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Post by Deleted on Jan 2, 2020 19:34:11 GMT
I've just watched it again. I'm happy to report it is still brilliant, especially when you concentrate on O's reaction to various situations. Knowing what we know about him makes me appreciate Sacha's performance even more in retrospect. Sacha's been one of the best working actors in the country over the last 10 or so years, he really can do it all - from gentle sitcoms to really hard social dramas and comic book things like Iron Fist and a rather wonderful turn in Sherlock along with big roles in hit shows like Last Tango In Halifax, Line Of Duty and Mr Selfridge. He was even in a thing with Jodie before, I can't remember the name but she was being blackmailed and Toby Stephens was in it. I'm so chuffed we've got Sacha on board. I'd have loved him as The Doctor but I'll take this! Me too. Time to give BF's Ghost Walk another listen, I think!
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Post by Tim Bradley on Jan 2, 2020 19:59:49 GMT
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Post by fitzoliverj on Jan 2, 2020 20:34:56 GMT
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Post by Audio Watchdog on Jan 2, 2020 20:41:00 GMT
I thought that the basketball scene was actually a very nice one for the character. He can’t magically play basketball well now that he travels with the Doctor, his dyspraxia hasn’t just magically disappeared and it’s still something he struggles with. But his friend pointed out that before he wouldn’t even play. That shows where he’s come from episode one where he would flat out refuse to keep trying to ride the bike due to embarrassment and fear of failure. It just shows how not just travelling with the Doctor but also the loss of Grace has changed him and turned him into a far more positive person. Agreed. I thought it was the best character work in the episode. It showed us instead of telling us.
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Post by Deleted on Jan 2, 2020 20:49:19 GMT
A few positive words about Spyfall in this article, which mainly concerns itself with last night's BBC Dracula adaption.
'According to The Guardian's Stuart Jeffries, there was "a lot to enjoy" in a series opener that saw Jodie Whittaker's Doctor join forces with MI6.
Times reviewer Midgley saluted the show's "modern, zeitgeisty [and] ambitious" plot, while the Mirror's Nicola Methven described it as "rip-roaring [and] action-packed".
Telegraph critic Singh was also impressed by "a rollicking James Bond pastiche" in which Stephen Fry, Sacha Dhawan and Sir Lenny Henry made cameo appearances.
Wednesday's episode ended with an on-screen dedication to "Masterful" Doctor Who writer Terrance Dicks, who died last year aged 84.
Doctor Who continues on BBC One on Sunday at 19:00 GMT.'
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Post by doctorkernow on Jan 2, 2020 21:30:59 GMT
Hello again.
And that is why I try to avoid spoilers. Great ending, if the second part lands, this will be, for me, the most enjoyable episode written by Mr. Chibnall since Dinosaurs on a Spaceship. The observation of issues in society is still there as the global tech company,VOR, represents an amalgam of all those internet giants we know. It did zip around a bit, but the regular cast are still a great TARDIS team. All were given something to do, there was a confidence to all four characters. Jodie's Doctor is curious, charming, but there is steel there. She is brave and loyal, likes a team around her and consistently chases and keeps confronting her opponents.
Sir Lenny Henry was, as I expected brilliant and Sacha Dhawan has the potential to be really memorable. It is difficult to assess this story without its second part. However, there was much to enjoy. The music had some lovely touches, the direction was great during the action sequences and for the most part it rattles along nicely. Very pleased to see the dedication for Uncle Terrance who was indeed a "masterful" writer and script editor. I still can't read the yellow writing on the title sequence. Looking forward to Sunday.
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Post by tuigirl on Jan 2, 2020 22:10:29 GMT
So I also just watched this. And what can I say...
I enjoyed this more than most of the previous series.
My personal favorite scene (before everything was taken up by action and explosions) was the Doctor at the garage doing some TARDIS maintenance (or an oil change or whatever it was). I thought that was lovely. It made me smile.
For the rest of the episode- What is not to love? It contained some of my favorite tropes, was very playful with James Bond material (and since I was raised on James Bond since I was a kid, I am very partial to this kind of thing) and of course there was my favorite villain!
I admit that I got spoilered last night by some late night Facebook browsing (I had avoided this thread here, though)- so I knew who the villain would be. But as usual, I do not mind spoilers very much and this only heightened my anticipation. Before, it was like "Yay, new Doctor Who coming out, why do I always have to wait so long for iTunes... nah won't stay up all night, might watch it on the weekend".
Today at work I was more like: "OMG, OMG, OMG, cannot wait to get home to see THE VILLAIN, I wonder how he will be played and I wonder of he gets to say his signature sentence?"
Now that I have seen this- I agree that the second half of the episode was a bit too rushed.
I also agree with the ones of you who worry about the return of THE VILLAIN too early, and undoing the character development and or course... I also agree that it was a bit overdone and maybe a bit too series 3 for me. This was the incarnation I liked the least (until series 10 that is).
However. I also agree with the ones of you who say that there will be more to it and from the look out of the window, I expect some parallel universe/ timey-whimey thing going on in the background.
I also do not expect THE VILLAIN to work alone, he most likely will have teamed up with someone only to get his behind kicked, so he will be back to true form (keeping in line with the 3rd Doctor era allusions). And if I could hazard a guess, I would also think that this is a pre-Moffat era incarnation of the villain.
Just because of the behaviour and previous character development. I agree that it just does not make sense to be the character post series 10.
Still not a fan of the disbanding of UNIT and/ or Torchwood. I still hope that BF keeps using them. Is this maybe one of the reasons the UNIT series has gone on hold?
I am also curious how they are going to handle this in "Stranded" after that is supposed to happen in real time 2020 and they have at least one Torchwood character in the cast. I am aware they have no rights to anything in series 11 and 12, but someone will have to say something somehow, because otherwise they will just have chucked some random characters together. Really curious how that will turn out for BF.
So yeah, this was good, not perfect, but fun, and that is the main thing.
So let's see how this continues. Sunday you say? So I can watch it Monday night on iTunes.
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Post by mark687 on Jan 2, 2020 22:27:29 GMT
OK there's more Fan Cred for Sacha for doing this
Regards
mark687
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Post by Deleted on Jan 2, 2020 22:55:17 GMT
^ Thoroughly enjoyed that!
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Post by aussiedoctorwhofan on Jan 2, 2020 22:59:46 GMT
Still not a fan of the disbanding of UNIT and/ or Torchwood. I still hope that BF keeps using them. Is this maybe one of the reasons the UNIT series has gone on hold?
In all honesty it doesn't really matter if the tv show version states they are gone. BF can just do what they always do and write stories set in the time before that happened.
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Post by Deleted on Jan 2, 2020 23:04:36 GMT
Oh dear, this confirms that Simm regenerates into Missy. Not happy with that!
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Post by Sir Wearer of Hats on Jan 2, 2020 23:22:58 GMT
Oh dear, this confirms that Simm regenerates into Missy. Not happy with that! That was pretty much confirmed by the “canon until it’s not” BBC novel “The Missy Chronicles” (also that Missy was responsible for Rassilon’s regeneration). I wonder if the “who is that?” name in “Masterful” is going to magically change soon to read “Sacha Dawan”?
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Post by Sir Wearer of Hats on Jan 2, 2020 23:24:54 GMT
Torchwood being closed is easy to work around, it’s simply that the Doctor THINKS it’s closed because Jack told them that it’s closed.
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Post by stcoop on Jan 3, 2020 1:38:10 GMT
The more I think about it, the more likely it seems that the mysterious new aliens are actually going to turn out to be Cybermen, albeit of the parallel earth variety. They're the right shape, with ear handles and headlamps and they're converting people, just in stealth fashion.
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Post by Hieronymus on Jan 3, 2020 2:06:59 GMT
The more I think about it, the more likely it seems that the mysterious new aliens are actually going to turn out to be Cybermen, albeit of the parallel earth variety. They're the right shape, with ear handles and headlamps and they're converting people, just in stealth fashion. If it really "amuses" them to mock our humanoid form, then they're emotional and not likely to be Cybermen.
Now, genetic alteration and mocking humanity, well that sounds like
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Post by Sir Wearer of Hats on Jan 3, 2020 2:38:27 GMT
I think we’re going to find out they’re Cybermen and the “it amuses us” was a certain someone having a laugh, he was tapping away at thr computer at the time after all.
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Post by agentten on Jan 3, 2020 2:38:30 GMT
*Spoilers* My thoughts on the episode:
It took a little while for me to settle in to it, but I wasn't sure why at first. I now think it seemed, sometimes, like two different stories: A Bond send up and a RTD era alien take over story. It bounced between these two a lot in the first half of the story and I didn't feel the script properly fused the the two until the second half. In the second half I was good and settled in and enjoying a nice, pacey adventure.
The alien race seem intimidating and I like the visuals. What really sold me on them was the mocking tone when the Doctor finally gets to talk with one of them. The word play gave them an unsettling menace that clicked well for me.
It's quite interesting that The Doctor has been deliberately shying away from speaking about her past to her companions. I'm curious to find out more about that as it seems like more than just a throw-away line.
UNIT and Torchwood being out of the picture seems more and more to me like part of a story line. If you were going to invade, it makes sense to eliminate the sentries on the wall.
The last five minutes were a real powerhouse for me. I thought the reveal was deftly handled and I enjoyed how delighted The Master was with his triumph. I know some have concerns about it destroying the Missy arc, but I don't think we know enough about it yet to say. I will say that I can totally see The Master deliberately reverting to form after The Doctor nearly turned him to the good in his last incarnation. It could be seen as a reaction to the Missy story line - a Master in a new body who is disgusted with nearly losing his sense of self to the Doctor's way of thinking. The Master has always been a rebel and twisting up the volume on the defining characteristics of his existence while going after the Doctor with a brand new and fiendishly clever trap, seems like something The Master would do to regain his sense of self and thumb his nose at The Doctor's good intentions. I don't know what revelations the future holds, but that seems like a possibility. The Doctor, after all, has leaned into previous versions of himself as he entered new regenerations, and I've always had the sense that many of The Doctor's regenerations were, in part, reactions to his previous incarnation. The same could be true for this incarnation of The Master.
One negative thought I have about the episode is the impact of the "I got an upgrade" line in reference to The Doctor's gender. I didn't really feel that last season made much of an issue at all of The Doctor's change in gender. I felt the show let The Doctor just get on with the business of being The Doctor and the only references to the gender change felt appropriate to the scene. This episode's commentary on it felt off, though. For the Doctor, who respects all life and who typically doesn't see things such as age, race, or gender as distinctly as humans do, to say that one gender was an upgrade over the other felt poorly judged and it made me feel bad, like an old friend had just said something a bit off that you aren't used to hearing from them. I know it's just one line, but it struck me as out of character.
All in all, I enjoyed the episode and am looking forward to next week.
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Post by Deleted on Jan 3, 2020 3:14:14 GMT
with 'Vor' as the name of the evil organization, well, I wondered if the Voord might be making a comeback? Well, you never know. I thought, what with the internet aspect, it was going to be Voractyl behind it. (Oh, all right, I didn't really think that, but you'd've thought that after the Kate Stewart debacle that Chibbers would have checked all his names against tardis fandom in case they've already been used). Why does the Master always have to played as a raving madman? Where is the subtleties of Delgado? The charm? 'Spyfall' Part 1 {Spoiler}{Spoiler} Or 'How To Piss Over A Redemption Arc In About Two Minutes Flat'... I'm wondering whether this is actually a full-blown new incarnation of the Master, or just John Simm in a rubber mask. Sacha Dhawan (ah, never trust the character that isn't in the Radio Times credits!) is definitely playing him as John Simm rather than striking out with a new characterisation, to my mind. That's actually... Quite a possibility... Well I mean probably not a rubber mask, but some kind of possession... Trying to prolong himself before regeneration.
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Post by mrperson on Jan 3, 2020 3:17:15 GMT
The one thing that really bugged me was the new "Master" doing the whole crazy laughing/etc routine. I know 'evil laugh' is a bit of a trope (wish it was just dropped), but the moment he started doing that it was just.... ugh, c'mon.
I hope it's something like what melkur said.
(I commented before reading. Sounds like I'm not alone).
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Post by masterdoctor on Jan 3, 2020 3:23:15 GMT
Squeee!!! That is all!
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