Spoilers Spyfall, Part One grade and discussion thread

[Evil Robert]

I am just genuinely suprised that the Master was... well a suprise.
And not just through lack of spoilers - mainly because the Beeb does like to announce/broadcast new casting or guest stars well in advance, ruining most surpises. Or even worse... Moffat style 'suprises' (aka Who is Missy/Whats in the Vault) - things that are utterly obvious and no suprise whatsoever.

Quick question... what happened to UNIT again? Do we know yet?

The episode was... okay enough, the big problem was it felt like all set up and no actual plot/substance.

My one big issue with DW at the moment... its stop being fun. Sometimes I just want goofy aliens with strange new worlds and silly plots. Since Capaldi, it does feel a lot more dark and serious then previous incarnations and it has lost some of its sparkle... especially as it is now so long between series. Yeah you do they the one or two 'classic' style stories a series (Last years 'Kerblam!' for example).

I am willing to keep giving it a go however. I just want some of that goofy charm back

 

[Count Zero]

UNIT were defunded. The Doctor tries to alert them in last year's New Year's Special and only reaches a government hotline whose operator tells her that it was defunded.

 

[Turtletrekker]

what happened to UNIT again? Do we know yet?

In resolution they implied that it was brexit.

 

[Evil Robert]

Thanks for the memory update Count Zero and Turtletrekker.

I would like to hope there is more to the story (that will come out later) then a real world dig that has frustratiing in-series implications.

 

[Turtletrekker]

I will admit that part of my ambivalence is because I haven't quite yet bought into Jodie Whittaker as The Doctor. She gets close a few times, but I'm still waiting for that moment of "ah, now there's The Doctor!"

This is the scene that did it for me...

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[Qonundrum]

Wow. It's like night vs day; this episode - despite a few moments of cringe - is a huge turnaround and for the better.

Great incidental music, great casting... transdimensional beings that can get into a TARDIS... real sense of threat... there's much to like in this episode.

Lenny Henry needs to be the next Doctor. For the bulk of the episode he has the sort of eccentricity real Doctors have and isn't another Tennant/Smith copycat.

Jodie had a number of great scenes, of which most didn't end up having her pull a joke out of Smith's playbook. But those scenes are fairly obvious.

What was brought in badly (no more UNIT and by extension Torchwood) in Resolution is given a bit more gravitas in Spyfall. A lot more. Nicely done, let's be fair.

The Master has returned to the show so many times with no explanation, there's no reason for anyone over 20 to be questioning his return now. Strange the new Master isn't same gender since the show has usually said the Master is the Doctor's evil equal counter part. Except Ainley since he doesn't look like a 30 year-old.

Actually, I think Dhawan does the better job of such campy material, though I'd have preferred something more sinister after his good evil-laughing moment. The TCE reintroduction was GREAT and he usually doesn't collect the shrunken corpses, so his keeping them now makes this a lot more sinister.

I loved how they played straight the bit with his TARDIS (still in house form) in the air (apart from his pointless and stupid wizard of oz callout; the script was otherwise strong enough to not be so petty to do callouts like that one and others. Yes, I said it, a Chibnall script can actually be good or very close to it and this one proves it, even with the clunker moments. )

Dhawan does seem to handle Simm-like material better. Especially when Simm came back to do incredibly bleak material and gave it real life. But I'd like to see Dhawan do some more sinister stuff, but Simm's Master was a lot more cringe-silly in Tennant's era and even in this story the level of high self-aware camp isn't as gratuitous as it is from 2007 and 2009. Thank goodness.

That cliffhanger is a great and thought out twist too. (I hope it's resolved as nicely too.)

So many good moments upended by a number of truly cringeworthy ones... I guessed the Master correctly early on, the Master ends up being a knockoff of Simm (WHY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!), and can they ditch the stenza sonic magic wand already? But the return of the TCE was a FANTASTIC twist, despite the cringe moments there was a consistent tone and feel that kept suspense and curiosity and interest going.

Can't wait to see the finale and how everything is dealt with, but this is easily the best script of Jodie's era so far.

But can they get rid of the stupid stenza sonic magic wand? It's only making the Doctor look daft, despite other moments in this story where the writing served her some justice. Please just get rid of the thing or at least please hope the rest of series 12 isn't as gratuitous with its overuse.

It's easily Chibnall's best script he's written for DW, even despite garbage moments. 7.5 or 8/10.

Didn’t Simm kill Missy and stop any more regenerations? At a time where missy and doc were getting on? And Simm regenerated to Missy ?

Where in the master’s timeline is this iteration? Assuming of course it really is the master.

Did I miss where Lenny Henry went on the plane too?

Shrunken by the TCE, or sent into the mysterious unending blue alien jungle. I'm hoping for the latter. But I suspect he's been shrunk to death.

 

[The Wormhole]

I’m disappointed that they outright said UNIT and Torchwood have been disbanded.

I accept UNIT had wiggle room given their fate was revealed in the form of a throwaway Brexit joke, but was there any doubt in regards to Torchwood? I mean, them being disbanded was basically the plot of Children of Earth, and that got cemented further with Miracle Day.

 

[Qonundrum]

I accept UNIT had wiggle room given their fate was revealed in the form of a throwaway Brexit joke, but was there any doubt in regards to Torchwood? I mean, them being disbanded was basically the plot of Children of Earth, and that got cemented further with Miracle Day.

It's a nice piece of continuity (the spinoff is sufficiently modern enough) as well as closure, even if TW's finale was closure.

 

[CuriousCaitian]

Lenny Henry needs to be the next Doctor. For the bulk of the episode he has the sort of eccentricity real Doctors have and isn't another Tennant/Smith copycat.

Technically he already has been a Doctor, in an old sketch show of his, but yeah, he'd very likely monster the real Doctor, especially given how much he's honed his serious acting the last decade or so. A truly tantalising idea!

 

[diankra]

Goran Višnjić was supposed to be in this episode. If he was, I can’t figure out which role. Was he the glowing alien?

Pretty sure his one is episode three. Not in the Radio Times cast for Sunday (the actors/roles who are effectively give away it's sett8ng).

 

[The Nth Doctor]

I accept UNIT had wiggle room given their fate was revealed in the form of a throwaway Brexit joke, but was there any doubt in regards to Torchwood? I mean, them being disbanded was basically the plot of Children of Earth, and that got cemented further with Miracle Day.

Indeed, although I certainly hope we'll see Kate again. I really want to see her teaming up with The Thirteenth Doctor.

 

[Evil Robert]

Indeed, although I certainly hope we'll see Kate again. I really want to see her teaming up with The Thirteenth Doctor.

Me too

(Granted if she has retained her memories), this will be her 5th face of the Doctor. She'd getting up their with dear old dad with number of Doctors she's had! I think some nice reference or call back to the Brigadeer about this would be sweeeet.

 

[Gingerbread Demon]

That was fucking fantastic......... Love this version of the Master and now I can ship him and The Doctor..... Yay for shipping.

All we need now is a Master / Doctor kiss.

Fantastic episode. But I kept getting flatliners vibes from those aliens. Every time they were on I kept thinking of that episode.

 

[USS Fardell]

Spyfall Part 1

Spoiler

The first episode of series 12. The opening scenes, showing Yas, Ryan and Graham going about their normal lives was a very good way to start the episode. Yas and her family, and also with her superintendent, this was handled well. (Did the Doctor forge the secondments?) The same with Ryan and his friends, and Graham and the oncologist. But something else is happening. Aliens are attacking intelligence agents around the world. So, C, the head of MI6 calls the Doctor and her companions in.
The car chase on the Sheffield motorways was quite well done. C being assassinated was shocking, but not as shocking as what comes later. Yas and Ryan infiltrating VOR to investigate the CEO was done well. They may have the spy gear, but they don't have the experience. And those aliens, creepy... The Doctor and Graham join O, a former MI6 agent in the Australian outback. More on that below... Yas and Ryan interviewing the CEO was done well. However, while they investigate the office, Yas gets caught by one of the aliens.
And ends up in a place reminiscent of the Upside Down in Stranger Things (And the aliens are as creepy as the Demigorgon too). The design looks strange, but it was well done. The aliens attack O's house, but when the Doctor traps one, Yas appears in it's place. This sequence is appropriately done. The way Ryan comforts Yas regarding her experience afterwards is a very good scene, showing her vulnerability as a result of that experience. They then go to the CEO's birthday. Cue more 007 inspired humor.
(Which is quite well done.) However, the real shock isn't until the cliffhanger, wherein O reveals himself to be the Master! Whether before or after Missy may be beside the point, but the reveal is appropriately shocking. The ending, where the Doctor ends up in the Not Upside Down and the rest of Team TARDIS are on a crashing plane, is a very effective cliffhanger. Overall, a very suspenseful episode 9/10.

 

[Guy Gardener]

Was the Master trying to pull Yaz?

After she fell for him, he'd either drive her insane or murder the little copper, but there was a focus on Yaz, and that's a very kissable face that the Master was wearing.

 

[Lonemagpie]

In resolution they implied that it was brexit.

More likely Trump, since it was UN thing originally

 

[DimesDan]

I for one enjoyed it.

Have kept well away from production news for this series and was pleasantly surprised.

In the look at part two, was the telegram thingy doing the four beat drum sound?

 

[StCoop]

I do wonder how many answers we're actually going to get in Part Two, or if they'll be dragged out until the Master's inevitable return in the finale. Especially since it already seems to be a pretty stuffed episode.

The cast list reveals not one or two but three real-life people all of whom could have sustained a Celebrity Historical on their own will be appearing. Charles Babbage inventor of the first computer, Ada Lovelace another pioneer in the field of computing (and Lord Byron's daughter) and Noor Inyat Khan who you should look up on Wikipedia because she was pretty damn amazing.

 

[jaime]

If the new cycle is 12 regenerations (which it may not be), Smith counts as 13 and nu-1, so Jodie is nu-3, out of 25 in total.

Nah, War Doctor bumps them up by one, then Handy Jar Doctor bumps up another one...Smith is 13. He could only regenerate because of the extra cycle granted at his Doctors death. Capaldi is Nu-1.

 

[Gingerbread Demon]

I for one enjoyed it.

Have kept well away from production news for this series and was pleasantly surprised.

In the look at part two, was the telegram thingy doing the four beat drum sound?

Yes it was............So this is a version of the Master that still has the drum sounds, maybe an incarnation after Simms but before Missy.

Does the Master remember any of his prior forms?