S12.E01: Spyfall (1)

[Eulipian 5k]

1 hour ago, DoctorAtomic said:

It was mentioned before I think - maybe that's where she is headed; to revive UNIT. She's probably still a little too green in her traveling right now, but she could grow to realize the need for it. 

Did I remember correctly that the Doctor mentioned that the Fam was already building up "void stuff" from their travels?

[Llywela]

2 hours ago, Eulipian 5k said:

Did I remember correctly that the Doctor mentioned that the Fam was already building up "void stuff" from their travels?

She did, yes - she said it was why Yaz survived being snatched by the aliens, because she confused them so they just transported her instead of killing her.

[DanaK]

2 hours ago, Eulipian 5k said:

Did I remember correctly that the Doctor mentioned that the Fam was already building up "void stuff" from their travels?

 

12 minutes ago, Llywela said:

She did, yes - she said it was why Yaz survived being snatched by the aliens, because she confused them so they just transported her instead of killing her.

The Doctor actually said she and Yaz were fizzing with "Artron energy" because of their time travels and the Doctor wasn't human so the aliens got confused. It was never explained why Yaz got transported to Australia in place of the alien prisoner, but I guess we're left to assume it was so the aliens could trade her for their compatriot

[Eulipian 5k]

1 hour ago, DanaK said:

The Doctor actually said she and Yaz were fizzing with "Artron energy" because of their time travels and the Doctor wasn't human so the aliens got confused.

Thx. Now on the watch for "Chekhov's Artron Energy" in the third act!

Edited January 16, 2020 by Eulipian 5k
"H"

[Llywela]

I was thinking about those establishing scenes of the companions back on Earth at the beginning, trying to put my finger on what it was about those scenes that bothered me. Because on the one hand, it was useful and much needed character information, showing us that they are making occasional visits home, that time is passing in between - doesn't look like the Doctor is even trying to take them back to the same day or even the same week they left - and that the Doctor is actively helping smooth things over (with falsified papers!) to help them keep their lives ticking over, ready to return to someday.

But it's been bothering me, something about it felt wrong, and I think I've finally put my finger on why. It's the same as when Clara changed jobs from nanny to schoolteacher between seasons - important character moments pushed off-screen, glossed over in a throwaway comment or two that pay lip service to character development (look! The character's life is moving forward, honestly!) without actually investing any time or effort in, you know, actually showing that development as it happens. And with this group, it really was too little too late. So Ryan checks in with his mates from time to time? Yaz has got the Doctor falsifying paperwork for her, so she can have her cake and eat it too? How much more satisfying would it have been if we'd watched those developments as they happened - for Yaz, especially. After a full season of next to nothing, when we could have watched her wrestling with herself all along, energised by everything the Doctor has to offer yet also desperate not to give up on the career she's been working toward, maybe confiding her fears in Graham and Ryan separately along the way, not wanting to worry the Doctor, finally getting tripped up and having to admit her concerns, the Doctor understanding and asking what she wants to do, the two of them coming up with a plan together, and so on. I mean, falsifying paperwork seems a bit out of character for both Yaz and the Doctor, but if we'd watched it all unfold on-screen, it would have been far more satisfying than a single scene tacked on a full season later, as if someone suddenly realised they hadn't really explained anything that was going on with the companions and their home lives.

Chibnall's overall vision of Doctor Who is closer to mine than Moffat's was, but his execution of that vision is sadly lacking. Like Moffat, he is highly plot-focused, with any character work having to squeeze in around the edges. But I think his vision would be much stronger if he flipped it around to be more character-focused, so that each character had a clearly defined journey as individuals, with the episodic plots built to facilitate and showcase those journeys.

[DanaK]

On 1/13/2020 at 1:21 PM, DanaK said:

Final consolidated numbers for Part 1 were 6.89 million viewers with an Appreciation Index of 82. It was 8th for the week (ending Jan 5). There were a few days of Coronation Street ahead of it plus a Fireworks special and Call the Midwife

^These numbers were for the 7-days. The 28-days numbers have come in for Part 1 and 2 and Part 1 got 7.40 million after 28 days

[WatchrTina]

I've just started watching this episode during a 2021 New Year's Day binge-watch and I have to say that seeing that creature very nearly get through the Tardis' impregnable front doors REALLY offends me -- especially since in the prior episode the Kerblam! delivery drone also got into the Tardis uninvited.

Sigh.  I was eager to binge-watch eps today in the run-up to the airing of the new episode, but now I'm remembering how much they ignored pre-established canon in the Jodi Whitaker years.  In the episodes I've already watched The Doctor has killed a shocking number of people/creatures and seems to have completely gotten over her aversion to guns. The Doctor has changed a lot more than just her gender this season.

Edited January 2, 2021 by WatchrTina

[taanja]

On 1/20/2020 at 1:44 PM, Llywela said:

And with this group, it really was too little too late. So Ryan checks in with his mates from time to time? Yaz has got the Doctor falsifying paperwork for her, so she can have her cake and eat it too? How much more satisfying would it have been if we'd watched those developments as they happened - for Yaz, especially. After a full season of next to nothing, when we could have watched her wrestling with herself all along, energised by everything the Doctor has to offer yet also desperate not to give up on the career she's been working toward, maybe confiding her fears in Graham and Ryan separately along the way, not wanting to worry the Doctor, finally getting tripped up and having to admit her concerns, the Doctor understanding and asking what she wants to do, the two of them coming up with a plan together, and so on. I mean, falsifying paperwork seems a bit out of character for both Yaz and the Doctor, but if we'd watched it all unfold on-screen, it would have been far more satisfying than a single scene tacked on a full season later, as if someone suddenly realised they hadn't really explained anything that was going on with the companions and their home lives.

That sounds a little too much like a soap opera to me- No? I don't need nor want to know more about the companions than we already do. The problem with the "Fam" IMO- was there were too many of them.

Two companions is almost one too many. The show works best for me when the Doctor and one companion travel and bond.