaching in England and South Korea, David turned to writing in Germany, where he covered everything from superhero movies to the Berlin Film Festival.

In 2019, David moved to London to join Digital Spy, where he could indulge his love of comics, horror and LGBTQ+ storytelling as Deputy TV Editor, and later, as Acting TV Editor.

David has spoken on numerous LGBTQ+ panels to discuss queer representation and in 2020, he created the Rainbow Crew interview series, which celebrates LGBTQ+ talent on both sides of the camera via video content and longform reads.

Beyond that, David has interviewed all your faves, including Henry Cavill, Pedro Pascal, Olivia Colman, Patrick Stewart, Ncuti Gatwa, Jamie Dornan, Regina King, and more — not to mention countless Drag Race legends.

As a freelance entertainment journalist, David has bylines across a range of publications including Empire Online, Radio Times, INTO, Highsnobiety, Den of Geek, The Digital Fix and Sight & Sound.