DanaK

Spyfall got an Appreciation Index (AI) of 82 (Dracula Part 1 got 83). Resolution, the last New Year's Day episode (though a special) got 80. So looking good so far Do you all think the BBC made it clear that New Year's Day was the start of Series 12 and not just a special? There does seem to have been some confusion from at least some people on social media and people mentioning friends/family perhaps being confused. I felt BBC America was fairly clear, but I totally was aware of what was going on. I do feel it would have helped if the BBC had clearly labeled the promos to say Series 12 and not just Doctor Who coming on New Year's Day (I thought the 2 actual trailers were pretty clear)

There were several comments on social media that Sacha got cleverly edited out of the trailers, at least physically. He was heard though, at least once, where you hear someone asking ‘What have you brought here Doctor?’. A lot of people, including me, thought it was Graham who said that

Per the Resolution special last New Year's Eve, it was temporarily put on hold due to funding disputes with the UK's major partners

http://www.interbridge.com/lineups.html The above late night/daytime US talk shows lineup shows that Jodie will be on The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon on Wed, Jan 8 at about 11:35pm Eastern Time (USers, check your local listings) Plus, as mentioned before, the cast will be at the Paley Center in NYC on Sunday doing a Q&A Since they will be in NYC this next week, they will probably be doing additional promotion stuff, so watch out for it

The BBC has finally updated their listing info for Episode 3. Their info is consistent with digiguide as I previously posted above though the BBC's synopsis is shorter: "The Doctor and her friends discover that the luxury resort where they are holidaying is hiding a number of deadly secrets. What are the ferocious monsters attacking Tranquillity Spa?"

During my first viewing, "O" seemed off to me at times but I figured it was due to him being a nerdy analyst guy and having been kicked out of MI6 and living alone in the Outback. Once you knew he was the Master, rewatches make things more interesting. It's pretty clear he was trying to set some doubt in Graham's mind about the Doctor when he offered his shelf of material on the Doctor. Also, it certainly seemed to me that he was just eagerly waiting for the Doctor to twig to him. He certainly seemed to purposely push how he was not good at running when O's file said otherwise and he was thrilled when the Doctor finally got who he was. Everything was set up by him it seems. What I don't get for now is if he wanted the Doctor to die in the plane crash (I'm presuming), why did one of the light aliens disappear with her? I guess we'll find out in Part 2 I should point out that though I said I read spoilers about Sacha being the Master, I figured he was deep undercover and would reveal himself later in the season or that perhaps the spoilers were wrong, or I mis-identified the actor

No title card, but I think it may have been held at Barton’s place in San Francisco

I finally figured out why the majestic music used during the tux intro scene and bike chase seemed so familiar. It was used at the end of Resolution

I’m kind of thinking that weird place Yaz and the Doctor got sent to was them being miniaturized or something similar. The Doctor seemed to recognize the place though

@TwirlyGirly I would presume if you buy it, like with iTunes, you keep it, but I don’t know for sure

Overnight ratings are in and the episode got 4.88 million viewers, its lowest number yet. However, to put it in context, it got the second highest number of the night and it was shown opposite the program that was #1. Dracula didn’t do so hot for Part 1. I’m thinking New Year’s Day is not the best viewing time even if the networks keep trying. US broadcast networks just put sports on and scripted repeats lizo mzimba (@lizo_mzimba) Tweeted: @TomSpilsbury Yes, Emmerdale got 5.00 million, Corrie got 4.87 million, EastEnders 4.46 million. Dracula got 3.57 million 7+ days consolidated viewing figures should tell us more, as will the ratings for Part 2

Per Digital Spy, here's a bit longer trailer for the episode https://www.digitalspy.com/tv/a30373537/doctor-who-spyfall-part-2-trailer/?utm_content=buffer06db5&utm_medium=social&utm_source=twitter&utm_campaign=maintwitterpost

I think I was thinking that because 13 said she returned the team home 30 minutes after they left in Arachnids. It's also possible I was thinking this just for 13's era. I was really surprised to hear Graham thought 13 was joking about being a man before. He and Grace did listen to her talk about how it felt to regenerate. Man, 13 apparently has told them so little Some reviews: The Independent (mostly positive) https://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/tv/reviews/doctor-who-spyfall-bbc-review-jodie-whittaker-lenny-henry-new-episodes-a9264521.html Den of Geek (mostly positive) https://www.denofgeek.com/us/tv/doctor-who/285154/doctor-who-season-12-episode-1-review-spyfall Radio Times (mostly positive) https://www.radiotimes.com/news/tv/2020-01-01/doctor-who-spyfall-part-one-review/ The various reviews point out of course it's hard to judge Part 1 of a 2-parter because the story is incomplete

As someone noted on Twitter, at least half of the stuff in the trailers was in this episode. So they may be hiding some surprises.

I hadn't considered that at all. It will be interesting to see what happens As for the companions making cover stories to their families and friends, I had figured the Doctor was always returning them soon after she took them away on their adventures. I hadn't considered that normal time was happening and they were having to make up excuses

I forgot to mention, we got the pre-title scenes (or whatever you call the scenes before the theme that Series 11 ditched) in this episode. I thought Chibnall said we wouldn't get them for the first episode, but I could be mistaken As much as I enjoyed The Woman Who Fell To Earth as a new viewer, this was a major step up from that. But the second season of a Doctor should obviously strive for being much better since the first season opener is typically the messy post-regeneration episode when the Doctor is not working at full speed

I've researched the history of Who, but I don't know about the tissue compression thing I totally loved 13's response of "I've had an upgrade" to Frye's confusion about who was the Doctor and then his response after being corrected by his man that he's read the Doctor's files and he's always been a man

Another program reminder: Episode 2 of Series 12 will be on this coming Sunday, 7pm on the BBC and 8pm ET/PT/7pm CT/MT on BBC America.

Trailer for next episode. Let me know if there are problems seeing it:

Holy damn, I loved this! It was exciting, fun, spooky. What a great season opener. I don't really think I was bored with anything. Can't wait for Episode 2 on Sunday Loved 13's totally inability (or disdain) to being undercover. Her attempt at card playing was hilarious Was that 13's theme when they showed up in the tuxes and during the chase? It totally started with a spy-y vibe didn't it? I knew the spoilers about the Master returning, but I totally figured the Master wouldn't reveal himself until near the end of the season. Totally got me on that show. And the Doctor being so shook up at his reveal was pretty great I watched this live and had to put up with the many BBC America commercials. That was the real downer I hate the time difference. I had to wait over 7 hours past the BBC showing to see this and stay off social media to avoid spoilers and plot details. I'm going to be running all over my social media tonight to see the responses. And I guess I'll have to do it for the next 9 episodes. I get to see this again and the 2nd episode on Sunday in a local movie theater as part of Fathom Events, without commercials and with the 2nd episode ending just after the UK sees it. It should be lots of fun

Episode First Look Episode preview #2

Full ChinaDaily interview with Chibnall and cast https://www.chinadaily.com.cn/a/201912/02/WS5de47f18a310cf3e3557b592.html Jodie’s interview with The Big Issue https://www.bigissue.com/latest/jodie-whittakers-new-year-message-as-doctor-who-returns-dont-lose-hope/

Hmm, unless it’s a glitch, it looks like Amazon US is no longer making Doctor Who available free to Prime members. I had figured they would wait to do that until Spring when HBO Max goes live. I was on Series 6 and still need to finish Matt Smith’s era to finish nuWho. It’s a good thing I recorded the specials on my Tivo during the marathon. I guess there’s still the DVDs via Netflix Program reminder: The Series 12 premiere starts in a little while at 1:55pm today in the UK on the BBC. In the US, BBC America will start the show at 8pm ET and PT/7pm CT and MT and repeat it many times. I’m not sure about other countries

Just a reminder for American viewers that the BBC America Doctor Who marathon is still ongoing. You can catch a replay of Series 11 starting tomorrow (Wed) at 7am ET leading into Series 12

Updated: new promo pic from Doctor Who Twitter account Like, man... Interviews with the producers and cast via BBC Media. It starts with Chibnall and you can access the others on the upper right of the page https://www.bbc.co.uk/mediacentre/mediapacks/doctor-who-12/chris