Doctor Who Reactions: "Spyfall" (SPOILERS!)

[The Baron]

Part One

1. A pre-credits sequence!
2. “C” is Stephen Fry. Going for the stunt-casting, then,
3. “MI6 has never countenanced the possibility of extraterrestrial life.” Within the context of this show, that’s the dumbest thing I’ve ever heard.
4. It’s the guy who played Waris Hussein!
5. I like the faux John Barry “James Bond” music.
6. “The name’s Doctor. The Doctor.”
7. O is the Master! As is traditional, there’s no explanation of how s/he escaped the Mondasian colony ship.
8. “I’m her best enemy.” A callback to “The Five Doctors”.
9. “Everything that you think you know is a lie.” Oh, it’s one of those, is it?
10. Cliffhanger: The plane is going down with Yaz, Ryan and Graham on board, and the Doctor is off who knows where!
11. Barton was Lenny Henry! So, he finally made it into proper Doctor Who!
12. “Dedicated to the memory of the Masterful Terrance Dicks” Good to see the great man get a mention.

 

Part Two

1. “What are you doing in my liver again?” I hate when that happens.
2. So, they used a time cheat to get Team TARDIS off the plane. The show’s tended to avoid that kind of “Bill and Ted” stuff, which I think they should. Too much of that can call attention to the fact that battles between time travelers are inherently nonsensical.
3. “A grenade for the home” They should have had Dan Starkey play that guy.
4. I see they’ve updated the TCE so it doesn’t look so much like a vibrator as the old one did.
5. “When I arrange for your death, I expect you to stay dead.”
6. “I bring news from home.”
7. “Don’t have a TARDIS. Do have an Ada.”
8. Charles Babbage I had heard of, Ada Lovelace I had not.
9. “Dance, Graham, dance!”
10. Noor Inayat Khan was another one I had not heard of.
11. Four beeps!
12. “Contact.” A callback to “The Three Doctors”.
13. “Tiny Teutonic psychic perception filter” New from Fisher-Price!
14. “Someone destroyed it.” I imagine finding out what that was all about will be a big part of the season.
15. More time cheating to deal with the Master. He’ll be back, of course.

Overall

This was OK, a pretty good start to the season.  Dhawan makes a good Master, and he works well with Whittaker.  I think it was a little dumb to destroy Gallifrey after all the trouble Our Steve went to to bring it back, especially when we all know that the Time Lords will be back when some future show runner wants them back. Nevertheless, a good start.

 

[PowerBook Pete, the Mad Mod]

Destroying Gallifrey and the Time Lords has become like destroying the Enterprise every couple of Star Trek movies. Stop it! Find something else to do!

[Jeff of Earth-J]

I haven’t started re-watching these yet, but I’m using your posts as springboards. After I watch the episodes a second time, I’ll come back if anything new comes to mind.

“I like the faux John Barry “James Bond” music.

Me, too.

“O is the Master!”

I understand you had this spoiled for you before you had the opportunity to see the episode. Too bad. For me, the set-up/reveal worked exactly as intended: I actually said, “Oh!”

Wow, so much of your post is unfamiliar. I really do need to sit down and re-watch these.

[The Baron]

I had a rough idea of what I thought went on. It's still different actually seeing it.

[Jeff of Earth-J]

We ordered Series 12 on DVD as soon as we became aware it was available and we received it yesterday. When Tracy placed the order, she shared with me some of the anti-Jodie Whittaker comments posted on Amazon.com. Okay, you don’t like a female Doctor, I get that. But this is here second season. If you found the first season so offensive, why are you still watching? Or aren’t you watching and just posting your screed? I wish some of these people would get lives.

[PowerBook Pete, the Mad Mod]

Hear, hear!

[The Baron]

There's always been a class of Doctor Who "fan" that gets their jollies out of dumping on the show.  I've seen "It's not as good as it  used to be" stuff from 1964.  

The internet seems to have proved a fertile breeding ground for people who can't just not like something, but have to hang around dumping on it, and generally trying to make things unpleasant for the people who do like it.

The misogyny directed at Jodie Whittaker is the icing on that poisoned cake.
 
Jeff of Earth-J said:

We ordered Series 12 on DVD as soon as we became aware it was available and we received it yesterday. When Tracy placed the order, she shared with me some of the anti-Jodie Whittaker comments posted on Amazon.com. Okay, you don’t like a female Doctor, I get that. But this is here second season. If you found the first season so offensive, why are you still watching? Or aren’t you watching and just posting your screed? I wish some of these people would get lives.

[Jeff of Earth-J]

"I've seen 'It's not as good as it used to be' stuff from 1964."

That is true.

And of course the anti-Whittaker comments started long before her first episode even aired.

[Jeff of Earth-J]

Okay, here I come playing follow-up. We re-watched "Spyfall, Pts. 1 & 2" last night. I've already adressed the main topic I intended to (the revelation of the Master): one can see an episode for the first time only once. 

Another thing that occurs to me is the whole "Constellation of Casterberus" thing. What does that even mean? It's not like a solar system. A constellation as seen from where? and wouldn't any give star potentially be seen as part of any number of different constellations as seen from different parts of the galaxy? 

I mean, we came from Earth (or Sol). Which constellation(s) are we part of? As seen from where?

[The Baron]

Yeah, the whole Kasterborus thing never made much sense to me, either.  I suspect a writer who did not know his astronomical terms perfectly.

[Jeff of Earth-J]

"Kasterborus." Got it. (Wasn't sure of the spelling.

Watched "Orphan 55" last night, but nothing to say about it.