WARNING: The following contains spoilers for Doctor Who: Flux, "Chapter Five: Survivors of the Flux," which aired Sunday, November 28th on BBC.
Doctor Who: Flux has crafted a story of epic proportions, engulfing characters from all corners of the series' past. The serial format has afforded this year's series the chance to tell a bigger story than audiences have ever seen in modern Who, and, with the revelations of Series 12's "The Timeless Children" still hanging over the Doctor's head, Flux has taken the opportunity to dive into the Doctor's secret history. However, it is not only the Doctor's backstory the series is daring to reimagine. With a plot that sees various threats displaced throughout time and space, Flux has also turned its attention to UNIT.
While the Doctor has been contending with the sinister Division, a Gallifreyan organization who have been manipulating the development of the universe across time, her old allies at UNIT have wound up in the clutches of the despotic Grand Serpent. However, due to the time-bending nature of the Flux, the infiltration of UNIT has been threaded throughout the organization's history. While the universe is in crisis, UNIT's resources are being utilized against Earth in a move that mirrors events seen in the Marvel Cinematic Universe.
UNIT -- originally the United Nations Intelligence Taskforce, renamed the Unified Intelligence Taskforce in modern Doctor Who -- were first introduced in the 1968 story, "The Invasion." This military institution operating under the UN was formed in order to defend the Earth against alien threats. Since their introduction, UNIT have made regular appearances in Doctor Who, becoming a key ally to the Doctor. While in exile on Earth in their third incarnation, the Doctor even spent time working for UNIT as a scientific advisor. In many ways, UNIT serve as Doctor Who's parallel to S.H.I.E.L.D. -- Marvel's own military organisation, allied with the Avengers in their fight against supervillains.
The fifth episode of Doctor Who: Flux features a look at the formation of UNIT, reintroducing the Grand Serpent -- the cosmic tyrant last seen in Episode 3. Now posing as an English aristocrat in order to gain the trust of UNIT's founders, the Grand Serpent secures a position for himself within the upper workings of UNIT. He goes on to periodically reappear throughout the organization's history in order to work his way up to the very top, eventually winding down UNIT operations in 2017, as referenced in Doctor Who's previous season. While it is not yet clear how the Serpent has inserted himself into Earth's history, the episode ultimately reveals him to be in league with the Sontarans, helping them to conquer the Earth in the wake of the Flux.
Captain America: The Winter Soldier saw a similar plot play out with the revelation that Hydra, the villainous organization with roots in the Nazi regime, had been active within the ranks of S.H.I.E.L.D. ever since the organization was founded. Consequently, Hydra had always been covertly controlling SHIELD, leading to the development of Project Insight. This initiative saw S.H.I.E.L.D. preparing to launch a fleet of permanently airborne Helicarriers, each able to shoot down identified threats from the sky -- a weapon Hydra intended to use to immediately eliminate their own enemies. "Survivors of the Flux" ends with the Grand Serpent ordering UNIT to launch missiles against Earth, mirroring Hydra's strategy.
The Grand Serpent's infiltration of UNIT from its very inception is a game-changing twist, essentially revealing that UNIT has always been under the influence of one of the extraterrestrial threats they exist to oppose. The Winter Soldier's similar shock reveal ultimately led to the dismantling of S.H.I.E.L.D, which could mean stopping the Grand Serpent also means the end of UNIT.
To see the Doctor take on the Grand Serpent, the season finale of Doctor Who: Flux airs Sunday on BBC One.
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