Does this story stick the landing? Or (considering members of our cast are stuck on a crashing airliner with its cockpit exploded off) does it crash the landing?
We'll discuss more after the spoiler warning.
SPYFALL - PART TWO
by Chris Chibnall
Well, we've got a lot to catch up on from the cliffhanger of part one.
Yaz, Ryan and Graham are on an airplane that's going to crash thanks to the Master's bomb having blown the cockpit off. Thankfully, Ryan finds an information packet titled "How to Land an Airplane Without a Cockpit".
It works! But the fam is not out of danger yet as Daniel Barton is using his all knowing all seeing access to all information everywhere to turn the three companions into fugitives. The odds are against our friends but maybe things might go better if Graham can figure out how to work his laser shoes.
Meanwhile, the strange humanoid outlines of blinding white light have zapped the Doctor to the strange foggy dimension of dangly things that Yaz got zapped to last time. But the Doctor is not alone. A woman named Ada Lovelace (an early developer of what will come to be known as computer code) brings the Doctor out of the strange foggy dimension of dangly things into the year 1834 and a science exposition.
Back in the present, Barton is not happy that the Master's foolproof plan is not so fool proof. The Master hops back in time to 1834 to confront the Doctor. Barging into the science exposition, the Master uses his Tissue Compression Eliminator (or Lethal People Littlelerizer) to shrink and kill some people before forcing the Doctor to get to her knees and says his name: "Master".
But the Master's power trip reveals that he may not be as informed as he would like to pretend to be about the strange humanoid outlines of blinding white light.
By the way, our strange humanoid outlines of blinding white light get a name, the Kasaavin so I can stop pasting in "strange humanoid outlines of blinding white light" every other paragraph.
The Doctor susses out a way to summon a Kasaavin to use as portal back to the strange foggy dimension of dangly things to get back to the 21st century. But Ada is determined to follow the Doctor; grabbing her hand, the Doctor and Ada wind up in 1943 in Paris at the height of the German occupation. Where the Master is also making a nuisance of himself in a Nazi uniform which I agree with the Doctor is a new low for the Master.
The Doctor and Ada are assisted by Noor Inayat Khan, a real life World War II heroine, the first female wireless operator to be sent from Britain into occupied France to aid the French Resistance during World War II, and was Britain's first Muslim war heroine.
The Doctor finagles the Master into a meeting atop the Eiffel Tower where he helpfully reveals his plan. It's also where the Master is arrested by Nazis after the Doctor has arranged for him to be exposed as "not one of them".
Nothing more ticks off a Nazi than some who is not one of them.
Meanwhile, back in the present, the fam are on Daniel Barton's trail but they are two steps behind as Barton is prepared to whammy the human race into becoming data storage for the Kasaavin .
Except it stops before it barely starts thanks to a time travelling Doctor who hacked Barton's code a year earlier.
The Doctor also uses the Master's boasts from the Eiffel Tower in 1943 to royally mess up his standing with the Kassovin who zap the Master to the strange foggy dimension of dangly things where the Master will presumably remain trapped forever.
Or until his next episode.
I'm gonna guess that will be by the end of this season.
One more thing: the Doctor needs to nip back in time to create, print and laminate an information packet titled "How to Land an Airplane Without a Cockpit", then plant it on the plane for Ryan to find.
One more "one more thing". The Master in 1943 asks the Doctor when was the last time she went home. He tells her Gallifrey is destroyed and all the Time Lords are dead. Near the end of the episode, the Doctor pops over to Gallifrey and finds the place is indeed a smoldering ruin, devoid of life. A final hologram message from the Master tells her it was he who destroyed Gallifrey. He had to make them pay for their lies and the secret of the Timeless Child. (This includes a flashback to the Doctor in The Ghost Monument which was the first mention of the Timeless Child.) The message tells her nothing more; the Master has no intention on making this easy for her.
OK, here's yet another "one more thing". Earlier, Graham, Ryan and Yaz were commiserating with each other about how they know nothing about this woman who they've been following all over time and space. Graham still thinks the references the Doctor makes to once being a man are jokes. At the very end, they press her for more information.
The Doctor tells them she is a Time Lord from the planet Gallifrey in the constellation of Kasterborous. She can regenerate and she stole the TARDIS, ran away and has been travelling ever since. The Master used to be her friend but he took a different path.
"Any questions?" the Doctor asks.
"Loads!" replies Graham.
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Sacha Dhawan has more time to chew up more scenery as the Master in part two and quite frankly, he makes a really good Master, veering between absurdity and rage at a moment's notice. The scenes he shares with Jodie Whittaker crackle with energy. These two make a very good Doctor/Master pairing on par with Peter Capaldi/Michelle Gomez and David Tennant/John Simm.
Love the call back to the "Sound of Drums" 4 beat signal that the Doctor uses to get the Master's attention.
Did not care for the Donna Noble feels as Ada Lovelace begs the Doctor not to wipe her memory of their time together.
Jodie gets some much needed time apart from the fam as she bounces about history. I like the fam and the Doctor's relationship to them but the Doctor does not need to always been in contact with their companions. Seeing Jodie's Doctor sans TARDIS and her usual friends working out how to get back to the present and stop the Master's scheme is Jodie's most Doctor-esque outing yet.
The companions are not short changed. Seeing our trio of friends band together to elude capture and stop Barton's schemes gave us a chance to see more development of Yaz, Ryan and Graham as individuals.
Though they don't know what has happened to the Doctor, they're still trying to do the good work they know she would want them to do. Also fundamental to their growth is their willingness to question the Doctor. They need to know more about this person they're following around the universe.
There are a couple of dangling threads. Daniel Barton just disappears from the plot after trying to make the people of Earth Matrix batteries for the Kasaavin . If there is going to be more continuity between episodes, maybe we can hope we can at least get a news headline (bring back Trinity Wells?) that MI6 or Interpol has arrested Barton in the next episode or two.
What about the Kasaavin? Just because the Master's efforts to manipulate the Kasaavin to do his bidding came up a cropper, I don't think that stops the Kasaavin's interest in Earth which seems to pre-date the Master's interest in the Kasaavin.
What did the Doctor do with the Master's TARDIS?
Does Graham still have his laser shoes? OK, I may be the only one asking that one.
Sticking the landing on a two part episode is tricky for any TV show and Doctor Who does not have a pretty good track record for that. But I think that Spyfall Part Two does build and improve on the premise laid out in Part One.
With both parts of Spyfall, I feel like Series 12 is off to a great start.
And Doctor Who is BACK!
The Doctor susses out a way to summon a Kasaavin to use as portal back to the strange foggy dimension of dangly things to get back to the 21st century. But Ada is determined to follow the Doctor; grabbing her hand, the Doctor and Ada wind up in 1943 in Paris at the height of the German occupation. Where the Master is also making a nuisance of himself in a Nazi uniform which I agree with the Doctor is a new low for the Master.
The Doctor and Ada are assisted by Noor Inayat Khan, a real life World War II heroine, the first female wireless operator to be sent from Britain into occupied France to aid the French Resistance during World War II, and was Britain's first Muslim war heroine.
The Doctor finagles the Master into a meeting atop the Eiffel Tower where he helpfully reveals his plan. It's also where the Master is arrested by Nazis after the Doctor has arranged for him to be exposed as "not one of them".
Nothing more ticks off a Nazi than some who is not one of them.
Meanwhile, back in the present, the fam are on Daniel Barton's trail but they are two steps behind as Barton is prepared to whammy the human race into becoming data storage for the Kasaavin .
Except it stops before it barely starts thanks to a time travelling Doctor who hacked Barton's code a year earlier.
The Doctor also uses the Master's boasts from the Eiffel Tower in 1943 to royally mess up his standing with the Kassovin who zap the Master to the strange foggy dimension of dangly things where the Master will presumably remain trapped forever.
Or until his next episode.
I'm gonna guess that will be by the end of this season.
One more thing: the Doctor needs to nip back in time to create, print and laminate an information packet titled "How to Land an Airplane Without a Cockpit", then plant it on the plane for Ryan to find.
One more "one more thing". The Master in 1943 asks the Doctor when was the last time she went home. He tells her Gallifrey is destroyed and all the Time Lords are dead. Near the end of the episode, the Doctor pops over to Gallifrey and finds the place is indeed a smoldering ruin, devoid of life. A final hologram message from the Master tells her it was he who destroyed Gallifrey. He had to make them pay for their lies and the secret of the Timeless Child. (This includes a flashback to the Doctor in The Ghost Monument which was the first mention of the Timeless Child.) The message tells her nothing more; the Master has no intention on making this easy for her.
OK, here's yet another "one more thing". Earlier, Graham, Ryan and Yaz were commiserating with each other about how they know nothing about this woman who they've been following all over time and space. Graham still thinks the references the Doctor makes to once being a man are jokes. At the very end, they press her for more information.
The Doctor tells them she is a Time Lord from the planet Gallifrey in the constellation of Kasterborous. She can regenerate and she stole the TARDIS, ran away and has been travelling ever since. The Master used to be her friend but he took a different path.
"Any questions?" the Doctor asks.
"Loads!" replies Graham.
------------------------------------------------------
Sacha Dhawan has more time to chew up more scenery as the Master in part two and quite frankly, he makes a really good Master, veering between absurdity and rage at a moment's notice. The scenes he shares with Jodie Whittaker crackle with energy. These two make a very good Doctor/Master pairing on par with Peter Capaldi/Michelle Gomez and David Tennant/John Simm.
Love the call back to the "Sound of Drums" 4 beat signal that the Doctor uses to get the Master's attention.
Did not care for the Donna Noble feels as Ada Lovelace begs the Doctor not to wipe her memory of their time together.
Jodie gets some much needed time apart from the fam as she bounces about history. I like the fam and the Doctor's relationship to them but the Doctor does not need to always been in contact with their companions. Seeing Jodie's Doctor sans TARDIS and her usual friends working out how to get back to the present and stop the Master's scheme is Jodie's most Doctor-esque outing yet.
The companions are not short changed. Seeing our trio of friends band together to elude capture and stop Barton's schemes gave us a chance to see more development of Yaz, Ryan and Graham as individuals.
Though they don't know what has happened to the Doctor, they're still trying to do the good work they know she would want them to do. Also fundamental to their growth is their willingness to question the Doctor. They need to know more about this person they're following around the universe.
There are a couple of dangling threads. Daniel Barton just disappears from the plot after trying to make the people of Earth Matrix batteries for the Kasaavin . If there is going to be more continuity between episodes, maybe we can hope we can at least get a news headline (bring back Trinity Wells?) that MI6 or Interpol has arrested Barton in the next episode or two.
What about the Kasaavin? Just because the Master's efforts to manipulate the Kasaavin to do his bidding came up a cropper, I don't think that stops the Kasaavin's interest in Earth which seems to pre-date the Master's interest in the Kasaavin.
What did the Doctor do with the Master's TARDIS?
Does Graham still have his laser shoes? OK, I may be the only one asking that one.
Sticking the landing on a two part episode is tricky for any TV show and Doctor Who does not have a pretty good track record for that. But I think that Spyfall Part Two does build and improve on the premise laid out in Part One.
With both parts of Spyfall, I feel like Series 12 is off to a great start.
And Doctor Who is BACK!
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