September 2: Spyfall Part Two

Having laid into the Bond theme pretty heavily last time, this episode shifts gears somewhat; it's as if the presence of the revealed Master changes the direction of the story. And while the Doctor has been pulled into the realm of the aliens (the Kasaavin, we subsequently learn), Ryan, Yaz, and Graham are stuck on the crashing airplane. The way out of it for them is fun though, with the instructions ready for Ryan scattered throughout the plane. It's also a relatively clever way to get our heroes out of their jam. (And it made me think of the seventh Doctor story Battlefield and the Doctor's instructions to himself, although "Blink" might be a more likely antecedent.)

Promotional photo for Spyfall Part Two (from BBC One - Doctor Who,
Spyfall: Part Two Gallery ©BBC)

But honestly, although the companions' plotline helps advance the story in certain ways (even if it's a bit reminiscent at times of "The Sound of Drums"), it's the Doctor's side of things that's the more engaging half. Having the Doctor meet Ada Lovelace in the weird realm and then appear in 1834 is really interesting, and it helps give the episode a shot of energy -- especially when the Master shows up, his TARDIS having detected that the Doctor has moved from 2020.²⁹¹ Sacha Dhawan excels at being a gleefully murderous, insane Master -- Missy is probably closest in terms of previous Master characterizations, but even she didn't go as far as the Master does here, essentially killing out of spite. "When I kill them, Doctor, it gives me a little buzz. Right here, in the hearts," he says. The sparks between him and the Doctor just fly -- especially the moment where the Master orders her to kneel and call him "Master"; there's such a charge of energy between the two of them (and I love how Jodie Whittaker gives a little eyeroll before both kneeling and saying "Master").

But it's also nice to see that, while Spyfall has been leaning a bit more RTD/Moffat than anything really in series 11, we still get some of the educational moments that were peppered throughout that season. Here it's information on Ada Lovelace and Charles Babbage, a bit (although the episode seems to just assume the audience either already knows about the Difference Engine or will be inclined to look it up), as well as about Noor Inayat Khan, the first female wireless operator to be sent into occupied France during World War II (though they don't mention the part where she's later captured by the Germans and executed at Dachau -- but I suppose there's not time to cover everything). The Doctor's interactions with both Ada and Noor are simply wonderful; you get a sense of the respect and awe the Doctor has for the two of them. There's also the nice little speech the Doctor gives, as Ada looks upon war-ravaged Paris: "These are the dark times. But they don't sustain. Darkness never sustains, even though sometimes it feels like it might." (Good advice for our current times as well.) Really, if there's any complaint, it's that meeting Noor actually continues the spy theme established in Part One, but there's a curious lack of emphasis that makes it a bit difficult to realize this is in fact the case. But that's just a minor quibble in a generally excellent part of the episode.

But it's still ultimately the interactions between the Doctor and the Master in 1943 Paris that basically steal the show. I also personally like the little nods to 20th-century Who, such as the four beats in sequence ("The Sound of Drums", although here it's described as the heartbeat of a Time Lord), "Contact" (The Three Doctors), and the little exchange about the events of Logopolis:

DOCTOR: It's cold up here! It's worse than Jodrell Bank.
MASTER: Did I ever apologise for that?
DOCTOR: No.
MASTER: Good.

(from The Doctor Who Transcripts - Spyfall part 2)

Watching them spar is so entertaining, and listening to the Master explain his convoluted plan (although I can't decide if there's more or less effort and planning involved than in, say, The Mind of Evil or The Time Monster) is great fun. The way the Doctor escapes from the Master (turning off the perception filter that let him pass as a member of the SS, thus revealing he doesn't look like an Aryan archetype) is perhaps a touch cruel, given the actions of the Nazis, but given he'd thrown his lot in with them and we've seen him murdering lots of people, it feels justified.

Noor, the Doctor, and Ava in the Master's TARDIS. (Spyfall Part Two)
©BBC

Really, the only place this episode falls down is the resolution of the villains' plot. Individually, the pieces all make sense: the Kasaavin are interested in computers, so that's why they're tracking them through Earth's history; they're also being used as spies by the Master to help set up his fiendish trap; Daniel Barton is also a computer person and perhaps one who's tired of humanity (as he says in part one, "We did something great, and it got hijacked. I get to see both sides of humanity in this job")... as I said, the pieces make sense on their own, and you can see the thought processes involving computers. It's only when you try to piece it all together that things start to fall apart. Ok, so human DNA can be used to store computer information instead of "how to be human" information -- fine, I guess (although something still feels slightly unworkable about that that I can't quite put my finger on), but why would the Kassavin care about this in the first place? Why are they interested in computers at all? What do they gain from this? Do they really need hard disk space that badly? It doesn't really make sense. (Potential get-out: the Master hints that this was ultimately his plan and that the Kassavin are just happy to go along with it; if that's the case we can probably file this under the same category of plan that required the Master to stand in a field pretending to be a scarecrow until the Doctor happened to walk by (The Mark of the Rani, if you need to be reminded), or to place an elaborate fictional trap location in the TARDIS databanks even though he expects them all to be killed in Event One (Castrovalva).) The ultimate problem is that it's a very unsatisfying resolution, and the fact that all these events have been hinging on something so mundane means that it all feels rather hollow at the end. (And we don't even see Barton get his comeuppance! Last we see he's leaving out the side door, and that's it.)

(Oh, and long as I'm griping a bit: what's with destroying Gallifrey again? Steven Moffat went to such pains to bring it back (successfully, I thought) that it seems a bit churlish to get rid of it again barely a season after he's left, and it also risks creating a yo-yo effect about the place where it's constantly gone and then back and then gone again. But I'll discuss this further when I get to "The Timeless Children".)

But Spyfall isn't the first overall satisfying Doctor Who story to have a wet squib of an ending, and it probably won't be the last. Overall, this is a great ride, with lots of action and fun and one of the most exciting Doctor/Master pairings we've seen yet. Only at the end does it disappoint, and then only a little.








²⁹¹ Contra to the previous footnote under the last entry, this (and the later reveal about Gallifrey) would seem to be evidence that there actually is a Gallifreyan Mean Time, since these events don't really make sense (or at least are much harder to explain) without the idea of a shared personal "present".