Doctor Who: Spyfall

[selenak]

I waited till both parts were broadcast with my review because, unlike the majority on my flist, I didn't like the first part on its own but thought the second part might make me change my mind. Which, yes, it did! Loved the second part.



The reason why part 1 didn't work for me, in short:

- as far as James Bond spoofs go, this fell far short of Our Man Bashir, and took longer
- the Doctor was always behind and reacting, instead of doing anything clever, even in reaction
- O-as-the-Master came across as very Simm-derative post reveal, as opposed to making an instant impression the way Jacobi, Simm himself and of course Michelle Gomez had done, and I was afraid he'd be the new Anthony Ainley, aka a Master whose actor models himself too closely on the previous performance to offer something original and is over the top (even for the Master) with it to boot.

And that's leaving aside the general problem with using the Master so shortly after the previous outing again. (I always thought Moffat was wise to leave years and an entire Doctor regeneration between End of Time and Missy's debut.) In fact, at first I thought "O" meant we'd get Omega, not the Master, and felt a bit let down this wasn't so.

I did like that as opposed to last season's Amazon apologia, this time non-Google - and as it turns out non-Apple, and non-Facebook, etc. - was satirized as a menace, not a misunderstood good employer.

However, then came part 2. Which brought me the Doctor being clever, both in reaction and action, and not behind all the time (though I instantly knew who Ada was and she didn't, but hey, she had other things to consider). We got classic Doctor and Master cat and cat (since neither is a mouse) games, Ada was a great historical character to use, and I must google Noor Iniyat Khan. Even the thing that annoyed me - the Master posing as a German officer while in a Southasian body in the middle of WWII - was given a Watsonian explanation. (Mind you, I could do without WWII visits for a few seasons, no matter how short or long, because the cult of WWII has certainly contributed to the mentality that made Brexit possible.)

We also got a set up for a seasonal arc, i.e. backstory to Gallifrey. At a guess, they'll do something similar to what Big Finish did with Rassilon. Haven't met a continuity yet in which Gallifrey - and/or the Time Lords discovering regeneration - wasn't due to some extremely shady (at best) dealiings. Though I hope for something that's also more personal and less general for the Doctor and the Master.

Speaking of the later: I also hope he'll be either from an alternate dimension or will turn out to be post-Simm, pre-Missy (we didn't see Simm regenerate into Gomez, though of course they both assumed this would be the case), because I would lilke to keep Missy's arc in continuity. Considering O and the Doctor were texting pals when the Doctor was male, I'm assuming this meant the Twelfth Doctor simultanously interacted with Missy in the vault and was texting O, which, considering he also interacted with Simm near the end of their lives, has to be some sort of record for any regeneration of the Doctor.

Lastly: recontextualizing the drumbeats from Simm!Master into Time Lord heartbeats and letting the Doctor use them to contact the Master - as well as the old school style telepathy, "contact" indeed - was a great touch, Chris Chibnall.

Comments

[such_heights]

Noor Inayat Khan is very much real - very amazing and sad life story. A little biased because my friend's mum wrote a book about her and is a big champion of recognising her role in WW2, but yes, very cool. Her and Ada Lovelace teaming up was everything I never knew I wanted.

[selenak]

I've googled her now, and she does sound amazing!

[legionseagle]

I loved that her question was "Do we defeat fascism?" rather than "Do I survive?" because you could tell that the Doctor was terrified it would be the latter.

The thing that flabbergasted me was her descent from Tipu Sultan.

[jesuswasbatman]

I was worried when I saw the cast list that Chibnall might try to do something with Yaz being related to her, but fortunately he didn't.

[pujaemuss]

I knew about her from Rejected Princesses - https://www.rejectedprincesses.com/princesses/noor-inayat-khan. Incredible woman and it's a shame that the show didn't do a little more with her than just getting her to stand around being baffled by the Doctor.

PJW

[jesuswasbatman]

I thought the idea of the drumbeats as Time Lord hearts-rhythm was made clear right at the start in the Simm!Master arc?

[nostalgia]

End of Time I think?

[jesuswasbatman]

Oh yes, Rassilon says it when he explains how he induced the Master's drum perception.

[nostalgia]

My own take at the moment is that Dhawan is the one immediately after Gomez and he *was* "good" but lost if after he went to Gallifrey, and now he's clinging to villainy to stay sane. He looked so broken in the second episode, like he didn't know what he wanted from the Doctor or himself.

[jesuswasbatman]

Agreed, and I think I heard that either Chibnall or Dhawan confirmed that this Master is the one after Gomez?

[nostalgia]

There's a BBC video floating round of Dhawan telling us who the Master is and he lists them off in order and has his own one after Gomez.

[elisi]

Yeah, this makes sense (it's not ideal, but it makes sense). I can see Dhawan rocking up on Gallifrey trying to be his new, best self and then having the rug pulled out from underneath his feet.

Also the whole thing was very Textbook Master? As in 'How else was I going to get your attention' <- he literally admits as much, and doesn't really seem to care all that much about the whole world dominion thing? I can see him desperately just Doing What He Does Best, because he can do Evil Villain in his sleep, but has no clue how to function otherwise.

ETA: Do you have a link to the video??

[nostalgia]

I seen it on the BBC (America?) Twitter a few days ago, I don't have link sorry.

[elisi]

No worries. :)

[elisi]

The reason why part 1 didn't work for me, in short:
S11 (and Resolution) set my hopes so low that last week's was a blast from start to finish. It kept my attention, used all the characters, pulled off a big reveal and was generally hugely entertaining. And - due to the reveal - rewatching was ALSO great. Sure the Doctor was on the backfoot, but hey, it's part 1 of a two-parter. Basically it was head and shoulders above anything else Chibbs has done with Thirteen. A sort of dawning disbelief that maybe her whole run won't be dull and that he has a Plan and will be Doing Something.

and I was afraid he'd be the new Anthony Ainley, aka a Master whose actor models himself too closely on the previous performance to offer something original and is over the top (even for the Master) with it to boot.
I have nattered about the Master above, but I need to profess my undying love for Ainley. I am watching through the Classic show and every. single. time Ainley!Master showed up (which was delightfully frequent) it made my day. Yes to being camp and ridiculous and wearing OTT disguises and having madcap plans. Goodness I love him.

We also got a set up for a seasonal arc, i.e. backstory to Gallifrey. At a guess, they'll do something similar to what Big Finish did with Rassilon.
I don't know of Big Finish & Rassilon - is it easily summarised or should I go looking on wiki?

Haven't met a continuity yet in which Gallifrey - and/or the Time Lords discovering regeneration - wasn't due to some extremely shady (at best) dealings. Though I hope for something that's also more personal and less general for the Doctor and the Master.
It seems to be tackling colonialism/imperialism - which is good - but for the love of Rassilon, why did he have to kill them all? Echoing Forrest Gump was not a high point. :(

Considering O and the Doctor were texting pals when the Doctor was male, I'm assuming this meant the Twelfth Doctor simultanously interacted with Missy in the vault and was texting O, which, considering he also interacted with Simm near the end of their lives, has to be some sort of record for any regeneration of the Doctor.
Personally I have decided that this should be Eleven, because he never got a Master.

Anyway, great post, thank you!

[legionseagle]

BTW, I really didn't enjoy Skyfall at all, though agree the second half was a lot stronger than the first. I also thought that the whole business about the perception filter and Dhawan's visible ethnicity was extremely dodgy; I'd have preferred it if the perception filter had remained in place and the Nazis had simply gone after him for being a double agent.

[kalypso]

The moment he said "child" I thought "Omelas". I don't know the Big Finish/Rassilon plot, but I'm guessing that time travel depends on something unpleasant happening to a child. Of course, we've already had Omega complaining that it depended on something unpleasant happening to him, but it could be both - though the Seventh Doctor's comments on the Hand of Omega (Remembrance) suggested that s/he should know quite a lot about what was going on during the initial time travel experiments - that "we/they" slip of the tongue. But, hm, maybe all these Os are significant?

Anyway, though I've generally found Gallifrey tiresome since the Fourth Doctor era, I am happy that we're now engaging with the mythology of the show again, especially in so far as it involves the Master/Missy. At this moment, my favourite two-parter remains World Enough and Time/The Doctor Falls, which elevated Gomez to Delgado status in my eyes. But I'm very hopeful of Dhawan.

(Have you heard my Sacha Dhawan story yet? He's an old friend of my neighbour's son, and apparently turned up at their house a few years ago in the immediate aftermath of an election, so they said "You must go and see this extraordinary house next door, it's covered in Labour posters." Unfortunately he was just too late, as I'd already started taking them down, so he didn't get the full effect. Nevertheless... the Master knows where I live!

[grimorie]

We got classic Doctor and Master cat and cat (since neither is a mouse) games,

Oooh. Yes, I love that description of them because neither are a mouse in this game, they're both cats!