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January 1st, 2020 49 comments

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What Did You Think of Spyfall Part One?

Now that the first episode of series 12 has aired what did you think? Was it everything you had hoped for or not what you expected.

Spyfall, Part 1. Intelligence agents around the world are under attack from alien forces, so MI6 turn to the only one who can help: the Doctor.


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49 comments

  • Gordon

    January 9th, 2020 - 1:52pm

    7 day figure 6.7 million

    Reply
  • The Sonic Monkey

    January 6th, 2020 - 8:54am

    Still not a fan of this Doctor, juts a pale imitation of all who came before and it has nothing to do with it being a woman. More to do with the weak performance of Jodie.
    Story was fine but they killed of Fry too early. When you have someone that good, you make more use of them.
    Hope they explain the Masters return well and don’t just expect us to accept it and move on.

    Reply
  • Anonymous

    January 4th, 2020 - 6:15pm

    This could be a parallel universe master. Did anyone else spot the bit about the multiple earths on the screen?

    Reply
  • Savo79

    January 4th, 2020 - 12:07pm

    I found it better than last season but still needs better writers, everyone explaining what’s going on every five minutes is text book bad. I’m wondering if VOR with it’s stylized O is a clue to Virtual Reality, everything not being what you think it is. To me this episode showed what a mistake wiping out UNIT was. Most of the MI6 stuff makes no sense when UNIT dealt with exactly this sort of thing. New Master could be great, a bigger mystery could be great but with these writers I’m not sure they are thinking that far ahead or on top of the shows lore enough to do it. I am going to keep watching but not with the joyful anticipation of the past but rather anxious yet hopeful trepidation. I like the dedication to Terrence Dicks as Masterful in the credits they should note that he told the writers to stop using the sonic every five minutes because it was lazy.

    Reply
  • Renfield

    January 4th, 2020 - 11:17am

    Slightly off-topic but in reply to Paradox, I’m sure Bram Stoker meant to make it a fun, witty story but didn’t quite manage it. Lucky Moffat and Gatiss are around to help him out!

    Reply
  • The Ergon

    January 4th, 2020 - 10:34am

    Or maybe ‘Doctor Who’ could be homaging ‘The Matrix’ films. Again just theorizing.

    Reply
  • The Ergon

    January 3rd, 2020 - 4:48pm

    Is the doctor more to do with the master than we think?. I only ask because the character was referred to as ‘O’ and watching the opening credits to an An unearthly child today when the ‘O’ overlaps into the ‘ W’ in DOCTOR ‘W’HO,i,m wondering whether that has any relevance to that ‘everything you think you know is a lie’. I,m probably way off and maybe thinking too deep. Just a theory.

    Reply
  • Anonymous

    January 3rd, 2020 - 9:19am

    4.98 was excellent in context with the evenings viewing. As someone says below who came second overall beating eastenders, coronation street and Dracula

    Reply
  • Pats86

    January 2nd, 2020 - 10:08pm

    4.98 overnight ratings, might increase to 6.
    Shame because this episode was better than anything last season had to offer.

    Hope last seasons debacle hadn’t turned too many away from watching, I for one would never stop watching although last season I came close!

    Word of mouth might get around and those not happy with the direction Doctor Who has gone might have another look?

    Having said that, this season could dip from here on in, hope I’m wrong.

    Reply
  • Anonymous

    January 2nd, 2020 - 8:22pm

    Doctor who came second in the overnight ratings beaten only by emmerdale. Who was 4.98 and emmerdale 5

    Reply
  • The Living Shadow

    January 2nd, 2020 - 7:58pm

    Something that annoyed me was how often during any action, a character will point out what’s clearing happening, like “omg they’re shooting at us” or something. I don’t recall if this is common in other episodes but it bugged me in this particular episode.

    To me it says “Dunno if the budget can cover this effect so I’ll write this line just incase”

    Reply
  • The Ergon

    January 2nd, 2020 - 6:43pm

    Not to comment on the episode so much, but to the producers if we have to have varying locations and filming is mostly South Africa, could we have more plate shots of the real location for authenticity. Rather like what they did with Daleks in Manhattan. This doubling up of locations doesn,t always work

    Reply
  • Pats86

    January 2nd, 2020 - 2:58pm

    Better than I was was expecting, some good points and bad.

    GOOD POINTS
    1, Story is interesting.
    2, Bradley Walsh is as good as ever as Graham.
    3, Tosin Cole and Mandip Gill seem more at ease with their characters Ryan and Yaz.
    4, The revelation at the end, I didn’t see that coming at all. Not been as suprised since the Cybermen reveal at the end of episode one of Earthshock. (I have purposely kept away from anything regarding this season apart from the trailer)
    5, Sacha Dhawan is the Master, Brilliant.
    6, Better than anything in season 11

    BAD POINTS
    1, Jodie’s Doctor is a poor imitation of any that have gone before, lacks any gravitas whatsoever. She comes across as weak.
    2, The Doctor relies way too much on the sonic screwdriver, it’s never out of her hand hardly?
    3, Still hate the TARDIS interior, very cheap looking.

    I have some hope for this season but I can’t see it holding out as well as this episode for the rest of the season.
    And it would be great if “Everything you think you know is a lie” turns out to be Jodie’s Doctor is an imposter, Romana has gone bad and taken over the Doctor’s body.

    It’s a good start and hopefully episode two keeps the drama flowing.

    7/10

    Reply
  • Anonymous

    January 2nd, 2020 - 1:33pm

    Liked the episode a lot. Not keen on the new titles though. Needed the TARDIS in there somewhere.

    Reply
  • Doctor Stu

    January 2nd, 2020 - 12:14pm

    I’m confused about the master however, I hope we get an explanation. As it has to be after Simm, as he’s not surprised by the fact the Doctors a woman, if it was before Simm then doesn’t that mess up continuity with big finish and the war master series? And it can’t be after Missy as she was either redeemed and dead or just dead. The only way it works is for it to slot between Simm and Missy and I hope Chibnall is wary of continuity and doesn’t say anything to contradict what came before

    Reply
  • Exterminator

    January 2nd, 2020 - 11:20am

    I voted above for better than I was expecting because it was a good episode with lots of exciting bits and great locations and fx.

    A couple of things I don’t get, why at the beginning were Yaz and Ryan’s friends/colleagues saying they’ve been away for ages? You’d think travelling in a time machine the Dr could put them back before anyone noticed they’d been away!

    Also Jodie is using the sonic far too much. If the Dr wants to scan for life forms etc, then give the Dr a device for doing that. They got loads of gadgets from MI6 one of them could be the Dr’s new scanner with a bit of upgrading for detecting alien life signs they did use such a device on Lenny Henry.

    The big reveal took me completely by surprise and I like the actor playing the new master but I really wanted to see Missy’s take on the new female Dr first before the Master gets a new face. Of course this could still happen at some point given we don’t know yet where this new face fits into the Masters timeline, I’m guessing the 4 drum beats is putting him pre John Simms?

    Looking forward to Sunday, I’m hoping we get to see inside the Masters Tardis if that was it disguised as a house flying next to the plane at the end? I want to see a proper console room and not just the house interior that’s already been shown.

    Maybe Lenny Henry’s Character will turn out to be another rogue time lord working with the master? I can’t wait to find out.

    Reply
  • The Moffat Paradox

    January 2nd, 2020 - 11:01am

    Despite being a gender change sceptic I did think like others here that this was better than, save the Dalek episode, all of series 11.There was chatter online that Sacha Dhawan or someone like that could be cast as The Master so it wasn’t entirely THAT surprising but we’ll have to see more of him in the role to assess his take on the character. (Though he’s had practice playing a villain as Davos in Netflix’s “Iron Fist”)

    An explanation that isn’t just Moffat like timey whimey as to how he is resurrected even if inhabiting a human male body would be welcome when the John Simm Master’s energy weapon was supposed to just kill Missy (after she had fatally wounded him) and stop further regenerations at the end of “The Doctor Falls”.

    (Unless the John Simm Master dragged himself into his Tardis to do this so the Sacha Dhawan Master is pre Missy which would also explain a ready return to evil ways.)

    But as this is a two parter I don’t have a settled view until part two on Sunday.

    And on the subject of Steven Moffat despite my and others problems with his tenure of Who and it’s continuing legacy I am enjoying his and Mark Gatiss’s take on Dracula. MUCH BETTER than I was expecting and with clever witty lines in it.

    Reply
  • Roskilde

    January 2nd, 2020 - 9:34am

    Watched in anticipation. It was better than I expected but….. It still lacks the crisp sharpness of previous doctors. It meanders as if still feeling its way. It was better than the last series (nothing could be worse!) but…….

    Reply
  • Anonymous

    January 2nd, 2020 - 9:23am

    The companions were excellent, as was sacha, lenny and Stephen, but I’m still not impressed by jodie, she still doesn’t feel as believable as the doctor to me, when sacha nailed his character at the end in 30 secconds… which is why I chuckled when she called herself an upgrade…

    Reply

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