MovieChat Forums > Doctor Who (2006) Discussion > Spyfall part 2 thoughts?

Spyfall part 2 thoughts?


Not the worst follow up episode but the first was far better - just had a far better mystery and just seemed to flow better. Found this was a bit messy at times.

I kind of liked the hopping to different times but also felt it might have been better focusing on just one time. One of my biggest issues with series 11 is it often felt like stories had lots of interesting ideas thrown together so good ideas never got to fully develop and when we did get them they got very watered down. For example the war torn Paris location was great and seeing the Eiffel Tower in the war torn background looked beautiful and I felt like there was a full episode screaming out. So much they could have done but with time constraints and possibly budget to it never happened. I did enjoy the master following and changing disguises which reminded me a lot of Delgado's master.

I wasn't a fan of the companions as a full package in series 11 as there where too many and Yaz was just there but last week they all seemed to get used very well and even Yaz seemed to develop and even had uses and a purpose but this seemed to get thrown out in part 2 with Yaz mainly in the background again and the whole group just not doing much.

I would have preferred if we had not seen the group until the end and spent the time with the doctor in the past with the doctor once reunited with her Tardis having to land it on the crashing plane to save them. This would have given us more time with the doctor in the past and probably more realistic then ryan flying the plane via a phone although I can let that slide.

As for Gallifrey I'm split. It does seem a bit pointless to have the doctor thinking right up until the 50th he (or she) had destroyed gallifrey to learn he'd saved it for the master to go and destroy it. I also have seen people thinking the timeless child will be the show trying to redo the cartmell masterplan and bring back the other which I hope not. It sounds good at face value but when you dig deeper I think it could ruin the show. It would either make the doctor someone powerful in time lord history which I feel the doctor works best as just a normal timelord or could make him human or part human and we all know how that went down. The doctors past works best being unanswered as a mystery as the more we learn the less mysterious the character becomes.

I do like that the show is trying to do something however. Its certainly got people talking as I felt series 11 just didn't have much to say as it was a bit dull. I also felt we finally got to see some range from Jodie who felt very one note for me in series 11. This time we've seen her get scared, sad and angry and I'm interested to see where the series goes

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I enjoyed it.

I really didn't get too much into Season 11 at all, I just didn't think any of it was particularly interesting.

Spyfall part 1 and part 2 were better. I was concerned last week when they reintroduced The Master. Not because I didn't want him there, but because it felt a bit out of place. I had been so gripped at finding out what these new aliens were, that The Doctor had no knowledge of and the TARDIS couldn't translate, it just felt like a bit of a letdown it being The Masters again. I was hoping for some kick-ass new villains, and we just go it being a Master scheme again. And it did sort of prove that in the second episode. It mainly became The Doctor vs The Master, with the Kasavin seemed to be just moved to the side. Even Lenny Henry, who I thought was brilliant in the first episode was just kind of wasted.

Saying that, as a whole I preferred the episode. It doesn't hark back to the glory days of the first five seasons yet, but as enjoyable as anything I've seen on Doctor Who in a while. The Master being there seemed justified a bit, as it's starting a story arc about Gallifrey. Which is intriguing. And the one time Lenny Henry was given anything worthwhile to do, the message about being to trusting about computers who can invade our privacy was well made. (Something that the last season failed with. Whenever they tried to insert a message into a TV show it was heavy-handed, and felt like it overpowered the episode and made it less enjoyable.)

There's still a few concerns I have, but they're more to do with the actual show rather than these specific episodes. I've still not sold on Jodie as The Doctor, she does some things well, but doesn't have the gravitas for the bigger more aggressive scenes. Also, there's too many companions. It feels clustered, and there's always at least one of them that seems redundant.

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I wouldn't be fussed if the timeless child ends up being Susan, we've had a few mentions of her lately from 2013 when she was said to have named the T.A.R.D.I.S to her picture on the Desk in 2017 and even back to The Five Doctors. Susan has had spin-off's in several novels and for the Radio Times Doctor Who 20th Anniversary Special. Birth of a Renegade, in which it depicts Susan as a descendant of Time Lord founder Rassilon and the last surviving member of Gallifrey's royal family. So maybe much like they spun Paul McGann as the Doctor into Novels after that movie and put him and some of those exploits officially into canon recently, perhaps Susan may get the same.

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I certainly wouldn't mind Susan returning although to me the perfect time to have brought her back would have been for the 50th. Because we haven't seen her on screen in years I'd worry a return would seem forced. But certainly could be interesting.

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"Not the worst follow up episode but the first was far better"

I felt the exact opposite. I was thoroughly un-gripped with the first episode.
Spies are being killed ! oh no! so what who cares , spies arnt nice people anyway.
Then new monsters , that can appear anywhere in large numbers and kill you instantly - it didnt seem like there was anything could be done - they were too powerfull , it was hard to see any path out. ok this might sometime make for good drama but it just seemed too over the odds.
Regardless of that the Doctor gave them a good shouting out like usual: "Who ARE you?" where are you from ???"
Go away! leave this planet!
Then followed a load of Johhny English spy parody crap.
It only got good in the last 2 minutes with the plane cliffhanger and master revalation.

Part 2 was more back to normal , more of a mixed bag , more of the doctor getting somewhere by actually doing stuff , rahter than relying on not being instantly killed by all powefull mosters who could have killed her instantly



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